Project management overview

Constant change is all around us and seems to be increasing. Change should be delivered by somebody who is in charge of the process, and this is effectively what project management (PM) is all about. Any project must be capable of analysis and costing, and the business case is essentially a balancing of benefits against costs.

Modern PM started in civil engineering; proper management was essential because the costs of its absence were too high. At first, other industries did not recognise the relevance of civil engineering PM. So there were a number of vastly expensive disasters because:

- people did not know what they were trying to achieve

- business benefits from the change were not understood

- customers kept changing their minds

- change was not adequately controlled

- late technological changes were incorporated into the project at disproportionate cost.

Recent problems have included the Scottish Parliament (estimate £40 million; cost £195 million) and the Jubilee Line (estimate £4.8 billion; cost £10 billion).

The project manager is the person on the ground delivering the customer’s wishes and dealing with suppliers, although the contractual relationship is usually between customer and supplier. Top management must understand the implications of the project for the way business is conducted.

The result of the project process is measured before it starts, and encompasses the precise amount of change that was envisaged. There are three constraints in every project: time, cost and performance. These factors are interdependent, so any changes to one will impact on one or both of the others.

The significance of Projects in Controlled Environments (PRINCE), now in version 2, lies in the phrase ‘Controlled Environments’, which means:

- tight, agreed specifications

- quality control of the product and the process

- reliability

- full participation of the customer throughout

- involvement of suppliers so requirements understood

- no surprises on delivery.

Project management in the Services

The basic set of skills required to manage a project are:

- recognising what it is that needs to be delivered

- planning how to deliver it

- using the resources available

- organising the project from start to finish.

Most Service people will have delivered projects of varying complexity, whatever their rank and whatever their specialism.

The Services also formally appoint people as project managers. Obvious examples include the refit of a warship or the design of a cockpit, but a unit move to a new base or running an NCOs’ course could also be included.

PM knowledge and experience are critical skills in many civilian jobs. People intending to leave the Forces in the near future should consider enhancing their project-related skills, particularly leadership, team building and risk management. For people still building a career, PM is an increasingly useful discipline of the new century and good project managers are in high demand, both within the Services and outside. It is also an industry that is expanding into new areas every year, with control of the three factors increasingly being seen as both relevant and important.

Qualifications and training

PM is a field in which there are specific qualifications and also general ones that include an element of PM within them. Many degrees, for example, have modules on PM and even more test students by requiring them to carry out a project as part of the qualification.

There are several methodologies used for projects, and two important ones (for software projects) are Traditional Life Cycle (or Waterfall) and Dynamic Systems Development Method. The most common generic method is PRINCE2, with over 20,000 people attempting its exams (pass rate at Foundation level is about 70 per cent and, at Practitioner level, 99 per cent) since its introduction in 1996. It is not cheap and people should expect to have to meet some of the costs themselves. It is now the ‘driving licence’ of the PM industry and the Practitioner certificate is mandatory for civilian project managers employed in the MoD.

It is a processed-based approach, with each element defined with its key inputs and outputs together with the specific objectives to be achieved and the activities to be carried out. The project is split into manageable stages enabling efficient control of resources and regular monitoring of progress. The process is product-based; plans focus on delivering results and are not simply a set of timelines by which various actions must have occurred.

The project is driven by the business case, describing the organisation’s justification, commitment and rationale for the deliverable (or outcome). This case is regularly reviewed to ensure that business objectives (which may change) are being met. PRINCE2 enables projects to have:

- a controlled start, middle and end

- regular progress reviews measured against the business case

- flexible decision points

- automatic management control of any deviation from the plan

- involvement of all stake-holders, including management, as appropriate

- good communications between all stake-holders and the project managers.

There are two exams: foundation and practitioner. The foundation exam (one-hour, multiple-choice 75 closed-book questions with 50 per cent pass mark) must be taken before the practitioner paper (three-hour, three open-book essay questions with 50 per cent pass mark). Foundation is enough knowledge for people who wish to work on projects using technical skills – it indicates familiarity with the concepts and language. Practitioner is appropriate for people who want to manage projects. The APM Group administers the exams, and also accredits training providers to teach PRINCE2 and conduct the exams. (Other qualifications offered by the APM Group are Managing Successful Programmes, Management of Risk and a Level 4 Diploma.)

Another source of advice is the Association for Project Management (APM). It publishes a Body of Knowledge (BOK, fifth edition to be based on a research programme to be conducted in 2004, leading to publication of the new BOK in 2005), which provides baseline information on the competencies required by a project manager. There are also training courses and education programmes for those who want to advance their knowledge in this field, including the APM Professional Qualification. It has also developed national occupational standards at Levels 4 and 5 in this field, and a series of courses in PM.

Short courses in PM run regularly throughout the UK, and the APM can provide a list of approved training providers. PM tends to be taught at postgraduate level, but this should not deter those who do not have a first degree because many institutions offer access to programmes based upon other selection criteria, including Accreditation of Prior Learning.

Many British universities and institutes offer a range of PM courses and programmes. Some are specialist while others are aimed at the general project manager. Typically, courses available are:

- Certificate – providing the first level of a post-experience qualification; it combines short courses with tutorial groups and formal assessment, and is ideally suited to those new to PM posts

- Diploma – developing the concepts established in the certificate modules, and most suited to people in the early stages of their PM career who want a more demanding postgraduate qualification

- MSc – the most senior of the programmes producing commercially aware managers, able to work successfully within a range of industrial and commercial environments; appropriate for experienced project managers and those with aspirations for senior project manager and project director roles.

Employment in PM

An obvious area of work is the defence industrial sector, with many projects to choose from. There are the benefits of immediate skills transferability, possibly working on familiar equipment but from a different perspective. Looking beyond the defence sector, project management skills are of great value and in high demand in every conceivable occupation.

The more junior ranks will tend to be employed on the basis of their technical skills and expertise while Service managers will be attractive to employers if they have management, and specifically PM, skills. Some people will wish to find an employer, in which case the job-finding process will be much the same as for other forms of employment; for people who want to work freelance, there are agencies, magazines and other intermediaries that can help.

Salaries

In-house PM salaries range from specialist project engineer at around £30,000 per annum, through project manager at £30,000 to £40,000 per annum plus benefits, to programme managers earning over £40,000 a year plus benefits. Freelance rates vary from £250 a day for the comparative newcomer to £550 a day for very experienced people, with an average of about £400.