BUSI 313 Project Management
Chapter 13 Progress and Performance Measurement and Evaluation
October 1, 2020
A project monitoring system involves determining what data to collect; how, when, and
who will collect the data; analysis of the data; and reporting current progress.
Typical key data collected for project control are actual activity duration times, resource
usage and rates, and actual costs, which are compared against planned times, resources,
and budgets.
oThe performance metrics you need to collect should support answering these
questions.
Typically, project progress reports are designed and communicated in written or oral
form
oCommon format is as follows:
-Progress since last report
-Current status of project
1. Schedule
2. Cost
3. Scope
-Cumulative trends
-Problems and issues since last report
1. Actions ad resolution of earlier problems
2. New variances and problems identified
Control is the process of comparing actual performance against plan to identify
deviations, evaluate possible alternative courses of actions, and take appropriate
corrective action
oThe project control steps for measuring and evaluating project performance are
1. Setting a baseline plan: this provides the elements for measuring
performance. It is derived from the cost and duration info found in the work
breakdown structure database and time-sequence data from the network
and resource scheduling decisions.
2. Measuring progress and performance : Time and budgets are quantitative
measures of performance that readily fit into the integrated information
system
3. Comparing plan against actual: it is imperative to measure deviations from
plan to determine if action is necessary. Periodic monitoring and measuring
the status of the project allow for comparisons of actual versus expected
plans
4. Taking action : if deviations from plans are significant, corrective action will be
needed to bring the project back in line with the original or revised plan
Earned Value: the budgeted cost of the work performed, the actual percent complete x
budget at completion (BAC). What we have done, not what we have planned.
A major goal of progress reporting is to catch any negative variances from plan as early
as possible to determine if corrective action is necessary.
oThe project network schedule, derived from the WBS/OBS serves as the baseline
to compare against actual performance
oGantt charts, control charts, and milestone schedules are the typical tools used
for communicating project schedule status
Control chart: another tool used to monitor past project schedule performance and
current performance and to estimate future schedule trends
Milestone schedules are often used to keep more distal stakeholders informed on the
progress of a project
Earned value management (EVM): a methodology that combines scope, schedule, and
resource measurements to assess project performance and progress
oUses data developed from the WBS, project network, and schedule
oStarts with a time-phased costs that provide the project budget baseline, which
is called the planned budgeted value of the work scheduled (PV)
The baseline (PV) is the sum of the cost accounts, and each cost account is the sum of
the work packages in the cost account.
The method for measuring accomplishments centers on two key computations:
1. Comparing earned value with the expected schedule value
2. Comparing earned value with the actual costs
Cost Variance (CV)= EV-AC
oTells us if the work accomplished costs more or less than what was planned at
any point over the life of the project
Schedule variance (SV)= EV-PV
oPresents an overall assessment of all work packages in the project scheduled to
date
Variance at completion (VAC)=BAC-EAC
PV= planned percentage complete x BAC
Cost performance index (CPI)=EV/AC
oMeasures cost efficiency of the work accomplished to date
oIf the index is =1, the CPI is on cost and SPI on schedule
oIf the index is >1, CPI is under cost, and SPI is ahead of schedule
oIf the index is <1, CPI is over cost and SPI is behind schedule
Scheduling performance index (SPI)= EV/PV
oMeasures scheduling efficiency to date
Percent complete index budget costs (PCIB)= EV/BAC
Percent complete index actual costs (PCIC)= AC/EAC
Management reserve index (MRI)= CV/MR
oIs popular in the construction industry
oReflects the amount of management reserves that has been absorbed by cost
overruns
0/100 rule: assumes 100% of the budget is earned when the work package is completed
To complete Performance Index (TCPI)= (BAC-EV) / (BAC-AC)
oUsed as a supplement to the estimate at completion (EACƒ) computation
oMeasures the amount of value each remaining dollar in the budget must earn to
stay within the budget
BUSU 313 Project Management
Chapter 14 Project Closure
October 7, 2020
The three major deliverables for project closure:
1. Wrapping up the project: the major wrap-up task is to ensure the project is
approved and accepted by the customer.
2. Project audit: audits are post-project reviews of how successful the project
was. They include casual analysis and thorough retrospectives that identify
lessons learned.
3. Evaluation of performance and management of the project: evaluation
includes the team, individual team members, and project manager
performance. Vendors and the customer may provide external input.
Types of Project Closure:
oNormal: the most common circumstance for project closure is simply a
completed project.
oPremature: for a few projects, the project may be completed early with some
part of the project eliminated.
oPerpetual: some projects never seem to end. The major characteristic of this kind
of project is constant “add-ons” suggesting a poorly conceived project scope.
oFailed project: failed projects are usually easy to identify and easy for a review
group to close down.
oChanged priority: organizations’ priorities often change and strategies shift
directions.
Communicating a closure and review plan and schedule early allows the project team to
accept the psychological fact the project will end and prepare to move on.
oThe ideal scenario is to have each team members next assignment ready when
project completion is announced.
Project closure usually includes the following six major activities:
oGetting delivery acceptance from the customer
oShutting down resources and releasing to new uses
oReassigning project team members
oClosing accounts and seeing that all bills are paid
oDelivering the project to the customer
oCreating a final report
Project audits use performance measures and forecast data. They not only examine
project success but also review why the project was selected.
oProject audits include a check on the organizational culture to ensure it facilitates
the type of project being implemented.
oThey assess if the project team is functioning well and is appropriately staffed.
oAudits make recommendations and articulate lessons learned.
In-process project audits: project audits early in projects allow for corrective changes, if
they are needed, on the audited project or others in progress. They concentrate on
project progress and performance and check if conditions have changed.
Post-project audits: these audits tend to include more detail and depth than in-process
project audits. Project audits of completed projects emphasize improving the
management of future projects. Theses audits are more long term oriented than in-
process audits. Post-audits do check on project performance, but the audit represents a
broader view of the project’s role in the organization; for example, were the strategic
benefits claimed actually delivered?
Early in-process project audits tend to perfunctory unless serious problems or concerns
are identified.
The Project Audit Process
1. The philosophy must be that the project audit is not a witch hunt.
2. Comments about individuals or groups participating in the project should be
minimized. Keep to project issues, not what happened or who did what.
3. Audit activities should be intensely sensitive to human emotions and
reactions. The inherent threat to those being evaluated should be reduced as
much as possible.
4. The accuracy of data should be verifiable or noted as subjective, judgmental,
or hearsay.
5. Senior management should announce support for the project audit and see
that the audit group has access to all information, project participants, and
project customers.
6. The attitude toward a project audit and its aftermath depends on the modus
operandi of the audit leadership and group. The objective is no to prosecute.
The objective is to learn and conserve valuable organizational resources
where mistakes have been made. Friendliness, empathy, and objectivity
encourage cooperation and reduce anxiety.
7. The audit should be completed as quickly as is reasonable.
The project audit divided into 3 steps:
1. Initiation and staffing: initiation of the audit process depends primarily on
organization size and project size, along with other factors.
2. Data Collection and Analysis: each organization and project is unique.
Therefore, the specific kinds of information that will be collected depend
upon the industry, project size, newness of technology, and project
experience.
oInformation and data are gathered to answer questions similar to the following:
Organization View
Was the organizational culture supportive and correct for this type of
project?
Was senior management’s support adequate?
Did the project accomplish its intended purpose?
Were the risks for the project appropriately identified and assessed?
Were contingency plans used? Were they realistic? Have risk events
occurred that have an impact greater than anticipated?
Were the right people and talents assigned to this project?
What does evaluation from outside contractors suggest?
Were the project start-up and hand-off successful?
Project Team View
Were the project planning and control systems appropriate for this type
of project? Should all projects of a similar size and type use these
systems?
Did the project conform to plan? Is the project over or under budget and
schedule?
Were interfaces and communications with project stakeholders adequate
and effective?
Did the team have adequate access to organizational resources- people,
budget, support groups, equipment? Were the resources conflicts with
other ongoing projects?
Was the team managed well? Were problems confronted, not avoided?
3. Reporting: the major goal of the audit report is to improve the way future
projects are managed. The report attempts to capture needed changes and
lessons learned from a current or finished project. The report serves as a
training instrument for project managers of future projects.
General outline:
1. Classification: allows prospective readers and project managers to be
selective in the use of the report content. Typical classification categories
include; project type, size, number of staff, technology level, strategi or
support.
2. Analysis: includes succinct, factual review statements of the project, such as
scope objectives, quality objectives, cost objectives, schedule objectives,
summary of risks and issues encountered, and outcomes achieved.
3. Recommendations: represent major corrective actions that should take place.
They are often technical and focus on solutions to problems that surfaced.
4. Lessons learned: serve as reminders of mistakes easily avoided and actions
easily taken to ensure success.
5. Appendix: may include backup data or details of analysis that allows others to
follow up if they wish.
Retrospective: a methodology that analyzes a past project event to determine what
worked and what didn’t, develops lessons learned, and creates an action plan that
ensures lessons learned are used to improve management of future projects.
Project maturity model: a framework that details different levels of development in an
organization’s project management practices and methods.
oThe purpose for all maturity models is to enable organizations to assess their
progress in implementing the best practices in their industry and move to
improvement.
oIt is important to understand that the model does not ensure success, it only
serves as a measuring stick and an indicator of progress.
Project Management Maturity Model
oLevel 1: Hoc Project Management
No formal project selection system exists- projects are done because
people decide to do them or because a high-ranking manager orders it
done.
How any one project is managed varies by individual unpredictability.
No investment in project management training is made.
Working on projects is a struggle because it goes against the grain for
established policies and procedures.
oLevel 2: Formal Application of Project Management
Standard approaches to managing projects, including scope statements,
WBS, and activity lists
Quality emphasis is on the product or outcome of the project and is
inspected instead of built in.
The organization is moving in the direction of stronger matrix with project
managers and line managers working out their respective roles.
Growing recognition of need for cost control, not just scope and time
management, exists.
There is no formal project priority system established
Limited training in project management is provided
oLevel 3: Institutionalization of Project Management
An established process for managing projects is evident by planning
templates, status report systems, and checklists for each stage of the
project life cycle.
Formal criteria are used to select projects
Project management is integrated with quality management and
concurrent engineering
Project teams try to build in quality, not simply inspect it.
The organization is moving toward a team-based reward system to
recognize project execution
Risk assessment derived from WBS and technical analyses and customer
input is in place
The organization offers expanded training in project management
Time-phased budgets are used to measure and monitor performance
based on earned value analysis
A specific control system for requirements, cots, and schedule is
developed for each project, and a work authorization system is in place.
Project audits tend to be performed only when a project fails.
oLevel 4: Management of Project Management System
Portfolio project management is practiced; projects are selected based on
resource capacity and contribution to strategic goals
A project priority system is established
Project work is integrated with ongoing operations
Quality improvement initiatives are designed to improve both the quality
of the project management process and the quality of specific products
and services
Benchmarking is used to identify opportunities for improvement
The organization has established a project management office or center
for excellence
Project audits are performed on all significant projects; lessons learned
are recorded and used on subsequent projects
An integrative information system is established for tracking resource
usage and performance of all significant projects.
oLevel 5: Optimization of Project Management System
A project management information system is fine-tuned; specific and
aggregate information is provided to different stakeholders
An informal culture that values improvement drives the organization, not
policies and procedures
There is greater flexibility in adapting the project management process to
demands of a specific project.
Project Evaluation: the process of assessing, verifying, and documenting project results.
oEvaluation of performance is essential to encourage changes in behavior and to
support individual career development
oEvaluation of project team performance tends to be based on achieving project
objectives according to time, cost, and specifications (scope).
Organizations vary in the extent to which their project managers are actively involved in
the appraisal process of team members.
oIn organizations where project are managed within a functional organization, the
team member’s area manger, not the project manager, is responsible for
assessing performance.
Performance appraisals generally fulfill two important functions. The first is
developmental: the focus is on identifying individual strengths and weaknesses and
developing action plans for improving performance. The second is evaluative and
involves assessing how well a person has performed in order to determine salary or
merit adjustments.
In some matrix organizations, project managers conduct the performance reviews, while
area managers are responsible for pay reviews.
Organizations employ a wide range of methods to review individual performance on a
project.
oReview methods of individual performance center on the technical and social
skills brought to the project and team
General tips for conducting performance reviews
oAlways begin the process by asking the individual to evaluate his contributions to
the project.
oAvoid, when possible, drawing comparisons with other team members; rather,
assess the individual in terms of established standards and expectations.
oWhen you have to be critical, focus the criticism on specific examples of behavior
rather than on the individual personally
oBe consistent and fair in your treatment of all team members
oTreat the review as only one point in an ongoing process
The goals of project closure are to complete and to improve performance in future
projects.
360 degree feedback involves soliciting feedback concerning team members’
performances from all the people their work affects.
BUSI 313 Project Management
Chapter 15 Agile Project Management
October 11, 2020
Agile Project Management (Agile PM): a family of interactive, incremental development
methods for completing projects.
oFocuses on active collaboration between the project team and customers
representatives, breaking project into small, functional pieces and adapting to
changing requirements.
Traditional Project Management Approach: concentrates on thorough, up front planning
of the entire project.
oRequires a high degree of predictability to be effective
Iterative, incremental, development (IID): a cyclical development process in which a
project gradually evolves over time.
Understanding the difference between IID and traditional project management:
oIn the traditional approach, the buyer cannot move into the house until the
entire house is completed.
oThe iterative approach would build the house room by room. The plumbing,
electrical and infrastructure would be built for the most important room first and
then extended to each room as it was constructed. Each time a room was
complected, the builder and buyers would assess progress and make
adjustments. In some cases, the buyers would realize they didn’t need that extra
room they felt they had to have. In other cases, they would add features.
Ultimately, the house would be built to fit the customer’s wishes.
Waterfall method: a linear, sequential approach to software development
oFeatures a series of logical phases in which progress flows from one phase to the
next until completion
Agile Manifesto 12 guiding principles:
1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery
of valuable software
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months,
with a preference to the shorter timescale
4. Businesspeople and developers must work together daily throughout the project
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support
they need and trust them to get the job done.
6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a
development team is face-to-fact conversation.
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
10. Simplicity- the art of maximizing the amount of work not done- is essential.
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing
teams.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then turns
and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
Agile PM utilizes a rolling wave planning and scheduling project methodology, meaning
that the final project design is not known in great detail and is continuously developed
through a series of incremental iterations over time.
Iterations are short time frames that typically last from one to four weeks.
oThe goal of each iteration is to develop a workable product that satisfies one or
more desired product features to demonstrate to the customer and other key
stakeholders.
oAt the end of each iteration, stakeholders and customers review progress and re-
evaluate priorities to ensure alignment with customer needs and company goals.
Iterative development process advantages:
oContinuous integration, verification, and validation of the evolving product
oFrequent demonstration of progress to increase the likelihood that the end
product will satisfy customer needs.
oEarly detection of defects and problems
Agile principles:
oFocus on customer value: employ business-driven prioritizations of requirements
and features
oIterative and incremental delivery: create a flow of value to customers by
“chunking” project delivery into small, functioning increments
oExperimentation and adaption: test assumptions early and build working
prototypes to solicit customer feedback and refine product requirements
oSelf-organization: team members decide among themselves what should be done
and who should do it
oServant leadership: the project manager facilitates rather than directs
collaboration
oContinuous improvement: teams reflect, learn, and adapt to change; work
informs the plan.
Scrum begins with a high-level scope definition and ballpark time and cost estimates for
the project
oScrum uses product features (a piece of product that delivers some useful
functionality to a customer) as deliverables
oFeatures are prioritized by their perceived highest value
oSpecific features are created according to four distinct phases: analysis, design,
build, and test
oEach feature can be thought of as a mini-project.
oThe first phase is an analysis and review of functional requirements that will be
needed to complete the feature
oThe second phase is the development of a design that meets the requirements of
the feature
oThe third phase is to build the feature so that it is functional
oThe fourth phase is the feature is tested and documented.
oAt the end of each sprint, features are demonstrated and within the sprint
framework, Scrum relies on specific roles, meetings, and documents/logs to
manage the project
There are three key roles to the scrum process: product owner, development team, and
Scrum master.
oProduct owner: acts on behalf of customers/end users to represent their
interests. They are responsible for ensuring that the development team focuses
their efforts on developing a product that will fulfill the business objective of the
project
Product owners are the final arbiters on requirements questions and are
empowered to accept or reject each product increment
oDevelopment team: the team is responsible for delivering the product
The team is a self-organizing team in the sense they decide both who
does the work and how the work is to be accomplished
Team members should be co-located so that intense face-to-face
collaboration occurs
oScrum Master: facilitates the scrum process and resolves impediments at the
team and organizational levels.
The scrum master is not the leader of the team but acts as a buffer
between the team and outside interference
They are responsible for making sure that the scrum process is adhered to
The help the product owner with planning and trying to keep the team
energized
Scrum uses a series of coordinated meetings to manage the development process
oRelease planning: the purpose is to establish the goals and general plan for the
project
The product owner works with the team, Scrum master, and others to
address the question of how the project can meet or exceed the desired
customer expectations and return on investment.
Outcomes of this meeting include establishing highest-priority product
backlog, the major risks, and the overall features and functionality that
the released product will contain
oSprint planning: at the start of each sprint, the product owner and development
team negotiate which product backlog items the team will attempt this sprint
The product owner is responsible for identifying which features are most
important, and the team is responsible for identifying which features are
most important, and the team is responsible for determining what is
possible within the sprint
oDaily Scrum: the heartbeat of an Agile project Is the daily meetings, which are
commonly referred to as the “scrum”
oTeam members stand in a circle and take turns answering the following questions
What have you done since the last Scrum?
What will you do between now and the next scrum?
What is getting in the way of (blocks) your performing your work as
effectively as possible?
