Project Management for NGOs

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Project Management for NGOs

• An overview of project management concepts, tools
  processes

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Objectives of this training

• To introduce participants to key project
  management concepts and tools, and the importance
  of managing projects in a consistent, disciplined
  and systematic way
• To explore the ways in which these concepts and
  tools can be applied appropriately

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Agenda for the day

• Morning 930am 1315pm
• Introduction to Project Management
• Project Initiation
• Project Planning Part I
• LUNCH
• Afternoon 1415pm 1700pm
• Project Planning Part II
• Project Execution
• Project Monitoring and Control
• Project Closure

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• Introduction to Project Management
• Work, projects, life cycles and processes

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Organisations and work

• Organisations perform work to achieve objectives
• Work is
• Performed by people
• Constrained by limited resources
• Planned, executed and controlled
• Work generally involves either
• Operations, which are ongoing and repetitive, or
• Projects, which are temporary and unique

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What are operations?

• Ongoing, repetitive work performed to sustain
  the organisation
• An organisational function performing the
  ongoing execution of activities that produce the
  same product or provide a repetitive service.1
• Examples of operations include
• Accounting operations
• Administrative operations
• RD

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What is a project?

• Work undertaken to achieve an objective
• A temporary endeavour undertaken to create a
  unique product, service or result.2
• Temporary
• Every project has a definite beginning and a
  definite end
• Unique
• Projects produce things that have not been
  produced before

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What is a project? (contd)

• Work involving a certain degree of uncertainty
  (i.e. risk)
• Work that must be progressively elaborated
• Examples of projects are
• Development of a new product or service
• A planned action of social intervention
• Development and execution of an advocacy campaign

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What is a project life cycle?

• The phases that define the beginning and end of
  a project
• The points at which sign-off is (generally)
  required
• Defined to provide better management control
• "A collection of generally sequential project
  phases whose name and number are determined by
  the control needs of the organisation or
  organisations involved in the project."3

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A generic project life cycle
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What is project management?

• The application of knowledge, skills, tools and
  techniques to project activities to meet project
  requirements.4
• Work performed by the project team, typically
  involving
• Competing demands for scope, time and cost
• Stakeholders with differing needs and
  expectations
• Identified requirements
• Accomplished through an iterative process

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What is a process?

• A series of actions bringing about a result
• A way to
• Increase the quality of results produced
• Increase the consistency of results produced
• "A set of interrelated actions or activities
  performed to achieve a specified set of products,
  services or results."4

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What is the project management process?

• A set of five process groups
• Initiating processes
• performed to authorise and define the scope of a
  new phase or project or that can result in the
  continuation of halted project work
• Planning processes
• performed to define and mature the project
  scope, develop the project management plan, and
  identify and schedule the project activities
  within the project
• Executing processes
• performed to complete the work defined in the
  project management plan to accomplish the
  project's objectives defined in the project scope
  statement
• Monitoring and controlling processes
• performed to measure and monitor project
  execution so that corrective action can be taken
  when necessary to control the execution of the
  phase or project
• Closing processes
• performed to finalise all activities across all
  of the project process groups to formally close
  the project or phase

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The project management process
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• BREAK

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• Project Initiation
• Describing planned outcomes

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Project Initiation

• Initiating processes performed to authorise
  and define the scope of a new project or phase or
  that can result in the continuation of halted
  project work
• These processes describe planned project
  outcomes and focus on WHY the project is being
  undertaken
• They answer the question, "How does this project
  help our organisation achieve its strategic
  goals?"
• Commonly, this information is captured in a
  PRODUCT DESCRIPTION document

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• Project Planning Part I
• Defining scope, time and cost

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Project Planning

• Planning processes performed to define and
  mature the project scope, develop the project
  management plan, and identify and schedule the
  project activities within the project
• These processes define scope, time and cost and
  focus on WHAT is to be developed and HOW it is to
  be developed
• They answer the question, "Who is doing what and
  by when?"
• Commonly, this information is developed by
• Developing a SCOPE STATEMENT
• Developing a WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS)

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• LUNCH

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• Project Planning Part II
• Defining scope, time and cost

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Project Planning (cont'd)

• Completing a RESPONSIBILITY ASSIGNMENT MATRIX
• Conducting a RISK BRAINSTORMING SESSION
• Developing a RISK RESPONSE PLAN
• Developing EFFORT ESTIMATES AND ASSUMPTIONS

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• BREAK

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Project Planning (cont'd)

• Developing a PROJECT SCHEDULE, and finally
• Developing a STATEMENT OF WORK

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• Project Execution
• Putting the plan into action

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Project Execution

• Executing processes performed to complete the
  work defined in the project management plan to
  accomplish the project's objectives defined in
  the project scope statement
• These processes put the plan into action
• While the plan is being executed, the project
  manager issues
• Regular PROJECT STATUS UPDATES
• And if necessary, CHANGE REQUESTS

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• Project Monitoring and Control
• Tracking progress and responding to change

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Project Monitoring and Control

• Monitoring and controlling processes performed
  to measure and monitor project execution so that
  corrective action can be taken when necessary to
  control the execution of the phase or project
• These processes track progress and respond to
  change
• While tracking progress, the project manager will
  coordinate the completion of
• LESSONS LEARNED documentation

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• Project Closure
• Reviewing performance and lessons learned

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Project Closure

• Closing processes finalising all activities
  across all of the project process groups to
  formally close the project or phase
• These processes focus on reviewing performance
  and lessons learned, usually in the form of a
  project retrospective meeting

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Endnotes

• 1 Project Management Institute, A Guide to the
  Project Management Body of Knowledge Third
  Edition (PMBOK Guide). (Pennsylvania Project
  Management Institute, 2004) 365.
• 2 Project Management Institute 368.
• 3 Project Management Institute 368.
• 4 Project Management Institute 368.

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Thank you!

• For more information, please visit
• http//importantprojects.co.uk