Essentials of Project Management potx

Essentials of
Project Management
Stephan Van den Broucke
Université Catholique de Louvain
EAHC Workshop on Joint Actions
Luxembourg, 19-20 January 2011
Overview
- Projects and project management
- Key elements of project quality
- Planning for project quality
- Implementing a project
- Planning and performing the evaluation
of a project
- Disseminating results and ensuring
sustainability
What is a project?
• Could be …
a series of loosely connected activities
that take three times longer and cost
twice as much as foreseen, to achieve
half the expected results
• But should really be …
a systematic, goal-oriented, temporary
and one-time endeavor undertaken to
create a unique product or service
within clearly specified time, cost and
quality constraints
• Temporary: a project has a fixed start
and end date
• Unique: the product or service that
results from the project should be

something different than what existed
previously
What is a project? (cont)
• A particular method of organising work that differs
from standard business operational activities:
– Different from routine:
does not involve the application of implicit or explicit procedures
existing in the organisation to regulate day-to-day work
– Different from improvisation:
• more effective, but also more time-consuming
• entails a level of uncertainty or risk
– Particularly useful to introduce innovations, address new
challenges or find solutions for problems for which the
existing procedures and routines do not accommodate
Improvisation Project Routine work
ad hoc goal oriented standard
inventive systematic fixed patterns
flexible effective efficient
chaotic intensive not innovative
Types of projects in public health
What is project management?
• A cynic would say …
Good project management
is not so much knowing
what to do and when, as
knowing what excuses to
give and when
• But it really is …
The skills, knowledge,
experience, tools and

processes that are required
to make a project successful
Project management comprises
• A set of skills, specialist knowledge,
and experience to reduce the level of risk
and enhance the likelihood of success
• A set of tools to improve chances of
success
e.g., document templates, registers, planning
software, modelling software, audit checklists,
review forms, …
• A series of processes to monitor and
control time, cost, quality and scope on
projects
e.g., time management, cost management,
quality management, change management, risk
management and issue management
Overview
- Projects and project management
- Key elements of project quality
- Planning for project quality
- Implementing a project
- Planning and performing the evaluation
of a project
- Disseminating results and ensuring
sustainability
Pitfalls in project management
• Selecting an unimportant problem
• Addressing the wrong problem
determinants

• Not choosing the best intervention
strategy
– “quick fix” or “common sense” solutions
– reinventing the wheel
– insufficient adaptation to the target group or context
• Poor quality of implementation
• Not performing the right kind of evaluation
– wrong evaluation level
– poor evaluation methodology
• Insufficient dissemination
– poor visibility of the project
– no sustainability of the results
Scheerder, Van den Broucke & Saan (2003)
Planning
Initiation Analysis Strategy Elabo- Execution Finalisation
selection ration
Proposal Work Plan
Go/no go
Avoiding pitfalls by following a
systematic approach
Quality in the project lifecycle
• Project initiation phase
– assessment of needs and feasibility of the project
– alignment with programme goals
• Planning phase
– detailed analysis of problem, determinants and
possible solutions
– clarification of the scope (objectives, deliverables,
target groups)
– detail of tasks, roles, responsibilities and timeline

– Identification of resources and needed skills sets
• Execution phase
– monitoring of overall project progress + quality assurance
– management of issues and risks;
– communication with stakeholders
– monitor quality assurance.
• Finalisation phase
– collecting feedback and evaluating effects
– documentation and dissemination of results
Overview
- Projects and project management
- Key elements of project quality
- Planning for project quality
- Implementing a project
- Planning and performing the evaluation
of a project
- Disseminating results and ensuring
sustainability
Planning for quality
• Project planning
– a form of operational planning
• mapping out the consecutive steps to
implement the project activities
• based on an analysis of relevant
information
• linked to the program in which the project
takes place and to which it contributes
– involvement of internal and external
stakeholders from the start of the
project is critical to achieving optimal

results
– results in a project work plan as main
deliverable
Elements of a project plan
• Rationale
• Aims and Objectives
• Approach and method
• Outcomes, outputs and deliverables
• Planning and organisation of the work
• Organisation of the partnership
• Resource planning
• Evaluation plan
• Dissemination plan
Aims, Objectives and Target Group
• Indicates what you want to achieve with the project and
with whom
• should include:
– Aim: a broad statement of the problem you intend to solve or
what you intend to achieve
– Objectives: realistic targets to achieve during the project,
derived from the aim and should be
• Specific – Clear about what will be achieved
• Measurable – It’s possible to quantify results and measure when
they have been achieved
• Achievable – They can be achieved
• Realistic – Attainable with within project resources
• Timed – Attainable within a specified period
– Target group: groups who will be involved in and benefit from
the project
Methods

• Sets out the overall approach that will be followed to
achieve the set objectives
• Should include:
– Scope and boundaries – Clear indication of what will and
will not be covered,
– Strategy and/or methodology – Description of how the
objectives will be achieved
– Critical success factors – Factors on which the success or
value of the project depends
Outcomes and deliverables
• Specification of what the project will create
• Should include:
– Deliverables – tangible outputs like content, software,
guidelines, etc
– Outputs – less tangible outputs that should be documented
and shared with the wider community, e.g. knowledge and
experience
– Outcomes – the changes your project will stimulate or
enable, and their likely impact on the policy, health and
research communities
– Core project documents – the plans and reports that
support project work
Planning the organisation of the work
• A comprehensive, logically structured and clearly written
outline of who will be doing what at what time with
whom to achieve the project objectives and deliverables
• Should include:
– A detailed description of the different tasks
• horizontal tasks: coordination and management of the project
e.g., collection and distribution if information among the partners,

monitoring and reporting of progress, communication and decision
making within he partnership, …
• vertical tasks: core of the different work packages of the project
– Timetable with milestones
• scheduled events signifying important decision making moments or
the completion of deliverables
• allows a proper monitoring of the project
Organisation in work packages
• Building blocks of the work breakdown
structure that allows the project
management to define the steps
necessary for completion of the work
can be thought of as sub-projects, which,
when combined, form the completed project
• Distinction between
– content work packages which focus on the
tasks that will lead to the project outcomes,
– horizontal work packages, concerned with
the management of the project
Work breakdown table
Project coordination
• Coordination
the planning, monitoring and control of all aspects
of a project and the motivation of those involved,
to achieve the objectives
• Key elements of project coordination
– Project plan and supporting plans
Budget plan, Human resource plan, Communications plan,
Risk management plan, Evaluation plan, Dissemination plan
– Management structure

– Project meetings
– Core project documents
• Minutes of meetings
• Interim and final reports
• Terms of reference for the management committee
• Agreements with partners and other stakeholders (e.g.,
consortium or license agreements)
Management structure
 Manager
– Tasks: manage the project work, manage project resources (including
the budget), monitor progress and performance, ensure timely delivery
of outputs, identify risks, problems and issues, manage communication
within the project, arrange meetings and write minutes, prepare
reports, coordinate work on any legal agreements (e.g., consortium or
license agreements), maintain the project web site and other
documentation, maintain contact with the sponsors, …
– Should have necessary skills and capacities + mandate and time from
the organisation to effectively manage the project
• Management committee
– provides a forum for discussion and decision making
– allows partners and team members to buy into the project work and
spread the responsibility
– may include representative(s) of each project partner organisation, key
project staff, project stakeholders, champions, experts, or advisors
– useful to draw up terms of reference for the management committee
• Project Team
Resource planning
• An estimation of the expected input
in terms of the resources necessary
to achieve the project objectives

Key project resources: people, time, equipment, budget
• Resource planning:
– Human resource planning – estimation of the staff input
• define requirements by listing the roles and responsibilities for
the project, without being constrained by the people that are
available
• anticipate number of working days
• look for people within and outside
• consider personalities in addition to skills
– Financial planning
• estimation of the financial expenditure for different posts (staff,
travel and subsistence, equipment, subcontracting, overheads).
• estimation of sources of income
• planning of expenditure over time
Time planning using a Gantt Chart
Overview
- Projects and project management
- Key elements of project quality
- Planning for project quality
- Implementing a project
- Planning and performing the evaluation
of a project
- Disseminating results and ensuring
sustainability
Project implementation
• Rigour and discipline is needed to apply the management
skills proactively to implement the project activities as
planned and achieve the objectives
• Key elements of project implementation:
– Manage the work plan: consult and update regularly

– Monitor the time schedule
if project outputs are not completed within the time frame, the critical path must
be revisited and ways must be found to get the project back on track
– Monitor the budget
– Manage Risk
events identified as high-risk should have specific plans put into place to
mitigate them to ensure that they do not, in fact, occur
– Manage the scope
• Guard against scope creep: project failure often due to working on deliverables
that were not part of the original project definition or requirements
• Only the sponsor can give approval for a change of scope
– Manage “issues”
Warning signs during project execution
• A small variance in schedule or budget starts
to get bigger, especially early in the project
There is a tendency to think one can make it up, but
this is a warning: If the tendencies are not corrected
quickly, the impact will be unrecoverable
• Activities that were expected to already have
been completed are still being worked on
• There is a need to rely on unscheduled
overtime to hit the deadlines, especially early
in the project
• Team morale starts to decline
• Deliverable quality or service quality starts to
deteriorate
• Quality control steps, testing activities, and
project management time starts to be cut back
from the original schedule
Overview

- Projects and project management
- Key elements of project quality
- Planning for project quality
- Implementing a project
- Planning and performing the evaluation
of a project
- Disseminating results and ensuring
sustainability
Evaluation plan
• Outline how the quality of project implementation,
outputs and outcomes will be evaluated
• Key elements of an evaluation plan:
– Evaluation questions
• for process evaluation: linked to the planning and organisation of
the project activities
• for effect evaluation: linked to the specific objectives
• in consultation with the stakeholders
– Evaluation indicators
• Process indicators (progress)
• Performance indicators (outputs)
• Effect indicators (achievement of objectives)
– Evaluation targets
numbers expected, level of quality aimed for, … to serve as a
standard to compare the process or results of the project with
– Evaluation methods linked to the indicators
Evaluation Indicators
• Are variables which measure the performance
and progress of the work and the level to which
the objectives are reached
• Differentiate between

- Performance indicators for process evaluation
- Outcome/output indicators for effect evaluation
• Indicators should:
- be explicitly linked to the specific objectives
for each specific objective, one or more indicators can be defined
- be either quantitative (e.g., numbers of participants, numbers
of users, …) or qualitative (e.g., the appreciation of project
deliverables by external experts)
- ideally also specify target values (i.e., numbers to be
achieved, level of quality aimed for, …)
- be measurable: the way in which they will be measured
must be detailed in a evaluation plan (e.g., document
analysis, counting, questionnaire, observation, …)
Indicator table
 …
6. 7. …4. …4. …
 …
 …
 …
5. 5.
6. …
3…3…
 …
 …
4. 3. …
4. …
2 …2 …
 …
 …
 …

1.
2. …
1.
2.
1 1
Method of data
collection
Impact/ outcome
indicators
Process IndicatorsActionsObjectives
Practical issues on evaluation
• Outsourcing evaluation?
– Pro’s: enhance the quality and objectivity of the evaluation, add to
the project status, take away the practical burden of carrying out the
evaluation
– Cons: reduces the ownership of the evaluation results, may give
rise to conflicts over priorities, and reduces the opportunity to learn
from the project
– Small-scale evaluations focusing on formative aspects can mostly
be undertaken by organizations themselves
• Budget
Evaluation should be incorporated in the project’s budget in a way
that makes the evaluation study realistic, manageable, efficient, and
productive
• Timing
– It is a common mistake to assume that evaluation takes place at the
end of a project.
– evaluation must be planned from the outset and conducted
throughout the project life time
Overview

- Projects and project management
- Key elements of project quality
- Planning for project quality
- Implementing a project
- Planning and performing the evaluation
of a project
- Disseminating results and ensuring
sustainability
Dissemination
• The process of making the results and deliverables of a
project available to the stakeholders and to the wider
audience
purpose: to raise awareness, inform, get input/feedback from
the community, and ensure that the effects will be sustained
after the project
• Key elements
– Stakeholder analysis – an exercise in which stakeholders are
identified, listed, and assessed in term of their interest in the
project and importance for the its success, dissemination and
sustainability
– Dissemination strategy – explains how the visibility of the
project outputs and outcomes will be maximized and shared
with stakeholders, relevant institutions, organisations, and
individuals
– Exit/sustainability strategy – models and scenarios outlining
what should happen to the project outputs at the end of the
project, and to explore how they can be sustained
Dissemination plan
• Outline how the visibility and sustainability of the project
outputs and outcomes will be maximized.

• Should include
– What you plan to disseminate – the message
– To whom – the audience
– Why – the purpose
– When – the timing
– How – the method
• Publications
• Conferences and workshops
• Collaborative events
• Website
• sending e-mails
Ensuring sustainability
• Revisit the project outcomes, and consider the changes the project
will stimulate or enable
• Consider the take-up and embedding needed to achieve the
envisaged changes
• Formulate an exit strategy, which outlines:
– Access – Who will host the deliverables after the project ends? Will they be
available on the project web site? Have other arrangements for hosting been
made?
– Preservation – Where will the deliverables be preserved?
– Maintenance – What supporting documentation will be needed to maintain
deliverables, e.g. specs, user manuals, technical manuals? Will any ongoing
maintenance be needed and what will it cost?
– Intellectual property – What IP rights need to be cleared to make sure
deliverables can be accessible to the teaching, learning, and community after the
project ends?
• Consider deliverables or outputs that will be sustainable in the long
term
e.g., tools, guidelines, protocols, …that could be used by other projects or that

are useful for the research community.
• Develop sustainability scenarios for these outputs
Think about who might carry them forward, how, and the issues that will need to
be addressed to make these outputs self-sustaining.
Conclusions
• Projects represent a method of organising work which is
particularly useful to introduce innovations, address new
challenges or find solutions for problems
• Project success depends on the quality of planning
• A good quality project plan provides a basis for adequate
follow-up and evaluation and increases the visibility and
sustainability of outcomes
• Warning signs during project implementation should be
taken seriously and be addressed timely
• Evaluation and dissemination should be planned from the
onset
“My personal philosophy is not to
undertake a project unless it is manifestly
important and nearly impossible”
- Edwin H. Land (polaroid camera inventor)
Further info