Project Management

In the last decades, projects became increasingly common in the water and sanitation sector. Project-based working methods have found their way into non-profit organisations. “The rules of the game for projects in non-profit organisations differ from those in commercial organisations, because there are political factors that play a particularly important role in the public sector. This makes it even more difficult for projects to succeed, compared to projects in which commercial aspects play a part. Project leaders should be aware of this and be able to play the game of politics” (BAARS 2006).

A project is a unique venture to produce a set of outputs within clearly specified time, cost and quality constraints. Projects differ from standard business operational activities as they (adapted from METHOD123 2003):

• Are distinctive in nature, not involving a repetitive process.
• Have a define time-plan, with a specified start and end dates to meet the beneficiaries or funding agency’s requirements.
• Have an allocated budget, which should be spent to produce the deliverables.
• Have limited resources, such as labour, material and equipment.
• Involve a risk, as there is a level of uncertainty whether the objectives will be attained.

(Adapted from BERR 2007)

Deliver the outcomes and benefits required by the organisation, its delivery partners and other stakeholder organisations.

• Create and implement deliverables that meet agreed requirements.

Meet time targets.

• Stay within financial budgets.
• Involve all the right people.
• Make best use of resources in the organisation and elsewhere.
• Take account of changes in the way the organisation operates.
• Manage any risks that could jeopardise success.
• Take into account the needs of staff and other stakeholders who will be impacted by the changes brought about by the project.

Project management is a carefully planned effort to accomplish a specific objective, using knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to plan and implement activities to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a project.

The final aim of managing projects in the water and sanitation sector should be to “implement activities identified and planned for in the previous phases in an effective, cost-efficient and high quality way” (MORIARTY et al 2007).

(Adapted from BAARS 2006)

Improper project management is just one of the factors that can cause a major delay in achieving the project goals. Source: WSP (2002)

• Team: A project team is comprised of a group of people who will realise the project result. The group is often comprised of people who have various backgrounds, each of whom contributes knowledge and skills.
• Goal: A product result (or goal) is desired. After a project has been completed, something has been realised. A new treatment system has been implemented, a training course has been carried out or an assessment has been done. In many projects, it is necessary to adapt the goal as the project proceeds.
• Limited resources: The amount of time and money that is available for completing a project is always limited. No project is completely free of time pressure.
• Uncertainty (risk): One characteristic feature of projects is that their success is never guaranteed beforehand. Even if the desired goal is already being reached, it is uncertain whether it will be achieved within the available budget or within the proposed time. It is not unusual for a project to take three times as long and to cost twice as much as originally estimated. It is also not unusual for only thirty per cent of the original project team members to be working on the project upon its completion.

Although project managers must attend to many matters, they actually direct projects along only five parameters:

• Time
• Money
• Quality
• People (organisation)
• Information

These five parameters, which are often known as the “control factors”, are described further below. The control factors appear in project plans, progress monitoring and project reporting.

(Adapted from BAARS 2006)

The time factor manifests itself in a project in the form of deadlines for tasks and the amount of time that these tasks may take. Managing time involves ensuring that tasks are completed on time.

Time in project plans:

• Determine which activities should take place in which phase.
• Estimate how long each activity will take.
• Determine the order in which activities should be completed.
• Allocate people and materials.
• Allocate activities over time.
• Determine the (most important) deadlines.

Time in progress monitoring:

• Monitor progress.
• Monitor deadlines.
• Adjust schedules.

Time in project reporting:

• Report on the actual timeline.
• Analyse and explain why some tasks proceeded much more quickly or much more slowly than expected.

Time schedules are based on a work-breakdown structure (WBS). A WBS is a decomposition of the tasks that must be completed in order to achieve the project result, such as Work Packages or Activity Packages. Developing a time schedule requires knowing the amount of time that is needed for each task, who will complete each task and when. One frequently used tool for planning time is the bar chart or Gantt chart.

The Gantt chart is a specialised bar chart used to provide a graphical overview and schedule of all tasks to indicate the work elements and dependencies of project. This is a chart with rectangular bars. The length of each bar is proportional to the time value necessary for each task on the work breakdown structure. The final product illustrates the schedule of a project (MANAGING PROJECT RISKS 2009).

(Adapted from BAARS 2006)

The money factor manifests itself in the project budget. The management of money within a project involves ensuring that the costs remain within the budget. Given that the majority of the costs in most projects are comprised of labour costs, the factors of money and time (the number of labour hours) are closely intertwined. 

Money in project plans:

• Determine the fees of the team members.
• Estimate the hours for the team members.
• Assign budgets to team members for specific tasks.
• Determine costs for material and tools.

Money in progress monitoring:

• Monitor cash flow.
• Negotiate with suppliers.
• Determine whether the original cost estimates are still accurate.
• Adjust budgets.
• Negotiate with customer and/or client concerning budget adjustments.

Money in project reporting:

• Compile financial reports and statements.
• Analyse definitive financial report.

(Adapted from BAARS 2006)

The project result must fulfil a number of quality requirements. This also applies to the various intermediate products of the project. When managing a project, it is particularly important for quality requirements to be determined, agreed upon and recorded in writing during the definition phase. These requirements should never remain implicit. A clear list of requirements can be checked at the end of the implementation phase. This can allow the project team to prove that they have carried out the project according to specifications. Additional quality requirements may be specified for various tasks within the project. For example, a particular task can be carried out only by certified personnel. 

Quality in project plans:

• Establish the desired quality of the project result and the intermediate products.
• Establish the desired quality of the carrying out of the various activities in the project.

Quality in progress monitoring:

• Test the (intermediate) results.
• Address any quality problems.
• Quality in the project reporting:
• Confirm that the desired quality has been attained.
• Address any complaints (particularly in the follow-up phase).

(Adapted from BAARS 2006)

Within a project, the team must be managed. In the narrowest sense, team management involves determining who will do what from the list of activities. In broader terms, it also involves all of the soft skills (e.g. motivational techniques, communication skills, leadership styles) that are needed to achieve a goal with a group of people. 

Organisation in project plans:

• Assemble the team.
• Assign authority.
• Assign tasks to team members.
• Make agreements concerning the availability of people with other (project) managers and higher management.

Organisation in progress monitoring:

• Direct the team.
• Monitor human aspects (soft skills).
• Mediate between the parties who are involved in the project.

(Adapted from BAARS 2006)

The information factor concerns how, by whom and on which basis decisions can be taken, as well as which tools (e.g. project website, issue tracker, e-mail notification, joint agenda) will be used for communication. These and other informational issues must be answered before a project can be started. Organisations that regularly work with projects have a number of tools (e.g. Word templates) on hand for handling information within a project. 

Information in project plans:

• Which information must be provided to whom and in which form?
• Which information will be recorded, distributed and archived?
• Which information tools will be used?

Information in progress monitoring:

• Arrange for periodic consultation.
• Ensure that the right information is provided to the right person.
• Determine whether agreements have been met.

Information in project reporting:

• Write the project report.