Integrated Engineering 2 Threshold

Exam Notes

Contents
Business Fundamentals: Project Management..................................................................2
What is a Project?.................................................................................................................... 2
Challenges of Project Management...................................................................................... 2
How to Classify Projects....................................................................................................... 3
Project Lifecycle................................................................................................................... 3
Project Initiation Phase............................................................................................................ 4
Defining the Scope............................................................................................................... 4
Setting Project Objectives.................................................................................................... 4
Changing Objectives............................................................................................................ 5
Project Stakeholders............................................................................................................ 5
Initial Planning Steps............................................................................................................... 7
The Work Breakdown Structure............................................................................................ 7
Deliverables and Milestones................................................................................................ 7
Planning the Project................................................................................................................ 8
Gantt Charts........................................................................................................................ 8
Budgeting for Resources and Cost....................................................................................... 8
The Project Team and Project Risk......................................................................................... 10
Roles in a Project Team...................................................................................................... 10
Assigning Responsibilities to Team Members.....................................................................11
Introducing Risk................................................................................................................. 12
Critical Path Method.............................................................................................................. 13
Parallel Activities and Project Duration.............................................................................. 13
The Execution Phase............................................................................................................. 14
Kick-Off Meetings............................................................................................................... 14
What does the project manager do in this phase?.............................................................14
Monitoring and Control.......................................................................................................... 15
Data Sources for Project Monitoring................................................................................... 15
Controlling the Project........................................................................................................ 16
Conduct Project Meetings...................................................................................................... 17
Organising a Successful Project Meeting............................................................................17
Overcoming Problems in Project Meetings.........................................................................18
Earned Value Analysis........................................................................................................... 19
Performing an Earned Value Analysis................................................................................. 19
 Business Fundamentals: Project
Management

What is a Project?

A project is the work performed on a unique occasion to produce a unique outcome

o Unique occasion definite beginning and end
o Unique outcome work result is different in one or more ways from anything
produced before
This is different to the operations of an organisation
o Operational work is the ongoing, repetitive set of activities that sustain a
company or organisation
o Includes processing customer orders, routine financial transactions and
executing manufacturing orders
o If asked to improve the processing of orders, this could be set up as a project
Projects usually have three constrains; cost, schedule, and scope or specification
o These constraints are related to each other, as spending more could mean more
people to hire to meet the deadline sooner, but could have coordination
problems
o Depending on the type of project, there may be different combinations of each
element
o It is the job of a project manager to find the right trade-offs

Project Type Description

New product development A new product not present in the market
Construction Physical construction of a building or an
infrastructure
Software development A new software, information system or game
Event Small or big events with a range of different
purposes, such as personal, leisure or business
Research Research projects in different fields
Maintenance, equipment or system Maintenance, renovation and improving
installation activities
Organisational and administrative Organisation change projects or introduction of
new policies or procedures
Military operation A UN peacekeeping operation
Business continuity Recovery from a disaster
Challenges of Project Management

Project Design

Undefined goals: The project must ask the right questions to establish and
communicate clear goals
Scope changes: Occurs when the projects scope extends beyond its original objectives.
This is known as scope creep and may change the timescale and costs associated. The
project manager must evaluate each request and decide if it is necessary
Working with a Team

Inadequate skills for the project: Project managers must determine the needed
competencies, assess the available skills and recommend training, outsourcing or hiring
additional staff
Lack of accountability: Participants should be held accountable for the quality of the
result. Project managers should learn to direct teams towards a common goal and
assign clear roles to their team members
Poor communication: Communication is essential to collaboration. To enhance
collaboration, effective training in written and oral communication skills and good
communication practices (i.e. regular meetings) is needed
Ongoing Project Management

Impossible deadlines: Misjudged deadlines can cause major schedule slippage. Project
managers need to find alternative approaches to the project to complete it in time, or
to get approval to move the deadline
Resource deprivation: Under-resourced projects are unlikely to run effectively, so the
needs of a project must be defined. Approval must be obtained in order to prioritise
resources throughout the project
Lack of engagement: A skilled project manager needs to encourage feedback at every
step to create greater engagement among participants

Dealing with Risk and Change

Improper management of risks: A project manager needs to be ready to deal with risk
and should plan accordingly
Ambiguous contingency plans: A contingency is an event which is possible but cannot
be predicted with certainty. They must be identified and managed, as this can lead to a
smooth and successful project if these circumstances happen to eventuate

How to Classify Projects

Uncertainty: How can future events be predicted? Different project have different
levels of uncertainty and project execution can be seen as trying to reduce this level
Complexity: Depends on the scope, number and variety of elements and their
interconnectedness. Complexity will determine the organisation and the process, as
well as the formality with which the project will be managed
Pace: Deals with the urgency and criticality of time goals. The same goal with different
time constraints may require different project structures and different management
attention

Project Lifecycle

Project Initiation: Project team is formed and the objectives, scope and purpose are
defined, as well as identifying the key deliverables to be produced
Project Planning: Creating a set of plans, known as a project roadmap, to ensure that
the project is delivered on time and on budget. Determines variables such as time,
cost, quality, and knowing how to deal with issues such as change requests and risks
Project Execution: Longest and most intense phase. The time when the plans are put
into practice, the deliverables are produced, and the client gets to sample the results
 Project Closure: Formally winding up the project, tying up any loose ends, and
reporting any successes or failures
Project Initiation Phase

Defining the Scope

The scope details the boundaries of a project, detailing what will be covered and what
is not
It helps the initial discussion when gaining agreement on what will be done by the team
It avoids scope creep
o This is the addition of features and functionality without addressing the effects
on time, costs and resources or within customer approval
To define the scope, it is important to clearly define the objectives of the project, and
consider the requests from all relevant stakeholders of the project

Setting Project Objectives

Objectives of a project can be guided by the project sponsor, however, it is up to the
project manager to refine these objectives and make it clear for the team
Clear objectives allow a team to:
o Establish if progress has occurred
o Have a framework for final evaluation
o Have information for monitoring the project
o Structure the project so that it is effectively controlled and managed
o Fit the project around other organisational activities

SMART Objectives

The most common system of trying to define objectives

Specific clearly defined with completion criteria
Measurable so that it will be known when it has been achieved
Achievable within the current environment and the skills that are available
Realistic not trying to achieve the impossible
Timebound limited by a delivery date based on real need

High, Medium, Low

This involves assigning priorities to individual objectives

Difficulties can occur when individuals use different assessments of each term, but
discussion should be used to avoid this

MoSCoW

A technique used in the ICT sector

Must have essential to the success of the project
Should have if at all possible
Could have if this does not affect overall delivery
Would like but wont have this time
This approach is useful in identifying the critical factors of a project, however there
should be agreement in the team over which aspects are the most important
Changing Objectives
Changes in project objectives can be inevitable, so they must be worked out in
advance, how best to handle changes
Project objectives and the project plan should be considered living documents that can
be updated
In extreme cases, the appropriate response is to cancel a project altogether. This is
more likely on projects where one or more assumptions have not held, or when a
critical success factor has a very low tolerance for change

Designing Projects to Be Flexible

If a projects uncertainty is low, it does not need to be flexible and planning can be
precise. However, if there is a large amount of uncertainty, the project needs to be
flexible while keeping the overall objectives in mind

It is best to identify which areas may be affected by knowledge gaps

o Point 1 Define the project objectives
o Point 2 Divide the project into areas affected and not affected by knowledge
gaps
o Point 3 (left) Areas with no knowledge gaps can be managed by standard
techniques
o Point 3 (right) Identify a set of questions that need to be answered to reduce
uncertainty of the more uncertain areas. After, introduce activities that are able
to answer those questions
o Point 4 These activities provide an answer to initial questions and reduce
uncertainty. They also force a change in the rest of a project

Project Stakeholders
Those with a stake in the project have an interest in the projects success
They are defined as the organisations or people who have an interest or role in the
project, programme or portfolio, or are impacted by it
 Stakeholders can include:
o All the people whose work is changed by the project
o Those who are affected by it
o Those who provide resources for the project
o Those who can obstruct, block or stall the work in any way
Stakeholders may have conflicting or contradictory needs and demands

Role Influence over the project Relevance to the project

Project Sponsor Sets up the project
Authorises the resources
Appoints the project
manager
Project Team Carries out the tasks and
activities
Needs to be available at
any time
Functional Managers Control resources that
may be needed
Has useful expertise
Influential Individuals or Potential to either support
Groups or delay the project
Authorises the use of
resources to carry out the
project
Monitors the projects
progress
Confirms its success
Possesses knowledge,
skills and experience to
achieve the projects
objectives
Possesses specific
knowledge and resources
Likely to be affected by
the project and its
outcomes

To identify a stakeholder, ask:

o Who is affected by the project, positively or negatively?
o Who might want the project to succeed and who might want it to fail?
o Who has the power to cause the project to succeed or fail?
o Who controls or provides the resources and facilities that will be needed?
o Who has the special skills needed to make it succeed?
o Who are the positive and negative opinion leaders?
o Who exercises influence over other stakeholders?
o Who are the loss obvious stakeholders not considered yet?
The four categories of stakeholders above are labelled according to the strategy for
managing them. For example, C is difficult to plan for, although, if interest does
increase, a keep satisfied strategy may not be effective
Initial Planning Steps
The Work Breakdown Structure
The work breakdown
structure (WBS) provides a
foundation for defining and
organising the work that is
needed to be done
It is a hierarchical
deconstruction of the project
into levels and sublevels,
identifying work packages,
which are the minimal
elements of a WBS
Each WBS element has only
one parent and can be an
activity, a more specific task,
or even a part of the project
output
It is helpful for planning,
budgeting and monitoring
progress
It can be based on the physical structure of the final outcome of a product, or it can be
tailored to the different phases of the project
A WBS should
1. Break the project into smaller milestones
2. Identify all necessary work for the project
3. Facilitate accurate cost, duration and resource estimates
4. Focus on single work packages
5. Define clear responsibility at both an individual and organisational level
6. Ensure stakeholders and participants understand and buy into the projects
scope and see how they would contribute to its achievement
7. Support the identification of risk factors through breaking down the work

Deliverables and Milestones

A deliverable is an outcome of the project
They can come in many forms, such as a document or prototype
It is important to evaluate their coherence with project objectives and list them in a
table
What needs to be identified:
o Specific name
o Type of deliverable
o Who needs to give approval?
o When is it needed?
Milestones are the key events, or the points of control for completion of project phases
or major pieces of work, such as the approval of a deliverable
As each milestone is reached, it shows the progress the project has made
What needs to be identified:
o Name of milestone
o When did it occur?
o Who was/is responsible?
Planning the Project
Gantt Charts
While the WBS shows the structure of a project, a Gantt chart defines how activities
flow

A Gantt chart shows the activities of a project and their duration as a bar chart, along
with a time scale
The activity bars are connected to earlier and later activities with arrows to show their
dependency on each other. This is known as the critical paths
A Gantt chart also indicates milestones and deliverables at key points
Some programs which can be used to make a Gantt chart:
o Microsoft Excel
o Instagantt, a plug in for Asana
o Zoho
o Wrike
o Casual
o Microsoft Project

Budgeting for Resources and Cost

For any project, the resources which may need to be considered include equipment,
venue hire and materials
A budget identifies the planned expenditure for the project, showing the predicted cost
and can be used as a baseline against the actual expenditure
Initial cost estimates start as an informed guess, which is refined over time
Budgets fall into three categories:
o Cost per time unit used to budget human resources
o Cost per use for instance, the use of a venue for a meeting
o Cost per material consumption for instance, the food and the beverages
provided at a conference
 By allocating costs to the activities in a schedule, a profile of expenditure over the life
of the project can be produced and reviewed

The best way to make a budget is to use the Gantt chart to help identify the tasks that
need to be completed and the time spent on each activity
For HR:
o Assign roles for each team member
o Identify their hourly rate
o Estimate how much time that activity will take
The materials and pay per use items will then be listed where it is needed for that
activity
The costs are then summed and totalled
The Project Team and Project Risk
Roles in a Project Team
For the project to be successful, project managers should choose the most appropriate
people for each task
When individuals are being selected, the choice is usually made based on task-related
issues, such as prior skills, knowledge and experience
Team effectiveness is equally dependent on personal qualities and attributes of
individuals as well
A balance between different types of people led to more successful group performance
There is a model of nine roles for any project
Activi Team Role Strengths Allowable Weaknesses
ty
Plant Creative, imaginative, Weak communication
unorthodox Easily upset
An innovator Can dwell on interesting ideas
Teams source of original
ideas
Monitor- Offers dispassionate, Lacks drive and inspiration
evaluator critical analysis Lacks warmth and imagination
Thinki Has a strategic, discerning Can lower morale by being a
ng view damper
Judges accurately, sees all
options
Specialist Provides rare skills and Contributes only on a narrow
knowledge front
Single-minded and focused Communication skills are weak
Self-starting and dedicated Often cannot see the big
picture
Implementer Turns ideas into practical Somewhat inflexible
actions Does not like vague/non-
Turns decisions into solidified ideas
manageable tasks Upset by frequent changes of
Brings method to the plan
teams activities
Shaper Task minded, brings drive Easily provoked or frustrated
Makes things happen; Impulsive and patient
Action
pressurises Intolerant of vagueness
Dynamic, outgoing and
challenging
Completer- Painstaking and Anxious introvert; inclined to
finisher conscientious worry
Sees tasks through to Reluctant to delegate
completion Dislikes casual approach by
Delivers on time others
Teamworker Promotes team harmony; Indecisive in crunch situations
diffuses friction May avoid confrontation
Listens; builds on the ideas situations
of others May avoid commitment at
Sensitive but generally decision time
assertive
Coordinator Clarifies goals, good Can be seen as manipulative
chairperson Inclined to let others do the
People Promotes decision making work
Good communicator, social May take credit for the teams
leader work
Resource Diplomat with many Loses interest as enthusiasm
investigator contacts wanes
Improviser; explores Jumps from one task to another
opportunities Thrives on pressure
Enthusiastic and
communicative
 This does not mean that all nine roles are needed for every project; some may be more
important than others depending on the task
When a project kicks off, innovators are needed (plant), closely followed by the
requirement to appreciate how they can be turned into actions (implementer). They
are most likely to be completed if there is a good coordinator, ensuring team
members contribute. Morale can be raised by the shaper and delicate negotiations
with contacts outside the team can be arranged by the resource investigator
To stop the team becoming overly enthusiastic and missing key points, the
monitor/evaluator is needed, and friction within the team can be diffused by the
teamworker. The specialist can be used for niche skills or knowledge, and finally
the completer/finisher ensures that proper attention is paid to the details of the
solutions or follow-up actions
Interactions among roles will not always be smooth
o Too many plants all brainstorming, no action
o Too many monitor evaluators analysis paralysis
o Too many shapers conflict in the team
For any project, the strengths and weaknesses of each team member should be
identified, and a role should be assigned to each of them

Assigning Responsibilities to Team Members

A RACI matrix is a powerful tool to help team members and external stakeholders to
clearly understand their roles and what is expected of them
RACI stands for:
o Responsible The person assigned to do the work
o Accountable The person who makes the final decision and has ultimate
ownership
o Consulted The person who must be consulted before a decision or action is
taken
o Informed The person who must be informed that a decision or action has been
taken
Introducing Risk
The goal of managing
project risks is to identify
and prepare for any
potential threat to the
overall success
The risks should first be
identified, possibly
sorted into categories
(e.g. technical, external,
organisational, project
management, etc)
A risk log can then be
made for the project,
which lists the risks,
together with an
assessment of
probability, impact, and
contingency plans
 Each risk should be evaluated in terms of its probability of occurrence and impact on
the project. A numerical scale can be used with a risk matrix

Once they are evaluated, strategies must be imposed. They can include:
o Risk avoidance
o Risk reduction
o Risk protection
o Risk management
o Risk transfer
Critical Path Method
Parallel Activities and Project Duration
The critical activities are the activities which cannot be delayed without affecting the
entire duration of the project
Project activities may have differing durations or dependencies, which indicates that it
might be possible for one of these parallel activities to float (be delayed without
causing changes to the projects duration)
The critical path method (CPM) is a technique based on calculating the start and end
dates of project activities given their duration and dependencies on one another
The information needed for a CPM is:
o The list of activities
o The duration of each activity
o The priorities/predecessors of each activity
In return, the CPM gives:
o The final project end date
o Earliest start and end dates for each activity
o Latest start and end dates for each activity
o Critical path(s)
o Possible floats of activities

For the above flowchart, the critical path would be A, G, H, I, F. The floaters are B, D, C,
and E
To work out ES and EF for floaters:
o Start from the first activity. The ES of the next activity will be the EF of the first
activity
o Add the duration of the activity to get the EF
o If there are multiple prerequisite activities, the ES will be the later EF of those
prerequisites
To work out LS and LF for floaters:
 o Start from the last activity. The LF of the previous activity is the LS of the last
activity
o Subtract the duration of the activity to get the LS
o If there are multiple predecessors to an activity, the LF for both will be the LS of
the activity

The Execution Phase

Kick-Off Meetings
After the planning phase, the project enters the development phase
This phase refers to all activities following the planning, organising and authorisation of
the project until it is completed and handed over
The development phase starts with a kick-off meeting, which sets the tone of the
entire project
Participants evaluate both the project and the project manager, so the meeting is the
right moment to manage the expectations of project team members and of the other
stakeholders you invited, such as the sponsor
Key objectives:
o Communicate that the project is underway, its scope and objectives, and how the
work is articulated in activities
o Build team buy-in and start the process of relationship building among project
team and stakeholders
o Set responsibilities in terms of commitment in the project, respect of schedule
and meeting attendance
Basic steps of a kick-off meeting:
1. Organise the meeting
2. Start the meeting introduce yourself and all participants, present the agenda
and project goals. Recap the scope, objectives, risks, and budget if relevant,
though not in detail
3. Present the project tasks and assignments Walk the team through the project.
Use diagrams such as the WBS or Gantt chart to aid this presentation,
identifying important roles, responsibilities, time frames, bottlenecks and
dependencies of any task
4. Empower the team members Encourage an atmosphere of cooperation and
communication
5. Define communication modes and tools Identify how team members will
interact. Showcase various programs or web tools, such as e-mail, skype, or file-
sharing devices. Future meetings should also be arranged
6. Close the meeting Take questions and summarise the main points

What does the project manager do in this phase?

There are still many things that need to be organised in the execution phase
Communications with stakeholders and team members is still key, as well as
connection with the team on a technical level
Project managers should always keep the main objective of the project as the main
priority, and keep team members on track
Monitoring and Control
A project managers key tasks after initiation are to monitor the project progress and
expenses against the plan, and intervene with control action if necessary
Monitoring involves checking progress against the plan. Information that need to be
collected includes:
o Its progress
o The time required to reach that level of progress
o The commitment of resources to achieve that progress, in terms of expenses
made or hours dedicated by human resources
A project manager will also have to lead and manage the team, provide a regular check
on what they are doing, and communicate with the stakeholders
Tools and techniques for monitoring and controlling should be identified
Successful monitoring depends on the flow of information, so feedback is necessary
Monitoring is not a solitary activity, and it should be discussed regularly by the team at
meetings. This helps keep everyone on target and builds commitment

Data Sources for Project Monitoring

Data is needed to track activity progress and the times spent by each team member

Schedule

Dates that each completed activity actually started and finished

Dates that each activity actually started, its current progress and estimated completion
date based on the latest information

Cost

For human costs, collect the actual hourly cost and the total number of hours they
worked on each activity
For materials, take note of the quantity used and the unit price of each, as well as their
total costs
For equipment and venue, record the actual costs of the services

Means of Gathering Information

Project status meetings

o Main conduit of current information on the project and should be conducted
regularly
o Project meetings should focus on:
Recording actual results of completed activities
Thorough review and analysis of the condition of each activity currently
underway
Thinking about the future by asking for information on the predicted
outcome of each activity and the estimated dates of completion
Forms and templates
o Team members can fill in forms and templates based on the schedule and mark
up the progress under their responsibility
o The hours of work spent, costs, eventual issues and problems can be recorded
Managing by walking the project
 o Relying on others to provide information may mean early signs of difficulty
o Walking the project can be done to keep in touch with the day-to-day issues

Controlling the Project

Controlling a project, though similar to monitoring one, is more complicated
In principle, a project manager compares current states with planned values. If there is
discrepancy, the manager must consider what actions need to be taken
For any variance, there are three possible responses
o Ignore it and do nothing if the variance is acceptable
o Take corrective action:
Reconsider use of slack time to speed up the completion of tasks
Remove or reduce contingencies from estimates
Re-evaluate the dependencies of activities, modifying the Gantt chart
Increase the resources available, though this may increase the costs
Negotiate longer timescales
Make use of the available activity floats
o Cancel the project or re-evaluate its scope

Rescheduling

Milestone tracking can be used to record how dates for the milestones have evolved
during the project
It shows the present status of milestones and their progress over the life of the project

Issues Versus Risks

Risk log and issue logs are common practice to have in many projects. Something can
be managed as a risk, and if it occurs, is converted to an issue and managed
When an issue emerges, its implications must be assessed:
o Which aspects of the project are affected
o The effect on project schedules, costs and resources
o Whether there are possible solutions and their impact on the project
Depending on the reporting arrangements, problems may need to be dealt with
immediately
Over a long-term project, many issues may be identified and some may reoccur
Keeping a record may help avoid going over old ground

Reviewing Project Risks

The risk log must be continually reviewed to check whether the probability or impact of
some risks have changed or whether any new risks could affect the project
In monitoring project risks, these should be considered:
o Activities where there is very little or no slack or float in the schedule
o Activities taking a long time to complete
o Activities in which several people are involved in one task
o The relationship between each activity and the next
o Any point at which the people involved are doing a task for the first time
o Activities involving new or unfamiliar technology
Conduct Project Meetings

Regular progress reports to stakeholders must be given at meetings. Depending on the

material covered, the type of meeting is important
For project meetings, consider:
o Who needs to be informed
o About what
o How often
o By what means
There must be a clear purpose and focus of meetings and should be on schedules
Meetings should be time limited and given priority by the team members

Organising a Successful Project Meeting

Objectives

Set measurable objectives for what you want the meeting to achieve
This helps the meeting stay on track, achieve what was set out and make good use of
time

Participants and Meeting Size

Too many attendees who are not directly connected with the project can result in lots of
explaining for those who arent familiar with the details. This is a waste of time
Try to limit the number of people to those who have power to make decisions and those
that need to attend
Duration

Longer meetings do not always result in more decisions or a higher quality of decision-
making, as it is easy for participants to lose focus
Try to limit meetings to less than an hour

Location and Configuration

Make sure the physical environment is comfortable

If any technical equipment is used, make sure they are working without problems

Agenda

Meetings without an agenda result in unfocused participants and a risk of drifting off
topic
A crowded agenda may also be ineffective
o Meetings goals will not be accomplished
o Not everything will be discussed
o The meeting is of limited value to the sponsoring client, because it wastes
participants time
Circulate an agenda a few days before the meeting and ask participants to be prepared
to discuss agenda items for which they have responsibility
Allocate time for each item on the agenda and try not to exceed these timings

Minutes

Design a template for the minutes of project meetings

Keep the document short and conclude it with action points and the date of the next
meeting

Overcoming Problems in Project Meetings

Situation Reasons Strategies
Someone isnt Participants may be afraid to Invite quiet people to assume a
participating in share their idea due to role, establish a rule for involving
discussion judgement or intimidation everyone, get everyone to talk in
pairs first or use other tools of
communication
An over-talkative Overcompensation for lack of Give them a certain time to speak
and/or dominating confidence and then suggest others also have
individual a chance
People having side They dont feel engaged Ask whether everything is clear
conversations during and suggest side discussion left
the meeting until the end of the meeting
An individual who is Nervous about lack of sufficient Speak with the person separately
unable or unwilling budget, unsure whether line to resolve the issue
to take responsibility manager is happy for them to
for actions spend time on the project
Someone who Lack of confidence in project Give them more
constantly objectives, perhaps due to a responsibility/accountability for
complains about the lack of insight into the project success to demonstrate that they
way things are done can do better
A group that agrees Nervous about repercussions Play devils advocate to
with everything from disagreement challenge understanding and
ensure real buy-in

Earned Value Analysis

This technique helps understand whether the project is on plan, in terms of progress
and costs
It also looks at how to motivate and evaluate the project team
It also outlines how to conclude the project and what has been learned from the
experience
Earned value analysis is used to find variances between the work performed and work
planned, budget costs and actual expenditures and provides quantitative data for

project decision making

There are three dimensions in an earned value analysis
o The Budgeted Cost of the Work Scheduled (BCWS), known as planned value
o The Budgeted Cost of the Work Performed (BCWP), known as earned value
o The Actual Cost of the Work Performed (ACWP)
The planned value, or BCWS, quantifies how much work is planned to have been
accomplished at a given point in time. It is the sum of the budget costs of all the
activities planned to be done till that date
o In the example above, BCWS = 180 + 100 + 150 = 430
The BCWP is the budget value of what has been accomplished at a given point in time.
In other words, the budget cost of what has been done. It is given by the budget cost of
the activity times the percentage of accomplishment at that date
o In the example above, BCWP = 180*100% + 100*80% + 150*70% + 0 = 365
The ACWP represents how much has been spent at a given point in time
o For above, ACWP = 200 + 100 + 150 = 450
The schedule variance is defined as BCWP BCWS. This is a comparison of the amount
of work performed during a given period of time with what was scheduled to be
performed. A negative variance means the project is behind schedule
o For above, schedule variance = 365 430 = - 65
Cost variance is defined as BCWP ACWP. It is a comparison of the budgeted cost of
work performed with the actual costs to that moment
o For above, cost variance = 365 450 = - 85
 The matrix is used to communicate the
condition of the project to any stakeholder
Project performance can be calculated using the
Schedule Performance Index (SPI) and the Cost
Performance Index (CPI)
For SPI, an index of 1 is on schedule, and an
index of less than 1 is behind schedule
o SPI = BCWP/BCWS = 365/430 = 0.85
For CPI, an index of 1 indicates the project is on
budget, and an index less than 1 indicates an
overspend against budget
o CPI = BCWP/ACWP = 365/450 = 0.81
The Cost Schedule Index (CSI) is SPI*CPI and is a measurement of the overall efficiency
of the project. The more the CPI is below 1, the harder it will be to recover the project
o CSI = 0.81*0.85 = 0.69

Motivate and Evaluate a Project Team

The main constituents of team effectiveness are the satisfaction of individual
membership needs, successful team interaction, and the achievement of team tasks
The elements are not discrete and can be derived from many sources
o E.g. For team member satisfaction, it does not only come from completing tasks,
but also from the quality of team relationships and the social aspects of team
working

Team and Individual Motivation

How goals are set, individual and team performance, and the confidence in the ability
to get results as individuals or as a team relate all to each other
It is possible to think of a model that connects team and individual motivation
Self-efficacy is the belief in ones capacities to attain results, and similarly, team
efficacy as a groups shared belief in its conjoint capabilities to attain certain results
Individual goal-striving captures members personal efforts towards team goals
This may involve performing a role within the team, as well as assisting the team in
other ways, such as helping other members perform their roles
Team action processes capture members collective efforts towards team goals, which
includes engagement in the four dimensions of team action processes:
 o Monitoring progress assessing how the team does relative to its mission/task
goals
o System monitoring tracking material resources and external conditions as they
relate to accomplishing objectives
o Team monitoring and backup behaviours assisting team members in performing
their roles
o Coordination orchestrating the sequence and timing of interdependent actions
Enacting practices to improve team action processes may also improve individual
performance and motivation

Reward Systems and Outcomes

In defining the rewards for the team, it should be considered what outcome is expected
to be obtained and how it should be distributed

Extrinsic rewards can be financial, material, or social

Intrinsic rewards are driven by positive feelings associated with doing well on a task or
job, such as feelings of competence or accomplishment
Distribution criteria can be based on results or on actions and behaviour
Results are tangible outcomes related to individual, group, or organisational
performance
Distribution criteria based on behaviour can be related to teamwork, cooperation, risk
taking and creativity
Other criteria are non-performance considerations, such as the type of job, tenure or
seniority
A good reward system should be oriented towards attracting, motivating, developing,
satisfying and retaining employees

Evaluation of Project Managers and Project Team Members

Teams can be evaluated on two dimensions:
o Technical implementation as measured against project objectives, quality,
schedules, and cost targets
 o Team performance as
measured by the ability
of staff to build an
effective task group,
interface with other
groups and integrate in
the company
Projects are one-off works,
therefore, incentives to reward a
project team can be difficult as
project teams may not appear
on an organisational chart
Project team incentive plans
usually have some combination
of:
o Project milestones
o Unexpected
improvements
o Project completion
o Value added
Each dimension is measure on a
scale from excellent to
unsatisfactory

Project Closure
As many activities approach completion, it may become harder to coordinate activities,
and there is a risk of losing track of some of them
Some activities may even arise that werent in the original plan
A solution is to draw a closure plan and create a punch list, which is a short list of the
activities the team has to do to close the project
This helps keep team members focused during the last critical phases of the project

Project Completion Checklist

Another good practice is to create a checklist to remind team members of all the
required elements to close the project and to be sure all stakeholders expectations
were met
Heerkens (2005) proposed a template

Customer Issues Organisational Issues Personnel Issues Administrative/Other

Issues
Complete all Summarise Recognise/rewar Dispose of leftover
deliverables learning; d team project material
Install and test communicate to performance Close down
deliverables the organisation Write temporary site
Prepare operating Prepare final performance operations
manual technical reports evaluations for Submit final
Prepare Evaluate project project team invoices
maintenance performance Assist in Forward all final
manual Conduct final reassignment of payments
Train customers review with project Close out project
personnel management personnel charge codes and
Agree on level of Prepare project work orders
 follow-up support historical files and
Conduct formal place in archive
acceptance
review with
customer
Verify customer
satisfaction

Once the final project deliverables are delivered, and the deliverables have been
accepted, the responsibility and ownership shifts from the project team to the sponsor
(client), or to the end users

Learning from Close Projects

Project reviews test whether or not the objectives in the plan have been achieved, as
well as assessing the achievement of the benefits identified in the business case
The problems faced, the causes and solutions should be reflected on
Good practices developed should also be noted:
o Invite stakeholders to submit input
o Examine successes as well as problems
o Be sensitive in investigating critical issues, such as failures and individual
performance issues
o Keep notes up to date
o In drafting lessons learned, do not last only what went well and what didnt,
but explain how they were detected and solved
o Try to generalise conclusions for the audience of the company
o Include lessons learned reviews as a front-end activity in the new project
lifecycle