Introduction to PM

Examples of Projects:

Building a house Planning a wedding Designing an airplane Migrating to a new software solution Re-locating corporate offices Running a community fundraiser Running for elected office

Examples of Non-Projects and Routine Operations:

Weekly inventory of materials on hand Routine manufacture of a computer Routine technical support Returning calls to customers

A project...

- Produces a unique product or service - Has a definite beginning and ending point -Is constrained by cost, time, quality, & scope

Project team members' primary tasks are to:

-Complete all assigned tasks on time -Communicate concerns and dissatisfactions to you and other members of the team -Support you and other members -Help others and ask for help when they need it

During your project launch meeting:

-Define roles and responsibilities. -Review the project charter. -Seek unanimous understanding of the project charter. -Have the project sponsor explain why the project's work is important and how its goals are aligned with the larger organizational objectives. -Outline the resources that will be available to the team. -Describe team incentives.

Factors that can send your project over budget include:

-Failure to factor in currency exchange rates or exchange-rate fluctuations -Unexpected inflation during long-term projects -Lack of firm prices from suppliers and subcontractors -Estimates based on different costing methods, such as hours versus dollars -Unplanned personnel costs incurred to keep the project on schedule, including increased overtime -Unexpected space or training needs -Consultant or legal fees needed to resolve unforeseen problems

When you're selecting project management software, look for applications that can:

-Handle development of and changes to Gantt charts, critical path diagrams, and PERT charts -Provide on-screen viewing of information before you print -Produce schedules and budgets -Integrate project schedules with a calendar allowing for weekends and holidays -Let you create different scenarios for contingency planning and updating -Warn you of any overscheduling of individuals and groups

To assemble an effective project team:

-Identify the skills needed to fulfill the project team's goals -Identify individuals who possess the required talent, knowledge, and experience -Recruit for any missing competencies or find ways to strengthen skills in existing team members -Look for members who can learn new skills quickly as needed

lesson learned sessions

-In retrospect, how sound were our assumptions? -How well did we test our key assumptions? -How well did we seek out alternatives to our business problem? -Did we under- or overestimate time estimates for tasks? -Were our meetings productive? -If we could start over again tomorrow, what would we do differently?

communication tactics

-Keep all stakeholders informed of any changes in your project's objectives -Find out which of the three variables matters most to each stakeholder -Explain the consequences of any changes in terms of quality, time, and cost -Ask stakeholders to clarify what they're willing to give up if they want you to do something that will affect the project's quality, time, or cost

how you can manage projects adaptively

-Perform experiments iteratively and quickly. With your project team members, engage in small, quick experiments with the project work. Evaluate the outcomes and make adjustments moving forward. The quick turnaround time will help you all learn fast and apply your new knowledge to the remaining project work. -Strive for early delivery of value. Work with your team to provide deliverables earlier and in smaller pieces. This encourages feedback and helps team members apply their learning to subsequent activities. Staff the project with people who have a talent for learning and adapting. Some people are faster learners and more amenable to change than others. Seek such individuals when putting together a project team. -Avoid overrelying on metrics that assume predictability. Metrics such as return on investment, net present value, and internal rate of return are useful when you can reasonably predict a project's future cash flows. Avoid them when a project has a high degree of uncertainty and you can't predict future cash flows.

Typical project cost categories include:

-Personnel. This is almost always the largest part of a project's budget. It includes full-time and temporary workers. -Travel. People may have to travel from one location to another to do their project work. Consider whether everyone will be on-site, or whether the team will need to gather at one locale. Remember to budget for meals and lodging. -Training. If training will be required, determine whether it will take place on-site, or whether travel expenses will be involved. If you plan to hire an outside contractor to provide the training, make sure your budget reflects his or her fees and expenses. -Supplies. In addition to the usual—computers, pens, papers, software—you may need unique materials. Space. If some people may have to be relocated to other facilities, estimate how much room and money that would require. -Research. Consider whether you'll have to buy studies or data to support your project versus your team performing such research itself. Professional services. If you'll have to hire a market research firm, bring in a consultant, or seek legal advice, reflect those costs in your budget. -Capital expenditures. You may need equipment or technical upgrades to complete the project. Some of these capital expenditures will need to pay for themselves.

Gantt charts show the following:

-Task status; completed tasks are shaded out -Estimated project duration -Estimated task duration -Task sequences and tasks completed in parallel don't show task dependencies—that is, which task must be completed before another begins. Thus, these charts make it difficult to assess the impact of a change in one area on the rest of a project.

Skills

-Technical—expertise in specific areas, such as market research, finance, and software programming -Problem-solving—ability to analyze difficult situations and craft solutions that others may not see -Interpersonal—capacity to work effectively with others -Organizational—understanding of the company's political and logistical landscape; ability to form networks of contacts throughout the organization -Developmental—ability to master new skills as needed -Communication—ability to effectively and efficiently exchange information with and listen to others

Projects can be highly diverse:

-They can be undertaken at the lowest hierarchical levels in an organization—or the highest. -They may require the efforts of a single person—or many thousands of people. -They might last a week—or several years. -They can involve a single unit in an organization—or many units.

Often-overlooked costs

-Training costs after the project is completed to teach users to implement your project -Ongoing personnel and maintenance costs once the project is complete -Insurance -Licensing fees -Costs for outside support such as accounting or legal counsel

Seven Factors for Project Success

1. Focus on business value, not technical detail. 2. Establish clear accountability for measured results. 3. Have a consistent process for managing unambiguous checkpoints. 4. Have a consistent methodology for planning and executing projects. 5. Include customers at the beginning of the project and involve them as things change. 6. Manage and motivate people so that project efforts will experience a zone of optimal performance. 7. Provide the project team members the tools and techniques they need to produce constantly successful projects.

Your stakeholders might include:

1. The project sponsor—the individual who has authorized the project 2. Contributors, customers, managers, and financial staff—the people who will judge the success or failure of your project 3.Anyone affected by the project's activities or outcomes—including individuals who may have to do their work differently because of the project 4.People who contribute resources to the project—such as space, staff members, time, tools, equipment, and money

Steps for drafting your project schedule

1. Use the Work Breakdown Structure or a similar outline to develop a list of specific activities or tasks. 2. Assign a deliverable to each activity—for instance, "rough draft of survey questions" or "prototype for test market" or "beta version." 3. Use deliverables as a basis for creating a project schedule with realistic milestones and due dates. 4. Identify bottlenecks that could upset the schedule. 5. Determine ways to remove bottlenecks or build in extra time to get around them. 6. Establish control and communication systems for updating and revising the schedule.

Brainstorm alternatives

Ask open-ended questions that encourage exploration of new ideas, such as: 1.How many different ways can we solve this problem? 2. Of the available alternatives, which will best solve the problem? Why? 3. Is the seemingly best alternative more or less costly than other suitable choices? 4. Will this alternative result in a complete fix of the problem, or a partial fix? If a partial fix, what other options do we have for completely fixing the problem? Evaluate your responses. Then select the best alternative.

What the different charts work best with

Bar charts are good for showing stakeholders and end users how the project is progressing. Flow charts are good for closely managing and communicating detailed information to supervisors and people doing the work. PERT charts are good for showing important task dependencies.

Triple Constraint

Cost, Scope, Time and Quality

Create a final report summarizing your findings. A typical post-project evaluation report addresses:

Current project status. What were the original objectives? What has the team achieved? Future status. What will happen to the project now that it has been completed? Will it be incorporated into an ongoing production process? Was it part of a larger project? Was it a self-contained entity that has achieved its goals? Status of ongoing critical tasks. What is the current condition of ongoing tasks that contain a high level of technical risk or that are being performed by outside vendors or subcontractors? Risk. Are there, or were there, any risks that could have a potential for financial loss, project failure, or other liabilities? Information relevant to other projects. What lessons learned can be applied to other projects under way or being planned? How can these lessons be communicated so they are not "lessons lost"? Limitations of the project evaluation. Are there any factors that might limit the validity of the evaluation—such as incorrect assumptions or missing information?

Essential activities carried out during the project management process

Defining the project scope and objectives Developing a schedule Creating a budget Assembling a project team Monitoring the project's progress Communicating with stakeholders Managing risks to the project

project lifecycle

Initiation, Planning Execution, Monitoring and Controlling and Closing.

Planning

Planning processes aim to establish the total scope of the effort, define and refine the objectives, and develop the plan to achieve those objectives

four-phase process

Planning-Determine the real problem Identify stakeholders Define project objectives Buildup-Assemble project team Develop overall plan Implementation-Monitor and control process Report progress Phaseout-Bring project to closure Identify next steps

Initiation

Process performed to define a new project or phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start

Monitoring and Controlling

Processes to track and review project progress and implement changes and updates

effective project charter is a concise written document containing

Project mission statement Outline of the roles and responsibilities that people will play Project sponsor's name Project scope and objectives Relationship between the project's goals and higher organizational goals Expected time frame of the work and milestones Resources available to the project team Constraints Assumptions about the project Quality requirements Major risks

three competing demands

Quality—satisfaction of the project's requirements Time—amount of time needed to produce the project's deliverables Cost—how much money, people, and other resources needed to complete the project

SMART

Specific. Clearly defines the details of what is to be accomplished. Measurable. Gauges success using either quantitative or qualitative assessments. Action-oriented. Identifies concrete behaviors or processes. Realistic. Can be achieved given existing constraints, such as time and resources. Time-limited. Is accomplished within a specific time frame.

Execution

The execution processes includes those activities required to deliver the agreed upon scope of work

Closing

Those activities that lead to the successful conclusion of the project

To make time estimates:

Use experience. Base your estimates on experience, using the average expected time to perform a task. The more familiar you or other employees are with a particular task, the more accurate your estimate will be. Keep estimates as estimates. Remember that time estimates are just that—estimates. So don't change them into firm commitments quite yet. Be careful and clear when communicating rough estimates to others. Clarify assumptions. When presenting time estimates to stakeholders, explain the assumptions behind your calculations. Consider presenting time estimates as ranges instead of fixed estimates; for example, "Task A will take eight to12 hours to complete." Ranges are more likely to be accurate, because they account for natural variations. Pad. Padding time estimates reduces the risk that a task will take longer than the schedule allows. But apply this practice openly and with full awareness of what you're doing. To illustrate, if your padded estimate is based on receiving certain products within a two-week period, make sure that expectation is clear. That way, the project team and stakeholders know there's a chance that those products may not arrive on time. Also let them know what the consequences of a late arrival would be. You may want to give time estimates relative to specific events, such as when you receive a deliverable from others.

Project team leader

You may report directly to the project manager and take responsibility for one or more aspects of the work. If your project is small, you might serve as both the project manager and the project team leader. -Regularly communicate progress and problems to the project manager -Periodically assess team progress and team members' outlook -Make sure that everyone contributes and that everyone's voice is heard You also play six roles: -Initiator—identify actions needed to meet project goals and encourage team members to take those actions Model—demonstrate behavior that supports the project's success, such as meeting with customers or re-testing a new database's functionality -Negotiator—use negotiating skills to obtain resources needed for the project and to work with other project teams -Listener—gather signals from the environment—about impending trouble on the project, team member discontent, or emerging opportunities—and make decisions informed by what you're hearing -Coach—use coaching to help team members excel Working member of the team—do a share of the work, particularly in areas where you have special competence

A project is

a set of interrelated activities, usually involving a group of people who are working together toward a common goal over a period of time.

monitoring and controlling phase

as we're doing the work, as more information is becoming available to us, we're updating what we're doing.

defining a project schedule

during the buildup phase of the project management process ,begin by determining the latest date for completing your project—a date that can't be changed. Work backward from that date to see when you and your team will need to provide interim deliverables.

Project monitoring

happens during the implementation phase of the project management process. As you monitor your project, you assess progress toward the project's objectives and address any challenges that come up. These could include problems within your project team or difficulties with schedule, budget, or quality of your project's outcomes.

Flow charts

help your team closely manage and communicate project details to your supervisors and project team members. A critical path diagram is one example. This kind of diagram shows your project's critical path: the set of tasks that determines total project duration. The critical path is the longest sequence of tasks through the project. Any delays in the critical path will delay completion of the entire project. By identifying the critical path for your project, you can allocate resources efficiently.

launch meeting

ideally is held at the beginning of the implementation phase. You and your project team will have discussed the project extensively and engaged in detailed planning before the launch meeting during the buildup phase. But there's no substitute for a face-to-face gathering attended by all team members. Be sure to include the project sponsor.

risk management

identifying key risks and developing plans for preventing them or mitigating their adverse effects. consist of three steps: -Conduct a risk audit. -Take action to avoid or minimize risks you've identified. -Develop contingency plans.

PM Process Groups

initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing - is a way to organize the various processes that we use to manage projects successfully. When the processes in a given phase are completed, we can move to the next phase of the project.

A budget

is the financial blueprint or action plan for your project. It translates the project plan into measurable expenditures and anticipated returns over a certain period of time.

Project management is

planning, scheduling, and orchestrating of project activities to achieve objectives within a specified period of time. requires skills in organizing, budgeting, staffing, monitoring, and communicating.

Quality

referred to as the hidden constraint

Cost

refers to Money, work hours or Resources

Project Lifecycle

refers to the phases that all projects will go through in some form: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing. Other labels may be used for these phases, but we will see these phases in some form in all projects

Time

refers to the start date and delivery date.

Scope

refers to what is being produced.

Bar charts

show project stakeholders how a project is progressing. A Gantt chart is one example. A Gantt chart is simple and shows the "big picture" of a project at a glance. It lists project tasks in the left-hand column and indicates time blocks for each. These blocks indicate when each task should begin, based on task relationships, and when it should end.

A PERT (performance evaluation and review technique) chart

shows when every project task within a phase should begin, how much time is scheduled for each task, and when each task should be completed. The chart also shows all tasks in progress at a given time and all the dependencies between outcomes, tasks, and events.

Project Charter

spells out the nature and scope of the work and management's expectations for results. A formal charter can help ensure that your project doesn't head off in a direction that jeopardizes organizational objectives. It can also protect against scope creep.

risk audit

take stock of all the things that could go wrong with your project: -Collect ideas widely. People's perspectives about risk differ greatly. Some foresee perils that others miss entirely. So talk with project team members, customers, or suppliers to get a complete picture of risks to your project.For instance, a supplier tells you that a rival company is working on a product for the same market that your team is working on. Even more worrisome, the competitor's product development team is much further along than yours. -Identify internal risks. Understaffing is a common source of risk. One key resignation could cause an important project to collapse. Poorly trained quality assurance personnel represent another source of internal risk. Their substandard work may allow defective or dangerous products to reach customers. That could result in a costly product recall, lawsuits, and a public relations fiasco. -Identify external risks. An external risk may take the form of an emerging technology that will render your new product line obsolete. An impending regulatory change may also pose a threat.

Goal of PM

to deliver a scope of work efficiently and effectively through the use of proven processes that manage the projects scope, budget, schedule, and quality for the purpose of having an impact on an organizations business and strategic objectives

Contingency funds

to give your budget some flexibility, build in contingency funds—for instance, you might ask for 5% of the estimated project budget for contingency alone. This allows you to accommodate some unanticipated costs without having to ask for more funding later.

define the problem your project needs

to solve, ask questions that uncover the practical and business issues the project will tackle. Once you've defined the problem, don't grab for the most obvious solutions; brainstorm alternative solutions.

Example of a SMART objective

to survey (action-oriented) at least six providers (specific) who meet the department's minimum threshold criteria for service quality (measurable) and to recommend (action-oriented) at the June board of directors' meeting (time-limited) the three providers (specific) that offer the best and broadest coverage at a cost that is at least 10% less (realistic) than the company's current per-employee contribution (measurable)."

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

you can subdivide a complex project activity into smaller tasks, continuing until the activity can no longer be subdivided. At that point, you have defined each task in its smallest—and most manageable—unit. To create, follow these steps: -Ask, "What tasks have to be done to accomplish activity X?" -Continue to ask this question, breaking tasks into the smallest possible subtasks. Keep going until your answer represents a task that can't be subdivided further. -Estimate how long it will take to complete each subtask. -Estimate how much each subtask will cost in terms of dollars and person-hours. -Consider the skills you'll need to perform each subtask.

Project manager

you plan and schedule project tasks and oversee day-to-day project execution. You have has the greatest accountability for the endeavor's success. You receive authority from the sponsor and play a central role in each project phase. Identify needed resources Recruit effective participants Coordinate activities Negotiate with higher-level management, especially the sponsor Mediate conflicts Set milestones Manage the budget Keep work on track, so project deliverables are provided on time and on budget