Project Management Fundamentals

Appropriate Saying For Project Management

"Those who fail to plan, plan to Fail"

Project

A problem scheduled for solution

Tactics

Actions that support your strategy and stay within the boundaries of your resources. Define how work is assigned and directed

Agile

Adaptive change that occurs continuously over a project's duration

AAA Method - Analysis

Carefully consider what is going on by thinking about the facts of the case and assessing what things are going well and what things could go better

"Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan"

Part of working your plan is to follow it. You need to rely on the work you did in the planning phases

PDCA

Plan Do Act Problem Solving Approach

The Iron Triangle

The Triple Constraint

Resources

The requirements to implement your strategy

Quote from Lewis Carrol about planning:

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there" , but we learned "If you don't know where you're going, because you don't effectively plan, any road will get you there, but usually to a dead end!"

What do they say about lack of planning?

"You can pay me now or you can pay me more later"

Basic Planning Steps

1. Be aware of opportunities. See opportunities clearly and completely. 2. Establish objectives: Specify your desired results by indicating the end points of what your plan will accomplish 3. Develop a planning premises: Document your assumptions, company policies, and existing company plans 4. Determine strategies: Searching for and examining alternative courses of action 5. Evaluate strategies: Consider strategies in terms of their likely costs and benefits 6. Select a strategy: Decide and pick as stategy

Why Do We Need Project Managers?

1. Cultural diversity and geographic migration 2. Many people are unfamiliar with project management subject matter 3. The cost of failure is high 4. Customers expect more

Project Management Foundational Elements (What is Project Management?)

1. Organizing 2. Planning 3. Controlling 4. Scheduling 5. Leading 6. Decision Making

3 Principals of Planning

1. Planning creates a common frame of reference 2. Planning helps you "keep it real" 3. Planning allows you to aniticipate change and save time in making updates

PMBOK

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), represents traditional practices that are widely applied in projects as well as innovative practices emergin in the project management field. The PMBOK Guide is a subset of published and unpublished materials that are generally recognized as good practice

Top-Down Budget

A budget based on a total cost management is willing to spend for the project

What Is Preferred: A Good Plan Poorly Implemented, or a Bad Plan Well-Executed?

A good plan poorly implemented is preferred to a bad plan well implemented. When it comes to planning, the best situation is to execute a good plan by dedicating sufficient time to plan and to implement. This will increase your chances of being both effective and efficient

How Can You Overcome the Syndrome of Lack of Time to Plan?

A trememdous amount of work and discipline. Address your issues so that you escape the viscious cycle of not planning

When is Agile Particulary Useful?

Agile is particulary useful when it's difficult to predict an outcome of a project at the beginning of its life cycle.

Element of a Successful Project

Agreement of Project purpose, mission, and objectives

Project Management Principals - A Firm Foundation Based on General Management

All successful projects are constructed upon a firm foundation; based on general management formed by setting objectives and effectively applying planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The importance of adding scheduling and decision-making for project management.

What Does Disorder and Disruption Characterize?

An organization that simply hopes for the best and trusts employees to do the right thing.

Outcomes

An outcome drives your actions and is the result of your planning effors

AAA Method

Analyze Advice Actions This method can be used as a tool to "Frame" you're thinking as a project manager towards any type of project

PDCA -Check

Analyze and compare collected data to the project goals - revise if necessary

When Should You Consider Using Agile?

As a potential planning process approach when you work on projects that are hard to define and need constant replanning

Project Management Principals - A Situational Approach

Because all projects are different, your success depends on recognizing differences and adjusting your project plan, accordingly.

How Do Company Executives Strive for Efficiency?

By eliminating layers of management and by focusing on process improvements and cost reductions.

What is Change Part of?

Change is a part of any organization's environment.Shifts in population demographics, revised demands for social change, new products, technological advances, and modifications in laws and governmental regulations are conditions that bring about change.

Control - Assesses Productivity

Control is an enterprise-wide tool that identifies opportunities for improvement. When you focus effort in the right place and at the right time, productivity increases dramatically.

Control - Assesses Risk

Control reveals the inner workings of your organization, compares activities with stated strategy and pinpoints key risks areas.

Scheduling

Derived from planning, arranging tasks in a time-ordered series to accomplish objectives

Organizing

Derived from planning; arranging human resources to accomplish objectives

PDCA - Plan

Develop a plan with quanitifable measures for improvements

Planning Premises

Documents your assumptions

Effectiveness

Doing the right things

Efficiency

Doing things right

What are Contingency Plans Good For?

Events that cannot be preditcted with precision, for activities that are beyond your control, and for assumptions that many not be valid.

What are Some Common Project Surprises that You Could Create a Contingency Plan?

Failure of customers and suppliers to meet requirements as scheduled, obtaining approvals and permits from agencies, and replacing reassigned personnel

General Management vs Project Management

General Management activities include planning, organinzing, leading and controlling. To step into a Project Management role you add scheduling and decision making to the list

Control - A Good Working Definition

Getting What You Expect

Why is Control Vital?

Given its relationship to planning, control is vital. It increases the probability that you meet your project objectives and that your operation is stable and effective.

How Do You Create a Contingency Plan?

Identify your most critical assumptions (your planning premises) and develop alternative plans of actions "just in case."

Decision-Making

Identifying and selecting between alternatives to accomplish objectives

AAA Method - Actions

If appropriate, act on the reccomendations you make and anticipate what results you will encounter

PDCA - Do

Implement the plan and monitor progress

What Distinguishes Agile From Traditional Planing?

It occurs continuously over a project's duration. It has an iterative nature, meaning the planning process is repetive and continuous.

Who Do the Best Estimates Come From?

Legitimate subject matter experts who are experienced with the topic related to the estimate and are proficient with the estimating process. They provie ranges of potential outcomes, easch with a corresponding level of accuracy.

AAA Method - Advice

Make recommendations for what should be done differently

Project Management

Making decisions and applying planing, organizing, scheduling, leading, and controlling that meet unique customer and organizational expectations given performance, time and cost objectives

A stable operation occurs within established boundaries that are determined by?

Organizational policies, procedures, budgets, ethics, and laws

4 Planning Elements

Outcomes Strategy Resources Tactics

Why Would Someone Be Against Planning?

Planning increases accountability. A desire to escape accountabiility is a root cause why planning is not done.

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)

Powerful in its simplicity. This involves trying ideas out on a limited basis.

Project Management Order

Progam Project Phase Task Deliverable

Project Management Principals - Change

Project Management creates change and the severity of the change depends on the nature of your project

Project Management Principals - Universal Application

Project management can be applied anywhere, ranging from building an undersea transportation route. Even though every project is different, they all have similarities

Control - Detects Early Warning Signals

Properly implemented, control creates open communication between management and employees in all key functions, and at levels at your organization. It helps you avoid undesired surprises.

Contingency Plan

Provides advanced planned decisions and responses for alternative future possibilities

Leading

Providing direction and communicating with others that lead to accomplishing objectives

What Will a Contingency Plan Do?

Reduces your risks and uncertainty and provides flexibility for your plans. It provides advanced planned decisions and responses for alternative futre possibilities

Planning

Relying on past information and making decisions in the present to achieve future objectives

The Limiting Factor

Represents the greatest constraint when you plan a project. Failure to recognize leads to many poor decisions. It stands in the way of solving a problem or accomplishing an objective. Spend sufficient time in identifying it. Time, Management, Quality, Scope, Project, Cost

SCRUM

SCRUM is the framework used for Agile. It begins with the vision, objective, scope and ends with a completed project enabled by a series of sprints, which are the detailed iterations.

What Kind Of Team Does Agile Work Best?

Small, cross-functional teams that sit in a common area that are self-directed

SMART

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Related to Time

SWOT

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats SWOT has become a standard method for Project Management

CAPM

The Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification has an eligibility prerequisite combination of a high school diploma or global equivalent and specific project management classroom education (23 hours)

PMI

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is the leading project, program, and portfolio mangement organization in the world with the purpose of contributing to organizational and individual success through advocacy, collaboration, education and professional certification

What Are The Two Specific Types of Planning Constraints?

The Triple Constraint and The Limiting Factor

The basic truth about planning

The better the plan, the easier the implementation

What Does the Control Process Assure?

The control process is a way to assure that actual activities conform to what you plan

Strategy

The preferred means to reach your objective

What Happens When Stakeholders Want to Reduce Cost?

The results in either a reduction in performance and/or an increase in time

What is the Secret to Successfully Using Control?

The secret to successfully using control is to strike a balance between over-controlling and under-controlling

What Happens When Stakeholds Want An Increase in Performance?

They must also settle for an increase in time and cost.

What Happens When Stakeholders Want a Project in Less Time?

They usually have to accept more cost and less performance

PMP

This Project Management Professional (PMP) certification has an eligibility prerequisite combination of formal education, project management experience, and specific project management classroom education

The Triple Constraint

Time Cost Scope Also known as the Iron Triangle

Ballpark Estimating

Traditional way, this occurs when a manager or customer puts a subject matter expert on the spot and asks for an immediate prediction. This informal estimate is often used as being accurate and highly reliable

Reasons why Projects Fail

Unclear Requirements A lack of Stakeholder Participation A Lack of Planning

Task

Unit of work within a project

Project Management Principals

Universal application, situational approach, change and general management basics

If-Then Approach

Use to maximize your effectiveness. The "if" part of the unexpected situation and the "then" part is your preprogrammed action plan

What Do You Need to Know to Achieve Success with Control?

What you want What takes place How to minimize the difference between the two

PDCA - Act

When results are successful, the process becomes the standard procedure

Timeboxing

When you identify and prioritize each output of a project as a it is divided into multiple time periods that are typically only a few weeks long.

Control - Enacts Reality Checks

When you listen to employees at grass roots levels, it provides a touchstone to determine degrees of understanding and acceptance.

Control - Determines Ownership and Teamwork

When you practice control, you identify acccountability and responsibilility for objectives and also gain insight into how well employees work together as a team

What is Your Goal When You Practice Control?

When you practice control, your goal is to stabilize activities and accomplish objectives

What Happens If There Is No Plan?

Without a plan, there are no standards, (and no measurements), so accountability is weak or does not exist at all.

Controlling

Works together with planning, setting objectives, reviewing actual results, and taking actions to minimize differences between objectives and results

How Do you accomplish Your Objectives?

You accomplish your objectives when you know what is happening and what should be happening. The information you need to "be in the know" comes about by creating an effective feedback system.

Paralysis by Analysis

You are in search for the perfect plan and when you discover imperfections, you stop or change direction and do not finish your plan

Estimating

You predict the outcomes in terms of their occurence, their impact, their extent, and their cost.

What is the Goal of the Triple Constraint

Your minimum goal should be to balance the three members - cost, time & scope. Each are constantly tyring to "break rank"