CH 2: Project Selection and Prioritization Pt 2

source selection criteria

A set of attributes desired by the purchaser that the seller is required to meet or exceed.

Product backlog

A wish-list of things that may be created by the project team.

Customer prioritization

Decide importance or urgency of work based on customer input.

Customer-driven value

Define value from a customer's perspective.

Solutions

Deliverables that are usable, desirable, and functional in helping customers achieve desired outcomes

Portfolio Vision

Description of desired future state of value streams and solutions.

Prioritized backlog

Desired products prioritized by business value and risk

Financial Source Selection Criteria:

Financial capacity Life cycle cost Cost basis and assumptions Warranties

Eat Your Dessert First

Find and create the highest value capability for the customer first.

Team

Get Team Members involved as early as possible Team members will be far more invested in a project they help to plan, and a variety of opinions often leads to better outcomes. A project manager may do well to take on the role of servant leader by removing obstacles, providing encouragement and development opportunities, and empowering team members more than instructing them.

Epic

Large functionality or product, not defined enough to produce.

Management Source Selection Criteria:

Management experience Project charter Planning and scheduling Project control

User Story

Need to be described by who wants it, how they will use it, and why.

Ways to identify project opportunities:

Perform portfolio alignment exercise Attend trade shows and professional conferences Practice customer relationship management -Establish and nurture personal contacts -Link information systems

Release

Period when functionality is created and transitioned to users.

How is Strategic Planning conducted?

Plan-Driven: Outputs considered at the organizational level Agile: Outcomes considered at the organizational level

How is alignment with organizational goals ensured?

Plan-Driven: Portfolios and programs Agile: Portfolios and programs shown as roadmaps

What is the primary way future work is organized?

Plan-Driven: Projects in portfolio Agile: Products in backlog

How is project work secured?

Plan-Driven: Proposal and negotiation Agile: Partnering

How are resources determined for selected and prioritized project work?

Plan-Driven: Resource Assignment matrix Agile: Relative Priority Ranking

How is work prioritized?

Plan-Driven: Scoring model Agile: Backlog refining led by Product Owner

How are projects selected?

Plan-Driven: Scoring model Agile: Customer-driven value

What is the primary organization at a lower level?

Plan-driven: Projects and subprojects Agile: Products and sometimes projects

Development Approach

Predictive approaches require more planning up front, whereas adaptive are planned and executed in sprints. When choosing projects to add to a portfolio, executives often follow the same strategy they would if managing a financial portfolio: diversification. It makes sense to have a range of projects in terms of size, complexity, cost, etc.

Operational Source Selection Criteria

Production capacity Business size and type Past performance References

Planning

Requires a holistic approach and alignment. At both the project management and portfolio management levels, decision makers need to remember that "deliverables drive outcomes." In other words, we are not pursuing projects for the deliverables themselves but rather for the value and benefits they can bring to our organization.

Domains Impacting Project Selection

Stakeholders Team Development Approach Planning Uncertainty

Determine Which Opportunities to Pursue

Target projects to pursue. -Use SWOT analysis. Determine if project will help achieve contractor objectives. Consider cost to pursue the work. Consider probability of securing the project. Consider capability to perform the work.

Technical Source Selection Criteria:

Technical experience Understanding Needs Technical Approach Risk Mitigation

Product

The deliverables that are created in an Agile project.

Minimum viable product (MVP)

The simplest version of a product with just enough features to gain quick customer feedback.

Risk-adjusted backlog

To-do prioritized list of work to both create product and reduce risk.

Uncertainty

Understand the larger environment (e.g., social, market) This includes political, social, market, and environmental factors.

Refine requirements

Use feedback to progressively understand true needs.

Stakeholders

Useful in project selection and prioritization It encourages us to see the role individual projects play as part of a larger organizational strategy of providing useful outcomes for both internal and external stakeholders. It reminds us that benefits and values derived from a project may outlive the project itself.

Product roadmap

Visual showing high-level plans of products expected to be created during each release.

Once all proposals have been delivered and evaluated, the client company may elect to either

award the project or enter into negotiations with one or more potential contractors.

External projects

can be viewed either from the perspective of the client company that wants the project to be executed or from the perspective of the contractor company that wants to perform the work.

Preparing and submitting a proposal itself is a small project, with the primary deliverable of the project being a

compelling and complete proposal.

On more routine projects, the contract may be awarded at this point. Further clarifications and negotiations may follow for

complex projects

A company (called the client) interested in completing a project, but for which it may hire

external resources (called contractors) to execute a significant part or all of the work.

Successful project managers try hard to convince potential clients that they are capable of all

four dimensions

Client companies

may first put prospective external projects through a selection and prioritization process as described above and, if selected, then decide whether to perform the work internally (make) or hire the project to be performed by others (buy). If the decision is to buy, then the client company needs to plan and conduct the procurement.

A client company and a contractor company may negotiate the amount of

money to be paid for a project. They may also negotiate the contractual terms, schedule, specific personnel to be assigned to work on the contract, quality standards, reporting mechanisms, and various other items.

Contractor companies

need to identify potential project opportunities, determine which they will pursue, submit proposals, and be prepared to either bid or negotiate to secure the work.

Successful project managers understand the need to prepare well for

negotiations. This starts with a clear understanding of what is most important to their management. Often, it includes fact finding with the client company to understand its needs and abilities. Armed with an understanding of both perspectives, a project manager attempts to find a solution that allows the organization to secure the project work with enough profit potential and with the start of a good working relationship with the client. In the end, the client company will select the contractor(s) and award the contract(s).

Negotiation is an approach to redefine an old relationship that is

not working effectively or to establish a new relationship. Negotiations should aim for a win-win solution, meaning the outcome must benefit both the parties involved in negotiations.

The discussion above pertains to projects that are internal to an

organization

A project manager may need to make arrangements with

potential suppliers to secure the products and services needed to perform the project.

Potential projects are selected based upon a

product vision of how a user will achieve a desired outcome, not just receive an output from a project team.

While strategic planning is conducted in both predictive or Agile environments, project selection is

quite different in Agile projects.

While criteria will vary extensively from one project to another, generally, a client would like to be convinced that the potential contractor is

technically, managerially, financially, and operationally competent.