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The Difference Between Engineering Analysis and Project Management

October 25th, 2007 · No Comments

, as disciplines, were ‘married’ a long time ago!  It only makes sense, as every engineering effort must be managed.

Typically, every engineering effort is a PROJECT.   So, every engineering effort requires project management.  Engineering efforts are also PART OF a larger, or ‘overall’ project effort, as they provide key inputs at certain stages of the project effort.  For example, and work is typically important in the planning and design phases, monitoring and control, and testing and verification.

In many ways, the steps for doing engineering analysis map well to , but there are differences as well.  Let’s explore a few. 

1. Constraints and limitations in engineering might include inaccurate or incomplete data.  This represents risks to the overall project being served.  But to the engineering project, while this represents a risk to some degree, this can be written into the ‘quality’ specifications for the project.  What is more germane for management of the engineering project is whether the expected ‘quality’ has been communicated sufficiently to the stakeholders, so that their expectations are managed.

2. Identification of stakeholders is a tricky process.  Often, there is a project sponsor, and they are funding the project.  Indeed, they are typically THE KEY stakeholder, and will take precedence over others.  But if the product of the project is to be worth anything, it makes sense to identify ALL stakeholders and think about - and document - their interest in the project.  This can only help to shape decisions for the better.

3. Budget considerations are an interesting issue.  Usually there is a budget.  However, within the project confines, and armed with specialized knowledge, the engineering team has insights into potential risks to the ‘overall’ project, and hence can provide insightful information to the project sponsor which may influence budget - up or down.  In other words, they can enhance the understanding of the risk to the overall project, and hence change the sponsor’s decision on how to mitigate that risk.

4. Metrics are often the output of , and those metrics are typically used by the overall project team within that overall project.  However, those metrics are not to be confused with the metrics of the engineering project itself.  For example, if, at the beginning of the engineering project, some key success factors are identified, that is what will be used to measure the success of the engineering project.  An engineering project might be undertaken to assess risk to an overall project, and the risk parameters might be so large that even if the engineering project is executed well, the impact on the overall project will be great and positive.  However, a very well run engineering project might have a more minor impact on the sponsoring project, but success should be judged to be better than on the former project.
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John Reiling, PMP, PE, MBA
Project Management Training Online
Lean Six Sigma Training Online

 

 

Tags: Project Management Process

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