Introduction to PM
Characteristics
- Start and end date
- Goal or an outcome
- Benefit or value
- Allocation of resources
Life Cycle
- Initiation
- usually the shortest phase
- understand your needs and consider all possible options
- Planning
- usually the longest phase
- Execution
- Risk, team management and stakeholder engagement
- Closure
Characteristics of good PM
- Leadership
- Communication
- Creative thinking and problem-solving
- Dealing with uncertainty
- Planning
FAQ
- high-level plan
- who will be involved
- key success factors
- bird-eye view before breakdown
- project brief / project charter
- Where do i start?
- Start with what you know
Project Management Canvas
The Initiation Phase
- Objectives and deliverables
- Usually the shortest phase
- Key questions
Is this a project?
What is the problem that I need to solve?
What do I need?
What are my options?
- clarify 5W1H (high-level plan)
-
Initiation Template
- Benefits
- High-level plan
- Options
- SMART(Specific Measurable Aligned Realistic Time-bound) targets
- Success criteria
- How success will be Measured in the end
- lays the Foundation of the project
- Triangle (time, cost, quality)
- YOU are Accountable
FAQ
- Q: Are multiple options really necessary? Shouldn't I start immediately?
A: NO. It's hard to return to the drawing board later. Ensure you know as much as you can about the project and the quality of the available options to achieving the outcomes.
The Planning Phase
3 key areas
- Scope
- Schedule
- Cost
Key questions
How do you define the scope of the project?
What planning needs to be done?
What resources do I need?
When does it need to be done by?
How much will it cost?
Scoping the project
- scoping forms the foundation of the planning
- Clarify around the project objectives (next level down if necessary)
- The tasks that need to be performed (manageable activities)
- The resources that will be required
- Clear about what is included in or excluded from the project scope (in scope & out of scope)
[what needs to be done instead of time and cost]
[ideally: scoping - scheduling - cost estimating] - WBS = Work Breakdown Structure
- identifying all the project deliverables
- sub-divide the work
Scheduling the project
- triple constraints
- quality
- cost
- time (least flexible)
- 5 key elements
- Defining the activities (WBS)
- Sequencing these activities
- Estimating the activity resources required
- Estimating the activity duration to complete
- Developing the schedule
- Crashing the schedule?
-> additional resources (over budget)
-> lower quality
Scheduling Table Template
Costing the project
- plan, manage, control the costs, using a budget (constraint).
- developing a cost estimate
- estimate the resources required
- estimate the duration
- prepare a cost estimate
- change addition?
Revisit the original scope and WBS
impact on schedule
-> Seek additional budget
-> Trade-off by reducing scope (de-scoping)
Determining Project Risk
impact factors
- The extent and duration of the project
- The period of time between the planning and execution phases
- Level of experience you or your team members have
- The maturity of the technology being used
Key question
- What risks do i need to consider on this project?
6 steps
- understand the context
- risk identification
- risk assessment (likelihood x impact)
- risk responses (accept, transfer, mitigate , avoid)
- monitor and review (ongoing)
- communicate
some techniques
- contingency plan
- buffer period
Risk Assessment Template
Risk Frameworks
PESTLE(Political, Economic, Social, Technology, Legal, Environmental)
FAQ
- Risk register
a living document - risk contingency
contingency plan - residual risk
Project Teams and Communication
key questions
- Am i delivering the planned specifications and requirements?
- Am i able to secure supply of the necessary resources?
- Will i be able to manage and control the project scope?
- How will i be able to control quality?
Leadership
How do you engage stakeholders?
How might you lead the team?
the role of project stakeholders
internal stakeholders
external stakeholders
key project team roles
Role clarity (detail)
- assign specific tasks
- team charter
team charter
Effective project communication
keep stakeholders informed and engaged
3 channels
- upward (with senior managers)
weekly status reports
emails
face-to-face meetings
structured communication plans - lateral (with clients, suppliers, vendors, contractors)
resource needs, progress updates, budgets, schedule issues
one-on-one meetings, phone calls, email - directly (provides direction, highlights pending tasks, confirms deliverable dates, schedules team meetings)
routine meetings
keep up to date with regular verbal and email exchanges
effective communication tools and strategies
- centralized documentation
- publicized schedule
leadership skills and characteristics
Organized
Forward-thinking
Relationship-buidling
Inspirational
Knowledgeable
monitoring team performance
collect project progress information
investigate any variance
discuss the progress status
FAQ
- leadership style
trust & common purpose
situational leadership - stakeholder analysis matrix
level of influence & level of interest
stakeholder engagement plan - should i take a record of communications?
internal and external report
legal and governance requirements
reporting schedule
Project closure
contents
- handover / delivery
- consolidation of communications
- obtaining feedback
key questions
- Were the original objectives of the project delivered?
- what do i need to measure?
- how will i give and receive feedback?
- do i understand the PM journey?
align project success criteria to project objectives
key elements
- project wrap up
- approved
- handed over
- accepted
checklist
- obtaining project acceptance
- finalising and terminating resources
- de-establishing the team
- capturing remaining costs and closing project related accounts
- comping a final project report
- evaluating project success
- behavior
- practices
- supports improvement
- capturing lessons learned
challenges- lack of time available
- "blaming session"
- failure to understand the value
measuring progress
factors
* activity duration times
* resource usage
* actual costs
roadmap (goal factors)
project closure and handover
actual outcomes -> confirmation -> acceptance
documentation collated & handed over
completion meeting
- reviewing the outputs or outcomes
- confirming the arrangements for any follow-up work
- thanking the team, the sponsor, and the stakeholders for their support
- presenting the completion report for approval and sign-off
integrating customer feedback
- Did i get to where i expected to be?
- did i get there the way i expected to?
- are all the stakeholders happy with the outcome and the way it was achieved?
Canvas Framework - Key Questions
