From Programmer to Project Manager: Three Goals of Project Management
The three goals of project management, namely time, cost and quality, actually tell the project manager what factors should be focused on and what should be done by project control. Although the three goals are simple, if they can be implemented into their own actions, they can play a guiding role in project planning and process control. With the direction of effort, project managers can truly say goodbye to "blindness".
1. My first epiphany
(1) Understand the three major goals to be considered an entry
I used to be a chaotic project manager. Every day, I don't know what to do and what to do, and I drift with the waves of the project. Until one day, my boss told me that the project has three goals: time, cost and quality. I was struck by lightning and woke up from a dream. Time, cost, quality, isn't this what the project manager should be most concerned about?
This was my first epiphany in project management. From this day on, I feel like a real project manager. It was also from this day that I realized that project management has rules to follow. I bought a project management book, participated in project management training, and started a new round of hungry learning.
Later at work I tried to ask myself these questions every day:
l Time: When will the project be completed? What are the tasks and when are they completed? Has a deviation occurred? If there is a deviation, how to deal with it?
l Cost: How much does the project plan to cost? How much money (man-months) do you plan to spend on each subtask? Has a deviation occurred? If there is a deviation, how to deal with it?
l Quality: Is the software functionally complete? Is the software easy to operate? Are the results correct? Is it efficient enough? Does the software code conform to the specification? Are customers satisfied?
I think if you can do this, project management will be an entry point. Only when the project manager keeps the three goals in mind at all times, will his actions have a direction, can he truly actively and consciously manage the project, and can be regarded as a real project manager.
(2) The three major goals are "fast, good and economical"
The three major goals of project management are actually three of the nine major areas of project management, which represent how much money is spent, how much time, and what is done. Obviously, these are all crucial issues in project management. If you don't care about these three issues, then there is nothing to care about.
Premier Zhou once proposed to "build socialism with more speed, better savings", and the three goals are actually the same as "faster, better savings". Why is there not much? Because "more" is by no means the goal of project management. The project only needs to complete the specified content. If "more" is the goal, then the project will never be completed.
(3) Who cares about the three goals
Since it is the three major goals, it should be of great concern to all parties in the project, but it is not. The three major goals are to balance the interests of both the project owner and the contractor, and to achieve the result of comprehensive consideration for both parties. For example, cost is the money spent, which is obviously the lifeblood of the contractor, but the owner doesn't care. After signing the contract, how much money you spend has nothing to do with them? They just don't care. And quality, although the owner is very important, but the contractor is often not concerned about it. The reason why there are so many tofu dregs projects is because the contractor only pays attention to the cost and does not care about the consequences of quality.
| Three goals |
Buyer (owner side) |
Seller (contractor) |
| cost |
After the contract is signed, the project implementation cost is basically independent of the customer. Level of concern: 0 stars |
Keeping costs as low as possible is critical to the company. Level of concern: 5 stars |
| schedule |
Be quick and put it to work as soon as possible. Level of concern: 4 stars |
Be quick to get your money back as soon as possible. Level of concern: 4 stars |
| quality |
The higher the quality, the easier it is to use. Level of concern: 5 stars |
The higher the quality, the higher the cost, and the quality is too low to be accepted. Companies are forced to care about quality. Level of concern: 3 stars |
It can be seen from the above table that there is a certain conflict of interest between the owner and the contractor. The project manager must be able to balance the interests of both parties and satisfy both parties. Time, cost and quality are like the three boards that make up a wooden barrel. If there is a hole in any board, the wooden barrel cannot hold water.
2. From three goals to five factors
The so-called five factors of the project are the three major goals of the project plus the scope and resources, which are the basic elements of the project. Although management experts rarely refer to them together, given their importance and their close relationship, it is necessary to carry out some explanatory analysis to attract the attention of project managers.
(1) Five factors of the project
If the three goals are the most important factors in project management, aren't the project scope and resources less important? In fact, they are also very important, or even more important, because they are to solve the problem of what to do and who will do it. These five factors are all issues that project managers must pay attention to.
那为什么单单把三大目标拿出来说呢？其实很简单，这是因为项目范围、资源其实是约束性因素，而不是项目目标。其中项目范围是客户对项目的约束，而资源是你的老板对项目的约束。用口语来说就是，有这么一摊事（范围），老板给你这么多人（资源），你把它干好，什么叫干好呢？就是费用不能超支（成本）、干出来的东西还要好用（质量）。
（2）项目约束公式
项目五大因素之间，并不是孤立的，它们之间的变化关系可以用一个简单的公式来表示，我们不妨称之为“项目约束公式”：
成本 = 范围 × 质量 = 时间 × 资源投入
根据这一公式，我们可以得到几个“推论”：
●项目范围、质量、时间和资源投入都与项目成本成正比。
●如果客户要求添加额外工作（范围变大），或者质量要求提高，那么项目实施成本将升高。当资源投入一定时，项目所用时间会变长。如果期限不变，则需要加大资源投入。
●预算不变的情况下，范围变大，只能降低质量，质量要求提高，只能减少范围（少做一点工作）
可见这五大因素这间，是对立统一的关系，它们互相制约，互相影响，又相辅相成，因此必须要进行总体控制，保证各个因素之间的平衡，这也就是项目管理九大知识领域中为什么有一个整合管理的重要原因。
（3）挣值管理的不足
在项目管理中，有一个著名的方法叫“挣值管理”，它是用计划进度、实际进度、预算成本、实际成本这几个值进行运算比较，用来衡量项目绩效的一种方法。该方法对推行项目的数字化管理有着巨大的推动作用，然而由于缺失了一个重要因素，使得这个方法存在着严重的不足。
这个因素就是质量。挣值分析只有成本和进度两个方面的因素，没有质量，将其用于绩效考核时免不了产生很大的漏洞。为什么会没有质量呢？这是因为质量难以用数字进行度量，特别是对于软件项目而言。虽然国标《软件工程 产品质量》（GB/16260-2006），提出了比较完整全面的质量模型以及度量的指标，但质量评价成本很高，而且很多指标经依赖于人的主观评价，实用性也就大打折扣了。相对而言，对进度和成本的评价，如果借助合适的信息系统，完全可以通过计算机自动实时生成，不需要人过多的干预，非常方便。
from http://developer.51cto.com/art/201211/364725.htm