At the end of this module you will be able to:

01 Familiarize with the discipline of Project Management and Project Cycle

02 Grasp the essentials of a successful project

03 Breakdown the core structure of a Project Management Plan

04 Look into powerful recommendations for HR in Project Management

Why should FE even bother to deepen their understanding of the PM discipline?

In the context this training unit, we will introduce targets to the discipline of PM as an approach, rather than a mere discipline.

This focus on PM, will allow readers to be much more proficient, effective and efficient in designing, developing and deploying their strategic plans(s) for economic growth and business competitiveness.

We will extrapolate the defining elements of PM, the core responsibilities of a project manager and what distinguishes a “projects” from a “process”.

Seeking a definition of PM

In the context of this training programme, we will refer to PM following the definition coming from the International Association for Project Management:

"PM is the application of processes, methods, skills, to achieve specific project objectives (deliverables) within agreed parameters (finite timescale and budget)"

Final deliverables and finite timescale are actually the two elements distinguishing PM from the general discipline of Management.

In Management, the process is on-going and rather than final deliverables it is more appropriate to talk about final outputs that will be reinvested as new inputs informing and kick-starting new management cycles.

Source: Project Management Institute

• Time (Start date → Intermediate deadlines → Milestones → End date → Follow-up)

• Results (Qualitative and Quantitative)

• Resources (i.e., Technologies, Human Capital)

• Entrepreneurial approach (i.e., sense of initiative, resilience, etc.)

• Team (i.e., Project Manager + project team)

• STKH (i.e., Support team(s), third parties and groups of interest)

Intertwined variables: a change in one variable will inevitably affect the others.

Source: Own elaboration

• PM as an approach becomes a mind-set that applies transversally and horizontally for TQM (total quality management) and JIT (just-in-time) efficiency and effectiveness.

• PM as an approach is a “performance mentality” of complex and interrelated activities.

• PM as an approach provides for a better, more robust and more reliable entrepreneurial framework to work in an ever-changing, unstable and ambiguous environment.

A project that is in full compliance with:

Contrary to common opinion, the Project Manager profile has a predefined status in the organisation chart.

Project Manager is how’s responsible for the given project (i.e., the engineer, the HR, etc.) and its successful completion.

The Project Manager – and his/her team – sets:

The traditional project’s lifecycle composes of five stages:

The design phase is when Project Teams collect and gather together needs / opportunities tackled by the project…

Project teams take opportunity of this moment to brainstorm internally on:

• Project’s background and ratio

• Specific objectives

• Needed resources by quality (financial, human, technological)

• Work plan and timeline (i.e., initial draft of the Gantt Chart)

• Identification of STKHs of relevance and interest for the upscaling of the project

At this moment, we prefer to talk about “project proposal” as there is not yet a concrete project to manage but just ideas on its overall structure and implementation.

The planning phase involves a more concrete structuring of the management implant:

preparation of the Statement of Work (SoW): formal document for a comprehensive and detailed introduction to the project as designed in the planning.

…in other words, the executing phase translates into getting the work done:

In theory, the controlling phase is a stand-along project’s lifecycle.

In practice, control and evaluation is a trans-dimensional and “fluid” set of activities that teams put in practice at any given development and implementation moment of the project.

The control starts form the very design of the project, when project’s manager evaluate the relevancy of the project compared to the underlie objective, or when they start building the project team based on the specific expertise and know-how that are needed.

Control, monitor and evaluation are paramount to project’s success and efficient / effective mobilisation of resources. Changes in plans are almost inevitable, what makes the difference is how this changes are handled, not only so as to be as less disruptive as possible, but also to maximise the potentials benefits emerging from them.

In the closing phase, the Project Manager and his/her team gather together to discuss key takeaways and lessons learned form the project. In fact, the closing phase represents firstly and foremost a unique training and education opportunity for continuous improvement and consolidation of good practices.

At this moment, controlling and evaluation is in the form of a summative evaluation – the so defined post-mortem – of what worked and what didn’t in terms of:

After establishing common understanding on background and objectives of the project, the project team moves on by developing two formal documents that will orientate and guide their actions in the future period:

• Statement of Work (SoW)

• Project Management Plan (PMP)

The SoW is the formal project management document detailing actions, tasks, and final results (deliverables) performed by the project team for the benefit of another person / group of people.

The SoW proves and gives concrete references for the operational, technical and financial capacity of the team implementing the project.

In case of large-scale initiatives, the SoW is a preparatory document that organisations submit to access tenders and other kinds of exclusive contracts.

The SoW resumes what the project implant will be in terms of:

In general, the table of contents of a SoW highlights:

The SoW pinpoints the relevancy of the project proposal and legitimise the formal request for its funding.

In the SoW, the Project Team discloses indications on:

• WHY this project is relevant (and should be financed)

• WHAT will be done during development and implementation

• WHEN major results will be delivered / publicly available

• WHERE actions will be performed, and where results will have an impact

• WHO is in charge of what, who will benefit from the project, who will make use of it.

The SoW gives in-depth indications on what will be done / achieved by the projects during its implementation period…

…but the specific details how this will done are disclosed by the Project Management Plan.

The PMP specify to the Project Team key guidelines for the implementation of the project in terms of:

The table of content of a PMP is not set in stone…depending in first instance by its scale and scope.

In general, the avarage table of contents of a PMP indicates:

• Description and introduction to the project

• Participating Staff / organisations

• Internal and External Communication strategy

• Financial management and means for budget control

• Quality Assurance – methodology and frameworks

• Risk Management: identification → assessment → evaluation

• Sustainability and impact assessment

In this section we will include:

In this section we will include:

• Brief presentation of the staff: position, roles and expertise

• Collaboration and cooperation mechanisms

• Means and procedures for conflict resolution

• Distribution of roles and responsibilities

• Overall background and expertise of people involved (how can this project benefit from their involvement?)

• (for large-scale initiatives, composition of Project Management Committee which will supervise the implementation of tasks and commitment to Quality Assurance standards)

In this section we will include:

• Detailed strategy for:

  STKHs identification

  STKHs engagement

  STKHs management

* Please check IHF’s module for further details on communication and visibility

In this section we will include:

• Internal reporting: means and internal deadlines

• Financial and administrative committee

• Support documentations

• External audit authority (if any…)

• Miscellaneous (anything that contributes to assure for a sound budget control)

In this section we will include:

In this section we will include:

• Very precise and punctual mapping assessment of risks that might have a negative impact to the smooth implementation of the project

• Assessment matrix ** of risks previously identified based on their:

    LIKELYHOOD – Their probability to happen

   IMPACT – How disruptive they would be in case of happening

Assessment Matrix **  

NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Goddard Technical Standard GSFC-STD-0002, Risk Management Reporting

In the context of this training unit, we will share with participants few paramount good practices that should assure for a smooth and impactful project’s implementation.

These tips and tricks relate essentially to the mind-set and framework that Project Managers should adopt to make their life a bit more easier…

The very first key takeaways we wish to recommend you is to:

There is a huge conceptual difference between a complex and a complicated project.

→ Complexity is not synonymous of difficulty, complex projects are in fact:

• Lean

• Clear

• Straightforward

• “no room” for misunderstandings

A project is Complex when variables are interrelated on a multidimensional level so as to produce and generate favourable results (as expected by plans)

→ On the other hand, a project becomes “complicated” when project managers loose track of the cause-effect relations within the project’s diagram – or when in phase of implementation the project becomes abundant in redundancies and overlapping.

Here below a series of essential golden rules for better KISS compliance:

The budget indicates the quality and quantity of resources needed to develop and implement the project. In reference to the underlie financed activity, the allocation of finances follows three criteria:

PEOPLE                        TECHNOLOGIES                  TIME*

*The only resource you cannot have an impact on…

Remember (now you know about):

01 Project Management: content and good practice

02 Project lifecycle: from idea to implementation 

03 Framework of reference for managing risk

04 Recommendations for a successful project