Manual External Projects IBMS

Courses IBMPM308R2 / IBMPM408R2 / IBMPM508R2 Short Manual - Block 2, 3 & 4 External Projects Nov. 2009 July 2010 2nd year, semester 3 (block 2) & 4

Study Programme: International Business and Management Studies (IBMS)

Coaches: Heinz Steinmann (Project Coordinator) Kees Leunis, Astrid Nielsen, Laurens Bulters, Patricia Vijvermans, Oliver Molthan, Heleen Westerman

Table of Contents
Table of Contents......................................................................................................................................................2 1. Introduction...........................................................................................................................................................3 2. Brief outline of an External Project.......................................................................................................................3 2.1 Structured approach to Project Management - PRINCE2 ..........................................................................5 3. GLOBAL Week Schedule IBMS - External Project ............................................................................................7 APPENDIX SECTION...........................................................................................................................................13 Appendix 1 Deliverables of the Project..............................................................................................................13 Appendix 2 PRINCE2 Project Organization......................................................................................................14 Appendix 3 Monitoring and Assessment............................................................................................................16 I. Personal activity log.....................................................................................................................................16 II. Peer assessment..........................................................................................................................................16 Appendix 4 Configuration Management folders................................................................................................19 Appendix 5 General Consultancy research model:............................................................................................20 Business Analysis Tools list...........................................................................................................................21 Appendix 6 PRINCE 2 Processes and Components..........................................................................................22 Appendix 7 PRINCE2 Processes and Management Products for a Small Consultancy Project......................24 Appendix 8 IBMS Competencies and Learning Objectives.............................................................................26 Appendix 10 PRINCE2 Templates Project Brief (PB) ...................................................................................27 Appendix 11 PRINCE2 Templates - PID...........................................................................................................28 Appendix 12 PRINCE2 Templates - Format Lessons Learned Report..............................................................31 ............................................................................................................................................................................32 Appendix 13 How to organise feedback?...........................................................................................................32

1. Introduction
During block 2 of semester 3 and the entire semester 4, students from IBMS 21-29 will do a project where they either start up a company, a Junior Enterprise, (an internal project) or do an EXTERNAL PROJECT (EP). The lecturers will divide the classes into groups for Junior Enterprises (approx. 2/3 of the students) and external projects (1/3), based on study results criteria. An EP is a project where students are involved in the solution of a business problem offered to us by or in close cooperation with an external party: a company or an organization from outside the Hogeschool Rotterdam. This business problem may be in the field of Marketing, Finance, Logistics, M&O, HRM or a combination. The business problem will be presented in the form of a project mandate to 4 to 6 students at the beginning of block 2 and has to be solved during block 3 and 4. In block 2 the ground work will be laid in the form of a research proposal for the project research activities and a Project Initiation Document (PID) to manage the project activities. In the following text we will give an outline for the project assignments and the objectives, procedures and requirements for successfully carrying out an External Project. To help you on your way and to provide some guidance we have written a project manual, also to provide you with ideas, guidelines, requirements, (template) report formats and other materials. The project reporting formats will be based on the PRINCE2 Project Management method and are included in the Appendix. Also contained in this manual is a detailed week-by-week schedule for the Start Up and Initiation period of the project and a more general overview for the operational and concluding stages of the project in blocks 3 and 4.

2. Brief outline of an External Project

During block 1 we have contacted a number of companies and organizations and in the process we acquired a number of project mandates to start a project on their behalf. These mandates represent an actual business issue or problem for these companies. (presented to you through the powerpoint presentation on the Kick off day). In most cases these business problems relate to sustainability issues, strategic marketing or the opening of new market segments and distribution channels. Moreover, in many cases the business problems offered to us are strongly internationally oriented with a growing number of them dealing with the question: how to compete as a business with and in China or other emerging markets. Overall this year our projects will deal with different continents (Europe, Asia and Africa). In most cases the acquired project mandates will require and involve a comprehensive desk and field research in order for the project groups to be able to produce a thorough report with genuine and valuable conclusions, recommendations or other tangible results for our client companies. In this sense most of the projects are research and consultancy projects by nature. In some cases, besides research and analytical work, also organizational skills may be required. Most likely in the beginning the project groups will have to undertake a careful effort to elaborate and develop their project mandate into (a) real and workable problem definition(s) on the basis of which a research/development project may be defined and planned. This process of elaborating the project mandate into realistic and workable objectives is called a preliminary study and will have to be done in close coordination and communication with
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your Principal (company). You will have to make one or more appointments with your company in the first couple of weeks of your project to clarify the nature and scope of your problem definition as to leave no room for misunderstanding as well as to develop your understanding of the companies business and its specific needs. This process must be conducted in a very careful manner because we dont want to waist the companies time nor your own. Great emphasis must be placed on good preparation (reading relevant literature, prior made reports, Internet, deciding who your informants are, preparation of and conducting and elaborating interviews with key-informants) in order to get a thorough understanding of the problem(s) you will be dealing with. If relevant you will use specific tools and models (see Appendix 1) which will help you in the analysis of the companies internal and external environments, needed to develop a better understanding of the companies true business requirements. This first stage of your activities should be conducted within the first 3 to 4 weeks of the project and should be carefully organized and scheduled by the freshly assigned Project manager of your group. This means, among other things, that appointments will have to be made with one or more company officials and/or staff within 2 weeks after the Kick off., Before Christmas the project objectives (objectives of research/main deliverables or products) should be clarified and a clear general estimate must have been made concerning desired products/results, constraints, limitations, expectations, resources, risks and the overall Business case of the project. These statements will be elaborated in detail in the Project Brief. To avoid one possible and still quite common misunderstanding: the outcome of this project is not per definition a (research) report. The results or product of the project may be a research report (market study, competitive analysis etc.), but it may also be a seminar, conference, a list of prospects or even (potential) customers for a company, or it may be a combination of all of the elements mentioned. So the products you aim at may be much more concrete and practice oriented than the usual stack of paper which seems to be associated normally with a student project. To put it short: What exactly(and what not) does this project want to achieve for the customer and which benefits can he expect from the results of the project against which efforts, resources and cost? After the Project brief has been agreed upon by the Project Board (in particular the Executive the companies representative) the project starts in its Initiation phase. A general project plan will be designed to guide the real work of acquiring and analysing information and creating and presenting the results or products. Technically spoken the project plan be a plan in which time and resources (people, information, time, research capability) will have to be allocated and scheduled for the purpose of creating the products (which includes research results and reports, if appropriate) as described in the Project Brief. After the creation and approval of the Project Brief this document will be extended with a more elaborated (product) description of the desired end products (eg. the description of the consultancy report, the venue you will build on a trade fair, the specification of a prospect list, the organizational requirements for a conference and of any other desired and agreed project results and products) Also a product breakdown structure (PBS) and a product flow diagram (PFD) are required as they are the basis for the scheduling of the project (activity list and Gantt chart) It remains to be seen if the project requires several technical (production) stages. This will probably be the case if during the project comprehensive partial products will (have to) be delivered An example is a research of which the results (a report) will be presented to an
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interested audience in a symposium, whereby report and symposium are two different products. Another example maybe a research with different and distinct research objectives. The overall project plan will be summarized and detailed in an activity list and a Gantt chart which will show the time-line and critical path of the project up and until its conclusion1. Special attention will have to be paid to the quality of the products/results Not only should they be delivered in time and within the agreed upon tolerances (time, manpower, cost), but also the quality of the products should be such that they can be accepted by our client company. Already in the project brief the acceptance criteria have been formulated. During the Initiation phase a project quality plan has to be produced which will show how the quality of the deliverables can be checked and reviewed in an organized manner. Quality checks and reviews will be an important task of the quality assurance roles in the project. For each (partial) product group members will be assigned who will serve as quality reviewers . The result (management product) of the Initiation Phase will be the project initiation document (PID), the most important management document of the project. The PID will be presented to the project board in Week 8 of Block 2 (see week schedule) who will give a GO/NO GO! to the first stage of the actual research/production activities. In case of a NO GO the PID will have to be revised in order to continue with the project. After the GO! the project will enter the production stage in which the actual products/results will be produced. Real research work and production is underway now in a coordinated and planned manner. The PM monitors closely how the work progresses, if it stays within the framework of the project plan and whether the desired results and quality are achieved. Partial outcomes and results will be reviewed through project quality reviews and checks. If things threaten to go wrong the PM may invoke an exception procedure, aimed at involving the project board. At the end of the project and within the time tolerances set in the PID the project products must be delivered and handed over to the coach and the end of project report needs to be written.

2.1

Structured approach to Project Management - PRINCE2

As has been discussed already we will use the Prince2 method to manage our projects which includes the Prince2 project management language, report structure and such typical features like product/result orientation, management by exception, escalation of issues, project board, quality control etc. Some of the main PRINCE2 features that will applied: The project will unfold in a controlled manner applying all essential Prince2 processes and project control mechanisms to save guard that the production of the required end product(s) will take place within the required tolerances for quality, time and costs as set out in the PID and approved by the project board. The project will follow the PRINCE2 guidelines for project organization: we will have a project board, a (student) project manager and different roles for project assurance and support. The roles will be performed by project group members (a.o. in the quality checks and -reviews). The project board will be chaired by the Executive who, under normal circumstances, is a representative of the external company. The Executive is owner of the Business case. The role of senior supplier is performed by the IBMS coach (who supplies the project workforce). The role of senior user may be performed by a representative of the client
1

These scheduling tools are described in the official PRINCE2 manual and examples are available in the Materials folder in your project environment in N@tschool. 5

company, in some cases the same person as the Executive, in other cases he may be somebody from the client organization of the Executive, for instance if the Executive himself is a consultant for the client company (eg.HS Trading, Twistlock) The exact fulfilment of these roles will have to be established during the Start up of the project. The appointment of persons to the project board roles will be done by the IBMS coachteam in agreement with the companies for whom we will undertake the projects. The roles of project manager and specific project assurance and support roles (eg. project secretary) will be assigned during the first meeting(s) of the project group together with the senior supplier (IBMS coach). The IBMS coach will act in a double role of senior supplier and he will perform in a project assurance role especially to keep an eye on the interests of the external company.

If you want to know more about the PRINCE2 organizational principles, study Appendix 3 and Colin Bentley2 Besides PRINCE2 we will also apply other methods, techniques and tools like Business Analysis tools, Planning techniques (Gantt chart), Communication and Change/conflict management techniques (Brainstorm and Feedback) and IT applications like Excel, Word and Powerpoint.

About Project and Project Board roles, see PRINCE2 revealed, Colin Bentley, p 110-126

3. GLOBAL Week Schedule IBMS - External Project

(Calendar) Week Block 6 Dates Project group meetings / Activities Project Phase

Tasks of each week are described in general terms. Per week the group (or specific teams) meet at least twice. One weekly meeting is always scheduled in consultation with the group coach. All activities/tasks of the project group are scheduled and organized by or in agreement with the (student) project manager. Project team roles: PM project manager - For the PM-role the emphasis is on management, organization, planning (scheduling) and on the in- and external communication of the project (also PRINCE2 management reports). The PM therefore performs a lesser operational role in the project (eg. Research and report writing, organizational work and other operational tasks . Project support (secretary, Configuration librarian, assistant to PM) 1 team member Project assurance (in particular Quality Assurance) 2 team members Work team members They do the dirty work. They do the research and produce the (business) reports. Basically all members of the project group are potential Work team members, although this applies for the PM in a lesser degree. Other roles: Executive representative of the client company. He/she owns the project. The Executive decides over continuation or discontinuation of the project. In most cases the Executive is also the Senior User of the project results. Senior Supplier (IBMS-coach). Not a formal group member, but attends PT-meetings at least once a week and can be asked for consultation and sometimes approval. He should always be informed about important decisions and meetings. In case of internal problems or conflict the coach should be consultant and he may give a binding advice.
Week 1 (47) 16-20 Nov.

Kick Off External Projects

- Presentation of acquired Project mandates to students of 2nd Year - Establishment of Project board for all projects (SU1 and SU2) - Formation of project groups (student registration for projects and selection)
- Appointment is made for first meeting with Senior supplier (IBMS-coach) General task: All group members study the Manual External Projects and think about the Project mandate to which they are assigned.

(Calendar) Week
Week 2 (48)

Dates
23.-27 Nov.

Project group meetings / Activities

GET ORGANIZED Start Up (continued) - First meeting of project groups. - The team appoints an interim group secretary who takes the minutes and fills in the attendance lists - Introduction of project and the assigning company by Senior Supplier (Project coach) - Appointment of Project Manager and Project Assurance and Project Support roles (SU3) - Project support will perform the roles of Secretary and Configuration Librarian. As off next meeting he/she will take the notes of all relevant meetings.

Project Phase

Start up and Project Mandate

- The first task of Project support is to make a membership booklet, a booklet

with the names, pictures, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and (briefly) motivation and personal goals regarding the project of all the members. This booklet is stored in N@tschool and send around to all stakeholders of the project - Establishment of meeting schedules (minimum of twice a week) - PM designs a code of conduct which will be discussed by all members and signed in week 3). - First brainstorm/discussion of Project mandate under chairmanship of Project manager. What needs to be clarified about the mandate/ business problem? - Group members will use this week to collect more information about the company (internet) and to acquire a more detailed understanding about the topic of the business problem as well as formulate questions and problems with regard to the business problem.

PM proposes a delegation (PM + other members) who will discuss with Project Board/client company representatives to clarify the Project mandate/problem definition. Who will do the interview/questioning, who will take extended minutes, take care of voice recording and make the interview/meeting transcripts???

- PM writes and sends around his first Highlight report in which he informs the
Project board about the state of affairs and the relevant decisions made.

- PM makes an appointment for a meeting between the Company

representative(s) and a project team delegation to explore the companies business problem

(Calendar) Week
Week 3 (49) // Week 4 (50)

Dates
30 Nov4 Dec..

Project group meetings / Activities

Start Up (continued) (SU4) - All members discuss the code of conduct proposed by the PM. After the meeting it is rewritten and sent to the members by mail. Next meeting it will be signed by all members as their mutually agreed common project contract - Project secretary explain purpose and procedures with regard to the Personal Activity log (PAL). - Establish internal communication procedures (email/N@tschool) - Prepare a Communication plan which includes Internal communication procedures (email/N@tschool) and External communication with all stakeholders (eg Highlight report) - PM3 creates Daily/Issue Log* and Risk Log** both are running documents in N@tschool. You may use and simplify templates of these documents which can be found in the Materials folder in your project environment in N@tschool. PREPARATION OF PROJECT BRIEF

Project Phase

7 11 Dec

- (Week 3) Meeting/interview(s) with client-company to clarify project mandate

issues (first and for all aimed at clarifying the problem definition). Purpose is twofold: - make arrangements about cooperation with and availability of company resources (persons, information sources, workspace arrangements etc. for the project(group). - gather all information and clarify what is needed for the Project Brief4 (which includes the objectives of and requirements for the research): e.g. - Problem definition and research questions (What and How?) - Project definition, objectives, scope, detailed description of deliverables and project products. *** - Customer Quality Expectations and Acceptance criteria. - Outline Business case The note taking during interviews and meeting should be carefully planned and executed The notes/minutes should be elaborated, stored (in N@tschool) and discussed in the group. - Does the company want the Project team to sign a Confidentiality agreement in order for more information to be disclosed? - If necessary other meetings with the company should be scheduled if one or two are not enough.

Start up, Project Mandate and Project Brief

- After enough information has been acquired: - formulate Problem definition and define what the project aims to achieve:
determine the research and project objectives, scope, main deliverables to the client company, exclusions and constraints. Furthermore: - describe the Customer quality expectations and Acceptance criteria. Formulate the criteria which make the results/products of this project acceptable and usable or in other words worth while in the eyes of the assigning company. the Risks (regarding time, access to info, costs etc.) have to be determined and described in the Risklog - create the Outline Business Case (the Why? Benefits (and costs) for the company. In particular describe the benefits of the project results relative to the costs and investment in time and manpower which the assigning company/organization has to make).

PM (assisted by secretary or other member(s)) compiles the Project Brief (PB) and sends it to all members and the project coach. * Daily log and Issue log are combined ** Both the Daily Log and the Risk log are running documents. They are stored in N@tschool, are accessible by all group members and will run and grow throughout the project. PM will make a proposal as to the use of both logs *** as your project has most likely a strong research component determine the nature, the extend and the possible sources of (internal and external) information which you will need. This is also a possible risk factor (if you cannot obtain the information).
3

PM may often be read as PM and/or assistant/project support. or even delegated team members. Main responsible though will always be the PM. 4 see PRINCE2 revealed, Colin Bentley, p 129 o.w.

(Calendar) Week
Week 5 (51)

Dates
1418 Dec

Project group meetings / Activities

APPROVAL OF PROJECT BRIEF

Project Phase

Project Brief

- The Project Brief will be critically reviewed* by Project assurance

- A meeting is held by the entire project team in attendance of the Senior Supplier (Coach) in which the PB is discussed. Project assurance will organize/lead this discussion. If necessary PM corrects/rewrites the PB. - The PB will then be send to the Project board members. - PM plans the Initiation stage and creates a brief Initiation stage plan. (SU6) - Both documents are sent to the Project Board as part of the Request for Initiation and also stored in N@tschool - PM makes an appointment for a meeting with the Project Board (if possible represented by the senior user/IBMS-coach) to discuss and approve the Project Brief. If necessary the senior user (IBMS coach) will contact the Executive (company) to check whether the project brief reflects the wishes and expectations of the assigning company or organization. - PM writes the second (or Christmas) Highlight report and sends it to the project members and to all stake holders of the project including the IBMS coach. *Minimal criteria: The Project Brief should read as one integrated entity in content, style and form. Prevent any contradictions and avoid duplicate text. The project brief should show your deep involvement and interest in the problem at hand. 19 Dec.-3 Jan. 2010 -

Christmas Holiday

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(Calendar) Week
Week 6 (2) // Week 7 (3)

Dates
4 8 Jan.. 11 15 Jan..

Project group meetings / Activities

EXTENDING THE PROJECT BRIEF TO THE PID - The PM reports back to the project group. Corrective work on PB starts if necessary. In other cases the work on the PID starts. See below. Production of Project Initiation Document (PID). 5 The foundation of the PID is the Project Brief . In the Initiation stage two important plans are added: the - Project Quality Plan. This plan describes the procedures that will be followed to assure the quality standards so that the Customer Quality expectations and Acceptance criteria are met. Who will be responsible for the Quality reviews and checks? The PQP is elaborated by the Project Assurance under guidance of the PM - Project Plan. This is the general plan for the execution of the main (groups of) activities that will be performed in order to deliver the end result/products of the project. The basic information to construct the Project plan are the product descriptions (of the most important deliverables) and the analysis of the consecutive steps through which they are produced (techniques to be used are: the Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) and the Product Flow Diagram (PFD) who provide an insight in these production steps). The Project plan may show that the Project will go through one or more technical stages. The Project plan will also show the resources needed to produce the end results/products step by step and the timeframe within which this takes place. - Based on the PFD and a careful analysis of available resources (time/people/budget) an activity list and a GANT chart are produced for the first production stage of the project. For the remaining (later) stages a general schedule (GANNT chart) should be produced to provide a clear idea which (partial/end) products will be produced and delivered in which stage of the project. - The Project plan will be designed by the PM in cooperation with other members of the project group. Everyone of the group should be involved. - Continue working on and assembling the PID (as an integrated, unified and professional looking document). - All aspects of the PID will be critically reviewed by those members who are involved in project assurance and quality reviews. Points of attention are: content, professional lay out, professional English language) - Finally the PID is sent to all members of the project Board for the GO/NO GO decision. The PID will be handed over to the Executive and the senior supplier (coach) in hard copy format. The PID will also be uploaded to N@tschool.

Project Phase

Production of PID (Project Initiation Document)

- The secretary will organize the peer assessment according to the

guidlines set out in Annex XX. Week 8 (4) 18 22 Jan..

- Presentation of the PID to the Project Board. - Go, No-go decision. - Repair week

Week 9 (5)

25 - 29 Jan.

Exams Block 2 Block 3 / Under construction

The PID (and for that all other example documents) is presented in the Appendices of this document and can also be studied in an animated video which is available on the Internet http://www.iplazza.eu/ 11

(Calendar) Week
Week 1 (7) and 2 (8)

Dates

Project group meetings / Activities

Project Phase

Operational/Technical Stages

Week 3 (10) till 10 (17)

Block 4 / Under construction

Week 1 (19) Week 2 (20) till 7 (25) Week 8 (26) till 10 (28)

PROJECT CONCLUSION

Start Summer Holiday

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APPENDIX SECTION
Appendix 1 Deliverables of the Project

Business Products: Deliverables for the client company: the so called

Project results report. The format and layout of this report may vary depending on the addressed business problem. Key is that it has a logical well-ordered arrangement to a large extend based on the scheme presented at the beginning of this chapter. This report can have different formats: it may be a marketing report or any other kind of research report or it may be the description of the process leading to the end products produced or delivered for the principal company. (Powerpoint) Presentation of the results to the company

Management Products: PRINCE2

Highlight reports -PM Project Brief - PM/+Additional embers from PG Project Initiation Document (see appendix 5) PM/+Additional embers from PG which a.o. includes The Business Case (see appendix 1) The scope, limitations and interfaces of the project Product descriptions, PBS and PFD The Project Plan (incl. an Activity list and Gantt chart) An outline of the desired products to be delivered A description of the project Organization Structure Project tolerances A section with remarks about Quality Assurance of the project, Quality Review for the deliverable(s) and potential Risks to the project and how to prevent them. Work packages -PM A Daily/Issue Log, containing all Issues regarding the progress of the project as well as remarks and observations and requests for changes and quality of the (sub-)products. (running document in N@tschool) PG/PM Risk Log in which all potential risks to the positive outcome of the project (running document in N@tschool) - PM Quality Log in which the results of quality checks and reviews are included (running document in N@tschool) PA (Project assurance) A complete Archive of all (versions of) business- and management products in N@tschool (in PRINCE2 called: Configuration Management (instructions by your coach) Project secretary Lessons Learned Log ((running document in N@tschool)) PM/PG and Lessons Learned Report - PM N@tschool will have a standardised folder structure. Templates will be included for the forms that need to be used for monitoring and tracking activities.

Organizational Products

Project Membership booklet (incl. contact info) Agenda/minutes -Project support Attendance list/ matrix -Project support Personal Activity log PS/PG

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Appendix 2

PRINCE2 Project Organization

The organisation of your project will be based on the PRINCE2 principles for organising projects. The basic organisation structure in Prince2 projects is:
Project Board Company and coach RBS (Senior User Executive Senior Supplier)

Project Manager

Team Manager(s) +Team Members

In this structure the Project Board performs the overall control of the project and has handed over the control over the daily work to a Project manager. The Project manager plans /manages/controls the work done by his Team managers/members who produce the products the projects aims at delivering. The Executive in the project Board represents the interests of the company/organisation in the project. Basically he is responsible for the resources allocated to the project and for its end result. As such he is owner of the Business case (description of what the project aims to achieve for the company/organisation) and he should take care that project stays within the boundaries of the Business Case (in terms of cost/benefits). In our case the Executive role will be performed by the functionary who represents the company/organisation in our project. Hence he will have the main voice in the GO/NO GO at the end of block 2 and in the final assessment of the Consultancy Report at the end of the project. The Senior user represents the future users of the product(s) a project aims to deliver (the company management). In our case this will therefore also be the representative of the company. The Senior supplier represents the interests of the suppliers of the envisioned product(s). In an in-house project this may be a line-manager whose staff is heavily involved in the project or a purchase manager who purchases products from other companies necessary to reach the goals of the project or he may even be an outside representative of a supplying company. In our case the coach responsible for the contact with the assigning company will perform this role. From our point of view we (the IBMS-coaches) are the suppliers of a Project team who produces (supplies) the desired result. The role of Project manager will be performed by one member of the Project team. This is a key role, he/she is primarily responsible for the project. However, this role may not be fulfilled by the same student throughout the project.. The tasks of the Project manager are manifold, but aim mainly at organising, planning, controlling and administering the work and making sure that the project delivers by producing
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good quality products within the standards (for time, costs and quality) set out in the Project Initiation Document (PID). The PM will also try to breakdown the overall work of the project into clearly defined (technical) Stages. Of course, most of the work of the PM will be discussed in the project teams because we want everyone to be involved in the thinking and decision making process, although the PM will be primary responsible for the overall project result. If a problem (an Issue) arises which influences the outcome of the project (e.g. (partial) results which are not up to the expected Quality standards or which are over due, it is the responsibility of the PM to discuss this in his team and if necessary- report this to the Project board (in first instance the Senior Supplier your coach). About every 2 weeks the PM writes and sends a so called Highlight report (1 A4 max) to the Project board in which the progress of the project and any smaller problems at hand are discussed briefly. Smaller issues should be solved by the PM and the Project team themselves. In case a serious Issue arises, which threatens the progress, outcome (in terms of quality and timeliness of the products to be created) or the tolerances (mainly deviations from time and costs) set for the project r for the current Stage the project is in, the PM writes an Exception report to the Project board and asks for advice. This procedure is called Management by Exception. The Project board steps in only when a serious problem arises. In these ways the PM plays a major role in controlling the day to day progress of the project. All Issues big and small and of whatever nature (quality, timekeeping, tolerance, remarks, questions etc.) encountered by the Project team members will be sent to the PM and recorded by him/her in the Daily/Issue Logfile. The PM makes sure that (as much as possible) the PRINCE2 method and standards are being followed in the project. All together the role of PM is therefore truly a challenge. The coach will of course assist the PM (and his/her) assistant in performing this role. The PM assistant will play a specific role in what is called Project Support and Configuration Management. The Project assurance role will be performed by at least 2 members of the project team in different configurations. In most cases Project assurance will play a role in checking and reviewing the Quality of partial products . A Team manager (TM) is appointed for every Work package (set of tasks) that will involve a team (a sub-unit of more than 1 member). The Team manager reports to the PM about the progress or of any issues (problems/suggestions) concerning the execution of the Work package or task at hand. The Team members perform the tasks involved in the Work packages. Of course during the project almost all products and the activities necessary to produce them will be discussed by the entire Project team so everyone will be able to have a say in all aspects of the project.

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Appendix 3

Monitoring and Assessment

I. Personal activity log

During the project all project members are required to fill in the Personal activity log (PAL) every week. The PAL serves as evidence for your contributions to the project, so you should feel it in regularly (weekly) and as complete as possible. Not (or insufficiently filling in your PAL willlead to subtraction on your mark. The secretary will check regularly whether all members fullfil this requirement. The template for the PAL is available in the Materials folder in your groups project environment. In the third week, the project secretary explains the PAL to the members and sets out the procedure with regard to it.

II.

Peer assessment

Part of the assessment of the course Applied Project Management (IBMPM308/408/508R2 Project management) is the so called Peer assessment, the mutual assessment of student members of the project/work groups. This assessment is meant to reward participants of projects for their contribution and to prevent free riding. The procedure we have chosen is to introduce positive and negative bonuses on top of a collective mark which the project group earns for their project results. Each member of a project group receives a mark for the group plus or minus a bonus reflecting his individual contribution. This bonus has been determined by the other group members, his or her peers therefore. The procedure which will be followed is as follows: All members reward all other members on a set of performance measurements. From the marks thus obtained a personal average is calculated. This is done by all other members of the project group as well. From the averages of the group members for this member a total personal average for this group member is calculated. This will be done for all group members. After this all personal averages are averaged to an overall average. This overall average will than be subtracted from the personal average resulting in a positive or negative peer bonus. The maximum addition- or subtraction bonus is +2 or -2. The maximum result that can be achieved including the bonus is a 9. A calculation example: (project/work group of 2 members) Projectmember 1 Performance item 1 Performance item 2 Performance item 3 Performance item 4 Average 7 6 8 8 29/4=7,25 Projectmember 2 Performance item 1 Performance item 2 Performance item 3 Performance item 4 5 6 5 6 22/4=5,50

Overall average = (7,25+5,50)/2=6,375 Peer bonus: project member 1: 7,25-6,375= 0,875 project member 2: 5,50-6,375= -0,875
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The project(group) result = 7 (The project/work group result has been determined by the IBMS coach) Individual end results are: project member 1: 7 + 0,875 = 7,875 (7,9) project member 2: 7 + (-0,875) = 6,125 (6,1) The total difference in mark between team member 1 and 2 is therefore 1,8 points.

(Template) Individual Performance form: Filled in by: Studentnr: 0767824 Individual assessment of: Studentnr: 0765432 Name: Barney Rubble Group: IBMS03-A1 Name: Fred Flintstone Group IBMS03-A1

Item nr 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Individual peer assessment form (each item between 0 and 10) Item description The team member had a good overall attendance at the project group meetings The team member had an active and productive contribution in meetings (suggestions/proposals) The team member has been open and communicable in his contact with fellow team members The team member played an important role in solving/preventing (potential) problems and conflicts in the group The team member has always been in the frontline when work had to be done The team member played an important role in organizing the work group/team The team member improved the work group results with ideas and proposals with regard to the overall research topic, research questions and research strategy The team member played an important role in the communication with the team coach/teacher Average mark: All group members will fill in this form for all other project group members and calculate an average mark for each member. The personnel manager will collect the individual forms and calculate from these an average peer mark per group member. The project/workgroup secretary will be personally responsible and accountable for the correct execution of this procedure and will discuss the implementation of the peer assessment procedure before hand with the teacher/team coach.

Mark

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After the Individual peer assessment forms (see above) have been filled in (including the average mark), the project/workgroup secretary will calculate an overall average mark for each project group member out of the average marks on the Individual peer assessment forms. The personnel manager will compile a Peer Assessment Summary Sheet from the individual average peer marks and sends this to the teacher/team coach by mail. On this sheet the overall average peer mark is mentioned for each project group member. Example: Peer assessment summary sheet for group IBMS22-GroupA: studentnr Name Average peer mark 0767824 Fred Flintstone 6,5 0765432 Barney Rubble 7,2 0765478 Peter Pan 8,0 0767564 Annie Wang 7,0 (dont forget to mention: class+group and Studentnr+name for each group member) Finally, the final peer bonuses and individual end marks will be calculated by the teacher/teamcoach according to the procedure described above.

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Appendix 4

Configuration Management folders

In fig. 1. the standardised structure in N@tschool is shown:

In several work folders you will find templates for the reports or documents that you will have to fill in and store in these work folders. These templates will also be included in this manual. The Lessons Learned report (in which: suggestions for future improvements to (a similar) project?), the Feedback, a Peer Assessment and an Activities log for each member). See appendix 5 and 6.

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Appendix 5

General Consultancy research model:

Client company, Business Problem? Define the Problem definition & Research Objectives

External analysis: Relevant data collection of e.g.: Branche(s) Main competitors DEPEST-factors Opportunities, threats Market (by means of primary and/or secondary market research) etc. Sources are: Internet, Interviews with company officials/employees, Customers, Competitors, Annual reports, (semi-)Government institutions (Chamber of Commerce, Branche organizations, CBS, etc.), Books, Articles

Internal analysis: Relevant data collection of e.g.: History of the company Structure of the company Culture Management Financials Strengths, weaknesses etc. Sources are: Internet, Interviews with company employees, Annual Reports etc.

Results

Analysis & Discussion

Conclusions & Recommendations

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Business Analysis Tools list

Abell matrix Organisation and Environment (Weitz & Anderson) BCG-matrix Checklist export orientation Competitive strategy models (Porter and Ansoff) DESTEP Export strategies (re-active, active exporting, strategic international business) 5-Forces model (Porter) Financial Indices Growth Vector Analysis Industry Analysis Key Result Objectives Marketing Ps Mission and objectives Organisational cultures (Harrison, Hofstede) Organisationstructures (Mintzberg) Organizational Life Cycle Leadership styles and cooperation (Vroemen, Hersey & Blanchard) Strategic process (planning, implementation, control, evaluation) SWOT-analysis Value Chain (Porter) 7S-model (McKinsey) Market research related tools (e.g. statistical analysis) Value Chain analysis (Porter) Fishbone Pareto analysis

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Appendix 6

PRINCE 2 Processes and Components

PRINCE2 is a method for managing projects. It provides a project with a set of processes to work through and explains what information you should be gathering along the way. It helps to organize and control a project and describes the roles to be played in it. Good projects those delivering quality results in time and within budget are first of all dependent on the quality of the people involved, from the responsible functions in the Project Board up to the individual team members doing the work of creating the products the project aims to deliver. Of course, PRINCE2 doesnt do the work, nor can it guarantee that projects will be successful, but it is a considerable help in reducing failure. Put simply, PRINCE2 is a written description of how to manage a project in a logical, organised way following defined steps. It is not a tool or a technique but a structured project management process. You could also describe it as the application of structured common sense in projects because it is based on best experiences and practices from earlier (Prince2) projects all over the world. Owned by the UK Office of Government Commerce, and launched in its current version in 1996. PRINCE2 is not only the UKs de facto standard method for all types of projects, but has also become one of the most important international standard, with organisations around the world using it as their preferred approach to manage projects. What is the PRINCE2 project management method? A project must be started, initiated, planned, directed, managed, controlled and concluded and the specified products must be delivered in time and fulfil their quality expectations. PRINCE2 describes eight main processes (sets of interrelated activities) aimed at creating a unique and carefully designed end result or (series of) product(s) within a planned time framework and with pre-determined resources. Prince2 is used in major and complex projects but it can easily be scaled down and applied to small projects by combining and simplifying processes as well as supporting components (organization structure, reporting requirements, quality controls etc.).

These processes are related to a range of so called components (procedures / documents / guidelines etc.) which introduce into the project such aspects as organizational roles and responsibilities, the business case, quality control, risk management and change control to
22

ensure that the project is conducted in the best possible way (that is: stays within the predefined tolerances for time, costs and quality) and that the end product is fit for purpose. PRINCE2 is a scalable method, meaning that not always all elements from the overall method need to be applied. We will be working on projects that are limited in scope (with regard to time, complexity, risk-level and number of participants), therefore we may limit our application of the PRINCE2 method to its essentials. More importantly, it will help you to structure your project and reduce the risk of failure. We advise you to take a couple of hours to review the Prince2 book of last year in order to refresh your understanding of the Prince2 method. Further on in the Appendix section of this document you will find some of the PRINCE2 document-templates which you may use in this project. For a further description of all the mentioned documents, roles and activities and for a thorough refreshment of the Prince2 method: see PRINCE2 revealed, Colin Bentley, Elsevier BH, 2006. We also recommend a set of Prince2 introduction animations which can be found on the web site http://www.iplazza.eu/

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Appendix 7 PRINCE2 Processes and Management Products for a Small Consultancy Project
In short we will give you an idea of what should be produced and when, in relation to the Prince 2 processes and Prince2 and Business Deliverables. See also the more detailed Week schedule for the entire project.
1. Project Mandate: (from company and coaches): November 2009

i. 2. Outline Business Case: Business Case (=justification) Why project? / Problem definition Outline produced Detailed Research problem after introduction IP How will the result/products be used? meeting with Initiating Benefits? company a Project Added value to the organisation?

SU

Starting Up and

3. Project Brief + Project Initiation Document Background Definition of the Project / Scope & Exclusions Baselined Business Case Why project? How will products be used? Benefits? Added value to the organisation? Product descriptions / PBS / PFD Companys quality expectations Acceptance criteria Already known risks Project Approach SB Project Quality Plan Stage Research & Project Plan + 1st Stage Plan Boundaries Communication Plan Approval PID: Project Files Quality Log Go/ No go Daily/Issue Log End of block 6 Stage Plan(s) Risk Log
Lessons Learned Log Highlight reports

Directing a Project

Planning

PL

DP

CS
Controlling Stages (progress)

MP
Managing Product Delivery

4. Delivery of Final Products Hand over Products

CP
Closing a Project
6. Lessons Learned Report Lessons Learned Log Final Report, Lessons Learned Report & Presentation: End of block 8 24

 Tips for Improvement / Lessons learned Peer evaluation and Peer Assessment reports

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Appendix 8

IBMS Competencies and Learning Objectives

During this project you will gain an insight in the operations and performance of a professional organisation. You will also learn how decisions are made, both on strategic and operational levels. After this project you have: gained experience in making and maintaining contacts with and obtain cooperation from managers and employees in an organisation; learned how to define and set up a consultancy project for a company; learned how to conduct and finish a project with good result using the Prince2 Project management method for small projects; learned how to carry out research according to the needs and the wishes of the client company; gained experience in formulating and providing advice/ recommendations to the client company; learned to select and make use of the appropriate management, commercial and business tools; learned how to write a tailor made client oriented report; learned how to present and defend, in a client oriented manner, the results of your project; become aware of (some) strong and weak points in a professional organisation; learned how to evaluate both personal and group performances. IBMS competencies: Knowledge & understanding students should demonstrate knowledge and understanding in a field of study that builds upon and supersedes their general secondary education, and is typically at a level that, whilst supported by advanced textbooks, includes some aspects that will be informed by knowledge of the forefront of their field of study; Application Students should be able to apply their knowledge and understanding in a manner that indicates a professional approach to their work or vocation, and have competences typically demonstrated through devising and sustaining arguments and solving problems within their field of study Judgments Students should have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their field of study) to inform judgements that include reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical issues; Communication Students should demonstrate that they are able to communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences; Presentation skills students should demonstrate that they have developed those presentation skills that are necessary for them to act as an expert, be responsive to the target group, and be appealing both in terms of contents and process. Learning skills students should demonstrate that they have developed those learning skills that are necessary for them to continue to undertake further study with a high degree of autonomy.

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Appendix 10

PRINCE2 Templates Project Brief (PB)

Under construction

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Appendix 11

PRINCE2 Templates - PID

[PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT INITIATION DOCUMENT (PID):]

[To define the project, to form the basis for its management and to help with the assessment of the projects overall success. The two primary uses of the PID are: To ensure that the project has a sound basis before asking the Company and RBS to make any major commitment to the project. To provide a baseline document against which the Company and RBS and Project Manager can assess progress, change management (Project Issues) and on-going viability.]

PROJECT INITIATION DOCUMENT (PID) (Use

to confirm approval for the project and to obtain formal approval, in principle, to expend the resources for the project plan).

Document Ref & Version No:

Programme: Author:

Project: Date:

Purpose:
[A statement of the purpose of the Project Initiation Document. The following is a standard format that may be used or adapted by the Project Manager:]

This document has been produced to capture and record the basic information needed to correctly direct and manage the project. The PID addresses the following fundamental aspects of the project: What is the project aiming to achieve Why it is important to achieve the stated aims Who will be involved in managing the project and what are their roles and responsibilities How and When will the arrangements discussed in this PID be put into effect.

When approved by the Company and RBS this PID will provide the Baseline for the project and will become frozen. It will be referred to whenever a major decision is taken about the project and used at the conclusion of the project to measure whether the project was managed successfully and delivered an acceptable outcome for the sponsor/user/customer.
[Much of the following information will be available from the Project Brief. This Management Product should be used extensively to reduce the effort required to produce the PID. However a simple cut and paste job is not recommended all the information must be reviewed and re-considered in the light of any changes that have occurred since the Project Brief was prepared and approved.]

Background:
[Identification of the source of the undertaking and its sponsor. Any previous reports, documentation etc that might impact on the development.]

Objectives:
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[Specifically what is required to be achieved by the project, expressed wherever possible, in measurable terms; it is often helpful to identify separate objectives for the project itself (eg: target dates, expenditure profiles) and the project outcome (what the end-product is required to deliver during its life) ].

Scope, Exclusions & Interfaces:

[The major areas, functions, processes etc to be addressed during the project - essentially what is in and what is out. A simple "scoping diagram" may be appropriate]

Outline Deliverables (Products):

[A list of the expected and required Deliverables/Products/Outcomes) that the proposed project must create or acquire.]

Constraints:
[Restrictions on time, resources, funding, and/or the eventual outcome - a statement of the "no-go" areas for the project.]

Assumptions:
[Similar to constraints but more expectation than restriction.]

Initial Business Benefits/Business Case:

Project Organisation Structure:

[It explains who will be on the Project management Team. Roles and Responsibilities should already have been agreed and signed up to; they need not be included in the PID.]

Project Quality Plan:

[Derived from the Customers Quality Expectations section in the Project Brief, its purpose is to define how the group intends to deliver Products which meet the Customers Quality Expectations]

Acceptance Criteria:
[A definition, in measurable terms, of what must be done for the outcome of the project to be acceptable to the Customer. ]

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Initial Project Plan:

[Providing a statement about how and when the projects objectives are to be achieved by showing the Major Products, Activities and Resources required for the project. The Project Plan provides the baseline against which the Company and RBS will monitor project progress and cost, stage by stage.]

Project Controls:
[The frequency of review required by management. Management reviews will be related significant events during the life of the project to commit resources and authorise progress. to

Additional Comment:
[Add any additional information to be brought to the Project Authoritys/Project Boards attention. This might include statements on the Project Structures to be used, Company and RBS evaluation criteria and procedures etc]

[Check this document against the following Quality Criteria: 1. Does the PID correctly represent the project? 2. Does the PID show a viable, achievable project which is in line with corporate strategy, or overall Programme needs? 3. Is the Project Organisation Structure complete, with names and titles? 4. Have all the roles been considered? 5. Does the PID clearly show a control, reporting and direction regime which is implementable, and appropriate to the scale, business risk and business importance to the project? 6. Is the project organisation structure backed up by agreed and signed job definitions? 7. Are the relationships and lines of authority clear? 8. Does the project organisation structure indicate to whom the Project Manager reports? 9. Do the controls satisfy any delegated assurance requirements? 10. Is it clear who will administer each control?] Sign off for PID Project Managers Signature: Customer/Users Signature: RBS Approval

Date:
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Appendix 12 Report

PRINCE2 Templates - Format Lessons Learned

(Use to summarise any Lessons Learned during the Management. Learned issues are registered and updated by the Project Manager during the Project and notified in this lesson report to RBS at the end of block 8.)

Group and Individual learning experience

Introduction: Each student had to complete his/her Personal Expectations for the External Project in order to think about the skills he/she would like to be called upon during this project and which skills should be developed during this block. Also the groups process and your positive (negative?) role in it must be evaluated. In order to summarize these experiences a Groups and individual learning experience report has to be produced next to the Final Report. The size of this report should not exceed 5 pages. The format serves as a guidance not as a fixed template. However, it must be understandable, logical and objective. Format report: Title page Table of Contents Introduction Aim Method of collection of data Individual processes Questions to address: What role did each student have, what was the expectation and how is the learning experience evaluated. Which skills are mentioned at the beginning, what were the expectations and what has the student learned. What are the points for improvement Groups process Questions to address: Which group aspects helped the project and which aspects delayed the project. How did the project progressed for each workgroup and for the class as a group What are the points for improvement. Conclusion In this part the PA gives concluding remarks on the process of this project as a whole. The best way by doing this is by starting : In order to have a better learning experience individually and as a group and if we had to do it over and again, we would...

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Appendix 13

How to organise feedback?

Instructions Read the guidelines on how to provide feedback on the next pages. While reading think of how you would be able to use these suggestions to improve your own way of providing feedback. Feedback on behavior Before the next (last) meeting all group members write down several points of positive and negative feedback for every individual member in their group. These points refer to the behavior of your group members during the Project Management workshop. Feedback can be a means to resolve a conflict with one of your group members. Make sure that your written feedback consists of full sentences which are constructed in the way suggested by the guidelines on the next pages. Requested result 1. A document indicating positive and negative feedback on the behavior of each of your group members. 2. Type your comments on one side of an A4-sized paper and be sure you put your name, student number and (project) group on top of it. 3. Every group members gives all other group members a mark (between 0 and 10) for his overall performance and write it on the last line of your feedback for him/her. Think about the code of conduct for group members you discussed earlier and use this (among other things) as reference for your assessment of another group member. 4. Send your feedback to the group chairman 2 days before next meeting, so he can copy it and it use it for the preparation of the meeting. Make sure that your name is in the document name (e.g. Feedback by John Baldwin 0765432 IBMS04C.doc) 5. The chairman stores all feedback reports in the N@tschool workspace of your project group. 6. The chairman calculates an average score for each group member, makes a list and sends this list to the lecturer. The chairman will deal with the peer assessments in a confidential manner. The peer assessment scores will be a considerable part of the overall mark for this module. Feedback Feedback is a reaction from an individual directly or indirectly communicating how someone's thinking and/or behavior affects him or her. These reactions are communicated by means of words, tone, innuendo, and behavior, expressed or withheld. (Culbert, Mindset Management, 1996) The purpose of feedback is to understand what the sender and receiver agree upon and to identify the context in which they understand how the information will be utilized. To utilize feedback effectively a person must understand that people see every event differently. Viewing things differently doesn't mean that people cant understand one another, nor does it mean that a team cannot come to consensus. It is important to understand that distinct interests and motives are the driving forces behind peoples participation and these are neither known to you or under your control. There are different forms of feedback: Spontaneous vs. Planned Team vs. individual Feedback Positive feedback
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Constructive feedback Negative feedback (Destructive) Verbal vs. nonverbal feedback Knowing how to give feedback is important. To develop this skill there are some simple steps you can follow: Write feedback on post-it-notes without naming yourself. Set up an e-mail system where you can register feedback to the facilitator (team leader) to be discussed at the next meeting. Send the feedback to your team coordinator and have the coordinator send it to the team leader. Start the feedback with the word I. Describe the behavior that is in question. Tell how you feel the behavior could be changed by being constructive not destructive. Describe your observations (touch, feel, smell, hear, see and what, how, when, and where). Explain how the behavior was helpful or not helpful in achieving the task. Give positive feedback to create trust and team spirit, reinforce common team goals, and energize the team. Use Constructive feedback to identify conflicts, productivity impediments, and areas for personal and group improvement. Use formalized constructive feedback to reduce conflict within an environment of trust. There is no one best way to give feedback. Summary of Constructive Feedback Acknowledge the need Give both positive and negative feedback Understand the context Be descriptive and use facts/examples Dont use labels (i.e., immature, unprofessional) Describe behavior Be exact, dont exaggerate Be nonjudgmental Speak for yourself, not the team Use I rather than the team doesnt like it when.... Talk about yourself, not the other person: Effective: I feel annoyed when you are late for meetings. I appreciate your coming to meetings on time. Ineffective: You are frequently late for meetings. You are very prompt for meetings. Effective: I feel frustrated when I am interrupted and can not complete my thoughts. Ineffective: You always interrupt me. 12. Phrase the issue as a statement, not a question: Effective: I appreciate you coming to the meeting on time. Ineffective: When are you going to start coming to meetings on time? 13. Restrict feedback to things you know for certain.
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14. Help people hear and accept your compliments when giving positive feedback. 15. Listen to responses. 16. Be willing to help the other person think through ways to address constructive feedback. There are times when you should not give feedback: You dont know the circumstances of the behavior You do not care about the person or will not be around long enough to follow up on the situation The person has no power to change the behavior or circumstances The person has low self-esteem Your purpose is not really improvement, but to put someone on the spot Your purpose is to demonstrate how smart or how much better you are Receiving feedback is also a skill and there are a few easy steps to follow to make receiving feedback easy: Relax Listen actively (dont try to think of how to respond or develop solutions while the other person is giving constructive feedback) Acknowledge the feedback Clarify the feedback Reflect upon the valid points Take time to sort out what you have heard. Source: 1997/1996 Sloan School of Management, Project Team; Harrington-Mackin, D., 1996. Keeping the Team Going: A Tool Kit to Renew & Refuel Your Workplace Teams. New York, NY: American Management Association.

Suggestions on how to provide Feedback Sequence Explanation Start with a "When you..." statement that describes the behavior without judgment, exaggeration, labeling, attribution, or motives. Just state the facts as specifically as possible. Tell how their behavior affects you. If you need more than a word or two to describe the feeling, it's probably just some variation of joy, sorrow, anger, or fear. Now say the way you are affected that way. Describe the connection between the facts you observed and the feelings they provoke in you. Let the other person respond.

1. "When you..."

2. "I feel..."

3. "Because I..."

4. Pause for discussion 5. "I would like..."

Describe the change you want the other person to consider.

34

6. "Because..." 7. "What do you think?"

...and why you think the change will alleviate the problem. Listen to the other person's response. Be prepared to discuss options and compromise on a solution.

Example "When you are late for meetings, I get angry because I think it wastes the time of all other team members and we are never able to get through our agenda items. I would like you to find some way of planning your schedule that lets you get to these meetings on time. That way we can be more productive at the meetings and we can all keep to our tight schedules." Guidelines 1. Acknowledge the need for feedback Feedback is vital to any organization committed to improving itself. Feedback skills will help you communicate effectively, improve your team meetings, and improve interactions with team members and others. 2. Give both positive and negative feedback People will more likely pay attention to your complaints if they have also received your compliments 3. Know when to give feedback Consider more than your own need to give feedback. Constructive feedback happens only within a context of listening to and caring about the person. Do not give feedback when: You do not know much about the circumstances of the behavior. The feedback is about something the person has no power to change. The other person seems low in self-esteem. The time, place, or circumstances are inappropriate. 4. Know how to give feedback Be descriptive Be objective and give specific, recent examples. Don't use labels Be clear, specific, and unambiguous. Describe the behavior and drop the labels. Don't exaggerate Be exact. The receiver will argue with the exaggeration rather than the real issue. Don't be judgmental Don't use words like "good," "better," "worse." This invites the receiver to respond as a child since you are using the words of a controlling parent. Speak for yourself Don't refer to absent, anonymous people. Encourage others to speak for themselves. Talk first about yourself, not about the other person
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Say, "I appreciate your coming to meetings on time," not "You are very prompt for meetings." This creates a peer relationship, not a ranked relationship Phrase the issue as a statement, not as a question Questioning can be controlling and manipulative. Restrict your feedback to things you know for certain Don't present opinions as facts. Help people hear and accept your compliments when giving positive feedback

5. Know how to receive feedback Listen carefully Ask questions for clarity Acknowledge the feedback Acknowledge valid points Take time to sort out what you heard Source: The Team Handbook, Peter R. Scholtes and others, Joiner Publishing, 1988 Suggested websites: 'How to Give Good Feedback' source:http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/17/feedback.html

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