Project Management Life Cycle Part 2 by Derek Kemp

The Project Management Life Cycle Part Two Resource Report Written By Sailesh Varia

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Table of Contents 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2. Project Execution.............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.1 Monitoring & Control .................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Time/Cost/Quality Management .................................................................................................. 5 2.3 People Management..................................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Risk and Issues Management ........................................................................................................ 6 3.

Project Closure ................................................................................................................................ 7 3.1 Check Acceptance Criteria ............................................................................................................ 8 3.2 Decommission Your Resource ...................................................................................................... 9 3.3 Archive Information ...................................................................................................................... 9 3.4 Post Implementation Review (PIR) ............................................................................................... 9

Summary .......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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1.0 Introduction In part of the Project Management life cycle we will be looking at the key elements required to ensure each project is managed correctly and brings each project to a satisfactory conclusion.

By now I hope you have read the contents of the first part of this journey and have started implementing the various steps to create your project plan.

Having a plan is crucial to any project, implementing the plan in an organised and professional way ensures your project is achievable in the time frames set. As you will see from the next heading monitoring and control of the project is crucial.

2.1 Monitoring & Control Monitoring the progress of your project as it unfolds should be done on a daily basis to check that important milestones are being met from the progress being made by your project team members. You should be using your project plan intensively during this stage to monitor and make the necessary adjustments as and when required. The key to overseeing what is going on as you oversee your project, is having an excellent communications plan in place. A lot of the reporting will come from regular team meetings, but there also needs to be mechanisms in place such as weekly reports being provided by your key team members so you can have visibility of what is happening at all times. Aswell as receiving reports, you should also have in place upward reporting agreements in place to your key stakeholders, sponsors or customers.

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3.1 Time/Cost/Quality Management Time, cost and quality management will play and instrumental role in project execution if your end delivery is to be successful. Time management involves reviewing your project continuously to ensure that tasks are being completed to schedule. Cost management is about controlling your project expenditure and managing your allocated budget to ensure you deliver within projected costs. Quality management is ensuring the product or service being delivered is in line with customer specifications and expectations.

3.2 People Management Project managing your team effectively involves all individuals feeling emotionally engaged in their work and having clearly defined responsibilities. Getting to know, develop and fully supporting your project team will enable you to drive a high performance culture in your business that will underpin the successful deliver projects to the required time, cost and quality. Be clear about what is expected from all the members of your project team. This will help them focus on what is really important and ensure that high value tasks are prioritised. Take every opportunity to explain how the individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contribution relates to the overall project objectives and the bigger picture. The more engaged and empowered they feel, the more they will have a sense of responsibility and will want to do their best to honour their commitments to both you and the rest of the project team. www.ProjectManagementCoaching.com Copyright 2012 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; All Rights Reserved

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Support your team in a way that they can make decisions for themselves and be accountable for their own actions. Take the time to listen and make sure your teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ideas and opinions count. If any member of your team needs help or support, coach them for development promptly. If you see someone doing the right things, ensure that you give immediate positive feedback on their actions. This will build up goodwill and motivate the individual to work harder. Acknowledging individuals for the good work will make them feel valued and encourage role model behaviour from the rest of your project team.

3.3 Risk and Issues Management The management of risk and issues must always be incorporated into your project management plans. It is an absolutely critical component that will have a major influence in determining whether you succeed or fail. Remember to always take proactive actions with risk and issues management to keep your business and project plan on track for success. The early identification and management of risks and issues in any business environment is absolutely essential. Effective mitigation and action steps taken at the start of a project will help your project plan stay on track should any issues materialise. The best approach to managing the risks and issues associated with your project is to keep a log in the form of a spreadsheet table, using software like Microsoft excel. All of your risk and issues should be documented in one column. A second column should then capture what action will be taken to www.ProjectManagementCoaching.com Copyright 2012 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; All Rights Reserved

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mitigate the risk or issue and who from your project team will take responsibility to own it. A third column should also be added to detail what you will do if the risk or issue becomes a reality i.e. what will be your plan B. To help prioritise your risk and issues it is often useful to add a probability and impact (fourth column) with “High”, “Medium” or “Low” categories.

Your risk and issues log should be reviewed on a regular basis, preferably at project meetings with your team. This will give you the opportunity to keep on top of existing risks and issues, aswell as capturing any new ones.

3.4 Project Closure Project closure is the last stage of the project management life cycle and ensures proper formal completion. Many businesses often do not pay enough attention when closing off a project properly following the execution stage of the life cycle. It is however very good practise to wind down a project in the correct manner to ensure time and money is not wasted in your organisation. The closing down stage will involve archiving information and files, decommissioning resources and capturing lessons learned to ensure the next project is run better. The project closure stage involves handing over the final project deliverable to your end customer and decommissioning your project support structure. Some of the activities here include:  Acceptance of the project by the end customer

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 Terminating supplier contracts and releasing project team resources to your business  Formal communication of project closure to your project stakeholders /sponsors  Post Implementation Review (PIR) report to determine how well your project was delivered and what lessons can be learned for any future projects. Closing off a project in a controlled manner is important since it provides everyone involved with formal notification that the end point has been reached. Without knowing when the end has been reached, you could drift endlessly on and waste valuable time and money in your business.

Another good reason for closing off a project in the right way is to capture the lessons learnt from your project management experience. By analysing how the project went, both you and your project team can improve by applying any best practice methods in the future.

There are four key stages that you should consider when closing off a project.

4.1 Check Acceptance Criteria When your project plan has reached the end and all necessary tasks have been completed, it is important to check the final result against the original acceptance criteria. The final product or service that is produced needs to be compared against the original project Statement of Requirements (SOR) before being handed over to the customer and closing off the project.

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If you find that there any outstanding minor issues that need clearing up, then these items should be logged under a “snags list”. Ensure you document any snags with an agreed owner and a deadline for resolution.

4.2 Decommission Your Resource Your project team will need to be given formal notification that the project has been completed so that their time can be freed up. If you’ve used any operational systems e.g. computer hardware or software programmes, then these should also be ceased if no longer required. Your business resources will be utilised efficiently and cost effectively if you decommission and reallocate your assets where they are needed most.

4.3 Archive Information It is very important to archive all of your project documentation that has been generated in case it is required for future reference. This will include your project plans, meeting notes, risk and issues log etc... All the information that has been recorded throughout the project life cycle should be organised and stored in a suitable format for ease of access.

4.4 Post Implementation Review (PIR) Once the project is handed over and fully complete, the very last stage in the project closure process will be to conduct what's called a Post Implementation Review (PIR). This could be in the form of a meeting with your internal project team or external customers. The main purpose of the review is for the opportunity to understand what went well and what could have been done better using the benefit of hindsight. www.ProjectManagementCoaching.com Copyright 2012 – All Rights Reserved

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Closing off a project in a professionally controlled manner will ensure you save valuable time and money in your business. By applying these simple steps, you will be able to utilise your resources effectively. You will also gain the benefits of continuous improvement by using your knowledge and experience in future project work.

Lastly, do remember to take the time to acknowledge your team members for their contribution and effort. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good practice to show appreciation to the people at the sharp end that make everything possible. Showing your employees that they are valued will help them be more loyal and dedicated to do their very best for you.

5.0 Summary Application of the project management life cycle in your business will ensure that you adopt the right framework and apply the required sub processes in your project. Incorporating each of the four stages will provide you with a blueprint framework to support a successful end to end project delivery. The life cycle helps to keep everyone on your project team focused in discrete stages and ensures effective use of time and resources in your business. If you found this information helpful, then you should consider upgrading your membership. Becoming a paid member of ProjectManagementCoaching.com will allow you to gain access to much more of the step by step details of the sub processes contained in each of the project management stages.

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Our monthly coaching programme is designed to take you from project initiation all the way to project closure through various teaching aids such as work books and videos. Each month you will receive a module to learn from and apply the principles within your own particular business. Our training material contains a variety of templates and tools that you can use as effective aids taking you from start to finish throughout the project management life cycle. No matter what your level of project management experience, we cater for all skill levels. Within the first six months of coaching, you will have gained the very best knowledge and practical techniques that you can apply over and over again in any project you undertake. The skills you will have gained will be an education you can apply for life, in whatever venture you are involved in. We are committed to providing our students with the highest service as we want them to become highly effective in their business environments and share their success stories with us. We listen to feedback and act on this continuously to increase the value we provide.

As a member of Project Management Coaching click on the membership card below for instant access to a success blueprint for your business!

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