Project Management Overview & Case Study: Developing and Managing a WBS

Jared Foxworthy
First published in: Consumers, Incentives, & the Information Age. 2013. Pearson Canada.
ISBN 978-1-2695-2958-7

Common Terminology
Project management
The specialized profession of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling resources to achieve specific
goals.
Project Manager
A professional in the field of project management who generally have the responsibility of planning,
executing, and closing of any project. Accountable for accomplishing the stated project objectives.
Key project management responsibilities include identifying and defining clear and attainable project
objectives and requirements with project stakeholders, and managing the triple constraint for projects -cost,
time, and scope (or quality),
Often a client representative and as such has to determine and implement exact needs of the client or
stakeholder. As such, the ability adapt to the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form
close links with stakeholders, is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality and above all,
client satisfaction are successfully managed.
Project
A temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by
funding or deliverables
Initiated to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value.
Temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with business as usual (or operations), which are repetitive,
permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to produce products or services.
Primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while managing
any constraints.
The primary constraints of a project are scope (or quality), time, and budget.

Scope
The work required to deliver a product, service, or result within the specified features and functions as defined
in the project
Stakeholder
The individuals &/or parties both within and outside an organization who sponsor a project, have an interest
or gain upon successful completion of the project, and may have a positive or negative influence in its
completion (decision making ability)
Deliverable
A term used in project management to describe a tangible or intangible item or asset produced as a result of
the project, which is intended to be delivered to either an internal or external client, or both.
A deliverable consists of tasks or activities which are required for completion and may also be composed of
multiple, smaller deliverables.
Traditional Approach to Project Management
The various developmental components of a project are identified as a sequence of steps to be completed -
outlined below:



This traditional approach includes four to five process groups, or phases and a control system.
Regardless of the methodology or terminology used, the organization, or even nature of the project, the same
basic project management processes can generally be applied everywhere!
Not all projects will have every stage, as projects can be terminated before they reach completion, or do not
follow a structured planning and/or monitoring process.
Some projects will go through various phases multiple times, as is their nature. Many industries use variations
of these project stages.
The major process phases of a project generally include:
Initiation
Planning
Execution
Monitoring & Controlling
Closing

**Note - the planning and execution phases generally require the most effort and duration, and as such are usually
where the project manager is most heavily engaged and can provide the most value.

1. Initiating
Processes generally determine the nature and scope of the project.
The initiating stage will usually include the following, depending on the project:
Analysis of business needs & requirements in measurable goals
review of current operations
financial analysis of the costs and benefits of the project, including a budget
stakeholder analysis, including team members, and support personnel for the project

2. Planning
The main purpose of the planning phase is to plan time, cost and resources adequately to estimate the work
needed and to effectively manage project execution.
Project planning generally includes the following, depending on the project:
determining how to plan (which level of detail)
identifying and defining project scope & objectives
identifying project deliverables
identifying the tasks & activities needed to complete those deliverables and organizing these activities by
developing a Workback Schedule (or WBS). Refer to enclosed case study. This is a fundamental & critical
step to every project, as developing a WBS creates a foundation for the project from which to carry out the
various project phases against (plan, execute, monitor, etc), and without which a project is certainly
doomed to fail. The case study provides an example using Excel, one of the most common formats,
however any sort of document or list which tracks the projects deliverables and other essential
information will serve the same purpose, depending on the scope of the project.
estimating resource, time & cost requirements for activities/tasks
developing the budgets
risk planning
formal approval to begin work (usually from stakeholders and/or party responsible for funding the project)
Additional processes, such as planning for communications and for scope management, identifying roles and
responsibilities, determining what to purchase for the project and holding a kick-off meeting are also usually
included.

3. Executing
Processes used to complete the work defined in the planning phase to accomplish the project's requirements.
Executing a project involves coordinating people and resources, as well as integrating and performing the activities
of the project in accordance with the project management plan. Deliverables are produced as outputs from the
processes performed.
Execution processes generally include the following, depending on the project:
Directing and managing project execution (following up on deliverables to ensure they are on time and
budget, etc)
Quality assurance of deliverables (reviewing all deliverables to ensure accuracy)
Facilitate the flow of information (via incoming and outgoing communication, status meetings, etc)
Manage stakeholder expectations (ongoing requests, etc)

4. Monitoring & Controlling
Processes performed to observe project execution, so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner
and corrective action can be taken, when necessary, to control the execution of the project.
Monitoring and controlling processes generally include the following, depending on the project:
Measuring ongoing project activities and monitoring project variables (cost, effort, scope, etc.) against the
project management plan via regular reporting
Identify corrective actions to address issues and risks properly as needed

5. Closing
The formal acceptance of the project and its ending. Administrative activities include the archiving of the files and
documenting lessons learned, and finalizing all activities across all of the process groups to formally close the
project.
Project Management Software
Provides tools & abilities to help plan, organize, and manage projects
Depending on the software, tools include estimation and planning, scheduling, cost control and budget
management, resource allocation, communication, quality management and documentation
Software may range from the high-end Microsoft Project to a simple spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel, which is
used far more frequently due to its wide ease of use and accessibility (corporate MS Project licenses can cost
thousands of dollars and each user is required to have it installed to view any documents created).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Case Study

Sports & Entertainment Media Partnership

You are a Project Management Consultant currently contracted to a large telecommunications company,
working with the Marketing department to manage media advertising and corporate sponsorship projects
You have just come out of a kick-off meeting (aka initiation phase), which identified and defined project
scope, requirements, and deliverables around a new media partnership project with a well-known
professional Sports Affiliation. This partnership program will consist of integrated media & advertising, along
with a customer loyalty program, for the duration of the Sports Affiliations season.
Moving to the planning phase, as the PM, your immediate next step is to develop a Workback Schedule
(WBS), based on the details discussed in the meeting and found in the summarized recap below which you
have just completed.
This WBS will include a breakdown of deliverables, persons responsible, and timing - you have also already
created the template which you will be utilizing (see attached)
This WBS will be used constantly throughout the duration of the project, and will be updated frequently by
yourself following weekly status meetings which you also set up and facilitate to obtain updates on the various
project components in order to keep things moving, highlight any issues, key deliverables, etc.
Note the first section of the WBS has been completed per the notes below as an example to demonstrate
the objectives of this exercise.

Question 1: Using the summarized recap below, & attached template, develop a Workback Schedule (or WBS) by
filling in appropriate deliverables/tasks, deadlines, & responsible parties.

Question 2: It is March 18th, and during your weekly status meeting Agency has just advised that they are
experiencing delays and that remaining creative assets will not be delivered now until March 21st. Using red
font, indicate how this will affect the project schedule.

Appendix A: Recap Media Partnership Project Kick-Off - March 1, 2013

Attendees: You (Project Manager), Client (Stakeholder), Sports Affiliation (Stakeholder), Agency (Creative
Development)

Project Details:
Launch Date: April 2 - October 2
Project Considerations:
**Note considerations have been tailored to be relevant to this exercise and are specifically focused around
deliverables and content required to populate a WBS. Many many more project considerations would be flushed
out, as outlined above, particularly during the Initiating and Planning phases
In Stadium Media and Tweet Tuesdays must launch on April 2
nd
, to coincide with the Season Opener, with the
exception of Player Profiles #3 and #4, which will be launching halfway through the season on July 2. These
dates are not flexible as media contracts have been negotiated and booked against these launches.
A third party Agency has been engaged to develop all required creative assets
Both Client and Sports Affiliation require 5 business days for approval on In Stadium creative elements
Client has indicated that all creative specifications required to develop creative assets would be provided on
March 6
th
. This includes specifications for: Double Outfield Wall Branding, Home Dugout Branding, and Tweet
Tuesdays creative.

In Stadium Media Elements
Double Out Field Wall Branding
Agency has indicated that creative assets will be delivered to Client and Sports Affiliation on March 14 for
approval
Sports Affiliation has advised that it will take 5 business days to install this creative element, once the
approved asset has been received from the Agency

Home Dugout Branding
Agency has indicated that creative assets will be delivered on March 18 for approval
Sports Affiliation has advised that it will take 3 business days to install this creative element, once the
approved asset has been received from the Agency

In Game Promotion - Player Profiles
Sports Affiliation has indicated that Player Profiles #1 and #2 would be delivered on March 20
th
for approval
Sports Affiliation has indicated that Player Profiles #3 and #4 would be delivered on June 21
st
for approval
Sports Affiliation has indicated this creative element can launch immediately following approval, so there are
no timing considerations around installation, etc

Customer Loyalty Program Elements
Customer Loyalty Website
Sports Affiliation has indicated that a functional website will be provided on March 15
th
on a test server for
review & approval
Client has indicated a turnaround time of 10 business days for testing/approval of the functional website
Sports Affiliation has indicated this creative element can launch immediately following approval, so there are
no timing considerations around installation, etc
Sports Affiliation has also indicated that two additional Analytics reports will be delivered specifically for the
Website element on May 15
th
and July 15
th
respectively.


Tweet Tuesdays
Sports Affiliation has indicated that the proposed Content Calendar will be delivered on March 27th
Client has indicated that it will take 3 business days to review/approve the proposed Content Calendar
Agency has indicated that creative assets will be delivered on March 18
st
for approval
Sports Affiliation has indicated that it will take 3 business days to install this creative element, once the
approved asset has been received from the Agency

Project Reporting
Sports Affiliation has indicated project reporting would be delivered on the 15
th
of every other month,
starting on April 15
th
(following launch on April 2nd), through the full duration of the project, with the
final report being delivered on October 15
th
.



USE FOR REFERENCE