What is Project Management?

Project : A group of milestones or

phases, activities or tasks that support
an effort to accomplish something

Management : is the process of

Planning, Organizing, Controlling and
Measuring
Project...
A collection of linked activities, carried
out in an organised manner,with a
clearly defined START POINT and END
POINT to achieve some specific results
desired to satisfy the needs of the
organisation at the current time
Project Management
A dynamic process that utilises the
appropriate resources of the
organisation in a controlled and
structured manner, to achieve some
clearly defined objectives identified as
needs.
It is always conducted within a
defined set of constraints
 What does Project
Management Entail?
Planning: is the most critical and gets the
least amount of our time
Beginning with the End in mind-Stephen Covey
Organizing: Orderly fashion
(Contingent/Prerequisites)
Controlling: is critical if we are to use our
limited resources wisely
Measuring: To determine if we accomplished
the goal or met the target?
Measuring…….
Are we efficient?
Are we productive?
Are we doing a good job?
What is the outcome?
Is it what we wanted to be?
If you can’t plan it, You can’t do it
If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it
Who uses Project Management?
 Nearly Everyone to some degree
People plan their Days, their Weeks, their
Vacations and their Budgets and keep a
simple project management form known as
‘’To Do’’ list
 Any Process or Means used to track tasks
or efforts towards accomplishing a goal could
be considered Project Management
Why is Project Management
used?
It is necessary to Track or Measure the
progress we have achieved towards a
Goal we wish to accomplish
We use Project Management to Aid us
in Maximizing and Optimizing our
resources to accomplish our goals
 How much time does
Project Management take?
Not much. Probably more time is wasted
as a consequence of lack of Project
Management tool than is spent to Plan
adequately, Organize, Control effectively
and Measure appropriately
How long: As long as there are things to
do
Why is Project Management
Important?
Enables us to map out a course of
action or work plan
Helps us to think systematically and
thoroughly
Unique Task
Specific Objective
Variety of Resources
Time bound
Advantages
In built Monitoring/ Sequencing
Easy and Early identification of Bottlenecks
Activity based costing
Identification and Addition of missing and
new activities
Preempting unnecessary activity/expenditure
Timely Completion
Assigning tasks
Reporting
Road to Better Project Management
Find a Project plan that fits your style of
project management needs
It may be as simple as creating templates,
forms and spreadsheets to track tasks
Formation of a Project Management
committee
Listing out all the tasks and sub-tasks to
accomplish a goal
Jot down the time period and person
responsible against each task/sub-task
Road to Better Project Management

Identify a Project Manager

Identify Task Managers
Sequence the activities in relation
to time period
Present to the PMC
Finalize by reaching an agreement
and start work…...
Implementation
Regular Monitoring
Resource Support
Critical issues discussed and solution
Meeting with the team on completion
of each major milestone
Track the progress against the plan
System to add/delete tasks in the PMT
 Consequences of
not using PMT
 DELAY

 COST

 WASTE OF RESOURCES
 QUALITY

 DISSATISFACTION

 REPUTATION
 Background
Multiple Projects
Cross-functional
Mutually Interdependent

Success and failure is no longer within the total control of that

project.
A “project”
What’s A Project?
Will deliver
Business and/or technical objectives
Is made up of
Defined processes & tasks
Will run for
Set period of time
Has a budget
Resources and $’s
 What is Project Success?
Project success occurs when we have:


A delighted client (expectations met)
Objectives  Delivered the agreed objectives
 Met an agreed budget - $, resources etc.
 Within an agreed time frame
The 'Golden Triangle' of
Project Success

and

 Done it all professionally &

without killing the team

Time Cost
 Why Do Projects Fail?
Changing scope
Insufficient planning
No risk or issues management
Poor communication
Lack of commitment and responsibility by stakeholders
 Who Are Stakeholders?
Steering
Committee

Senior Mgmt Clients & Users

Academic & Project Interdependent

Business Units Projects

Information Outside Groups

Technology (Vendors)

Team
Members
 Project Management
A Maturity Model best practice

competent
Success rate better
tan 75h%

aware
aware
e Success rate of 45
to 75%
seat
seat
ofofthe
pants
pants Success rate of 30
Success rate less to 45%
than 30%
 Seat of Success rate less
pants than 30%

Seat of Pants
Projects happen without correct initiation
Planning is insufficient
Benefits are unknown
There is often inadequate buy-in
Communication is poor
Interdependencies are not managed
Standards, if any, are poorly defined or
unenforced.
 aware Success rate of 30

Aware
To 40%

Projects are formally initiated & plans

endorsed but with varying standards and
few disciplines
Methodology has been introduced
Stakeholders support projects overall
The number of projects is rationalized
Projects are explicitly associated with
business planning
 Success rate of 45
competent To 75%

Competent
Methodology and standards are well established and supported
Stakeholders understand and accept roles
Discrete measures support good management
Projects are set up and managed end-to-end
Risks are clearly defined and controlled
 best practice Success rate better
than 75%

Best Practice
Improvement programs are formal
Good measurement enables
optimization
Level of confidence sees organization
taking on high risk projects successfully
Respect and support of projects and
project managers
 Why Should We Care?
To Increase the likelihood that projects will :

be done on time and within budget

meet people’s expectations
be done well
 Project Office Mission
To enable the successful implementation of OIT
initiatives in a way that establishes a project
management culture so that we deliver projects
on time, within budget and with expected results.
 Project Management Process

Tracking
& Control

Complete
Initiation &
Planning Reporting Assess

Review

Initiation Detailed Status Post

Plan Plan Report Project
Review
Report
 Management Techniques
To increase the likelihood of project success you must manage:

Stakeholders
Risks
Issues
Change
 How to Manage Stakeholders
A stakeholder is any person or group who, if their support were to
be withdrawn, could cause the project to fail.

- Get them involved

- Keep them informed
- Gain their endorsement
 How to Manage Stakeholders
Identify stakeholders
Involve in planning
Establish expectations / accountabilities
Formal communication
Gain sign-off
Change and issues resolution
Project reviews
Define project completion
 Risk Management
What is “risk”?

Any factor capable of causing the project to go off track.

Develop and monitor a Risk Plan

 Issues Management
Unresolved issues will drive a project towards failure and consume a significant part of a
project manager’s time.

Stakeholders play key role in issues management and resolution

- Establish Issues log, review, escalation process

 Change Management
Uncontrolled changes to a project will probably account for up to 30% of a project’s total effort.

If these changes are not managed, the project will be viewed to be over time and over budget.

- Establish a Change management process

Recommended Best Practices
Project Planning and Management

Follow proven methodologies

Active Executive/Project Sponsor
Identify / revisit “critical success” factors
Document assumptions
Business process change vs. customization
 Recommended Best
Project Planning and Management
Practices
Have technical staff in place at start-up
Plan for backfill
Involve Steering Committee early
Plan production support in central offices
Plan for applying fixes
Plan for “end of project”
Plan for vacation/sick time
 Recommended Best Practices
Scheduling, Tracking and Control

Break large projects into phases

(no > 18 - 24 months total)
Control phase “bleed over”
Post phase assessments
“Go/No Go” decision points
Sponsor sign-off
Review Scope periodically
 Recommended Best Practices
Scheduling, Tracking and Control

Building learning curve into plans

Weekly team meetings
Detail planning in 1-2 month segments
Define and manage to “critical path”
What’s important
Prioritize
Who, what, when
 Recommended Best Practices
Reporting

Establish monthly status reporting

Hold monthly status reviews with key stakeholders
Oral status reports are effective
Keep users of system (middle managers) informed
 Recommended Best Practices
Resourcing

Resource Plan
Cross functional teams work
Co-locate teams
Projects are full time job
Complete training before prototyping
Have full team train together
Leverage investment
Build team spirit
 Recommended Best Practices
Managing Expectations

Communication Plan
Make major policy decisions up front
Don’t make promises to users up front
Monthly status report and review
Monthly / bi-monthly presentations
Articles, web pages, newsletters
Special communications from sponsor
Focus groups, demos, town meetings
 Recommended Best Practices
Promoting the System

Focus Groups during gap analysis

Demos for every user after first release
Active Executive Committee showed support
Town meetings to endorse system
Major presentation to users
“Pretzel stick” advertisement
 Recommended Best Practices
Methodology

Follow proven methodologies

Consolidate methodology ( pre-kick off )
Functional reps go to all prototyping
Use standard report formats
Co-locate developer with tester (short term)
 Recommended Best Practices
Managing the Consulting Partner

Selection criteria should include

Ability to transfer knowledge
Help organize team
Follow proven methodology
Provide good implementation tools
Ability to form good working partnership
Higher Education experience
Work locally (near by or on-site)
Recommended Best Practices
Managing the Consulting Partner

Take time to define contract

Terms and conditions / Statement of work (metrics)
Review by Legal, tech., bus., purchasing
Veto power to select / reject resources
Fixed price gives University more control
Tie payments to acceptance of deliverables
Review quality plans
State that the University has methodology
 Recommended Best Practices
Managing the Consulting Partner

Form partnership - make part of team

Have single point of contact
Build one project plan
Consultant defines phase objectives
Build in reviews with decision points
Meet expectations / Go-no go decision
Plan for early transition of knowledge
Implementation done by Princeton
 Recommended Best Practices
Managing the Vendor

Have single point of contact

Include RFP responses / bind vendor to meet
Cap maintenance fees (post impl. Phase)
Don’t presume product works from day 1
Fixes required?
Review Quality Plans
 Recommended
Managing the Vendor
Best Practices
Know package after prototyping (not sales)
Include vendor milestones in project plan
Build “decision points” into plan where tight vendor dependencies
Have contingency plans in place