The Power of Project Management and How to Survive

Written by Vinette McNamara, Project Management lecturer at UCD Professional Academy

With the rise of globalization and technology, projects have become more complex and diverse. As a result, project management has become a crucial component in ensuring the successful and efficient completion of projects within the defined scope, budget and schedule constraints.

To highlight the importance of these aspects in relation to project management, we will review 3 distinct projects from around the world: 

• Project #1: The Boston Big Dig Projects – Project Scope Management case study;

• Project #2: Perth Children’s Hospital – Project Schedule Management case study and;

• Project #3: The Chad-Cameroon pipeline – Cost Management case study.

For each of these projects, we will consider the background, the failings, the lessons learned, the lessons learned we can apply to our projects, the processes involved, and useful tools and techniques based on industry best practice.

PROJECT #1: Project Scope Management for The Boston Big Dig Project – North America

Background and Failings of the Boston Big Dig Project  

The Boston Big Dig project, officially known as the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, started in 1982. The project's main objective was to replace an elevated highway (the Central Artery) located in the centre of Boston with a tunnel, and also to improve transportation infrastructure in the surrounding areas. The original estimated cost of the project was around €4 billion, but the final cost was over €24 billion, resulting in a cost overrun of approximately 500%. The project also faced schedule delays, with an original completion date of 1998, but was not fully completed until 2007, resulting in a delay of almost a decade. One of the major challenges was accurately defining and controlling the scope of the project. 

Lessons Learned from the Boston Big Dig Project

1. Scope Management: The Boston Big Dig project suffered from scope creep, where the project scope expanded beyond the original requirements, leading to cost and schedule overruns. This highlights the importance of effectively managing scope throughout a project's lifecycle, clearly defining and controlling the scope, and avoiding scope creep that can increase project costs and delays.

2. Stakeholder Management: The Boston Big Dig project faced challenges in managing stakeholders, including coordinating with various government agencies, contractors, and public interest groups. Effective stakeholder management, including communication, collaboration, and engagement, is crucial to ensure that stakeholder expectations are managed, and potential conflicts are addressed timely, to avoid delays and additional costs.

3. Risk Management: The Boston Big Dig project faced unforeseen risks, such as encountering unexpected underground conditions and encountering contaminated soil, which resulted in additional costs and delays. This underscores the importance of robust risk management practices, including risk identification, assessment, mitigation, and contingency planning, to proactively address potential risks and minimize their impact on project cost and schedule.

Relating Lessons Learned to Your Projects

1. Avoiding Scope Creep: Project managers should establish a clear and well-defined scope at the outset of the project, and actively manage any changes or additions to the scope throughout the project lifecycle to prevent scope creep. Regularly review and validate scope against project objectives and deliverables to ensure that the project remains on track.

2. Effective Stakeholder Management: Project managers should identify and engage relevant stakeholders early in the project, establish open communication channels, and actively manage stakeholder expectations. Proactively address any stakeholder concerns or conflicts to prevent potential delays or additional costs due to stakeholder issues.

3. Robust Risk Management: Project managers should proactively identify and assess potential risks, develop mitigation strategies, and establish contingency plans to address potential risks. Regularly monitor and update the risk management plan throughout the project to mitigate risks and minimize their impact on project cost and schedule.

Processes in Project Scope Management

1. Establish a framework, referred to as the Project Scope Management Plan

2. Collect requirements

3. Define the scope

4. Create the work breakdown structure

5. Scope control and scope validation

Tools and Techniques for Project Scope Management 

In the planning phase, the project manager should: conduct a thorough requirements analysis to identify project objectives and deliverables, this is often referred to as a Requirements Management and can involve using a Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM). Next, based on the requirements, the project manager should develop a clear and well-defined scope statement outlining the boundaries of the project. Once accepted by the client, the project team can create a work breakdown structure (WBS). Once the WBS is complete, the scope baseline is set using the WBS as the main tool. 

Later in the project, during project execution, the project manager should closely monitor scope and actively manage any changes or additions to the scope using a change control process. This involves evaluating the impact of any proposed changes on project objectives, deliverables, cost and schedule. Furthermore, the project manager should regularly review and validate scope against project objectives and deliverables to ensure that the project remains on track and ensure the client's requirements and expectations are met, and quality standards are assured before the project enters the closure phase.

PROJECT #2: Project Schedule Management for Perth Children's Hospital Project - Australia

Background and Failings of Perth Children's Hospital

Perth Children's Hospital was a major healthcare infrastructure project in Australia aimed at constructing a state-of-the-art children's hospital in Perth. The project was initiated in 2008 and faced significant challenges related to time management. The original estimated completion date was 2015, but the hospital did not open until 2018, resulting in a delay of three years.

The project faced delays in various aspects of time management, including construction delays, design changes, and issues with the installation of critical infrastructure. These delays resulted in a significant delay in the project's completion, which impacted the hospital's ability to provide healthcare services to the community as planned.

These setbacks had far-reaching implications on both patients and staff alike since they significantly disrupted planned patient care delivery timelines while also straining resources needed to sustain quality standards during challenging circumstances.

Lessons Learned from Perth Children's Hospital Project 

1. Planning and Scheduling: The Perth Children's Hospital project lacked robust planning and scheduling processes, which resulted in delays in the construction and installation of critical infrastructure. Effective planning and scheduling, including developing detailed project plans, setting realistic timelines, and closely monitoring progress, are crucial to ensure that a project stays on track and meets its timeline goals.

2. Change Management: The project faced numerous design changes, which resulted in delays as modifications had to be made to the construction and installation processes. Effective change management practices, including proper change request and approval processes, impact assessment, and coordination with all stakeholders, are essential to manage changes and their impact on project schedule effectively.

3. Resource Management: The project also faced challenges in managing resources, including labour, materials, and equipment, which impacted the project timeline. Proper resource planning, allocation, and monitoring are crucial to ensure that the project has the necessary resources available when needed to prevent delays and minimize the impact on the project schedule.

Relating Lessons Learned to Your Projects

The Perth Children's Hospital project has taught us valuable lessons in project management which go beyond surface level. To ensure successful project completion, it is imperative to incorporate detailed project plans with realistic timelines while closely monitoring progress. 

1. Robust Planning and Scheduling: Project managers should develop detailed project plans with realistic timelines and regularly monitor progress against the plan. Also important is to identify potential delays early and take corrective actions to stay on track with the project timeline.

2. Effective Change Management: Project managers of small projects should establish a formal change request and approval process, assess the impact of changes on the project schedule, and communicate changes to all relevant stakeholders. Timely and effective change management can help prevent delays and ensure the projects stays on schedule. A change control process is imperative. 

3. Resource Management: Project managers should carefully plan and allocate resources, including labour, materials, and equipment, to ensure that they are available when needed. Regularly monitor resource utilization and take proactive steps to address any resource constraints that may impact the project timeline.

Processes for Project Schedule Management 

The processes used in project schedule management are vital to the success of any project. These processes are: 

1. Developing a Project Schedule Plan as the framework for the project. 

2. Identifying the activities required to complete the tasks (WBS)

3. Estimating their durations and sequencing activities appropriately

4. Develop the schedule and during project execution 

5. Monitor the schedule

Tools and Techniques for Project Schedule Management

Some commonly used tools and techniques in project schedule management include critical path analysis, Gantt charts, network diagrams, resource levelling, and for the more advanced,  Monte Carlo simulations and sensitivity analysis. Most importantly in tracking project performance is the use of schedule variance and a schedule performance index to enable the project manager to compare the actual project progress against the planned schedule, measure against the original schedule and take corrective actions in case of any deviation or delay from the baseline plan.

PROJECT #3: Project Cost Management for The Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline - Africa

Background and Failings of The Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline

The Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline project was a large-scale infrastructure project undertaken in Africa to transport crude oil from Chad to the coast of Cameroon for export. The project faced several challenges related to cost management, leading to significant cost overruns. According to reports, the project experienced cost overruns of up to 50% from the original estimated cost, resulting in billions of euro in additional expenses. The cost overruns were primarily attributed to factors such as delays in construction, unforeseen technical issues, changes in scope, and inadequate cost estimation and control measures.

Lessons Learned: The Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline Project 

1. Robust Cost Estimation: Accurate and comprehensive cost estimation is crucial for project success. The Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline project highlighted the importance of robust cost estimation techniques, such as bottom-up estimating and historical data analysis, to establish realistic budgets and prevent cost overrun. 

2. Proactive Risk Management: The project faced various risks, including environmental, social, and technical risks, which led to cost overruns. Proactive risk management, including early identification, assessment, and mitigation of risks, is essential to prevent cost overruns and keep the project on track.

3. Effective Cost Control Measures: Inadequate cost control measures were identified as one of the failings of the project. Implementing effective cost control measures, such as regular cost tracking and reporting, variance analysis, and proactive corrective actions, can help prevent cost overruns and ensure that the project remains within budget.

Relating Lessons Learned to Your Projects

1. Importance of Cost Estimation: Projects require accurate cost estimation to prevent cost overruns. Project managers should use reliable cost estimation techniques and tools to establish realistic budgets and ensure that small projects are financially viable.

2. Proactive Risk Management: Small projects can also face risks that can impact cost. Project managers should proactively identify, assess, and mitigate risks during the project planning phase and continuously monitor and control risks throughout the project to prevent cost overruns.

3. Effective Cost Control Measures: Cost control measures, such as regular cost tracking, reporting, and analysis, are equally important for small projects. Project managers should implement effective cost control measures to monitor costs closely and take timely corrective actions to address any deviations from the planned budget.

Processes for Project Cost Management 

The processes used in project cost management are vital to the success of any project for project cost management include: 

1. Developing a framework for cost management

2. Estimate the costs

3. Determine the budget and later in the project 

4. Monitoring cost

Tools and Techniques for Project Cost Management

Processes can include various tools and techniques to aid in accurate cost estimation, proactive risk management, and effective cost control. 

Three types of estimating are: Bottom-up estimating provides a detailed estimate of each component of the project to establish a realistic budget, this is based on calculating the cost of each task on the WBS. Analogous estimating is the use of historical data analysis allowing for comparison with similar projects, project managers learn from past experiences and adjust costs accordingly. Parametric estimating involves numeric data, and strikes balance between bottom up and analogous estimating, costing the high value items at the earlier stages in the project and progressively elaborating as the project emerges. Cost control measures include earned value analysis and variance analysis used together with regular reporting to track spending against planned budgets. Using cost variance and cost performance indices are key tools when reporting on project performance.

Conclusion

In summary, project management is a critical aspect for all industries and organizations in ensuring successful project outcomes. Through an exploration of various project management concepts and practices, including real-life examples and practical advice for managers, we have gained valuable insights into how projects can be executed successfully within budgetary constraints while meeting all desired goals.

By implementing clear planning strategies for scope, scheduling, cost management as well as expertly managing critical aspects such as risk mitigation, resource allocation, stakeholder engagement and quality control; projects are more likely to achieve optimal results. Furthermore, emphasizing ongoing learning initiatives - from lessons learned to personal professional development - is a key driver towards delivering outstanding projects with long-lasting positive impacts on stakeholders and organizational success.