Project Management. Presented by Chris Cosgrove

Transcription

1 Project Management Presented by Chris Cosgrove

2 Introduction Many of the skills required for successful project management are basic skills for leadership and managing change Project management has evolved into a science There s no substitute for on-the-job training, especially under challenging circumstances If someone offers you an amazing opportunity and you re not sure you can do it, say yes then learn how to do it later Richard Branson

3 Overview Project management basics What is Project Management Types of projects Project lifecycle Core project management skills Planning Risks and issues Quality Resource planning and management Learning Lessons Benefiting from experience People-related skills Productive meetings Facilitation techniques Leading effective teams

4 What is project management? Project management is the process and activity of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals

5 What is a project? It is temporary with a defined beginning and end It is unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal. The resulting change is unitary, it only happens once but the effects are longlasting.

6 Types of projects

7 Type 1: Engineering Goals and methods are well defined These projects have been called the Earth Projects as they are well defined with a solid foundation. Specifications set the basis of the project. The role of the PM is that of leader leading the skilled team through well defined set of activities

8 Type 2: Product Development Goals are well defined but the methods of achieving them are not. These are Water Projects like a turbulent stream, they flow with a sense of purpose, but in an apparently haphazard way. The PM often needs to manage multidisciplinary teams of knowledge experts to define the methods

9 Type 3: Application Development Goals are not well defined, but the methods are. These are Fire Projects much heat can be generated in the definition of the work, but they can burn with no apparent purpose. The problem is defining the precise objectives and the purpose of the project and the PM must negotiate between project team and project sponsor to understand the deliverable needed from the project.

10 Type 4: Research & organizational change Neither the goals, nor the method of achieving them, are well defined. They are typified by organizationaldevelopment projects. These are Air Projects they are very difficult to catch hold of, and can deliver blue-sky research objectives. The project manager needs to be very creative and strategic in these cases.

11 Project management phases

12 Project management phases Selection of the best project given resource limitations Recognizing the benefits of the project Preparation of the documents to sanction the project Assigning of the project manager

13 Project management phases Definition of the deliverables and work requirements Definition of the quality and quantity of work Definition of the resources needed Scheduling the activities Evaluation of the various risks Review lessons learned

14 Project management phases Negotiating for the project team members Directing and managing the work Working with the team members to help them improve

15 Project management phases Tracking progress Comparing actual outcome to predicted outcome Analyzing variances and impacts Making adjustments

16 Project management phases Projects are executed one piece at a time Use of milestones and stop gaps Opportunities for more detailed reviews PM is ever vigilant

17 Project management phases Projects will have problems Continuously revisit the plan Built-in quality improvement ( Plan-Do-Check-Act ) Helps maintain quality, scope, costs, schedule

18 Project management phases Verifying that all of the work has been accomplished Develop lessons learned Contractual closure of the contract Administrative closure of the paperwork and financials

19 More than schedules Project summary Objectives and key requirements Approach Major deliverables and key milestones Scope Resource needs Organization/roles and responsibilities Internal and external responsibilities Assumptions Implementation strategy Schedule Risk and issue management Quality assurance and control strategy Configuration management

20 Critical project elements 1. Clarifying project objectives 2. Pining down the scope 3. Defining major deliverables 4. Realistic resources and budget 5. An achievable schedule

21 Taking on an existing project? Are the project s objectives clear and measurable? Has anyone documented what the project needs to deliver and have your customers signed up to this? At first sight, do existing commitments to deliverables, timescales and resources look realistic? If work is already well under way, is there a clear audit trail of significant decisions taken and underpinning assumptions? Is your team working together productively and does everyone know what they re expected to deliver?

22 Don t Delay, Start Today A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. George S. Patton ( )

23 Managing Risks & Issues A risk is an event that may occur (has not happened) and if it does will threaten the successful delivery of the project An issue is a situation (has happened) that if left unresolved will have the same effect.

24 Managing Risks & Issues Identification Pinning down the key risks and issues that threaten the success of your project Review all assumptions Identify dependencies Look at lessons learned Action Planning Assessing what can be done to deal with them Prioritizing risks and issues Monitoring & Control Keeping risks and issues under review and adjusting your approach when needed Maintain an active Risk & Issue Log

25 Prioritization Risk = Probability of occurrence X Impact if risk occurs Probability of occurrence 1 Very unlikely 2 Fairly unlikely 3 50/50 chance 4 Fairly likely 5 Almost certain Project impact 1 Negligible 2 Minor 3 Moderate 4 Serious 5 Disastrous A risk that was fairly unlikely and would have a serious impact on the project if it occurred would get a risk score of 8 (2 x 4), while an almost certain risk that carried a moderate impact would get a score of 15 (5 x 3), and so on.

26 Quality Ensure the people who develop the quality baseline are also involved in the project sign-off The definition of a mandatory requirement is that if it s not met, the whole delivery has to be rejected use this to get people to be reasonable Agree on the relative priority of optional add-ons Mandatory requirements are non-negotiable. If anything gets dropped it s the add-ons Help stakeholders understand the cost of items that are of marginal benefit look for value Look for ways to measure the quality ROI, etc External assurance, peer review

27 Who should provide them? Estimating People doing the work, subject matter experts Avoid doing it yourself, an educated guess is not an estimate Ask for ranges and not fixed numbers What level of accuracy is required? Determines the amount of time you need to spend on estimating Avoid the +/- estimate, aim high

28 How much time does PM take? 15-25% of the total resource effort 5 FTE for 8 weeks = 1600 hours 1600 hrs X 20% = 320 hrs for PM 320 hrs / 8 weeks = 1 FTE for PM Think about your own work week? 40 hrs / week 20% x 40 hrs = 8 hrs for PM 8 hrs / 5 days = 1.6 hrs per day for PM 8 hrs work hrs PM = 9.6 hr day!

29 Promote a learning culture Lead by example always be open about your mistakes Encourage honesty and openness Respond constructively to mistakes Concentrate on putting things right and learn lessons afterwards Don t badmouth the culprits Never miss an opportunity to emphasize your philosophy Explain a mistake is not the end of the world Promote the positive side of lessons learned Identify practical things that can prevent it from happening again Look for successes that can be repeated Create room for informal contact with your team members Another benefit of the walk around manager routine

30 3 types of meetings To plan or review progress To make decisions To do constructive work 3 phases to successful meetings Preparation Execution Follow-up Productive meetings

31 Tips for productive meetings Always put the time needed into meeting preparation it s the only way of ensuring that your meetings will be effective No meeting should go ahead without an agenda, supported by a statement of its purpose and objectives Make sure the right people are present By default, take the role of chair at the meetings and make sure you assign someone to take minutes and to track time Try to plant an advocate for sensitive issues Meeting follow-up starts with the production of a set of punchy, action-oriented minutes. Get them out without delay Have a system in place to ensure you always follow up on meeting action points

32 Leading effective teams Project managers manage people not activities Must develop a reputation based on respect for your knowledge and how you execute your work Need to develop at least a core set of likeable characteristics The ability to motivate a team is key

33 Communication

34 #1 Avoid anything that demotivates Be inconsistent for no apparent reason. Like being cheerful and easy-going on day, grumpy and vindictive the next Ask team members for their opinions on important decisions and then consistently ignore their advice When the team has to work extended hours to meet an important deadline, make sure you leave the office early When something goes well, take all of the credit for yourself. Even better, when something goes badly, find a culprit immediately. Make promises you have no intention of keeping and then shrug them off as misunderstandings when delivery time comes.

35 Motivational Checklist Have I set clear objectives for all of my team members? Do the team members have a good understanding o what s going on in the project? Is the workload across the team consistent with its capacity and is it properly balanced? Are team members appropriately involved in decision making in the project?

36 Motivating Individuals Sense of achievement Basking in the glory of having got something of importance done. Seeing something completed Gaining satisfaction from having seen something through to the bitter end Enjoying a challenge Having the satisfaction of achieving something that you or others regard as difficult or demanding Career progression Undertaking something that furthers your longer-term career interests, even if the immediate task at hand is not that attractive in itself Peer pressure Feeling the need to meet the expectations of your colleagues Intellectual reward Enjoying the mental stimulation of a task that requires some thought or imagination

37 Longer Term Motivators Set expectations. Start with being clear about how you expect your team to behave and the standards you re looking for Set targets that are challenging yet achievable Include some objectives that are acknowledged as difficult to achieve and a stretch. Most people respond to a challenge Feel the heat Arrange for team members to have a direct stake in a project, for example not just preparing but presenting Find small but enjoyable rewards for staff Organize informal social events

38 Leaders & Managers Leaders Managers Emotional Involvement Personal Life Achieving commitment and accountability Value emphasis Emotionally involved with ideals and vision Work and private life are indistinguishable and merge with each other Inspire. Hold people accountable by inducing feelings of guilt Concerned with what they are trying to build Problems Create problems Solve them Involved with tasks and people associated with the tasks Attempts to maintain boundaries seeing a proper time for each Involve people. Use contracts, performance appraisal and key result areas How to build their contractual piece Planning Long-range Short to medium term Responses Relations Appreciate contrariness and people who argue Engender feelings of love and hate. Create non-stable relationships From Leadership for Competitive Advantage by N. Deorgiades and R. Macdonell Like people who conform Tend to have more predictable relationships an do not create strong feelings

39 Facilitation Skills

40 Key Facilitation Goals To provide a process, a method for working through the problem or decision in questions To get people working collaboratively, the right people in the right frame of mind To introduce a degree of challenge, to ensure opinions, conclusions and decisions are properly scrutinized To have some initial ideas, to kick-start the process when inspiration is needed or to avoid having a process stutter and stall

41 Brainstorming Clearly define the problem or opportunity to be worked on Ask participants to voice their ideas, even outlandish ones Record every idea without discussion or evaluation, nothing ruled out Encourage people to build on the ideas of others Continue until you run out of steam

42 Criteria based consensus building Define the decision to be made Identify and describe all available options Develop criteria for comparing the options Agree on a means for weighting the options (scale of 1 to 10) Provide a score for each criteria Multiply the score for each criteria by the weighting factor Total the weightings to determine the best option

43 Root-cause Analysis Define the problem Ask Why did this occur Write down the answers under the original problem For each answer, ask again why? Add the responses and repeat the process Stop when answers are repetitive or become simple facts of life like the building is 100 years old Review the underlying root causes and agree which should be targeted as priorities

44 Combine Techniques Root-cause analysis Brainstorming Criteriabased decision making

45 7 Habits of effective project managers Focus on solutions to problems remain calm and focus on the problem not the person Be consultative yet decisive involve the team but be ready to act Remain customer focused at all times see things through their eyes Negotiate for a win-win result a successful project is one where everyone is successful Get the best out of everyone don t write anyone off and make sure your stars aren t coasting Constantly look to adapt and evolve we can always do better, be open-minded Lead by example practice what you preach and work to the standards you want others to adopt

46 Resources Get a mentor Check out your own institution for courses on project management Project Management Institute, Toastmasters, One Page Project Manager, Brilliant Project Management by Stephen Barker and Rob Cole Leadership for Competitive Advantage by Nick Georgiades and Richard Macdonell