Disclosure: This is a fictional case study with made-up numbers, designed to help readers (especially those who are non-technical, non-project professionals, or beginners) grasp key concepts of project management. Please note that this is a simplified view of project management; do not assume that real-world projects are this straightforward. I am not from the construction industry, but I chose it as an example because it is relatable for most people. This article aims to clarify some of the basic project management concepts for its readers.

Problem Statement

You, as the customer, are living in a compact apartment in a bustling city where space is a premium. Hosting parties at home is challenging due to limited space, and getting out of the city for weekends is a hassle due to heavy traffic, which takes about three hours. The cost of living is high, with expenses on rent, water, electricity, security, parking, food, and transportation adding up. Additionally, buying or constructing a new house is also expensive. You and many of your friends, who also live in this city, enjoy playing football but lack a nearby ground to play. You spend two hours commuting to work every day.

Benefits of the Existing System

Despite these challenges, your current location offers some conveniences: proximity to the airport, railway station, and shopping malls, along with a reliable 24-hour water and electricity supply. Additionally, your children’s school is nearby, with a bus service for pick-up and drop-off.

High-Level Wants

You have a budget of Rs 5 Crore for this project. You envision an 8-bedroom, two-story luxury house with ample open space, trees, and a garden. You have a preference for apple and strawberry orchards, and would love to include a small orchard in the garden.

Note: Wants are like wishes. Due to technical, procedural, legal, financial, or other constraints, not all of these may be feasible at the project location or within the project’s scope. In real life, no matter how many resources are available, all wishes cannot always be fulfilled.

Project Scope

The goal is to build a new house for a family of four. This may be an apartment or an independent bungalow within city limits.

The scope provides the project team with overall direction concerning the project’s product. It also establishes a virtual boundary, making it clear what is included within the project’s scope and what falls outside.

High-Level Customer Needs/Requirements

The customer has two children, studying in classes 10 and 12, and needs a house where they can study effectively and pursue their hobbies. The customer desires a place to host weekend parties with family and friends, as well as a football ground for playing with friends. The house should offer a 24-hour water and electricity supply. With every family member owning a car, there should be ample parking space. The customer’s spouse enjoys gardening, so a flower garden is a must. The customer also wants a home theatre and a book library for leisure. For parties, a hall or a covered green space is needed. Occasionally, the customer hosts five family friends, so sufficient guest accommodation is required.

Requirements are the features or functions a product must have. The absence of a requirement can lead to incomplete implementation and customer dissatisfaction. Requirements are derived from the project’s scope and the customer’s wants.

Types of Requirements

Requirements are generally categorized into two types: functional requirements and non-functional requirements.

Functional Requirements describe what the product should do. For example, the main gate should be a sliding door that opens automatically without manual intervention. Whether someone is allowed inside is decided by a security system.

Non-functional Requirements describe how the system performs a function. This includes aspects like performance, compatibility, quality, and aesthetics. For instance, the gate should open within 30 seconds when someone approaches and close automatically within 2 seconds. If a different gate is installed later, it should not cause security issues or compatibility problems.

Requirement Elicitation (RE)

Requirement elicitation involves gathering more detailed information about the project requirements. This can start from the problem statement or broad requirements and use various methods to clarify them. Below is a sample Q&A used in this process:

Question Answer
What are your children’s hobbies? Badminton, Chess.
Do you need parking space for guests? If yes, how many spaces? 10 open car parking spaces for guests.
If the land is unsuitable for apples or strawberries, would you prefer other trees? If so, which ones? Mango and Guava.
Should we plant these trees for you? Yes.
What types of flowers do you want in the garden? Roses and marigolds.
Should we provide the house with planted trees, or will you handle that separately? You can handle it.
Do you need a 24-hour water supply? Do you need a water tank? If so, what size? Calculate for six people; a three-day reserve is sufficient.
Do you prefer a generator or a solar plant for backup electricity? How much backup is needed? Enough for a 36-hour power cut throughout the home.

Requirement Analysis & Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM)

Throughout the project’s planning, execution, and testing phases, it is crucial to ensure the project team remains aligned with the customer’s requirements and the project’s objectives. Tracking these requirements helps ensure all needs are met. A Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) helps track each requirement from definition to acceptance.

Here is an example of a unique list of requirements for our project:

  1. Two bedrooms/study rooms for the children
  2. One master bedroom
  3. Five guest bedrooms
  4. One open party hall
  5. One room for indoor games
  6. One hall for badminton
  7. One lawn with rose and marigold flowers
  8. One apple or guava orchard
  9. A small football ground
  10. Four covered parking spaces and ten open parking spaces for cars
  11. 24-hour water and electricity supply
  12. Good connectivity to the airport and railway station
  13. Proximity to the children’s school and the customer’s office
  14. A home theatre
  15. A solar plant
  16. A 20,000-liter water tank

Some requirements, such as #12 and #13, cannot be tested due to their subjective nature.

Specifications & Constraints

Specifications are detailed descriptions of what the product will look like and how it will function. They can be functional or technical. Functional specifications outline the behavior and features of the product, while technical specifications detail dimensions, materials, and other technical aspects, often imposing constraints on the project.

Examples of specifications for our project include:

  1. Each bedroom should be at least 15’x18’.
  2. Each parking space should accommodate a car the size of a Toyota Innova.
  3. The football ground can be a community ground.
  4. The house should be near the city because the customer’s friends live there.
  5. The chess room should be 8’x8’.
  6. The orchard should cover half an acre.
  7. The flower lawn should be on 0.5 acres.
  8. The orchard and flower garden should have deep irrigation.
  9. The party hall should accommodate 500+ people.
  10. The theatre should comfortably seat 50+ people and measure 30’x60’.
  11. No land should be used for the solar plant.
  12. The water tank should not be on the house roof.

Material Specification

Materials are the resources consumed during the project. For example, cement or steel is a material resource in construction, while machinery like JCBs and tractors are machine resources. In software, development tools are like machinery, whereas licensed software shipped with the product is a material resource.

Material specifications can vary, and detailed requirements might be needed. Some common material-related questions include:

  1. What type of cement should be used?
  2. What is the main material for the building (steel, glass, brick, etc.)?
  3. What type of security system is required?
  4. What type of soil is preferred for the flower lawn?
  5. What type of tiles and paint should be used?

Estimation

Estimating involves calculating the quantity of each resource needed, the cost of these resources, and the time required to complete various project milestones. For our project, this includes:

  1. Creating a Bill of Materials (BOM)
  2. Estimating the quantity of materials needed
  3. Estimating material costs
  4. Estimating land or space requirements

What is the Cost?

The concept of cost can be viewed from two perspectives: the customer’s and the vendor’s. From a vendor’s viewpoint, cost refers to the expenses incurred throughout the entire project lifecycle, covering all project activities. For the customer, the cost is the price paid to the vendor. This is essentially the total amount charged by the vendor for the completion of the project. The project cost can include the following components:

  1. Cost of raw materials used for construction.
  2. Cost of services, including those provided by consultants, architects, laborers, painters, plumbers, electricians, etc.
  3. Cost of machinery used during the project.
  4. Transportation costs.
  5. Fees for obtaining government approvals.
  6. Cost of capital, which refers to the interest or financial charges on borrowed funds used to finance the project.

In construction projects, a Bill of Materials (BOM) is a valuable tool for generating high-level cost estimates.

Project Pricing

In a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) project, the total project cost must be estimated in advance. This estimate is then communicated to the customer, who uses it to decide whether to proceed with the project. Accurate cost estimation is crucial as it is a key input for the customer’s Return on Investment (ROI) decisions. Even in projects with variable costs, customers typically seek a ballpark estimate to help them make informed decisions.

When a vendor quotes a price to a customer, it typically includes the following components:

  1. The actual costs as discussed earlier.
  2. Risk management costs.
  3. Profit margins.

Project Architecture, Design, and Drawings

Different industries require various types of architecture and design to conceptualize how a product will be developed, used, and maintained. This includes functional design, User Interface (UI) design, security architecture, and performance architecture. In construction, these aspects are often represented in drawings and architectural plans, which can vary in detail depending on the project’s requirements.

For construction projects, a high-level diagram based on requirements and detailed specifications can be developed. This might include the layout of entrances, doors, windows, water tanks, rooms, gardens, sports fields, security systems, and more. Such documents help visualize the entire project and are sometimes mistakenly referred to as the “project plan” by engineers, although they are more accurately termed architectural or design documents.

Key characteristics of architectural designs include:

  1. They remain consistent regardless of changes in the underlying technology. For example, using different CCTV technologies does not alter the overall security architecture.
  2. Even without detailed requirements, high-level architecture can be developed from general specifications.
  3. High-level architecture helps provide initial cost estimates and guides project planning.

Technology

After developing the architecture, design, and draft documents, the project has a clear blueprint. Technology selection is a critical part of this process, as it involves choosing tools and systems used during both the construction and operational phases of the project. Technology must be evaluated based on factors like cost, availability, ease of maintenance, scalability, and relevance to the project’s objectives.

If the chosen technology becomes obsolete, unsuitable, or too expensive, alternative options need to be considered, ensuring minimal changes to the project’s architecture. Technologies could include construction machinery, security systems, elevators, sewage treatment systems, water purifiers, and power generation systems, among others.

Low-Level Design and Implementation

Project characteristics such as technological maturity, requirement stability, market competition, resource availability, organizational culture, and budget constraints determine the appropriate project management methodology. Generally, two methodologies are considered:

  1. Waterfall: Suitable when project characteristics are predictable and stable. It relies on a linear and sequential approach.
  2. Agile: Suitable for projects where characteristics are dynamic or likely to change. Agile emphasizes flexibility, iterative progress, and frequent delivery.

The chosen methodology significantly impacts project delivery and milestones. Agile methodologies focus on iterative delivery, with each iteration (or sprint) producing something tangible and valuable to the customer.

For example, in a construction project, sprints or iterations could be structured as follows:

Sprint 1: Land Identification

As per the requirements, a 10-acre plot has been identified, located 20 kilometers from the main city. The customer is asked to review, approve, and allocate funds for land registration.

Sprint 2: Architecture

During this sprint, the project team and consultants develop the architecture, design, and drawings. These blueprints are reviewed with the customer for approval.

Sprint 3: Water Tank Construction

A water tank is prioritized because water is essential for construction.

Detailed Requirements for the Tank (In Agile, detailed requirements are documented just before the relevant work begins):

  • The tank should be circular, with a height of 20 meters.
  • It should be constructed from materials that keep the water cool, even in extreme summer temperatures (up to 45°C).
  • It should accommodate both borewell water and municipal water in separate compartments.

Detailed Design of the Tank:

Tank Construction:

Product Demo/Review: The functionality and quality of the completed tank are reviewed.

Conclusions

This article has provided an overview of project management and related terminologies using a construction industry example. While real-life scenarios are more complex, this simplified explanation aims to clarify high-level concepts. If you’re new to project management, this article should offer some foundational understanding. If you’re experienced but unfamiliar with these terminologies, you may now appreciate the nuances between different terms. Feel free to share any important points I may have missed in the comments below. Based on your feedback, I will further refine and enhance this article.

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