Effective Project Management Shaun Gurmin
Contents What is a Project? Project Management Process Groups How to Scope a Project How to Plan a Project How to Launch a Project How to Monitor and Control a Project How to Close a Project Summary Bibliography
What is Project? A project involves a definite start, and a sequence of activities; some that are unique, with the aim of meeting a specific goal, on time, within budget and to the agreed specifications. Another definition: “A unique set of coordinated activities, with definite starting and finishing points, undertaken by an individual or organisation to meet specific objectives within a defined schedule, cost and performance parameters� BS6079 (Guide to Project Management)
Project Management Process Groups • The Scoping Process Group This involves answering the question: What do you need to do? This Group Includes the Following Processes: Recruiting the Project Manager; Eliciting the True Needs of the Client; Documenting the Client’s Needs; Negotiating How Those Needs Will be Met; Writing a One-Page Description of the Project; and Gaining Senior Management Approval.
Project Management Process Groups • The Planning Process Group This involves answering the question: How will you do it? This Process Group Includes: Defining all the Project Work; Estimating the Time to Complete; Estimating the Resources Required; Estimating Total Cost; Sequencing the Work; Creating Initial Project Schedule; Amending the Schedule; Creating a Risk Management Plan; Creating a Project Plan; and Gaining Senior Approval.
Project Management Process Groups • The Launching Process Group This process involves executing the relevant tasks to enable the project to start. The Launching Process Group Involves: Recruiting the Project Team; Writing a Project Description Document; Establishing Team Operating Rules; Establishing the Scope Change Management Process; Managing Team Communications; Finalising the Project Schedule; and Writing Work Packages.
Project Management Process Groups • Monitoring and Controlling Process Group This group utilises all the processes related to the ongoing work of the project. This Process Group Involves: Establishing the Project Performance and Reporting System; Monitoring Project Performance; Monitoring Risk; Reporting Project Status; Processing Scope Change Requests; Discovering and Solving Problems.
Project Management Process Groups • The Closing Project Group This includes all processes related to the completion of the project, and aims to answer, how well did you do? This Closing Process Group Involves: Gaining Client Approval of Having met Project Requirements; Planning and Installing Deliverables; Writing the Final Report; Conducting the Post-Implementation Audit.
How to Scope a Project The scoping process defines all the tools, templates, and processes needed to answer, what do you need to do? And, how will you know you did it? To acquire this information, a number of elements will be undertaken: Identify the Conditions for Satisfaction; Arrange Project Scoping Meeting(s); Requirements Gathering; Diagram Business Processes; Prototyping; Validating Business Cases; Procurement Management; Outsourcing; Project Overview Statement; and Approval to Plan and Continue
How to Plan a Project “If you were to do a project twice – once with a good plan and once with a poor or no plan – the project with the good plan would finish earlier, including the time spent on planning” Wysocki (2009) An effective project plan involves: Planning and Running a Joint Planning Session (JPPS); Creating the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS); Estimating the Task Duration, Resource Requirements and Costs; Creating Initial Schedule; Analysing Initial Schedule; Risk Management Planning; Creating an Effective Project Proposal; Gaining Approval for Project Proposal
How to Launch a Project The main topics for this area involve recruiting the project team and preparing it to begin working on the project. To do this, a number of things need to be established: Recruitment of Project Team Members; Completion of the Project Definition Statement (PDS); Establishing Team Parameters for Problem Solving, Decision Making, Conflict Resolution, Consensus Building, Brainstorming, and Team Meetings; The Scope Change Management Process; Communication Management Planning; Work Packages; The Resource Assignment Process; and Finalising the Project Schedule
How to Monitor and Control a Project The project plan is a system. Systems can get out of balance, so it is important to have a get-well plan ready to restore the balance. To maintain control over the project, a number of documents and tools are at your disposal: Current Period Reports; Cumulative Reports; Exception Reports; Stoplight Reports; Variance Reports; Gantt Charts; Burn Charts; Milestone Trend Charts; Earned Value Analysis (EVA); Integrated Milestone Trend Charts and EVA; Project Status Meetings; and Problem Escalation Strategies
How to Close a Project The following tools can be used to order the closing process: Acceptance Test Procedures (ATP); Implementation Strategies; Project Documentation; PostImplementation Audit; Final Project Report. Closing a project involves the following 6 steps: • • • • • •
Getting Client Acceptance of Deliverables Ensuring that all Deliverables are Installed Ensuring that the Documentation is in Place Getting client Sign-Off on the Final Report Conducting the Post-Implementation Audit Celebrate Success
Summary Essentially, all Projects involve the pattern of the process groups: Scoping a Project; Planning a Project; Launching a Project; Monitoring and Controlling a Project; and Closing a Project. For each of these process groups there are a vast array of processes, tools, techniques and templates available. Having an understanding of them, and using them correctly will enable you to undertake Effective Project Management.