Fpm4dev introduction

PM4DEV | 17

Introduction For most development organizations, project management deals only with the implementation of the activities and keeping track of budget expenditures. Little effort is devoted to planning the various management processes that make up a project. Project management is more than just implementing activities: it includes the management of limited resources to ensure that the project meets its quality, timeframe and budget objectives, while at the same time meeting the expectations of its stakeholders.

Additionally, development projects operate in locations fraught with challenges, from extreme working conditions to volatile environments, putting the project at risk of not meeting its goals. Development projects face constant demands to do more with less; at the same time, project managers have to deal with requests from numerous stakeholders in addition to being responsible for delivering outcomes in conditions where security risks are high, and goods and services are limited.

This complex project environment needs appropriate project-management skills; it requires that projects take into account the input of different stakeholders while balancing the need to manage project budgets, monitor schedules, and evaluate outcomes. In this environment, development workers assigned to manage projects are often not sufficiently equipped with the necessary management skills, and lack access to the tools and methods that will help them do their job in an efficient and effective manner.

A lack of consistent project‐management methodology often results in a duplication of efforts affecting the bottom line of an organization’s development goals by producing outcomes at higher costs and higher risks, and creating an environment of distrust from donors and stakeholders.

Currently, there is not a widely defined standard for managing development projects. For that reason, each organization or project manager defines their own approach to managing a project. Nonetheless, there is one significant advance in the development sector: the institutionalization of a project’s logical framework or "log-frame." Yet having a log-frame does not ensure the success of a project; in fact, many project managers using the log-frame

18 | Fundamentals of Project Management for Development Organizations

fail to understand the critical managerial components of the project, focusing excessively on the technical components while ignoring the processes to manage the constraints of a project. Management skills are often seen as an unnecessary element, and something that can be achieved just by monitoring the project’s budget and schedule; however, the success of development organizations requires that organizations take a new approach to their understanding of management within the context of a development project.

Although many development organizations claim to have good principles of project management, only a few can provide evidence that they use formal project-management methodologies in a consistent, predictable and reliable manner. Most organizations run projects relying on the technical skills of their project managers who – not surprisingly – have little or no formal training in management. This problem directly impacts organizations: It may help them get off the ground, but they are at increased risk of failing to meet intended objectives.

Project Failures In recent years, most development organizations have seen an increase in accountability requirements from international cooperation and donor agencies, leading to a greater focus on effectiveness and efficiency in the way projects are using resources and delivering benefits. In this rapidly changing environment with a diverse range of issues and challenges, project managers can support the achievement of project and organizational goals and give greater assurance to stakeholders that resources are managed effectively. Many development projects fail to deliver the expected outcomes or fail to produce the desired impact in the communities they serve. The most common reasons for project failures are:  Objectives are not properly defined and agreed-upon due to a rush to obtain funding.  Beneficiaries are not included in the early decisions of the project.  Discrepancies in understanding the project’s objectives due to the non-participation of stakeholders.  Outcomes and benefits are not properly defined in measurable terms; there is too much emphasis on measuring and tracking activities and tangible outputs and not enough on the intangible benefits that come as a result of achieving the project’s final goals.

PM4DEV | 19

 Insufficient planning and coordination of resources resulting in plans that do not meet actual conditions in the field, and project staff having limited skills to modify and adapt the plan in time and under budget.  Poor estimation of duration and cost resulting in activities that take longer than planned and cost more than what was budgeted.  Incomplete, unrealistic and outdated project plans: the team blindly follows plans that, in many cases, have never been verified or modified to adapt to a changing environment.  Lack of communication and stakeholder management leads to high expectations about the project, increases distrust, and results in beneficiaries who are disconnected from the project.  Weak project leadership: vague lines of responsibility and authority produce an uncoordinated team that often duplicates efforts.  Inadequate definition and acceptance of roles results in project staff that cannot assume their responsibilities and increases the time a project manager needs to work with the team.  Poor commitment to the project by the team, the organization, and the beneficiaries resulting from inadequate leadership skills.  Weak control processes and feedback mechanisms that do not detect problems early enough.  Lack of analysis of major risk factors and inadequate risk-response strategies result in higher costs to recover from the risk events.  Lack of good quality controls that impact the ownership of the project by the beneficiaries and other key stakeholders.

All of these causes could be addressed by the application of modern projectmanagement tools and techniques. Applying a formalized projectmanagement framework, or methodology, to projects can help with clarification and agreement-to goals. It helps with the correct identification of the resources needed to ensure accountability for results and performance, and foster a focus on the benefits to be achieved.

20 | Fundamentals of Project Management for Development Organizations

Challenges of Development Projects Development projects operate in challenging environments, where uncertainties about the future increase risks around the project. Managers need to deal with extremely complex social, economic, and political factors that affect the delivery of goods and services. Development projects are implemented in some of the most remote and difficult locations in the world, and projects often operate within areas of high personal and security risk to project staff. The lack of proper infrastructure, limited resources, and a changing environment put a strain on project managers who are pressed to deliver the project outcomes.

The constant changes in the social, economic, political, and natural environment force many projects to adapt from original plans; in fact, project plans are built on many assumptions that are eventually challenged by the changes in the environment. These changes are not always reflected in the original design, which causes projects to miss their target objectives.

This explains why it is not uncommon to find a project that has delivered all its expected outputs, but has failed to reach its outcomes and objectives.

The following is a list of the typical weaknesses in development-project management:  Poor project planning: in the rush to get a project started, managers pay little attention to the effort required to fully develop all the plans needed to manage the project. Under this pressure, the project design is likely to omit a deeper analysis of the project's risks and stakeholders.  Inadequate management skills: project staff may be unqualified for the tasks required when managing a project. This challenge is due in part to the lack of training opportunities project staff has to build their management skills.

PM4DEV | 21

 Emphasis on the technical component: development projects are planned primarily from a technical perspective, rather than a more holistic perspective that includes the project-management cycle.  Lack of accountability: projects are run with little definition of roles and responsibilities and no clear identification of who is accountable for the project outcomes before the donors and the beneficiaries.  Lack of stakeholder involvement: key project stakeholders are not systematically involved in the planning and monitoring of a project, which leads to a lack of ownership while the project is implemented.  Unrealistic plans: projects are planned on a linear timeline that leaves little or no opportunities to modify and adjust plans as needed.  No measure to evaluate quality: projects fail to define the criteria by which beneficiaries will know if the project was a success or not.  Poor, inconsistent project management discipline: There is no consistent use of a proven methodology to help manage, monitor and adapt the project implementation.  Duplication of efforts: Organizations that do not have a standard process and methodology for project management discover that projects are reinventing the same solutions again and again.

A critical challenge is that projects do not have time for learning from the past. Development projects are learning-intensive, but very little of this gained knowledge remains in the organization at the end of a project.

Because a time-bound project entails a short-term outlook while the concept of “an organization” is long-term, it is difficult to integrate the two concepts when the time comes for sharing knowledge gained in the implementation of projects.

Experiences from past projects is potential knowledge that new projects could use to increase their chances of success; however, organizations lose the opportunity to capture and use this knowledge due to lack of processes designed to do so. A project-management methodology can overcome this challenge by providing development organizations with the discipline to integrate continuous learning practices.

22 | Fundamentals of Project Management for Development Organizations

Problems in Managing Development Projects1 Results from a long-term evaluation of development projects by the World Bank have identified the following recurring problems:  Lack of shared perception and agreement on the objectives of the project.  Lack of commitment to the project by the team, management and stakeholders.  Lack of detailed, realistic and current project plans.  Lack of adequate resources.  Lack of clear lines of authority and responsibility.  Poor feedback and control mechanisms for early detection of problems.  Poor or no analysis of risks factors.  Delays caused by bureaucratic administrative systems.

Organizations need a methodology that allows a great degree of flexibility to accommodate the constantly changing environment of today's projects, a methodology that promotes optimal standards of performance, and reinforces organizational capacity to deliver its services in a transparent and effective manner.

The Need for a Project Management Methodology A project-management methodology is a set of inter-related phases, activities and tasks that define the project process from start to completion.

Each phase of the project produces a major deliverable that contributes to the achievement of project objectives. The objective of a methodology is to provide common standards to ensure that all projects are conducted in a disciplined, well-managed and consistent manner, resulting in projects that are completed on-time and within budget.

1

Robert Youker, The Nature of Development Projects, World Bank, 2005

PM4DEV | 23 Defining and implementing a good methodology is essential for development organizations, allowing for a project-management approach to performing project activities in a coherent, consistent, accountable, and repeatable manner.

A project-management methodology is also used to capture the best practices of project management and disseminate them within the organization. It is a system of principles, practices and procedures, and a collection of practical ideas and proven practices. Development organizations need a project-management methodology they can use and customize to meet their needs, one that provides the right mix of methods, processes and practices that are repeatedly applied to deliver projects in a consistent manner with predictable results. The best methodologies are the ones that are built based on the experience of its practitioners.

Organizations that build a learning cycle into their methodologies will benefit by incorporating the knowledge of project managers, thus building a methodology that reflects current best practices. With this approach, organizations will have a comprehensive and knowledge-driven methodology for successful project management.

Without a project-management methodology, organizations risk losing the knowledge and skills they gain from completed projects, knowledge that is also lost due to the high staff turnover in development organizations, which makes it hard to build institutional memory to improve the efficiency of development projects and to implement lessons learned in future projects.

Benefits of a Project Management Methodology The use of a systematic project-management methodology gives development organizations a strategic tool: the means to practice established and time-tested practices of project management to achieve successful outcomes. A standard Project Management Methodology can help development organizations with the following:  Establish and manage projects according to integrated and defined processes.

24 | Fundamentals of Project Management for Development Organizations

 Control the project constraints within planned limits (Scope, Schedule, Budget and Quality).  Ensure that the team performs their tasks in a coordinated and timely manner.  Meet the donor requirements and strictly adhere to the plans.

Amongst the main benefits is an increase in the level of collaboration amongst all project stakeholders, and the delivery of consistent results of predicable quality with defined roles and responsibilities that ensure proper accountability. A project-management methodology, when properly applied, can deliver the following benefits:  A common approach and consistent discipline for how projects are planned and implemented in the organization.  A standard project terminology, understood by all stakeholders.  Provides project donors and stakeholders confidence on how projects are done in the organization.  Permits accurate predictions of project resource requirements and avoids duplication of efforts.  Stipulates clear procedures for developing project plans that allow better control of the project throughout its life cycle.  Helps the project manager to integrate, coordinate and track project activities by describing the basic practices, procedures and techniques.  Reduces the impact that risks have on the project Development organizations can increase the chances of success by implementing a project-management methodology that is applicable to their projects. Only when using a standard methodology of processes and techniques, organizations can coordinate resources to achieve predictable results.

Building and managing according to a project-management methodology is an art that requires flexibility and creativity. A good methodology provides the framework, processes, guidelines and techniques to structure the work. A good methodology increases the odds of being successful, and is therefore valuable to the organization and the project stakeholders.