PROJECT MANAGEMENT
●What are the pros and cons of working in a team?
●What makes a good project team?
● How can team members be motivated?
● What kinds of projects have you been involved in and what was your role?
● What are the challenges of leading multinational teams?
● Do you have difficulty meeting deadlines?
● Why might a project fall behind schedule?
PROJECTS AND PROJECT LIFE CYCLE
A project is a set of tasks that must be completed to achieve planned objectives. These tasks are
completed by a group of people known as the project team, which is led by a project manager, who
oversees the planning, scheduling, tracking and successful completion of projects. A project is usually
considered successful if it achieves the objectives within an agreed timescale and budget.
The project life cycle is the order of processes and phases used in delivering projects. It consists of five main
stages:
1. Initiation - The starting phase where the need or opportunity for the project is identified. During this
phase, the project's objectives, scope, feasibility, and stakeholders are defined.
2. Planning - Project managers and teams define project goals, deliverables, tasks, schedules, budgets,
resources, and risk management strategies.
3. Execution - Teams execute the tasks according to the project plan, and project managers oversee the
progress, monitor resources, and communicate with stakeholders.
4. Monitoring & Controlling - The project's progress is tracked against the project plan. Key
performance indicators (KPIs) are used to measure and assess the project's performance. Regular
status reports and updates are provided to stakeholders.
5. Closure - Finalising and delivering project deliverables, obtaining formal acceptance from
stakeholders, and closing out contracts and resources. A post-project review is often conducted to
evaluate the project's overall success and identify areas for improvement.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project management is the application of processes, methods, skills, knowledge and experience to
meet project deliverables within agreed parameters.
A key factor that distinguishes project management from management as such is that it has this final
deliverable and a specific timespan, unlike management which is an ongoing process. Therefore, a project
professional needs a wide range of skills, often technical skills, people management skills, and good business
awareness.
Project managers are responsible for day-to-day management of projects. Their tasks typically include:
● planning what work needs to be done, when and who is going to do it,
● looking at the risks involved in a particular project and managing these risks,
● making sure the work is done to the right standard,
● motivating the team of people involved in the project,
● co-ordinating work done by different people,
● making sure the project is running on time and to budget,
● dealing with changes to the project when necessary,
● making sure the project delivers the expected outcomes and benefits.
Project management skills
Successful project managers need the right balance and combination of various skills. Soft skills are called
“non-technical skills,” or skills that can help improve quality of work without a specific tool or technical
requirement. These are also called “people skills” or “interpersonal skills” because they often help project
managers work with and relate to others in their workspace:
● COLLABORATION helps get work done quickly and more efficiently. Coordinating across teams brings
valuable insights into a project, makes it more creative and well-developed.
● TEAMWORK is more effective and it ensures that everyone feels welcome, valued, and they are
supported to contribute.
● COMMUNICATION - Miscommunications are common when working with a group of people.
Learning how to communicate well will make projects run more smoothly and be more enjoyable.
Communicating well also includes listening to others.
● TIME MANAGEMENT goes hand in hand with ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS. Improvement of these skills
and also reduction of procrastination can be ensured by prioritising tasks.
● LEADERSHIP - Good leaders bring everyone together and make them feel supported to foster
teamwork and collaboration.
● PROBLEM-SOLVING - People with good problem-solving skills do not necessarily have the “right”
answer to every problem but they are able to approach problems from new perspectives and work
methodically towards a solution.
● CRITICAL THINKING, like problem-solving, does not have a “solution.” Problems may be approached
logically instead of decisions being based on emotions. Good critical thinkers practise analysing
information and form their own conclusions based on facts.
● ADAPTABILITY - Great project managers are able to adapt to new situations to continue steering their
project team in the right direction.
● CONFLICT RESOLUTION - Addressing both sides of the conflict so everyone feels heard and supported.
Unlike soft skills, hard skills are quantifiable abilities. While the soft skills are applicable to many work skills,
the following hard skills are relevant specifically to project management:
● PROJECT PLANNING will typically include objectives, success metrics, stakeholders and roles, scope
and budget, milestones, deliverables, project dependencies, schedule, and a communication plan.
Some of these may be defined in the project roadmap.
● PROJECT SCOPING - Project scope is the size, goals, and limitations (i.e. deadlines and resources) for
a project.
● HOSTING a project kick-off meeting that presents an opportunity to clarify the project goals and
scope and specify roles and responsibilities on the project.
● PROJECT ROADMAPPING - A project roadmap is a high-level overview of the project’s key
deliverables and timeline.
Technical skills refer to the knowledge of specific tools and software within project management:
● Project management SOFTWARE SKILLS
● GANTT CHARTS are a way to visualise the project as a
horizontal bar chart, where each bar represents a piece of
work and the length of each bar represents the amount of
time that work will take.
● Project milestones
● Dependencies
● Real-time project progress
● Start and end dates
● KANBAN BOARDS - Each column in a Kanban board
represents a stage of work, such as New, In progress, or
Done. Individual work is represented by cards, which move
through the columns until they are completed.
● AGILE MANAGEMENT - Agile management is a lean project management methodology that is
particularly popular with product, engineering, and software development teams.
● WORKLOAD MANAGEMENT - Workload management helps measure a team’s capacity and make
sure they are not over- or under-worked.
● COST MANAGEMENT - Cost management is considering how each task impacts the budget at every
stage of the project.
● CHANGE MANAGEMENT - Change management is the process of introducing organisational change,
such as new processes or tools, over a set period of time to make them easier to adapt to.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs)
Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are a set of quantifiable tools that a company or industry uses to measure
and compare performance in terms of meeting their strategic and operational goals. KPIs vary between
companies and industries, depending on their priorities or performance criteria.
KPIs are usually developed following the well-known S.M.A.R.T. criteria:
● Specific
● Measurable
● Achievable
● Result-oriented or Relevant
● Time-bound
There are four different types of project management KPIs:
TIMELINESS KPIs ensure that all of a project’s activities are done on time, and if they are lagging behind
schedule, an estimated completion date can always be calculated. Timeliness KPIs include for example Cycle
Time and Planned Hours vs Time Spent.
QUALITY KPIs help check the quality of the work done so far and how the project team benefits from the
project development process.
BUDGET KPIs ask serious questions and determine how much funding is being spent on the project
development process and if it is exceeding that budget.
EFFECTIVENESS KPIs are the resource monitoring ones, and they determine how you spend the allocated
resources for the project and how you use them more effectively.
Match examples of important project management KPIs and their descriptions.
1. Cycle Time A. It shows the total number of people working on the project multiplied by
the total percentage of time they have in their schedule to work on it.
2. Cost Performance
Index (CPI)
B. The time necessary to complete a specific task or process in the project
development process.
3. Number of Errors C. This KPI compares the budget cost of the work that the whole team has
done so far to the amount of money spent on the project.
4. Resource Capacity D. This KPI measures the total number of situations when things related to the
project have to be redone.
5. Number of Cancelled
Projects
E. It measures the client’s loyalty to a specific project or product or the overall
company.
6. Customer Satisfaction F. It shows how much the initial value of the budget allocated to the project
development process has been changed.
7. Budget Variance G. This KPI tracks all important stages or events related to the project
development process, checking to see if they are being completed promptly.
8. Number of Project
Milestones Achieved on
Time
H. It tracks the total number of projects eliminated from the development
queue or pending to be worked on.
Listening activity 1
1. Before you do the listening task, think about why big projects might fail.
2. Listen to a talk on why big projects go wrong and answer the questions below.
1. What are some examples of construction projects in various countries that experienced budget
overruns and delays?
2. What is the subject of the new book "How Big Things Get Done" by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner?
3. According to one of the authors, what percentage of projects finish on time and on budget?
4. What is "strategic misrepresentation" in the context of project planning, and why is it used?
5. What approach does Pixar take in developing and testing their films, and why?
6. Why do solar-power and wind-power installations have a better chance of success compared to large
projects?
7. What are examples of mitigating the risks in big projects?
8. What lessons can managers from various fields learn from the information about mitigating risks in
their projects?
Listening activity 2
Listen to a talk on the Critical Path Method and complete
the gaps with the words you hear.
Step one of the Critical Path Method is to (1)
________________ each activity.
Step two is to (2) ________________ the activities.
Step three is to draw a network diagram using (3) ________________ to connect the activities shown as (4)
________________, in which we can write important information.
Step four is to (5) ________________ the duration of each activity.
Step five is to (6) ________________ the critical path, which is the (7) ________________ route through the
network. Any delay will lengthen the critical path, which will delay the (8) ________________ of the project.
Step six is to use the critical path to monitor, plan and to show (9) ________________.
This method also makes it possible to (10) ________________ the earliest and the latest possible start times
for activities. It shows the float, i.e. the ability to (11) ________________ the start time of an activity without
(12) ________________ the completion of the whole project. If the duration of every route through the
network is the same, the project has been (13) ________________.
The Critical Path Method is a way to understand the (14) ________________ of a project and calculate its
(15) ________________.
The Gantt chart is a different (16) ________________ of the same information, and the Critical Path Method
is only one way to plan, display and (17) ________________ the progress of a project.
Video activity
1. Before you watch the video, think about possible challenges of managing multiple projects
simultaneously.
2. Watch the video below on handling multiple projects and answer the following questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsIIiSWbOWE
1. Why do many project managers prefer having one project?
2. Why do some project managers like to work on more projects?
3. Why might it be a good idea to manage one more thing than we can comfortably handle?
4. What are the recent findings about multitasking?
5. What two aspects are important when it comes to managing multiple projects?
6. In project management, what warning signs should individuals watch for in themselves?
Revision time:
Wordwall set - Project management (definitions) - a match-up activity
Wordwall set - Project life cycle - a match-up activity
Quizlet - Project management (translation)
LearningApps - Project management (collocations)
LearningApps - Project management (word formation)
LearningApps - Finding a great project manager - an open cloze exercise
Wordwall set - Project management KPIs - group sort
Sources:
https://www.apm.org.uk/
https://www.asana.com
https://www.economist.com/business/2023/03/16/from-high-speed-rail-to-the-olympics-why-do-big-
projects-go-wrong
https://www.ntaskmanager.com/blog/project-management-kpis/
https://www.projectmanagement.com/wikis/345150/key-performance-indicators
https://www.projectmanager.com/
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/
https://www.dictionary.cambridge.org/
https://www.investopedia.com/
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/
https://slovniky.lingea.cz/anglicko-cesky
Dubicka, Iwonna and O'Keeffe, Margaret. Market Leader Advanced. Pearson Longman, 2008.
Definitions:
acceptance the act of agreeing with something and approving of it
achieve to succeed in doing something good, usually by working hard
adaptability ability to change to suit different situations or uses
agile a way of managing projects in which work is divided into a series of short tasks,
with regular breaks to review the work and adapt the plans
allocated given officially for a particular purpose
applicable affecting or relating to a person or thing
approach to deal with something
assess to make a judgement about the quality, size, value, etc. of something
awareness knowledge and understanding of a particular activity, subject, etc.
bar chart a diagram that uses lines or narrow rectangles (= bars) of different heights (but
equal widths) to show different amounts, so that they can be compared
board a thin flat piece of hard material which is usually attached to a wall in order to
show information about something
budget the amount of money you have available to spend
clarify to make something clear or easier to understand by giving more details or a
simpler explanation
close out to complete something by doing the last thing that is needed or possible
column any vertical block of words or numbers
completion the time when something that you are doing or making is finished
conclusion something that you decide when you have thought about all the information
connected with the situation
conduct to organise and perform a particular activity
contribute to add new plans or ideas, or help make improvements to something so that it
becomes more valuable or successful
day-to-day happening every day
deliver to produce something that has been promised
deliverable something that must be completed or provided as part of a project
dependency a task that relies on the completion of a different task
determine to decide what will happen
distinguish to make one person or thing seem different from another
ensure to make sure that something happens
exceed to be more than a particular number or amount
execute to do or perform something, especially in a planned way
execution the act of doing or performing something in a planned way
feasibility the quality of being possible and likely to be achieved
foster to encourage the development or growth of ideas or feelings
funding money for a particular purpose
hosting setting up and managing
insight a clear, deep, and sometimes sudden understanding of a complicated problem
or situation
interpersonal skills skills that contribute to dealing successfully with other people
key very important and having a lot of influence on other people or things
key performance
indicators
a set of quantifiable measurements used to measure a company’s overall longterm
performance
kick-off meeting the first official meeting at the start of a project
lag behind to move more slowly than someone or something
leadership the ability to be a leader or the qualities a good leader should have
lean strong and efficient because they do not have more employees than is
necessary
limitation a fact or condition that limits something
metrics a set of numbers or statistics used for measuring something, especially results
that show how well a business, school, computer program, etc. is doing
milestone a very important stage or event in the development of something
miscommunication failure to communicate ideas or intentions successfully
objective something that you are trying to achieve; a goal
ongoing continuing to exist or develop, or happening at the present moment
operational relating to the activities involved in doing or producing something
order the way in which things are placed or arranged in relation to each other
outcome a result or effect of an action, situation, etc.
overall general, considering everything
oversee to watch work as it is done in order to make certain that it is done correctly
parameters something that decides or limits the way in which something can be done
people skills the ability to communicate with people in a friendly way and therefore deal with
them effectively
prioritise to arrange in order of importance so that you can deal with the most important
things before the others
quantifiable able to be measured
resolution a definite decision to do or not to do something
resources a useful or valuable possession or quality that a person or organisation has, for
example, money, time, or skills
review an examination of something, with the intention of changing it if necessary
roadmap a plan for how to achieve something
schedule to arrange that an event or an activity will happen at a particular time
scope the range of things that a subject, an organisation, an activity, etc. deals with
smoothly easily and without interruption or difficulty
specify to explain or describe something clearly and exactly
stakeholder a person or company that is involved in a particular organisation, project,
system, etc., especially because they have invested money in it
status report a document that describes the progress of a project within a specific time period
and compares it against the project plan
steer to take control of a situation and influence the way in which it develops
time-bound requiring completion within a specified period of time
timeline a plan that shows how long something will take or when things will happen
timeliness the quality of happening at exactly the right time
timescale the period of time over which something happens
timespan a period of time within which something happens
track to record the progress or development of something over a period
valuable very helpful and important
visualise to make something able to be seen
workload the amount of work to be done by a particular person in a period of time
Listening and video activities
arrow a symbol used to show a direction
Critical Path Method a method of planning in what order tasks need to be done in a particular project,
so that it can be finished successfully in the least amount of time
display to arrange something somewhere so that people can see it
duration the amount of time that something lasts
finding a piece of information that is discovered during an official examination of a
problem, situation, or object
network a system of connected parts
route the paths you follow to get from one place to another place
warning sign an early signal that something bad or dangerous might happen