Project management for everyone

Project Management for
Everyone
Richard Schreiber, PMP, CSM
12/8/2015

What is Project Management?
 A framework on how to get things done effectively
 A way to plan more complex things you want to get done that take an
extended period of time, that have a lot of steps and dependencies so
that you can organize it to get it done in a (more) predictable time frame
(schedule) DELIVERY
 A way to demonstrate progress in what we do and advise our bosses or
management on what hurdles we might be coming up against
 Being proactive in our communications
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Why Project Management?
 Complex projects like planning and building a skyscraper would never
happen without it; left to happenstance would be fatal
 Software products would never be delivered with minimal defects and in
time to be first to market without it--time to market is everything in
software
 Continuous Improvement. Unless we build frameworks around what we
do in our projects, so that we can duplicate things to gain efficiencies or
learn from our missteps/mistakes, we’ll never get better at what we do,
which translates into bigger profits, more work load and more business.3

We’re already using Project Management in
our lives and we may not be aware of it
 Planning a vacation/trip requires project management; a sequence of
steps that have to be planned, lodging, air fare, transportation, itineraries
and schedules, advance tickets to venues, etc., all require planning and
execution
 Planning a wedding… also requires a long sequence of events, sourcing of
vendors, venues, getting measured for the dress, acquiring an event
location, band, flowers, food, cake, etc. all that must take place in a
sequence
 Planning an event...the same.4

Project Management is all around us
 Who’s ever been to an event and noticed something missing or that didn’t
happen quite right?
 Chances are, when things don’t go right, project management wasn’t
properly used or followed
5

What are the things we want to avoid?
 Things that go wrong!
 Delays !
 Cost overruns !
 Headaches!
 Oops! I didn’t think of that (or plan for that!)
While Project Management doesn’t eliminate this--there’s no guarantees! It can
mitigate them or reduce their impact because we can anticipate them better.
6

What are the components of Good
(Traditional) Project Management ?
 Project Charter: What’s the “Mission” of the project as determined by the
person writing the checks as well as anyone else with key input that
determines what the project is about? What is the Business rationale,
objectives?
 Stakeholder Management: Who are ALL the key people on my project?
 The Decision-makers, people whose help or contribution/guidance I
need; or money/budget I need; who are my key resources ?
 Who signs the checks? How do they prefer to be contacted and how
often?7

What are the component of Good Project
Management ? (con’t)
 Project Scope: Make a list of all the tasks or steps that must happen for
a given project you’re working on, the “Scope”
o Then organize the task list, put them in the priority or sequential
order then (later) group the tasks and assign them to the resources
that must carry them out.
 Time Management: Figure out how long you think it will take to do all
your tasks; how many hours or days and create a timeline to graphically
map it out so you can truly see how long it will take. Gantt Chart
8

Project Management Timeline/Project Plan
9

What are the components of Good Project
 Project Cost Management: What’s it going to cost? How do I estimate? What
is my budget ? This has to be established before you begin the project
 Project Quality Management: How do I constantly assess that the project is
meeting the quality standards (what are the quality standards I need to
establish?) This is often Quality Control checks at frequent intervals
10

 Resource Management:
o What resources do I need for this project for every role?
o Who’s going to be working on the project? What are their roles?
strengths? weaknesses?
o Internal/External resources--remote or co-located?
11

Management ? (continued)
 Project Communications: How do I organize my communication to all the
members on my project team to make sure they have all the answers they
need to do their respective jobs--so they’re not slowed down by
roadblocks (and to make sure the Project Manager/leader is in the loop to
be able to help solve them)
 How will I communicate the project’s progress to my bosses or upper
management? What kind of charts (Gantt), spreadsheets, etc., do I need to
use to create a progress report?
 How do I get their feedback when I need to resolve issues or problems?
12

Project Management Status Reporting (sample)
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Management ? (continued)
 Risk Assessment: Pro-actively think about risk; where can things go
wrong and how can I anticipate it and plan for it, whether it's a
contingency or backup plan. Plan for risks or risk to fail.
 Project Procurement Management: When I need to source materials or
finishes, furnishings, anything for the project. What’s my process; RFP, bid,
etc. ? How does this tie into my budget (line item)
 Project Closing And, Finally, how do I make sure everything is done and
finished on the project so I can declare it’s over and has been a success?
 Lessons Learned14

There are two major Project Management
Methodologies, Waterfall (traditional) and
Agile
 Waterfall is exactly what it sounds like, a series of sequential steps that are
carried out in precisely the order they’re in and at the end of all the steps, you
have a finished product.
 Often you do not show the work in progress; only when it’s largely finished,
after all/most of the steps are completed
15

Waterfall Project Management
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Waterfall Project Management (con’t)
 An example of waterfall project management work is the building
of an office tower. It must be executed in a certain sequence
otherwise it won’t be done right; you can’t do the drywall work
before the electrical guys do their work; you can’t put the carpet in
until the floors are done, etc.
 Waterfall typically requires tons of documentation and up front
planning before even the first step can be executed, often months
and months of planning by the developer, architect and general
contractor and project team.17

Waterfall Project Management (con’t)
 Requires very precise resource planning and time estimates, the “triple
constraints” of scope, cost and time. The point is, when one of these is
impacted, it affects the other two, which affects the overall project.
 A Project manager’s job is to manage the triple constraints effectively.
 Waterfall doesn’t like changes; “Change Orders” are a challenge and
cause cost overruns, delays because they are disruptive to the schedule
and budget because they are not easily integrated within the plan
18

The Other major Project Management
Methodology is Agile
Agile Project Management is based on the Lean principle; eliminate all waste
and excess documentation and prepare to engage in the project with only the
minimum amount of planning, documentation (enough to get you started) so
that you can begin the project in weeks instead of months.
 Agile is commonly used to develop software, beginning with a beta or
demo site and then building out the actual site in “modules” or pieces.
 The Agile Process is “iterative” (graphic) meaning it repeats the same
process over and over to make it better
19

Agile Project Management (con’t)
 In Agile, project teams are self-managed; they work
problems out among themselves or with the aid of a
Scrum Master. Collaborative
 Agile stresses people working together in constant
communications vs. silos
21

 Agile doesn’t mean that you don’t do consider and discuss
all the steps in Waterfall, e.g., knowing your charter,
stakeholders, resources, budget, risks, etc., you just don’t
spend the time to create elaborate processes or
documentation on this.
 You create a Product Backlog of everything that goes into
the product you’re going to create.
22

 Next, you prioritize the items on the Product Backlog.
 Backlog items are then estimated in terms of “story points” (a
basic measurement) as to how long each will take to do
 You’ll work on the items from that Backlog that have the biggest
impact or ROI FIRST.
 80/20 rule. Generally 20% of the product scope will satisfy 80% of
the necessary elements.
23

 Agile is incremental. The agile project is broken down into smaller
“chunks” of completed work called “sprints” that you can demo to your
client for instant feedback in regular intervals, like every two weeks after
you do a “release”.
 Agile is “time boxed” meaning, you identify exactly what tasks can get
done, and how many story points based on your resources and their
history or “velocity”, in each sprint.
 Time Box means, if the sprint is 2 weeks long, that’s it. No extensions and
everything must get done in the 2 week time frame that is assigned to that
sprint.24

 Agile embraces change and you can adapt much quicker
because you’re working on the project in phases or
sprints. A change can be much easily absorbed in the
process when you’re building things in pieces.
 If a change has to be made, in Agile, you can “horse trade”
to remove something else from the project so the project
remains on schedule.25

 In Agile, at the conclusion of each “sprint”, the product is in a
finished state including all the prior sprint’s work
o It would be like building the first 7 floors, totally functional
self contained and equipped, of a 20 story apartment
building. You could conceivably just build the roof on top
of the 7th floor and be done with it.
26

Project Management is Changing
 Many organizations are migrating more towards Agile from Waterfall or are using
both discplines.
 From formal or traditional project management we learn that you want to have a
plan. It’s good to think up front; it’s good to understand the requirements and have
clear objectives; it’s good to identify risks; it’s good to be able to communicate. --
Charles Seybold from Liquid Planner, a Project Management software provider
 Agile elements give us self organizing teams; more collaboration, less silos; there is
no single point that has all the control; more frequent updates and constant
communication and more flexibility on the project.27

Review: Project Management: Why me?
 Project Management skills are inherently used in all walks of life and in
business more and more and you can definitely tell when they’re not used
 Project Management in the future will be taught in colleges as a
fundamental business skill, in particular with the benefits of collaborative
aspects and elements. This is what’s fueling the mobile economy
 Project Management is a great general skill set to have for any business
that requires to get things done, on budget and on time (which is every
business !)
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Resources
 http://www.projectmanagement.com/
 http://www.corpedgroup.com/courses/scedesc.asp?CID=8525 ;
http://pm4e.com/project_mgmt.php
 https://library.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/policies/Project%20Manageme
nt%20Training%20-%20Slides.pdf
 https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/registration.tmpl--A recent live webinar
of about one hour on the topic
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Project management for everyone

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Project management for everyone