1

An introduction to
Project Management
Copyright

2007 Dennis Lock and his licensors. All rights reserved.

Welcome to these

Photo: Studio 86 Photography Ltd

supporting
presentations for
the ninth edition of
my Gower book

Project
Management

The history of
project management
(in about 30 seconds)

Before 1900 . . .
Wonderful

projects

People

cheap, plentiful, even expendable

( project a big success, NOT MANY KILLED! )
Urgency

not driven by the rat-race

No

management scientists!

No

recognized profession of project manager

1900 - 1949
Emergence
Experts
Henry
Early

of management science

begin to study work and people at work

Gantt introduces his famous chart

development of critical path networks

1950 - 1970
US

defence projects exploit network analysis

Big

mainframe computers can run project

management software
Project

management becomes a recognized

profession
More

concern for people

1970 - 1980
Two

meanings for project management:

1 management of industrial projects

2 management of IT projects
Development
More

of professional associations

project management software

Protective

legislation for people

- anti-discrimination and health and safety laws

1980 - 1990
Desktop
Project
Wider

PCs run project management software

managers less dependent on IT experts

acceptance of project management as a

profession

1990 2000+
PCs

and notebooks can run all applications

More

interest in project risk management

IT

and industrial project management no longer

regarded so differently
Project

management is a respected profession

Professional

associations flourish

Communications

by satellites and the Internet

For a serious history of project management

read ...
Morris, Peter (1997)

The management of projects

London, Thomas Telford

What is a project?

Silly things that people say:

A project is something that has:

a definite start
objectives
a budget
resources
a definite finish
But thats only part of the story

Consider:
You give junior the following instructions:
Go to Tesco
Go now
Buy a joint of lamb
Don't spend more than 5.00
Be back here in time for lunch

Was that a project?

Or a joint venture?

Another definition of a 'project':

A project is something that

causes a change

Consider:
Pick up one piece of wood
Saw it in half
You now have two pieces of wood
Have you created a change?

Was that a project?

Whats special about a project?

1 Novelty:
A project is likely to be different
from anything done before
2 Risk:
There is usually some uncertainty
about meeting the objectives

Different project types have:

. . . Different environments
. . . Different kinds of people involved
. . . But many common principles

Four different types

of projects . . .

Civil or chemical engineering and

construction projects
- construction
- land reclamation
- tunnels and bridges
- mining and quarrying
- petrochemical plant
- oil and gas

Shaft sinking at an Australian nickel mine

Manufacturing projects
(the outcome is a product)
new product development
equipment manufacture
shipbuilding
heavy engineering
aircraft construction
pharmaceuticals
food processing

Ingersoll milling machine

Management projects
(often in-house)
- organize an exhibition or stage
play
- relocate a company
- quality improvement project
- marketing project
- new production or IT facility
- disaster recovery

Projects for pure scientific research

- high risk of failure

- also possibility of high
rewards
- possible public
apprehension
- outcome often
unpredictable

The life cycle

of a project

Project life cycle

Concept

Design

Execute

Deliver or
handover

One definition of a project life cycle

Warning!
Theres a picture of a big but on the
next slide.
Anyone who might be offended should
close their eyes now.

BUT...

Full project life history

Concept
and
appraisal

Design

Make

Handover

Operate

Maintain/
repair

Scrap
(end of
useful life)

Project management phase

A complete project life cycle . . .

. . . doesn't end until the project has no further use

In nature, life cycles are so-called because of

events or organisms that renew themselves.
In that sense, project life cycles are not really
true life cycles, but rather life histories.
However, a commercial or industrial project is
usually a cycle in the sense that it:
begins with a customer
passes to a contractor, and
when finished is handed back to the customer.

This is how it often happens

7
The
The satisfied
customer
customer
pays
6
Test and
handover

5
Make
or build

4
Buy goods
and services

1
Agree the
specification

2
Plan work
and resources

3
Make
drawings

Project phase
1 Original concept
2 Feasibility study
3 Business plan
4 Risk assessment
5 Public enquiry
6 Authorization
7 Organization
8 Planning
9 Design
10 Procurement
11 Fulfilment
12 Test/commission
13 Handover
14 Economic life
15 Disposal

Five-year periods

A more comprehensive view of a life history for a big project

(We should hope that the economic life would be longer than
we could show in the above space)

We shall revisit this life history in later shows

End of Presentation 1