Project Management Fundamentals. Cindy Tilbrook Executive Manager, LH Martin Institute

Management Fundamentals Cindy Tilbrook Executive Manager, LH Martin Institute

The Party Plan Set date Decide on venue Hire equipment if necessary eg Jukebox Decide on Guests Issue invitations Decide Food/Drink requirements Buy Food/Drink Engage serving staff if required Have fun at the party Post-party review

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Decide on Date Set date Sat Decide on Venue Discuss Home Hire equipment if necessary Decide on Guests Guest List Issue invitations Email Final RSVPs Decide Food/Drink requirements Plan menu Book Pick-up Sat /return Sun Buy Food/Drink Drinks Food Engage serving staff Book Pay Have fun at the party Sat Post-party review/cleanup HAVING A PARTY -- PROJECT PLAN Sunday

Session Outline What defines a project? Role of the Manager Steps in Management Underpinning Factors failure and success factors Management Methodologies

What defines a project? : series of planned, usually inter-related activities and tasks that achieve a specified outcome Often one-time Defined outcome : Scope i.e. what the project will deliver and what it will not Finite in length defined timescale Constrained by limited resources (including financial) Generally performed by people Certain level of uncertainty about whether the goals will be achieved leading to risks Unlike normal operations, projects eventually come to a conclusion

What is Management? The combination of skills, tools, resources and management processes required to undertake a project successfully. Wikipedia: management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific goals and objectives Management Institute: the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects effectively and efficiently.

Mantra ON TIME ON BUDGET TO QUALITY

Role of the Manager Over-arching management of the project. Will encompass: Preparing the business case, project plan and the finances Putting together the project team and ensuring that it has access to the required resources Look for diversity across your project team Assess the level of experience and competency of team members Monitoring and controlling the project Stakeholder Management Team management Schedule Management Risk Management Quality Management Communication Management The Manager may also be a member of the operational project team and it is important to keep in mind a clear distinction between these (potentially competing) roles.

Management in summary Initiation Planning Execution Closure Governance Quality Assurance Risk Mitigation Change Management Communication

Initiation First stage of the project Possibly also the most important Outlines and defines the: Why - strategic context What - scope and quality How - governance/management Who - stakeholders & resources Where - location When - timeframe Cost what is cost? How funded? Initiation Document (PID) Charter Business Plan

Initiation These matters are build into the Initiation Document (PID) / Charter / Business Plan This document provides the underlying justification for the project, based on the estimated cost and the business benefits to be obtained Usually gives formal authority to proceed eg submission for research funding is a form of project charter NOT ALL PROJECTS SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN! PID should identify the major project constraints: Time Budget Quality / Performance Will be helpful to determine which of these is the most important eg can reduce time by adding more people in to a project, but this will also increase cost Should also outline any assumptions which underpin the project

Initiation You should obtain sign off on the PID prior to the commencement of the project In a university context, this may take the form of an allocation of funds, either externally or internally eg receipt of research grant The PID should be revisited/modified periodically during the course of the project to ensure that all aspects are still valid

Planning Covers the what/who/when aspects of the project generally set out in a Work Breakdown Structure diagram Determines key deliverables and milestones These will generally be sign off points may be determined by an external body (eg funding authority) May take the format of a gate i.e. next stage can t commence until former stage has been signed off/accepted Refines Governance, Quality, Risk, Change and Communication strategies A primary task of this stage is the development of the Work Breakdown Structure Overall representation of the project Shows the tasks and services to be delivered, broken down into small, manageable, measurable tasks or pieces Usually hierarchical

Planning How to develop a Work Breakdown Structure Define the major tasks that need to be undertaken Determine status of these tasks: Parallel task: may (or must) occur at the same time as another task Dependant task: cannot begin until another task has been completed Place these tasks in order Estimate times/dates Often a good idea to work backwards People are notoriously very bad at estimating time requirements use confidence limits if necessary Don t be afraid to ask others with experience in this area

Planning Work Breakdown Structure (cont) Determine resources required and allocate the tasks to resources available. Prime resources are: People (Labour) may be existing staff, new staff, external contractors etc Equipment Materials Space Allocate costs to resource requirements Review plan Review is a critical step. You may need to revise your entire plan at this stage if resource blocks are encountered

Planning Critical Path analysis: Those activities that must be undertaken by the due date to have the project completed on time Shows order of relative importance of tasks Crash Time: Fastest time a task could be completed with unlimited resources Crash cost: What the crash time would cost Slippage The variation between your estimate of the time/resources required, and what is actually required You should generally assume that slippage will occur Slack time: the amount of time a task can slip before it adversely affects the project

Execution For the project manager, this is the main management stage monitoring and control of the overall project in relation to scope/schedule/costs Primary areas are: Team management: keeping the team motivated and on track Governance attending to required governance requirements (including financial) Quality and Risk management in accordance with relevant plans Change Management In accordance with Change Management Plan Communication team and stakeholders

Execution Process of continual review of the project scope/cost/schedule Advise stakeholders if this occurs Develop handover plan This may not have been done during the earlier stages of the project Requirements for handover will be more clearly defined by now

Closure Handover Writing handbooks for future operation if required Training if project results in a new process or way of operation Final reports and communications to stakeholders May result in formal acceptance of the project Financial acquittals Documentation Finalise and file appropriately Terminate supplier contracts

Closure Review project: Did it deliver the benefits defined in the PID/Business Case? within budget, on time and to desired quality level? What lessons have been learnt? Staff skills gained or identified Mistakes not to be repeated Tools or techniques that were useful What should have been done differently How can these lessons inform future projects? Dismantle project team and re-assign Thanks and celebration time to party!

Governance Governance: the system and process of decision-making and management established for a particular project framework within which project decisions are made Usually involves key stakeholders Need to question: Who is ultimately responsible for this project? Who is accountable for the project? Who can sign off on project milestones Who can you escalate issues to?

Governance Effective governance ensures: is aligned to business needs Finances are being managed and are on track Risks and quality are being managed Variations are being approved and managed i.e. the project is on track. Governance arrangements should be established and documented in the Charter. May cover areas such as: Establishment of Steering Committee Meeting cycles How risk/quality/change issues are handled from a governance perspective etc

Quality Quality: the level of conformity and compliance of the final product with the customer s requirements/specifications

Quality Ensuring/controlling quality: Determine relevant quality standards Determine how to meet those standards Establish methods of monitoring and reporting adherence to or deviation from required quality levels Establish plans to rectify quality deficiencies Document

Risk Risk: any factor that may potentially adversely interfere with the successful completion of the project Helpful to know the risk profile of the overarching project governing body Are they prepared to accept a high level of risk? Do they want minimal risks in the project? Generally a trade-off between risks/resources eg if faculty budgets are tight, they may be more risk averse in terms of cost overruns

Risk Need to develop a risk management plan Quantify risks Prioritise risks Work out strategies for risk management Done via development of a risk matrix Usually done via a brainstorming session: What can go wrong What will happen if it does how severe? What can be done to avoid/minimise this risk?

Risk Strategies Avoidance: Eliminate the risk Can be costly Transference: Transfer the risk to a 3 rd party Eg insurance Mitigation: Minimize the negative impact of the risk Acceptance: Some level of acceptance that the risk will occur Contingency planning

Change Management Change Management is important to avoid Scope Creep Any required changes should be documented and approved If you don t management changes properly, your project runs the risk of either going over time, over budget, or not with the desired level of quality.

Change Management How can you manage changes? Renegotiate/get more resources (eg amount of available funds) Receive later (eg delay from suppliers) Narrow scope (eg delete nice to have ) Accept substitutes or partial delivery (eg materials not available) Seek alternate sources (eg unavailability of resources) Offer incentives (eg overtime payments to labour resources) Demand compliance (eg enforce legal agreements or seek redress)

Communication Plan What must be communicated? (eg reports, financial summaries) To whom? Stakeholders Team members When? In what format? What tools are required to provide the desired communication?

Other Areas Factors that lead to Success and Failure Find a champion Paves the way when things get rough Usually a senior person who supports the project and has influence Methodologies Prince, PMBOK Gantt Charts Excel Methodologies run from the very simple to the very complex Find a tool that suits you best

THANKS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION Cindy Tilbrook Email: cindy.tilbrook@unimelb.edu.au Phone: 03 8344 0756