7.1 Introduction

Thus far in this course on Operations Management, we have focused
on many elements of the role that are critical to the success of business as usual
operations, including working with the supply chain, logistics management and managing
and leading teams.

Whilst day to day and business as usual activities make up a large part of the role of an Operations
Manager, we should also not overlook the ad-hoc projects in which you may play a key role, either
supporting or managing.

The purpose of this module, therefore, is to look more closely at the business discipline of project
management, aiming to provide you with the skills and knowledge to lead or participate in an
operations project in your workplace.

7.2 Definitions of project management

As the use of project management has grown throughout the
corporate world, so have the number of definitions and the breadth of its scope in a
business setting.

However, a universal way of defining project management could be that it is a specific process, usually within a commercial or business setting, which initiates, plans and executes a piece of work, with the aim of achieving specific objectives for the benefit of the organisation.

What makes project management so universally relevant in the business world is the fact that, in
many ways, it is a skill in its own right and can be utilised across lots of different industries and
sectors, including retail, construction, tourism and healthcare to name but a few. It is also used
within different departments in all of these industries, such as HR, IT, Marketing and Finance.

Its links to operations management are clear, as, by its very nature, your role is heavily involved in
operational activities, tasks and processes, all of which are often subject to redesign or review by the
means of short term projects. We will further discuss some examples of the specific types of project
that you might come across in your role, as we progress through this module.

An important feature of project management is the fact that it is usually short-term in nature, with a
specific set of agreed objectives that need to be delivered within a set time period. Generally, this is
the characteristic which differentiates it from the business as usual operations of an organisation. Recognising the differences between these two ways of working is important in understanding the
unique nature of project management and the fact that it requires a certain process and specific
criteria, to give it a greater likelihood of success.

A clear understanding of the principles of general project management will prove to be very useful
for those embarking upon a career in operations management and will give you a head start in some
of the theories and practices that you are likely to utilise when you are involved in a project of your
own.

Fact

77% of companies use project management software.

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Insights and Trends: Current Programme and Project
Management Practices 2012.

7.3 Understanding the five phases of project management

The implementation of project management as a discrete
commercial field and even as a profession in itself has accelerated throughout the twenty
first century and with it has come about many types of terminology, methods and
approaches.

Most of these approaches have been developed to be more specific to particular types of project or
sector and there is ongoing development of innovative thoughts and new processes in the field. Generally, however, these different approaches usually follow the same or similar base structure and
steps of the traditional approach, albeit with a particular focus or emphasis.

Here, we have summarised below the five universal steps in a typical project management scenario.

Project conception and initiation

This step is all about identifying and establishing the context and purpose of the project. An analysis
of the background of the current situation, as well as the justification or business case for making
changes or improvements, is the starting point, in order to ensure that the project is needed, fit for
purpose and will deliver demonstrable business benefits.

Defining the scope is also a key part of this stage - essentially, which areas of the business the
project aims to influence/change and which it doesn't.

This step is critical, in order to set realistic expectations from the outset and to prevent time being
wasted on areas which offer little added value to the business.

The project conception and initiation stage also clearly defines what success will ultimately look like, plus any risk factors which could arise and how to overcome them.

The overarching budget for the project is usually set at this point and there is a discussion of the key
teams and individuals that will be involved and/or affected by the project.

Project definition and planning

Following the conceptualising and brainstorming activities of the first stage, the project definition
and planning stage is more specific in nature and aims to work out the more precise details of each
part of the project. The main project objectives will be agreed upon here, along with the supporting
detail that is needed in order to make them happen, including the resources that are required
(people, materials, equipment, etc), as well as the setting of the more specific timescales for each
project stage.

Each project part is likely to have an agreed number of deliverables, split further into key actions
and accountabilities and they will be shared out amongst those individuals involved in the project, depending on their skill sets and areas of specialism.

Project launch or execution

This is the point at which the planning process ends and the work to deliver the objectives set out in
the stages above begins. It is difficult to go into too much detail about this stage, as it will differ
dramatically depending upon the type of project, its size and scope and what sort of industry or
business type is involved.

However, this step constitutes the bulk of the action in the project and is usually the longest part of
the project management cycle.

Although the planning stage has technically concluded, it is important to retain an overview of the
progress of the project and, if it is necessary to return to the planning stages to re-think an idea or
make a change of focus, this should be done - see the stage below.

Project performance and control

An important recognition of project management is the fact that the project team must have the
opportunity and foresight to constantly review the different variables throughout the duration of the
project, as it is unlikely that everything will work out as predicted in the original planning stage. These fluctuating variables may include cost, time, quality, etc - in fact, anything that is subject to
review as part of the project.

When the project team and managers are busy with the fast-paced work of the project execution
phase, it can be easy to overlook project performance and control, as the focus has then shifted to
implementation. It can be all too easy to end the planning stage prior to project execution and then
stick rigidly to the original plan, without checking or analysing project performance and simply
assuming that the end goals will be delivered, despite the means.

Sometimes, due to what develops in the execution stage, it may be considered that the original
project's aims and objectives themselves need to be changed for a variety of reasons and a culture of
honesty and continuous improvement should be built into the project team, to ensure that, if things
aren't working out, a return to the planning stage can happen to reassess the original objectives and
make changes, where necessary.

Project close

The project is deemed as closed, when the overall aims and objectives of the project have been met
and/or the original timeline for the project has expired. Many organisations now implement post implementation reviews, which can be a useful way of
pulling together the successes and learnings from the project, to make future projects even more
successful.

Feedback is usually asked for from different stakeholders both within the project group itself and
external to it and compiled into a report format. It is important that any potential failures and
improvements are translated into learnings and shared across other projects, in order to avoid them
happening again.

Activity 1

Estimated time: 15 minutes

Think about a project that you have been involved in during the course of your career. Briefly summarise the background and then, after reviewing the five steps of project management
detailed above, brainstorm the main steps that you took under each heading. Try to think of at least one area of improvement or something that you could have done differently, in each stage.

7.4 What types of project might I be involved in?

There are many different types of one-off project that you may be
involved in as part of your role as Operations Manager.

The most common types of projects are those relating to business or organisational change, where
your role overseeing the production processes will be utilised. What's more, some projects may be
discrete entities, relating only to operational effectiveness, whereas others may be more general and
you may find yourself contributing towards a larger project team, in order to support a larger and
more complex project with impacts across the whole business.

Below is a list of some the types of projects that an Operations Management might expect
to be involved in during their career:

* Redesigning or refiguring processes within design, production, distribution, or customer
care/marketing

* A business growth, such as acquiring an existing business, taking on a new product or service, or increasing headcount

* The downsizing, outsourcing, or closure of a business or particular department.

* A change in equipment, technology, system, or working arrangements, such as the
implementation of new IT infrastructure

* An analysis of the competition, or of market share
A target or outcome-focused project, such as a desire to reduce lead times, improve efficiency, improve quality, etc.

7.5 How to structure an operations project

Earlier in this module, we broke down the five key steps to
successful project management in a universal sense, that is, steps that are applicable to all
types of project across the board.

We will now focus more specifically on these steps, from an operations management project
perspective.

The importance of good planning

We already know that planning is critical to any project, but is principally important within
operations management, as the role is particularly varied and involves working in tandem with many
different teams, individuals and stakeholders across the business. As a result, thorough planning in
the early stages should have the outcome of providing a more orderly and organised approach to the
project and is also likely to reduce or eliminate costly and ineffective duplication of work across
individuals.

Thorough planning can save time and resources. By realistically forecasting in advance factors such
as the volumes of materials needed, amount of manpower required, etc, you can benefit from
economies of scale and big efficiency savings, as opposed to working in a more reactive manner.

It is important to try to involve stakeholders from all areas of your project, including management, contractors, staff members and customers. This approach helps to offer good “buy in” with the
project as a whole and encourages improved participation and co-ordination of work, in order to
reduce unnecessary wastage or duplication.

SMART Objectives

SMART objectives is a commonly used term in the business world and refers to the specific targets
or aims that a project is striving towards.

For goals and objectives to be truly effective and meaningful, they benefit from having certain
characteristics.

The term SMART objectives refers to objectives which have the following features:

Specific - Your objective should be detailed and specific and not general

Measurable - You should consider and detail a way in which to measure your progress against
your objective. Generally speaking, the more quantitative that this method of measurement is, the better, although qualitative measurement can be a useful tool of measurement in some
situations too

Achievable - The objective should not be beyond the scope of the project team's abilities

Realistic - You should be both willing and able to work towards the objective

Time bound - The objective should detail the time that it will take to achieve

Let's imagine that you are leading an operations project to improve the customer return rate of a
particular car part that your business manufactures.

An un-SMART objective might be - To improve the quality of the part and reduce the number of
returns.

Alternatively, a SMART objective could be -To analyse and review existing production processes and
identify opportunities for improvement to the quality of the part, with the objective of reducing
customer returns by 15% and increasing customer satisfaction by 10%, within 12 months.

Whilst not detailing every single element of the project at hand, this objective summarises the main
outcomes that the project should achieve, including some quantifiable measures and provides a
useful summary for those involved in the project to refer back to, in order to keep them on track.

Factors involved in the planning stage

As an Operations Manager, you are likely to be heavily involved in the planning stage of a project. The specific plans will differ depending on the project at hand.

There are some universal factors that are worth considering upfront across most types of
project, as follows:

* What your manpower requirements are - for example, can existing staff be used or does the
project necessitate a requirement to hire additional temporary or permanent headcount

* What resources, materials and equipment are needed, in what volumes and their availability, delivery, lead time, etc

* Any effects or impacts on stakeholders of the business, such as customers, employees, local
residents, etc

* What the timescales are and any anticipated problems in meeting them

* What the budget for the project is and how this budget will be allocated and managed during
its duration

* Contingency planning for all of the above areas - i.e. if the situation changes or something
goes wrong, a clear and workable back up plan will save time, resources and worry.

7.6 Project management scheduling

We have already recognised the fact that the planning stage is a
critical part of the ultimate delivery of a successful project.

However, even plans which are thorough and well thought out can fail, unless they meet the SMART
objective criteria of being specific and time-bound in nature. This is where effective scheduling can
make all the difference to your project's success.

Basically, the process of scheduling is the addition of a timescale to the plans of the project. The
schedule should list the specific targets and deliverables of the project, along with their anticipated
duration and, crucially, the order in which they should be carried out. If the planning process deals
with the “what” of the project, the scheduling process works out the “when”.

Why is good scheduling important?

The importance of good scheduling is often underestimated and scheduling can therefore be ill
thought out or virtually missing in a project plan altogether.

Here are some reasons why you should take it seriously:

* Scheduling breaks down the overarching aims of the project into bite sized pieces which are
easier to manage, co-ordinate and assign to individuals and are also easier to evaluate.

* Good scheduling provides a measure with which to track progress against agreed milestones
and deliverables and allows the project team and other interested parties the opportunity of
monitoring where things are going well and vice versa, plus any changes that need to be made
due to hold ups

* Key blockages or potential weak spots in the project plan can be identified and pro-actively
rectified, for example, assigning more staff or other resources to a certain part of the project.

* The project can benefit from more effective procurement of materials and equipment, so that
they are available when needed, preventing shortages from causing delays to the project

* Scheduling can foster a culture of teamwork and engagement throughout those who are part
of the project team, as it highlights areas where teams or individuals either need to work
together or where each other's work is dependent upon the success of somebody else's.

7.7 Useful scheduling strategies

Depending on the scale and complexity of your project, you may
want to consider putting a more structured approach to scheduling into practice. Below are some of the most popular methods.

Gantt charts

This method suggests a very visually-based schedule by plotting the activities in a chart form, allowing you to view the key activities, durations and milestones at a summary glance.

Gantt charts
are especially useful in more complicated or larger projects with lots of overlapping or mutually
dependent deliverables. This is because they allow you to easily compare and track progress across
different project areas quickly and visually.

Another benefit is that the software usually allows for multiple-person editing, so you can share the
chart with the whole project team and they can update it themselves, giving everyone a real-time
picture of project progress.

Fact

The first Gantt chart was devised in the mid-1890s by
Karol Adamiecki, a Polish engineer who ran a steelworks in southern Poland and had become
interested in management ideas and techniques.

Source: Gantt.com

Critical path scheduling

This approach works by listing all of the activities involved in the project, identifying the most
business-critical of these and prioritising them in your schedule, planning the other, less crucial, activities around the key ones. This technique is popular, due to the fact it is easy to use and its
focus on the most business critical elements gives it a more commercial outlook.

Time impact analysis

This method uses an existing schedule, to add in new activities which have the potential to create
changes or delays to the previously agreed deliverables. This allows the project manager to consider
a “what if” scenario, on a range of activities.

7.8 Drawing up a good operations project schedule

Now that we have looked at why project scheduling is important and
some methods with which to carry it out. Let's take a more specific look at how to create a realistic schedule for an operations project:-

Pick out the main tasks involved in the project

The assistance of colleagues and specialists in particular areas will help you to draw up a detailed
list of the activities that need to take place within your project, in order to meet the project
milestones and deliverables. This will help you to go deeper and then determine the order in which
they need to be carried out and also to what extent any of them would benefit from being broken
down further into sub-tasks. This may be better illustrated by an example.

The key activities involved in changing your delivery supplier could be as follows:

Look for alternative suppliers
Inform the delivery company that you wish to cancel the contract with them
Negotiate new terms of business with the new supplier
However, breaking these three headline activities into smaller sub-activities is likely to provide
better direction to the project. Suggestions are:
Look for alternative suppliers. Establish the critical areas and specific criteria that the new supplier must meet.

Review your budget.

Do some initial research and draw up a suitable shortlist of suppliers. Ask shortlisted suppliers for quotes. Compare shortlisted suppliers to one another, against key criteria. Of course, you could further break each sub-activity down even more detail, but this should give you
an example of the importance of activities and sub-activities, in order to structure your project
effectively.

Create a sequence of events

After creating the detailed list of activities, they need to be plotted on your project plan in order. This is usually done by start or completion date, but this can quickly become complicated, due to the
fact that many tasks end up being inter-dependent and it is not simply a case of one task ending and
another beginning. Software such as scheduling charts can be very useful, in order to tackle more
complex sequences.

Determine each task's duration

The first step in this regard is to decide on the most appropriate unit of time to use to determine
duration. Often, the length of the project itself will impact the most appropriate unit that is used - For example
If the project is reasonably short in length, such as six weeks, it may be wise to work in days or
weeks instead of months. In contrast, if you are undertaking a much longer-term project which could
last years, your milestones would be better suited to being less time-specific. When you have done this, you should consider how long each task will take and plot each time onto
the schedule accordingly. Use specialists and your project team to help you to create a realistic sequence, as they will usually
have the expertise within their given area to more accurately estimate the duration of each activity.

Agree the key project milestones

Milestones are vital ingredients to add structure and direction to your project and to ensure that you
are on track. You may not need many milestones if your project is reasonably small and contained, but at least a few will help you to analyse progress and provide you with good information with
which to report back to stakeholders.

Activity 2

Estimated time: 15 minutes
Have you ever used project scheduling software such as Gantt charts or critical path scheduling in a
project setting in the past?
Do some further research if necessary and summarise what you feel are the main pros and cons of
such methods.

Assignment

An Introduction to Project Management
Time: 30+ minutes