11, 12, 15

Sample Issue Log

Issue # Issue Desc. Impact on Project Date Reported Reported By Assigned To Priority (H/M/L) Due Date Status Comments

Blake and Mouton's Five Basic Models of Handling Conflicts => each strategy can be considered as being high, med, or low on Importance of task or goal or Importance of relationship between the people having the conflict

1. Confrontation or Problem-solving => directly face a conflict (high/high) 2. Compromise => use a give-and-take approach (med/med) 3. Smoothing => de-emphasize areas of differences and emphasize areas of agreement (low/high) 4. Forcing => win-lose approach (high/low) 5. Withdrawal => retreat or withdraw from an actual or potential disagreement (low/low)

Basic Steps to Develop Risk Plan

1. Plan risk management 2. Identify risk 3. Risk analysis 4. Plan risk response 5. Control risk

research poses the theory that in a face-to-face interaction,

58% of communication is through Body Language 35% through how the words are said 7% through the content or words that are spoken

should keep track of Change Requests by using the

Change Request Log

Most recent mode of conflict handling

Collaborating => decision makers incorporate different viewpoints and insights to develop consensus and commitment

Key outputs of Project Communication Management

Communications Management Plan Project Web site

Other Risk Plans include

Contingency Plans Fallback Plans Contingency Reserves or Contingency Allowances Management Reseres

Project Risk Management includes

Methodology for Risk Management Roles and Responsibilities Budget and Schedule Estimate for Risk-Related Activities Risk Categories Probability and Impact Matrices Risk Documentation

ex. of a milestone report entry for a Work Performance Data

Milestone => City Permits Date => 8/10 Status => In progress Responsible => Jamie Issues/Comments => May need more time for approval

Planning Risk Responses

Negative Risk Responses Positive Risk Responses

Key outputs of Project HR Management Plan include

Project Organizational Chart Responsibility Assignment Matrix Resource Histogram Staffing Management Plan

Negative Risk Responses

Risk avoidance Risk acceptance Risk transference Risk mitigation

Positive Risk Responses

Risk exploitation Risk sharing Risk enhancement Risk acceptance

Key outputs of Project Stakeholder Management Planning are

Stakeholder Management Plan Project Documents Updates

Communications Management Plan should include

Stakeholder communications requirements Information to be communicated, format, content, and level of detail Identification of who will receive the information and who will produce it Suggested methods or guidelines for conveying the information Description of the frequency of communication Escalation procedures for resolving issues Revision procedures for updating the communications management plan A glossary of Common Terminology used on the project

main outputs of Project Communications Management are

Updates to Project Documents Project Management Plan Organizational Process Assets Project Communications

Project Teams can develop project Web sites using

Web-authoring tools, such as SharePoint Designer Google sites, or Macromedia Dreamweaver; enterprise project management software => some part of the site may be open to outside users, whereas some other parts might me inaccessible

many experts agree that the greatest threat to the success of any project is

a failure to communicate => many pms say that 90% of their job is communicating, yet many pms fail to take the time to plan for project communications => every project should include a communications management plan (document that guides project communications)

RACI Chart

a type of RAM that show Responsibility => who does the task Accountability => who signs off the task or has authority for it Consultation => who has the information necessary to complete the task Informed => who needs to be notified of task status/results; roles for project stakeholders

key benefit of managing stakeholder engagement, if done well, is

allows the project manager to increase support and minimize resistance from stakeholders significantly increasing the chances to achieve project successes

nonverbal communications, such as person's tone of voice and body language

are often more important than the words being used

Project Premortem in a business setting comes at the

beginning of a project rather than the end, so that the project can be improved rather than autopsied after the fact

A common way to summarize Work Performance Information is

by using a Milestone Report Milestone: significant event on a project, such as completing a major deliverable or awarding a major contract + list of planned date for completion (in month/day format), the status, the person responsible for milestone, and issues/comments

Project Web sites provide a

centralized way of delivering project documents and other communications => some also create blogs; easy to use journals that allow users to write entries, create links, and upload pictures, while allowing readers to post comments to particular journal entries

Media Choice Table

chart of how well certain media is suitable for what purpose

Resource Histogram is a

column chart that shows the number of resources required for or assigned to a project over time

Positive Risk Events include

completing work sooner than planned or at an unexpectedly reduced cost, collaborating with suppliers to produce better products, and obtaining good publicity from the project

DISC Profile => "S" styles emphasize

cooperating with others to carry out a task. prefer being a part of a team rather than working along => enjoy a team atmosphere => want practical procedures and systems => need stability and predictability => like tasks that can be completed one at a time => strove for few conflicts and arguments

to direct and manage project stakeholders, PMs can follow several important practices

coordinate planning and execution develop and use soft skills provide a supportive organizational culture break the rules when needed capitalize on product, business, and application area knowledge use project execution tools and techniques

in planning project staffing needs, senior managers often

create a resource histogram in which columns represent the number of people needed in each skill category => by stacking the columns, you can see the total number of people needed each month => after resources are assigned to a project, you can view a resource histogram for each person to see how his time has been allocated

the process of managing communications involves gather information to

create, distribute, store, retrieve, and dispose of project communications in accordance with the communications management plan

in addition to information found in the stakeholder register, a Stakeholder Management Plan can also include:

current and desired engagement levels interrelationships between stakeholders communication requirements potential management strategies for each stakeholder methods for updating the stakeholder management plan

most project sponsors would say that the most important output of any project is

deliverables => products or services produced or provided as part of a project

main outputs during execution are

deliverables work performance data change requests project management plan updates project documents updates

research suggests that emotional conflict, however, which stems from personality clashes and misunderstandings, often ______ team performance

depresses

Project Stakeholder Management Planning involves

determining strategies to effectively engage stakeholders in project decisions and activities based on their needs, interests, and potential impact

Fallback Plans

developed for risks that have a HIGH impact on meeting project objectives, and are put into effect if attempts to reduce the risk are not effective; sometimes called Contingency Plans of Last Resort

a stakeholder register is a

document that includes details related to the identified project stakeholders => usually available to many people, so it should not include sensitive information

Project Risk Management => Risk Management Plan

documents the procedures for managing risks throughout the life of a project

no two projects are ever executed in the exact same way

due to uncertainties and unique challenges

in general, the majority of a project's time and budget is spent on

execution

Status Meeting Tips

fix a set schedule create a cadence and sense of urgency for project put invites on calendars send agenda in advance in person if possible use status report

Contingency Reserves or Contingency Allowances

funds held by the project sponsor that can be used to mitigate cost or schedule overruns if known risks occur

Management Reserves

funds held for unknown risks

Project Communications Management involves

generating, collecting, disseminating, and storing project information

Managing the Team: Status Meeting

get team together review status of key tasks or deliverables identify problems and share ideas on solutions surface common issues get team vested in sharing the responsibility of meeting the project objectives can also review issues log

Project Organizational Chart is a

graphical representation of how authority and responsibility is distributed within the project => the size and complexity of the project determines how simple or complex the organizational chart is

project team members might become stagnant or develop

groupthink => conformance to the values or ethical standards of a group, if there are no conflicting viewpoints on various aspects of a project

in a fishbone diagram identifying root causes during execution,

head of the fish => narrowly defined problem (ex. Lamp doesn't turn on) one "spine" leads into head (problem statement) => contributing causes are arranged on smaller and smaller "bones" causes are grouped by relationship to each other arrows indicate the direction of potential cause-and-effect

conflict can be good as it often produces

important results, such as new ideas, better alternatives, and motivation to work harder and more collaboratively

research suggests that task-related conflict, which is derived from differences over team objectives and how to achieve them often _______ team performance

improves

outputs of the process to managing stakeholder engagement include

issue longs => documents used to document, monitor, and track issues that need to be resolved for effective work to take place, change requests updates to the project management plan project documents organizational process assets

getting project information to the right people at the right time and in a useful format is

just as important as developing the information in the first place

Project HR Management is concerned with

making effective use of the people involved with a project

not enough for project team members to submit FORMAL status reports to their PMs and other stakeholders and assume that everyone who needs to know will read the reports. on the contrary,

many people may prefer to have an informal, two-way conversation about the project information => PMs must be good at nurturing relationships through good communication

Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) is a

matrix that maps the work of the project as described in the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to the people responsible for performing the work

an issue is a

matter under question or dispute that could impede project success

process of managing stakeholder engagement involves working with various project stakeholders to

meet their needs and expectations addressing stakeholder issues as they occur fostering engagement in project decisions and activities

Why perform a premortem?

research conducted in 1989 found that => prospective hindsight: imagining that an event has already occurred; increases the ability to correctly identify reasons for future outcomes by 30%

Poor Conflict Management

most large projects are high-stake endeavors that are highly visible within organizations when the stakes are high, conflict is never far way, and even small projects with low budgets have conflicts PMs should lead their teams in developing norms for dealing with various types of conflicts that might arise

Number of Communications Channels =

n(n-1)/2 ex. 2(2-1)/2 = 1 (two people have one) ex. 5(5-1)/2 = 10 (five people have 10 => often helpful to form several smaller teams within a large project team to help improve project communications

Managing Changes => Change Requests

often, a number of requests for changes emerge during project execution a process for handling changes SHOULD BE DEFINED DURING PROJECT PLANNING as part of the PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN important during project execution to formally and informally request appropriate changes

Negative Risk Events include the

performance failure of a product produced as part of a project, delays in completing work as scheduled, increases in estimated costs, supply shortages, litigation against the company, and strikes

research shows that without a doubt, the main reason CEOs failed was

poor execution => the same is true for PMs

Contingency Plans

predefined actions that the project team will take if an identified risk event occurs

to effectively manage stakeholder engagement,

project managers need to set the stage early so stakeholder engagement is expected and welcomed

common problems during execution occur because

project objectives/scope are unclear project sponsors and/or other senior managers are NOT VERY SUPPORTIVE project stakeholders, SUCH AS THOSE WHO WOULD USE THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ARE NOT SUFFICIENTLY INVOLVED in project decision making estimates for time and cost goals are unreliable or unrealistic business needs/technology changes have impacted the project people working on the project are incompetent or unmotivated there are poor conflict-management procedures communications are poor suppliers are not delivering as promised

during execution,

project teams must address important considerations for creating and distributing information

DISC Profile => "C" styles are driven by

quality control and usually prefer structure and order; like working with groups or alone with an emphasis on quality products and service => enjoy tasks and projects that can be followed through to completion => like specialized or technical tasks => prefer practical work procedures and routines => strive for few conflicts and arguments => desire instructions and reassurances that one is being what is expected

DISC Profile => "D" styles tend to

shape their environment by overcoming opposition to accomplish results; they prefer being in control and getting results => innovative focus on the future, like non-routine, challenging tasks that produce tangible results => want freedom from controls, supervision & details => personal evaluation based on results, not methods

DISC Profile => "I" styles emphasize

shaping the environment by bringing others into alliance to accomplish results; prefer a focus on relationships over tasks => want practical procedures => prefer few conflicts and arguments => enjoy freedom from controls and details => want a forum to express ideas => like group activities in any environment

Team Skills Assessment

simple inventory of skills can be used to assign work or identify gaps in team's capabilities

best to assign WBS activities to

small projects => individuals larger projects => organizational units or teams

Risk events are

specific, uncertain events that may occur to the detriment or enhancement of the project

a stakeholder analysis is a

technique for analyzing information to determine which stakeholders' interests to focus on and how to increase stakeholder support throughout the project

project execution is

the most notice process group

as the number of people involved increases, the complexity of communications increases because

there are more communication channels, or pathways, through which people can communicate

Staffing Management Plan describes

when and how people will be added and removed from a project the types of people needed to work on the project, the numbers needed for each type of person each month, and how these resources will be acquired, trained, rewarded, and reassigned after the project

Reporting/Managing Progress through

work performance data