Today, organizations are becoming leaner, extra layers of middle managers are requiring specialists from marketing, engineering, accounting, and other departments to work together in ad-hoc project teams. Having no full-time, dedicated managers, these teams are often led by one of these specialists who may excel at his or her specialty, but does not necessarily have management experience. Typically, such team leaders must simultaneously make project contributions in their specialty while they try to manage the project. These “instant” project managers need help defining the project; initiating, planning, executing, and controlling project events; and figuring out how to bring project events to a timely conclusion. And they can't stop working for the many weeks it would take to acquire extensive management training.project, project team, project management, project cycle, project plan, key success indicators, quality, deliverable, deadlines, communication, feedback, scope.

CARAGEA Codin

MIHAILESCU Laurentiu

POPA Gabriela

English

Research Papers in Economics

The Ninth International Conference  
“Investments and Economic Recovery”, May 22 – 23, 2009 
 
 
 
 
Economia seria Management    Vol.12, Nr. 2 special/2009 
 
159 
 
Project manager’s pocket guide 
 
Ghidul de buzunar al managerului de proiect 
 
Codin CARAGEA 
OTP Bank, Bucharest, Romania 
e-mail: codin.caragea@otpbank.ro 
Gabriela POPA, Ph.D. Student 
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania 
e-mail: gabriela.popa@otpbank.ro 
Laurenţiu MIHĂILESCU, Ph.D. Student 
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania 
e-mail: laurentiu.mihailescu@ing.ro 
 
 
Abstract 
Today, organizations are becoming leaner, extra layers of middle managers are 
requiring specialists from marketing, engineering, accounting, and other departments to 
work together in  ad-hoc project teams. Having no full-time, dedicated managers, these 
teams are often led by one of these specialists who may excel at his or her specialty, but 
does  not  necessarily  have  management  experience.  Typically,  such  team  leaders  must 
simultaneously make project contributions in their specialty while they try to manage the 
project.  These  “instant”  project  managers  need  help  defining  the  project;  initiating, 
planning, executing, and controlling project events; and figuring out how to bring project 
events to a timely conclusion. And they can't stop working for the many weeks it would take 
to acquire extensive management training. 
 
Keywords: project, project team, project management, project cycle, project plan, 
key success indicators, quality, deliverable, deadlines, communication, feedback, scope. 
 
    Rezumat 
Astazi, cand structura organizatiilor devine din ce in ce mai plata, managementul 
solicita specialisti din toate liniile de business precum si din zonele suport (marketing, 
contabilitate, resurse umane) pentru a  constitui echipe de proiect ad-hoc. Aceste echipe nu 
au  un manager dedicat si sunt conduse de obicei de  unul dintre specialisti care poate 
excela in meseria sa, dar poate sa nu detina experienta de conducere necesara. Acesti 
lideri de echipa trebuie sa aduca totodata contributii in cadrul proiectului pe zona lor de 
specialitate si sa si conduca intregul proiect. Acesti manageri de proiect de tip “instant” 
au  nevoie  de sprijin  in ceea ce priveste definirea, initierea, planificarea, executarea si 
controlul evenimentelor proiectului precum si in respectarea termenelor. Iar organizatia nu 
isi  poate  permite  sa-i  scoata  din  activitate  pentru  multe  saptamani  pentru  a-i  antrena 
intensiv in managementul proiectelor 
 
Cuvinte-cheie:  proiect,  echipa  de  proiect,  management  de  proiect,  ciclul 
proiectului, plan de proiect, indicatori de success, calitate, livrabil, termene, comunicare, 
feedback, scop 
JEL Classification: G21, M15, M19   The Ninth International Conference 
“Investments and Economic Recovery”, May 22 – 23, 2009 
 
 
Vol.12, Nr. 2 special/2009        Economia seria Management 
 
160 
his article represents a specially designed pocket guide to meet the “instant” 
needs of the project manager. It provides project overview, frequently asked 
questions and tips. 
 
What is a project? 
 
A project is a unique endeavour to produce a set of deliverables within clearly 
specified time, cost and quality constraints.  
Projects bring together people from a range of jobs and provide them with the 
opportunity to collaborate in a unique way. Because projects are so diverse and flexible, 
organizations have increasingly used them as the preferred way to fulfil the needs of their 
customers. 
Projects are different from standard business operational activities, as they: 
•  As unique in nature. They do not involve repetitive processes. Every project 
undertaken  is  different  from  the  last,  whereas  operational  activities  often  involve 
undertaking repetitive or identical processes; 
•  Have a defined timescale. Projects have a clearly specified start and end date 
within which  the deliverables  must  be  produced in  order to  meet  a  specified customer 
requirement; 
•  Have  an  approved  budget.  Projects  are  allocated  a  level  of  financial 
expenditure within which the deliverables must be produced to meet a specified customer 
requirement; 
•  Have limited resources. At the start of a project an agreed amount of labor, 
equipment and materials is allocated to the project; 
•  Involve  an  element  of  risk.  Projects  involve  a  level  of  uncertainty  and 
therefore carry business risk; 
•  Involve  change.  During  the  project’s  life,  one  or  more  coordinates  can 
change, so the Project Manager and the team must consider them and to analyze their effect 
on the initial time, cost, resources, risk and quality planning.  
The term project seems to be a buzzword that means a lot of different things to 
different people. Anything, for example, from a secretary's "project" to clean out an old 
filing cabinet to an engineer's "project" to create a multi-million dollar facility. Even these 
extremes have one thing in common: the application of work or effort to create a new 
situation or product, where "product" is used in its broadest sense. So a project can be any 
undertaking  with  a  definite  starting  point  and  one  or  more  defined  objectives  the 
completion of which spell out the end of the project. It should be added that for one reason 
or another most projects are restricted by limits imposed on resources (effort, equipment 
and materials) time and money. 
 
What is Project Management? 
 
Project Management represents the set of skills, tools and management processes 
required to undertake a project successfully. 
Project Management comprises: 
•  A set of skills. Specialist knowledge, skills and experience are required to 
reduce the level of risk within a project and thereby enhance its likelihood of success; 
•  A suite of tools. Various types of tools are used by the Project managers to 
improve  their  chances  of  success.  Examples  include  document  templates,  registers, 
planning software, modelling software, audit checklist and review forms; 
T The Ninth International Conference  
“Investments and Economic Recovery”, May 22 – 23, 2009 
 
 
 
 
Economia seria Management    Vol.12, Nr. 2 special/2009 
 
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•  A  series  of  process.  Various  management  techniques  and  processes  are 
required  to  monitor  and  control  time,  cost,  quality  and  scope  on  projects.  Examples 
includes time management, cost management, quality management, change management, 
risk management and issue management; 
•  Controlling  the  project through  its  stages  using  the  project definition  as a 
baseline. 
 
What is a project life cycle? 
 
 
Figure 1. Project life cycle 
 
 
   The Ninth International Conference 
“Investments and Economic Recovery”, May 22 – 23, 2009 
 
 
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How do I get started? 
 
At  one  and  the  same  time  this  step  is  perhaps  the  most  important  and  least 
understood of all the steps in the project management process. Yet there are a few basic 
guidelines which are helpful: 
1. Make sure you know who is your primary client, to whom you will be reporting 
on project progress, and from whom you will be receiving direction as the project process 
evolves. 
2. Make sure that you understand your client's goals and objectives and that you 
will be able to document them in increasing detail as part of developing a project plan 
which you will eventually be able to execute. 
3. Make sure you understand the context of the project — Why is it being done? 
Why now? What are the implications and consequently the risks that will be faced? Do the 
delivery date and budget look realistic? What are the tangible and intangible benefits? Does 
it look like the project is worth doing at all? In short, will it be successful? 
4. Document all of this and, together with any assumptions that you may have to 
make, obtain your client's concurrence. You may well be faced with some hard negotiating 
to do, but in the end you will have an initiation document which, once approved by the 
appropriate funding authority, will be your project mandate to proceed and give you the 
best chance for success. With this out of the way, you are now off and running and the next 
steps will be to build a project team, develop a project plan and identify the additional 
information and resources required for the project. 
 
What is a successful project? 
 
Since every project has an element of newness about it there will be risks and 
difficulties  to  be  surmounted.  These  require  decisions  and  possibly  trade-offs  between 
competing project objectives such as cost and time, but in the last analysis, the successful 
project is one which satisfies the client and the stakeholders.  
 
Figure 2. Measurable key success of project The Ninth International Conference  
“Investments and Economic Recovery”, May 22 – 23, 2009 
 
 
 
 
Economia seria Management    Vol.12, Nr. 2 special/2009 
 
163 
Failure Facts 
 
￿ ￿ ￿ ￿  60% of organizations have no process to measure benefits  
￿ ￿ ￿ ￿  86% of projects had a business case, but 60% ignored it  
￿ ￿ ￿ ￿  33% of projects said they had no risks, but 62% of those failed  
￿ ￿ ￿ ￿  49% or organizations have had (one or more) project failures  
￿ ￿ ￿ ￿  In  one-third  of  the  projects,  the  project  manager  had  no  say  in 
schedule/budget targets  
￿ ￿ ￿ ￿  75% of projects were underestimated, none were overestimated  
￿ ￿ ￿ ￿  5% of projects had no project manager; 16% changed project manager at least 
once (and that was correlated with project failure)  
 
Figure 3. The main IT project failure criteria 
Source: Ferry, Daniel D. & Noelle Frances, (2000). 77 Sure-Fire Ways to Kill a Software 
Project, San Jose: Author's Choice Press 
 
Tips 
 
Four key planning points:  
1.  Do the right project. Using benefit cost analysis and looking at opportunity 
cost, look at the project that gives you the biggest value for your effort and is most aligned 
with your company’s strategy, moving you in the direction you want to go.  
2.  Define scope clearly and precisely.  
3.  Plan the whole project. Make a plan for each area.  
4.  Do  good architecture. Work  with words and pictures to  bring people with 
different perspectives into the same page, contributing to and committed to the project.  
Prepare your team in just two steps:  
5.  Get the right team. Using the project plan, define the skills needed, and get 
people with those skills. Be honest about gaps, and close them by taking time to learn to get 
it done right.  
75%
55%
40%
37%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
missed deadlines 
exceeded budget 
poor 
communications 
inability to meet 
project requirements   The Ninth International Conference 
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6.  Get the expertise you need. Know that being expert in one area means not 
being expert in other areas—sometimes closely related disciplines. Recognize that project, 
being unique work; require learning from and collaborating with experts. Remember, hiring 
experts you can work with is less expensive than not hiring experts you can work with.  
Cover all the bases with the knowledge areas:  
7.  Scope.  After  defining  scope  clearly,  teach  the  cost  of  changes  to  reduce 
change  requests,  and  then  manage  all  changes,  adding  to  the  project  only  when  it  is 
essential.  
8.  Time and cost. Use unbiased, accurate estimation techniques. Set up systems 
to gather, track, and analyze time and cost information, so you can keep them under control  
9.  Quality. Focus on quality at all three levels to ensure value. At the technical 
level, trace requirements and design checking and testing throughout the project to reduce 
errors. Then design a test bed, and implement the tests. At the project level, work to prevent 
error, then find and eliminate the errors that slipped through. Do as much testing as you can 
as early as you can. Allow time for rework and retesting to ensure you’ve eliminated errors 
without letting new ones creep in. At the business level, include customers in testing, and 
remember that the goals are customer delight and added value.  
10.  Risk.  Plan  for  uncertainty;  prepare  for  the  unexpected.  Perform  risk 
management with your team every week of the project.  
11.  Human Resources. Help each team member step up in self-management and 
technical expertise. Teach everyone project management so that they can improve. Then 
teach them to work together, until you have a great team of great people.  
12.  Procurement.  Get  the  supplies  and  resources  you  need.  If  your  project 
involves  contracts,  be  sure  to  keep  the  contracts  in  alignment  with  project  value  and 
specifications, not just generally associated with goals and work.  
13.  Communications. Have a communications plan, and follow it so that you are 
in touch with all stakeholders throughout the project. Make sure everyone knows what they 
need to know to make decisions and get work done. Analyze status information to create 
status reports. Be prompt and decisive.  
14.  Integration. Constantly direct corrective action. Evaluate all events that could 
change  the  project  schedule, and  all scope  change requests.  Review  the effects  of any 
change on all areas before making a decision, and then implement a revised the project 
plan.  
Keep the project on track with stages and gates:  
15.  Use a life cycle. At a minimum, put a gate at the beginning to clearly launch 
the project, and then a gate after planning, a gate after doing, and a gate after following 
through.  
16.  Every gate is a real evaluation. Bring every deliverable—parts of the product, 
product documentation, technical documents, the project plan and supporting documents—
up to specification. If a project can’t deliver value, be willing to cancel it.  
 
Use feedback with your team and focus on scope and quality in the execution 
stage:  
17.  Use feedback at all levels. Teach workers to stay in lane and on schedule; 
ensure delivery of milestones; manage project risk; and manage project change. Watch out 
for continuing problems that indicate a serious planning error, such as lack of attention to 
one of the nine areas or a poor architectural decision.  
18.  Focus on scope and quality. Get it all done, and get each piece done right.  
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Follow through to success 
 
I  Deliver  customer  happiness.  Seek  to  exceed  customer  expectations  while 
leaving customers delighted with every encounter with your team. Use every success and 
every error as a chance to learn to do a better job.  
I  Remember NPV and lessons learned. Compare actual NPV to planned NPV, 
so  you  can  be  honest  about  the  degree  of  your  success.  Compile  project  historical 
information and lessons learned to make future projects easier. 
 
Conclusion: What value does project management add? 
 
This is very difficult to answer in traditional accounting terms because the real 
value is in the quality of the end results and the avoidance of unnecessary delays and costs. 
In short, it’s about stakeholder and customer satisfaction. It's like taking out insurance, no 
one argues about taking out the right amount of insurance. No one should argue about 
doing the right amount of project  management. Remember that  Murphy, that  good old 
proponent of humorous laws, has said "A poorly run project will take three times as long 
and cost three times as much as a well run project..." However, he also added "compared to 
a  well  run  project  which  only  takes  twice  as  long  and  costs  twice  as  much."  For  our 
financial accounting friends, that's a 50% saving right there! 
 
 
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Project manager’s pocket guide

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