Welcome to TrueTroop.
I'm Paul.
If project planning is new to you, this
is a good place to begin.
We will learn ten basic ideas using one
simple example: a council building a new
school.
We will call it Riverside School.
The school, dates and figures are
teaching examples.
You do not need to open any software or
remember complicated calculations.
Listen for what each term means, picture
the example, and connect it to something
you already understand.
Let's start with the word project.
A project is a temporary piece of work
undertaken to deliver a specific, unique
result.
Temporary means the project has a
beginning and an end.
It does not mean the result is only
useful for a short time.
Building Riverside School is a project.
The work starts with an agreed need and
ends when the agreed school and handover
requirements have been delivered.
The building may then serve children for
many years.
Running lessons in the school every week
is different: that is ongoing
operational work.
A useful question is, are we creating or
changing something through a defined
piece of work?
If so, we may be looking at a project.
Remember: a project delivers a
particular result.
A programme brings related projects and
change activities together so they can
achieve a wider benefit.
Managing the work together helps the
organisation coordinate decisions,
resources and the changes people need to
make.
Imagine that the council wants to
improve access to education.
Building Riverside School is one
project.
Refurbishing two existing schools is
another.
Introducing a shared teaching technology
system is a third.
Training staff to use the new facilities
also supports the change.
Together, these activities could form an
education improvement programme.
The shared benefit is better education
provision, not simply three completed
construction or technology projects.
In American English, this management
term is usually written program.
The central idea is the same: related
changes managed together.
A portfolio is a collection of projects
and programmes managed to support an
organisation's priorities.
The individual investments do not all
have to be related to one another.
Our council may invest in better
schools, safer roads and new housing.
Those activities have different
immediate purposes, but they all support
the council's wider plans for the
community.
They can therefore sit within its
investment portfolio.
Portfolio decisions include choosing
which investments to fund and balancing
limited money and people across them.
A portfolio is not simply a very large
project.
Think of it as the organisation's wider
collection of chosen investments.
Some projects sit within programmes.
Others may sit directly within a
portfolio.
Let's connect those three words using
Riverside School.
Building the school is the project.
Improving education through several
related projects and changes is the
programme.
The council's wider collection of
education, roads and housing investments
is the portfolio.
These are three different views of the
work.
At project level, the team asks, how
will we deliver this school?
At programme level, the team asks, how
will these related changes improve
education together?
At portfolio level, the organisation
asks, which investments best support our
priorities with the resources we have?
This example shows one possible
arrangement.
Not every project must belong to a
programme.
For now, remember the school, the
education improvement programme, and the
council investment portfolio.
The project life cycle is the set of
stages a project passes through from its
initial idea to completion.
It helps the team understand where the
project is and what needs to happen
next.
For Riverside School, a simple example
has four stages.
First, identify the need and decide
whether the project should go ahead.
Second, plan and design the school.
Third, carry out the delivery work,
including construction and the required
checks.
Fourth, complete handover and close the
project.
Different organisations use different
stage names, and some stages may
overlap.
Monitoring and control take place
throughout the journey.
The important idea is that a project
develops through stages; it does not
begin and end with the construction work
alone.
Scope describes the agreed work and
deliverables included in the project.
It also makes the boundaries clear: what
is included, and what is excluded?
Imagine the agreed scope for Riverside
School includes six classrooms, toilets,
an office and a playground.
A sports hall is not included.
If somebody later asks for a sports
hall, that request changes the agreed
scope.
The team needs to assess the effect and
obtain the required approval.
Clear scope helps people estimate time,
cost and resources.
It also reduces misunderstandings about
what the finished project should
contain.
When you hear the word scope, ask a
simple question: exactly what have we
agreed to deliver?
Do not assume that everybody has the
same picture in mind.
A deliverable is an identifiable output
that the project must produce.
It could be something physical, a
document, a system or another agreed
result.
At Riverside School, a completed
classroom is a deliverable.
An approved design drawing can also be a
deliverable.
So can the handover pack that explains
how the building should be operated and
maintained.
Deliverables help us describe what
successful completion looks like.
Compare the words work and output.
Installing classroom windows is work.
The installed, accepted windows are an
output of that work.
Later, we will use activities to
describe the tasks needed to produce
deliverables.
For now, remember that a deliverable is
something the project produces and that
its required completion or acceptance
conditions should be clear.
Stakeholders are people or organisations
that can influence the project, are
involved in it, or are affected by its
outcome.
They do not all work for the project
team.
At Riverside School, the council
provides funding and direction.
Teachers need classrooms that support
teaching.
The contractor carries out the building
work.
Pupils will use the school, and
neighbours may be affected by
construction traffic and noise.
These are all examples of stakeholders.
Their needs and influence will differ.
The planner may need information or
decisions from several of them before
the schedule can be realistic.
You do not need a complicated
stakeholder chart yet.
Start by asking: who can affect this
project, who is affected by it, and
whose input do we need?
A constraint is a requirement or limit
within which the project must operate.
Three familiar project limits concern
scope, time and cost.
The required quality must also be
achieved.
For our school, scope could mean six
classrooms and the agreed supporting
facilities.
Time could mean being ready for the new
school year.
Cost means staying within the authorised
budget.
If the client adds two classrooms, the
team should consider whether more time,
more money or a different delivery
approach is needed.
Changing one part can affect the others.
It would not be sensible simply to
promise more work in the same time with
the same resources without checking.
Quality requirements still apply.
Remember: what must we deliver, by when,
and within what budget?
These broad project constraints are
different from the date constraints we
will introduce in P-six later.
Resources are the people, equipment and
materials needed to carry out the work.
When planning an activity, we need to
consider what resources it requires and
whether those resources will be
available.
For example, building a wall at
Riverside School may require a
bricklaying crew, suitable access
equipment, bricks and mortar.
Having materials on site does not help
if the required people are unavailable.
Equally, a crew cannot install windows
that have not arrived.
Resource availability can therefore
limit when work can happen.
We will learn the practical details in
class.
At this stage, remember the three
everyday categories: people, equipment
and materials.
Before accepting a planned date, ask
whether the resources needed to achieve
it are actually available.
You now have the basic language.
A project delivers a particular result.
A programme coordinates related changes.
A portfolio brings investments together
around wider priorities.
A project moves through a life cycle,
has a defined scope, produces
deliverables and involves stakeholders.
It also needs resources and must work
within limits.
Think back to Riverside School: what are
we delivering, for whom, with what
resources, and within which limits?
When you are ready, click the quiz
button below the video.
You will have ten minutes to answer ten
questions and download your results.
After submitting them, you can continue
to Lesson Two.