CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Management Essentials

Where to begin.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

• 1.1 Introduction to Project Management
• 1.2 Organization and Terminology of This Book
  • 1.2.1 Organization by Chapter
  • 1.2.2 Terminology
• 1.3 The Purpose of Projects
  • 1.3.1 Management Perspectives
  • 1.3.2 Project Success
  • 1.3.3 Technical Solutions vs. Client Value
• 1.4 Principles of Project Life Cycles
• 1.5 Principles of Communication
  • 1.5.1 Audiences
  • 1.5.2 Forms of Communication
• 1.6 Principles of Legal Aspects
  • 1.6.1 Legal Concepts and Terminology
  • 1.6.2 Liability and Risk
• 1.7 Engineering Ethics
  • 1.7.1 Recognizing Ethical Issues
  • 1.7.2 Gathering Information
  • 1.7.3 Applying Standards
  • 1.7.4 Evaluating Recommendations and Alternatives
  • 1.7.5 Documenting and Reporting
• 1.8 Introduction to Management Scenarios

This chapter introduces management terminology, including how project success is measured. It also outlines the communication, ethics, and legal aspects of engineering, with more detail provided throughout the book.

1.1 Introduction to Project Management

Civil infrastructure and real estate development projects are complex, long-term projects that require the coordination and contribution of a wide range of stakeholders. The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project as a “temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.” Civil engineering projects fall squarely within this definition, often following a predictive workflow of conception, design, permitting, and construction. Other operations will occur before the project starts (e.g., procurement) and after construction (e.g., maintenance and operations). These projects require years of planning, design, and construction, leading to changes in the built and natural environment that will last for decades. Each civil engineering project is unique due to the geographic properties (each project location) and the current political, environmental, and community perception during the project execution.

Intuitively, civil engineering projects require team members with technical expertise in engineering, science, economics, business, law, and architecture. Civil engineers are equipped with a solid foundation in science, mathematics, and design, enabling them to create new products and services. Within the realm of infrastructure and real estate development, civil engineers tackle a wide array of project types and navigate diverse stakeholder perspectives. Succeeding under these conditions demands more than just technical expertise.

This book is a project management resource tailored for civil engineering projects, which is derived from professional experiences and the methodologies defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), and others. In addition to core management concepts, this book includes design narratives and detailed cases to highlight the ambiguity and complexity of these project types. This book will guide new and experienced engineers as the concepts are adapted to fit each engineer’s personal and organizational parameters.

This book includes project management topics for the feasibility, procurement, planning, design, and permitting of civil development projects. The content in this book presents these topics through the lens of the engineering team, setting it apart from construction or development management viewpoints. It’s common for engineers to transition into project management roles after first working on purely technical production tasks. During this transition, engineers must learn to balance inward-facing duties, like leading design production and understanding the inner workings of their firm, with outward-facing responsibilities, such as coordinating with various stakeholders for procurement and work validation. This book includes information about the value of stakeholder perspectives to inform management and decision-making for engineers.

1.2 Organization and Terminology of This Book

This book will frequently reference information across different chapters. For example, it is difficult to consider the implications of project schedules without also considering the scope, resources, and cost – each of which is identified in different chapters. While the content in the book does not require sequential progression, the general order is as follows: the first chapters focus on pre-project planning and procurement; the middle chapters cover topics of management processes that include scope, quality, schedule, cost, and risk management; and the later chapters focus on core concepts of communication and leadership.

1.2.1 Organization by Chapter

Each chapter includes principles of various management topics, ethical considerations, and a scenario relevant to project management topics.

1. Chapter 1 Introduction to Project Management
   • This chapter provides an overview of the book and project management principles, success measures, communication, legal aspects, and ethics.
2. Chapter 2 Origins and the Initiation of Projects
   • This chapter describes the origin of a project, including early planning and project objectives that extend to requests for proposals of engineering services.
3. Chapter 3 Project Pursuit Processes
   • This chapter describes pursuit planning to develop and submit proposals for services.
4. Chapter 4 Contractual Frameworks and Liability
   • This chapter describes agreements and contracts pertaining to project work and principles of liability.
5. Chapter 5 Scope Definition and Quality Management
   • This chapter describes how project work is defined and includes topics of quality management based on the scope of work.
6. Chapter 6 Project Planning and Scheduling
   • This chapter includes a sample project plan and describes project schedules, including task dependencies and schedule modifications.
7. Chapter 7 Cost Management and Monitoring
   • This chapter describes the fundamentals of project expenses and the methods to monitor and control project costs from the perspective of the engineering team.
8. Chapter 8 Risk Management
   • This chapter describes the principles of risk management, specifically how they pertain to project operations and objectives.
9. Chapter 9 Principles of Effective Communication
   • This chapter describes various forms of communication and best practices for communicating technical engineering work to diverse audiences.
10. Chapter 10 Leadership Dynamics and Stakeholder Relationships
    • This chapter describes various forms of leadership and power along with topics of stakeholder management.
11. Appendix A The Millbrook Logistics Park
    • This narrative complements the textbook by offering 10 distinct scenarios, each corresponding to a different chapter. These scenarios are presented in a story format, effectively illustrating the application of various project management principles.

1.2.2 Terminology

This book references industry standards of project management when defining management topics. These terms are based on those from the project management industry (e.g., PMI, INCOSE). For clarity, a few initial terms are defined in this section. In practice, several disparate terms may describe team member roles and stakeholders. For this book, these roles focus on the scope associated with the design production and permitting documents for civil engineering projects.

As an initial distinction, there is a difference between a project role, an organizational title, and a certification. An individual’s project role is most important when defining project responsibilities. Confusingly, some organizations may assign employee titles such as senior project manager. The title is used with internal reporting and hierarchical structures; however, titles are almost arbitrary when addressing the role and responsibility of an individual on a project. There is only one project manager for each project, regardless of organizational title.

Roles and responsibilities should be clearly defined at the start of the project. This is critical when a project operates across multiple disciplines and companies, as the authority, accountability, responsibility, and obligations are convoluted. For example, suppose a design conflict is identified where the building utilities do not match the site utilities’ location (or size). In that case, there needs to be a defined process to resolve the conflict. Who is responsible for identifying conflicts and documenting change requests? Should the architecture team or the site-civil team change their design? Do all team members understand the cost and schedule impacts of the change? Who does the client contact to discuss this issue? For this reason, it is good practice to refer to the industry-standard designations and define the terms to ensure...