The Secret Lives of Project Managers…

31Jul2009Ryan Endres, PMP

What is a Project?A project is a temporary endeavor

undertaken to produce a unique product or service

Temporary – Definitive beginning and endUnique – New undertaking, unfamiliar ground

Temporary UniqueCharacteristics of Projects

What is Project ManagementProject Management is the application of

skills, knowledge, tools and techniques to meet the needs and expectations of stakeholders for a project.

The purpose of project management is prediction and prevention, NOT recognition and reaction

Role of a Project Manager

Process Responsibilities

People Responsibilities

• Project issues • Disseminating project information• Mitigating project risk • Quality • Managing scope • Metrics • Managing the overall work plan

• Implementing standard processes• Establishing leadership skills• Setting expectations• Team building• Communicator skills

Triple Contraint

Quality

ScopeScope

TimeTime

CostCost

Communications Management This process is necessary to ensure timely and

appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, and storage of project information

Communications SDLC process

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfgfnZZdMlI

Risk Management Risk identification and mitigation strategy Risk update and tracking

Tree – location, accessibility, ownership

Weather

Risk… POTENTIAL negative impact to project

Change Control ManagementDefine how changes to the project

scope will be executed

Scope Change

Schedule changes

Technical Specification Changes

All changes require collaboration and buy in via the project sponsor’s signature prior to implementation of the changes

Project Life CycleInitiationPlanningExecutingMonitoring & ControllingClosing

Initiation PhaseDefine the needSelect the PMDocument business needDevelop project charter

Planning PhaseDetermine goals, scope and project

constraintsIdentify members and their rolesDefine communication channels, methods,

frequency and contentRisk management planningCreate WBS and timeline

Executing PhaseExecute project plan and accomplish project

goalsSend and receive informationImplement approved changesContinuous improvementTeam buildingLessons learned (surveys)

Monitoring & ControllingScope verificationMeasure according to your planRisk AuditsUse issue logsMeasure Team member performanceCreate forecasts

Closing PhaseContractual CloseoutConfirm the work is done to requirementsLessons Learned (Survey)

Project Management Tools

PERT Chart- designed to analyze and represent the tasks involved in completing a given project

Work Breakdown StructureFor defining and

organizing the total scope of a project

First two levels - define a set of planned outcomes that collectively and exclusively represent 100% of the project scope.

Subsequent levels - represent 100% of the scope of their parent node

Gantt Chart

Project Status Dashboard view

How long does it take to build a house?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVcjMXhpfQw&feature=related

Project Success

Customer Requirements

satisfied/exceeded

Completed within allocated time frame

Completed within allocated budget

Accepted by the customer

Project Failure

Scope CreepPoor Requirements

Gathering

Unrealistic planning and scheduling

Lack of resources

What is a PMO?

All PMO’s must have:TemplatesPolicies and ProceduresCommon areas for project informationA person in the PMO that is an expert user of your PM process, including any applications you plan to use

All PMO’s do not necessarily need to have:Microsoft Project, or Project Server (it is not a PMO in a box)Microsoft SharePoint

New Project sign-offScope of the project?Do we have the resources (people and money)Estimate of the timeline?ROISign off on the project

Project Charter (you must have)Who is the PMScope? Out of scope?MilestonesWho is on the project?Project assumptions/constraintsCommunication StrategyRisk Management Plan/are there any known Risks?Project Team Sign off

http://www.pma.doit.wisc.edu/templates.html

WBS (must have)

Action Logs:

Actions from meetings need to come out of Meeting Minutes and into a Log

Keep it simple in Excel or utilized tasks in SharePoint

Updates

Build a plug and play timeline

Executive Reports

Executive Reports

Microsoft Project Server can help add more metrics to your reports

Project Management ManualDescribes from the start to the close of the project

which templates and processes to follow

Small companyCommon location in a folder on your server

Medium CompanyCreate your own website with project information

SharePoint

Communicate project plans and to distribute task assignments to team members

Great for large companies and worldwide projectsIt can interface with Outlook and Project

Easy to create your own databases (ie: help desk requests)Email notifications

Processes take away problems

With Processes you will spend less time fire-fighting problems

With Processes you will have fewer things that slip through the cracks

Process improvement: Review your program performance against established baselines, identify significant variances in program results, and recommends corrective actions.

Take one of your PM processes and review all of your organizations projects to make sure the PM is compiling with your policies.

Review the lessons learned from projects (lessons learned are done throughout the lifecycle of a project not just at the end).

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Questions???