MariosAlexandrou ProjectManagementFundamentals ProjectManagerResume

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Project Management Fundamentals

Thefollowingdiscussionaboutprojectmanagementhasbeenpulledtogether fromvarioussourcesincludingbooks,courses,presentations,andmyown experiences.Thisisbynomeansintendedtobeacompletetreatmentofthe subjectofprojectmanagement.Norisitgoingtomakeyouaproject managementprofessional.Instead,useitasanintroductiontothisdiscipline perhapswhileassessingwhetheritwouldbeofinterestforyoutopursueasa career.

WhatisaProject?
Aprojectisauniqueventurewithspecificstartandenddates.Thisisdifferent fromanongoingtaskthatdoesn'thaveanenddate.Projectsarerunbypeople andofteninvolvedifferentpartsofanorganization.Constraintsonproject includecost,schedule,resources,andquality.There'sagiveandtaken betweentheseitemsi.e.youcan'thaveitall.Usuallyprojectsaredivisibleinto stagesorphaseseachwiththeirownsetofprioritiesandgoals.

WhatisProjectManagement?
Projectmanagementisacombinationoftechniques,procedures,people,andsystemsfocusedonthesuccessfulcompletionofa project.Itisalsoadisciplinethatwillsupporttheplanning,implementation,tracking,andcontrolofprojects.

WhatisaProgram?
Agroupofrelatedprojectsarecalledaprogram.Theymayhavemutualdependenciesthatmaybecomplex.Thekeytotheirsuccessis thattheybemanagedinacoordinatedmanner.

TypicalProjectPhases
Therearemanymethodologiesforrunningprojects.Typically,theyconsistofthefollowinghighlevelphases:

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Definetheproject Plantheproject Getapprovaltoproceed Implementtheprojectplan Evaluatetheproject

UnderstandingandManagingProjectPolitics
Projectsarerifewithpolitics.Understandablysoaseveryoneisjockeyingtoachievethegoalstheydeemthemostimportant.Managing thesepoliticsisanessentialtaskfortheprojectmanagerandteammembers.Italsofallstotheprojectmanagementtohelpothers navigatethepoliticalwaters.Keytomanagingthepoliticsiskeepingpeopleinformed.Thebiggertheproject,themoretimeitwilltaketo communicatewithinterestedparties.

BalancingPriorities
Aprojectwillconsistofasetofpriorities.Theseprioritiescanbeclassifiedintowhatmustbeachieved,whatshouldbeachievedif possible,andwhatwouldfollowfromthepreviouschoices.What'snotsoobvioussometimesisthattheprioritiesofvarious stakeholderswillvaryandtheywillvaryovertime.Itistheprojectmanager'sjobtomanagetheinevitableconflictthatarisesfromthis situation.

ProjectScope
Theobjectiveofthisstepistodefineandagreeonresultsthatthecustomerexpects.Thereareprojectsuccesscriteriaandpersonal successcriteriatoconsider. Itisbesttousevariousmethodstounderstandwhatisreallybeingaskedfor.Thismeansusingwords,pictures,graphics,andoneon onediscussions.Graphs,mockups,andprototypeswillalsohelp.Considerusingbrainstormingsessionstogettheballrolling. Formalmethodsanddocumentationhelpthisprocess,butit'simportanttoaimforclarityandnotjustlength.Thisstepisalsothestartof therequirementscaptureprocess.Ideally,theprojectteamisinvolvedasmuchaspossibleasitwillhelpbuildtheirunderstanding.

ProjectFeasibility
Thefeasibilityoftheprojectshouldbeassessedbeforetheprojectproceeds.Considerwhethertheprojectistechnicallyfeasible,has organizationalsupport,andhasthefinancialbackingtobecompleted.Abusinesscasecanhelpwiththefeasibilityanalysisandshould ataminimumincludeacost/benefitanalysis.Forsomelargeprojects,thefeasibilitystudycouldbeaprojectinitself.Theendresultisa clearreasontoproceedwithaprojectortoshelveit.

ProjectRisks
Riskmanagementshouldstartasearlyaspossible.Thegoalistoidentifyandrecordthemajorissuesthatmayaffecttheproject includinguncertaintiesandassumptions.Astheprojectprogresses,thelistofrisksshouldbereviewedtoensureitremains comprehensive.Someitemswilldisappearwhileotherswillneedtobeadded. Theprojectobjectivesareacriticalreferencefortheproject.Theyactasthedefinitionofsuccessfortheprojectmanagerandthegoals

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forthepeopleinvolvedintheproject.Thisdocumentalsoservestosummarizethecontractwiththecustomerandthereforecanbeused withthechangecontrolprocesstoaddressnewrequests.Theobjectivesdocumentshouldcontaintheprojectgoalstatementandalist ofprojectdeliverables. Afacetofacemeetingwithstakeholdersisagoodwaytobuildtheobjectivesdocument.Duringthismeeting,theprojectmanager shouldensurethateveryone'sviewisbeingheardandthateveryoneisparticipating.Afterthemeeting,crafttheobjectivesdocumentand distributeforsignoff.

ProjectGoalStatement
Thisisashortstatement(around50wordsorless)thataccuratelyreflectswhattheprojectissettingouttodo.Italsooutlinesthe conditionsinwhichitisbeingdoneanddefinesconstraintsoftheproject.Thisstatementshouldnotgetintodetailsofimplementation. Itshouldjustcoverwhatisgoingtobeimplementedandwhen.

DefiningProjectDeliverables
Deliverablesarealwaystangibleandmeasurable.Theyarethethingsthatexternalprojectstakeholdersaregoingtoreceivewhenthe projectiscompleteoratthecompletionofeachphaseintheproject.Thesedeliverablescanbeequipment,completionofareport, installationofnewhardware,etc. Beforeimplementationworkonaprojectcanbegin,itisnecessarytodefineprojecttasks.Themostcommonwaytodothisisthrougha workbreakdownstructure(WBS).OthermethodsincludetheProductBreakdownStructure,OrganizationBreakdownStructure,andthe CostBreakdownStructure.Regardlessoftheprocessused,theideaistobreaklargeprojectsintomanysmallercomponents.These smallercomponentsshouldbesmallenoughsuchthataccurateestimatesandcostscanbedetermined.Aimfortheamountoftimeper componenttobearound40hoursforapersonorgroup.Anythingbiggerandthere'sagoodchangetheitemcanbebrokendownfurther. However,theorderingshouldn'tbedeterminedatthispoint. Goodestimatesarenecessaryforthesuccessofaproject.Theycanhelpwithobtainingapprovaltostartorcontinueaproject.They're alsousefulforsettingprioritiesbasedonexpectedROI.Thereisnoonesizefitsallapproachtoestimates.Alotwilldependonwhere themakeupoftheprojectteamandtheprojectitself.Exploratoryprojectsaregoingtobemuchhardertoestimateforthanaprojectthat hasbeendoneseveraltimesbefore.Themostimportantthingistotryandprovideestimatesastheactofdoingdocanhelpwith everyone'sunderstandingoftherequirements. Someotherthingstokeepinmindinclude: Donotacceptpoorqualityestimates.Trytogetthepersonwhowillactuallydotheworkalsoprovidetheestimate. Provideenoughtimetocomeupwithestimatesi.e.givepeopleenoughtimetothink. Don'thaggleoverestimates. Provideestimatesusingarange,butavoidthetemptationtoarbitrarilypadestimates.Ifclientsdetectthistactic,itwillresultinillwill. Ifanestimateseemsparticularlyfuzzy,considerbreakingthetaskdownfurthersothatitit'scomponentsareeasiertounderstand. Makeitclearthatestimateswillbenotedandcomparedtowhentheprojectcompletes.Thisispartoftheongoingproject managementimprovementprocess. Awellinformedteamwillprovidebetterestimates.

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Don'tforgettotakeintoaccountdifferentskilllevelsofdifferentteammembers.Juniorteammemberswilllikelybeslowerthan seniorteammembers. Oncetheprojecttaskshavebeenidentifiedandthetimerequiredforeachestimated,itisnecessarytocreateascheduleanddetermine thesequenceofevents.Thekeytosequencingislookingatallthetasksandfiguringoutdependencies.Thosethataredependenton otherswillneedtobedoneinsequence.Whenataskhasnodependenciesitcanbeworkedoninparallelassumingtherearesufficient resources. Oncethesequencehasbeenfiguredout,thecriticalpath,thelongestsequenceoftimethroughanetworkoftasks,willbecome apparent.Thispathwillthenformthebasisoftheprojectschedulesince,bydefinition,theprojectcan'tbecompletedinlesstimethan whatthecriticalpathrequires.Bylayingoutthetasksendtoendonatimeline,youwill,ineffect,createaGanttchart,whichisthemost commonprojectplanningchart.Inlargeprojects,theremaybetoomanytaskstoplotsotheyshouldbegroupedtogethertoeasethe work. It'spartoftheprojectmanager'sjobtotryandfindthebestfitbetweenataskandaresource.Thebetterthematch,themorelikelythe estimatewillturnouttobeaccurate.Inanidealworldresourcesareavailablewheneveryouwantthem.Inreality,resourcesareoften comingfromasharedpool.Thisisoneofthefirstthingsthatcanimpactascheduleright. Onceworkhasbegun,itisimportanttoreviewtheresourceissueregularly.Youwanttodetectassoonaspossible.Youwantto determineifthereareproblemssothatyoucanrequestmoreresourcesor,insomerarecases,releaseresourcesbecausethereisn't asmuchworkasexpected.Therearemanytoolsthatcanbeusedtolevelresources,butdon'taimforperfection.Instead,aimforgood enoughandfocusongettingtheprojectdone. Otherthingstoconsiderwhenbuildingandmanagingateaminclude:

TrustBeOpenandHonest
Projects,likeoffices,canoftenbesecretiveplaceswithvariouslevelsofdisclosureduetocommercialorpoliticalpressures.However theprojectgrapevineworksjustasfastastheofficekindandyoucanbeassuredthatifyouarekeepingsomeoneinthedarkor deceivingthem,youwillbeontheshortendofofficegossipfasterthanyoucansay"voluntaryredundancy". Beasopenandhonestwithyourteammatesasyoucan.Answertheirquestionsdirectlyandactasaconduitofinformationforthem,not abarrier.Ifyoufeelyoucannotdivulgesomething,sayso.Yourteamwillappreciateyourhonestlyandreciprocatebyrelayinginformation andproducinghonestandaccurateestimatesforyou.

EqualityBeFairandEvenHanded
OneofthemaximsIhavelivedwithasamanageris"individualscansucceedbutonlytheteamcanfail".Essentiallythismeansthatin publicyoushoulddishoutcreditwhereveritisduebutnevercriticism.Beingcriticizedinpublic,infrontofyourpeers,isnotamotivating forceforanyone. Ifthereisaprojectissuethatneedstobeaddressedyoucannormallybroachitasasubjectforthewholeteamtoaddress.Bysharing theburdenforissues,mostteamspulltogethertosolvetheproblem.Bylandingitontheshouldersofoneormoreindividualsyouoften splittheteamandcauseconflict.Opendiscussionoftheproblemwillencouragetheteamtotakeownershipfortheproblemandsolveit themselves.

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LoyaltyProtectYourTeam
Youwillhaveasplitresponsibilityontheonehandyouhaveadutytoyourclienttoseetheprojectsucceedsontheotheryouhavea responsibilitytorepresentyourteamandtosupporteachother.Usuallythesetwoaimsshouldbeneatlyalignedbutnotalways! Inasituationwhereyouhavetochoosebetweenthetwoyouneedtotakethedifficultmoralstance.Don'tairyourdirtylaundrywiththe client.Discussthesituationwithyourteammatesandcomeupwithasolution,presentthistotheclientinstead.

LearntoDelegate
Thejokeinarmedforcesoftenrunsthattheonlyorderanofficereverneedissueis"CarryonSergeantMajor!"Officersareexpectedto leadandleavetheactualgettingofthingsdonetothosemoresuitedtothetask,thetroops.Ifyouaredividingupworkmakesureyou delegateproperly. Properdelegationentailslayingoutthetasksosomeoneunderstandits,sothatithasreasonableandachievablegoalsandsothatyou givethemallthesupporttheyrequiretogetthejobdone. Italsoentailsgivingthemenoughroomtogetthetaskdoneontheirown.Ifyouleavetheexecutionoftaskstothemtheywill,inreturn, leaveyoualonetogetonwithyourjob.Ifyouspendyoutimelookingovertheirshouldersitwillonlyannoythemandwasteyourvaluable time. Note:MuchoftheabovewastakenfromNickJenkins'APrimerforProjectManagement.Thisprimerwasreleasedunderthecreative commonslicenseandassuchtheabovecontentisalsosubjecttothelicensingtermsofthecreativecommonslicense. Duringthelifeofaproject,itistheprojectmanager'sresponsibilitytotrackandcontroltheprogress.

Tracking
Intheareaoftracking,theprojectmanagershouldmakesurethattheprocessisn'ttooinvolvedsoastoslowdownprogress.Atthe sametime,itshouldbeeffectiveenoughtoidentifyissuesearly.It'salsoimportanttotrackonlythingsthatareactuallyimportanttothe successoftheproject.Alotofpeoplefallintothetrapoftrackingnicetoknowthingsratherthanneedtoknowthings.Onecommonly usedtrackingitemistheideaofamilestone.Amilestonemarksthecompletionofsomesetoftasksthataresignificantinsomeway. Often,milestonesmarkgoodpointsinwhichtoreviewprogresswithuppermanagement. Bewaryofthetendencytomarktasksasxx%complete.Suchinformationmayseemuseful,butmoreoftenthannotthepercentagesare wrong.Peoplehaveatendencytobeoptimisticabouttheirprogresswhichresultsinthe%completereportedbeingmuchhigherthanit reallyis.Soadevelopersay,willspendasmuchtimegettingfrom90%to100%asitdidtogetfrom0%to90%.

Control
Changeisinevitablewithprojects.Someadvocatethatchangerequestsshouldnotbeacceptedonceaprojecthasstarted,butthat'snot aparticularlyusefulwaytooperate.Instead,itisbettertolistentochangerequestsandidentifytheimpactontheproject.Ifachange requestisgoingtoaddcoststotheproject,itshouldbenoted.Ifachangeisgoingtoforcethescheduletoexpand,itshouldbenoted. Theseitemsshouldthenbereportedtotheprojectstakeholderswiththegoalofgettingapprovaltoproceedwiththechangerequest despitetheimpacts.Inthisway,theprojectmanagercontrolsthechangewithoutderailingtheproject.

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Projectmanagerssometimesfeelthattheyshouldbetrustedtogetthejobdoneandthereforestatusreportsarejustawasteoftime. Thatlineofthoughtmissesthepointofstatusreportswhichissimplytokeeppeopleintheloopsothattheydon'tneedtomake assumptionsaboutprogress.Thereportsalsokeeptheprojectupfrontandcenterinthemindsofthosethatareimpactedbyit. Statusreportscantakemanyforms.Themosteffectiveonesseemtobeshortandtothepoint.Theylistneworimportantitemsfirst. Issues,forinstance,couldbeplacedatthetoptoensurethatthemostnumberofpeopleseethem.Closeditemscouldbeputattheend ofthereportsincenofurtheractionisneeded. Sometimestherequestsforstatusreportsseemunreasonable.Perhapsthey'rerequestedmorefrequentlythanyouthinkisnecessary orthatdifferentpeoplegetdifferentreports.Insuchcases,itisbesttodelicatelyquestiontheunderlyingneedoftherequesttofindoutif thereisperhapsabettercommunicationvehicle.Whatyoudon'twanttoendupdoingisspendingallofyourtimecreatingand distributingstatusreports. Projectsofsignificantsizearerarelyproblemfree.Theprojectclosurestepisthetimetoreflectonthebumpsalongthewaysothatthey canbeavoidedinfutureprojects.Thetrickhereisrememberingwhatwentwrongandcorrectlyidentifyingwhyitwentwrongwithout lettingtheexercisedegenerateintoafingerpointingsession. Somewaystokeepthemeeting(s)productiveinclude: Keepingthenumberofpeopleinthemeetingsmall.Haveameetingfordifferentgroupssothattheatmosphereremainsfriendly andsothateveryonehasachancetocontribute. Waitforlittletimetopassafterthedeliverableshavebeencompleted.Givepeopleachancetowinddown. Gointothemeetingwithsomethoughtsofyourowntogetthediscussionstarted.Besuretopointoutyourownmissteps. Whendocumentingthecommentsfromtheprojectteam,reassurepeoplethattheircommentswillbeanonymous. Includeallstakeholderstogetthefullrangeofperspectives. Andoncetheprojecthasbeenclosed,consideracelebrationtoacknowledgeeveryone'sefforts. Thefollowingare10axiomsthatIthinkyoushouldkeepinmindasyourpursueyourprojectmanagementgoals.Theseweretakenfrom NickJenkins'AProjectManagementPrimer.Nick'sprimerwasreleasedunderthecreativecommonslicensewhichmeansthatthis pageisalsosubjecttothelicensingconditionsofthecreativecommonslicense.

Knowyourgoal
Itsoundsobviousbutifyoudon'thaveanendpointinmind,you'llnevergetthere.Youmustbeabletoclearlystatethegoalofyour projectsothatanyonecanunderstandit.Ifyoucan'tadequatelydescribeyourgoalinasinglesentencethenyourchancesofachievingit areprettyslim.

KnowYourTeam
Yourteamisthemostimportantresourceyouhaveavailableandtheirenthusiasticcontributionwillmakeorbreakyourproject.Look afterthemandmakesuretheteamoperatesasaunitandnotasacollectionofindividuals.Communicationsarevital!Investtimein promotingtrustandensuringthateveryoneknowswhattheyhavetocontributetothebiggerpicture.Dishoutrewardaswellascriticism, providesuperiorworkingconditionsandleadbyexample.

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KnowYourStakeholders
Spendtimewithyourstakeholders.Stakeholderswilleithercontributeexpertknowledgetotheprojectorwilloffertheirpoliticalor commercialendorsementwhichwillbeessentialtosuccess.Shakehandsandkissbabiesasnecessaryandgreasethewheelsofthe bureaucraticmachinesothatyourprojecthasthesmoothestridepossible.

SpendTimeonPlanningandDesign
Abigmistaketraditionallycommittedonprojectsistoleapbeforeyou'reareready.Whenyou'reunderpressuretodeliver,thetemptation isto'gettheballrolling'.Theballhowever,isbigandheavyandit'svery,verydifficulttochangeitsdirectiononceitgetsmoving.Youneed tospendtimedecidingexactlyhowyou'regoingtosolveyourprobleminthemostefficientandelegantway.

PromiseLowandDeliverHigh
Tryanddeliverhappysurprisesandnotunpleasantones.Bypromisinglow(understatingyourgoals)anddeliveringhigh(delivering morethanyourpromised)you: Buildconfidenceinyourself,theprojectandtheteam Buyyourselfcontingencyintheeventthatthingsgowrong Generateapositiveandreceptiveatmosphere Considerthis:ifyoufinishearlyeveryonewillbehappy;ifsomethinggoeswrongyoumightstillfinishontimeandeveryonewillstillbe happy;ifthingsgoesreallybadlyyoumightstillnotdeliverwhatyouanticipatedbutitwillstillbebetterthanifyouoverpromised!

Iterate!Increment!Evolve!
Mostproblemsworthsolvingaretoobigtoswallowinonelump.Anyseriousprojectwillrequiresomekindofdecompositionofthe probleminordertosolveit.Thisworksbutonlywithcloseattentiontohoweachpieceisanalyzedandresolvedandhowthewholefits together.Withoutasystematicapproachyouendupwithahundreddifferentsolutionsinsteadofonebigone.

StayonTrack
Presumablyyouhaveanendgoalinmind.Maybeit'syourjob,maybeyourbusinessdependsuponitormaybeyou'regoingto revolutionizetheworldwiththenextGoogle,thenextWorldWideWeborthenextSiebel/SAP/Oracle. Ifthisisthecaseyouneedtoworkmethodicallytowardsagoalandprovideleadership(makedecisions).Thisapplieswhetheryou'rea seniorprojectmanagerrunningateamof20oryou'realonewebdeveloper.Youneedtolearntousetoolslikeschedulesandbudgets tokeepontrack.

ManageChange
Weliveinachangingworld.Asyourprojectprogressesthetemptationtodeviatefromtheplanwillbecomeirresistible.Stakeholderswill comeupwithnewand'interesting'ideas,yourteamwillboltdownallkindsofratholesandyouroriginalgoalwillhaveallthe permanenceofasnowflakeinquicksand.Scopecreepordriftisamajorsourceofprojectfailureandyouneedtomanageorcontrol

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changesifyouwanttosucceed. Thisdoesn'timplythatthereshouldbesingle,immutableplanwhichiswrittendownandallotherideasmustbestifled.Youneedto buildaflexibleapproachthatallowsyoutoaccommodatechangesastheyarise.It'sahappymediumyou'restrivingforifyouaretoo flexibleyourprojectwillmeanderlikeahorsewithoutariderandifyouaretoorigidyourprojectwillshatterlikeapaneofglassthefirst timeastakeholdertossesyouanewrequirement. Thebestwaytohandlethisistohaveaplan,toupdateitregularlyandmakesureeveryoneisfollowingitandpointinginthesame direction.

TestEarly,TestOften
Projectusuallyinvolvecreativedisciplinesloadedwithassumptionsandmistakes.Theonlywaytoeliminateerrorsisthroughtesting. Sureyoucandoalotofvaluableworktopreventthesemistakesbeingintroduced,buttoerrishumanandsomeofthoseerrorswill makeitintoyourfinishedproductcode.Testingistheonlywaytofindandeliminateerrors.

KeepanOpenMind!
Beflexible!Theessentialoutcomeisdeliveryofthefinishedprojecttoacustomerwhoissatisfiedwiththeresult.Anymeansnecessary canbeusedtoachievethisandeveryrulelistedabovecanbebrokenintherightcircumstances,fortherightreasons. Don'tgetlockedintoanideologyifthecircumstancesdictateotherwise. Don'tgetblindedbymethodology. Focusondeliveringtheprojectanduseallthetoolsandpeopleavailabletoyou.Keepaneyeonthescheduleandadjustyour expectationsandyourplantosuittheconditions.Deliverthefinishedproduct,promoteitsuse,celebrateyoursuccessandthenmoveon tothenextproject.

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