Successful IT Projects By Darren Dalcher & Lindsey Brodie Chapter 10 www.thomsonlearning.co.uk/fasttrack

Project review and reflection Lecture 10 Project review and reflection

Learning outcomes At the end of this lecture you should be able to: Understand how to carry out an end-of-project evaluation Reflect on project events, problems and deliverables Adopt a professional attitude to continuous improvement and personal development in project work

Project management processes Initiating processes Planning processes Executing processes Monitoring and controlling processes Closing processes (PMBOK Guide 2004)

Closing processes This lecture is concerned with the Closing processes activities. We define ‘Closing’ as follows: Formalising the acceptance of the project or phase, and ensuring all relevant documentation is put in place Note the use of the phrase, ‘or phase’, it indicates that closing activities should occur at the end of each phase throughout the life of a project

Closing processes’ activities This lecture is going to focus on two aspects: Post-delivery reviews (PDRs) End-of-project reports

Post-delivery review (PDR) Sometimes known as a post-completion review (PCR) or post-implementation review (PIR) Important to learn from feedback of experience: For the individual For the organisation Reinforces good behaviour and identifies what does not work Not an occasion for disciplining or punishment Aim is to facilitate learning and improvement

Sources to support a PDR The actual project documentation: Aim and objectives of the project The WBS The Gantt chart The critical path The risk management documents The reports from earlier project review meetings Access to members of the original project team as they can provide the rationale behind the decisions made

Scope of a PDR The specific aspects for a PDR to consider include: The success of the product produced (delivered value/actual benefit) How the project is delivered with regard to the project triangle factors (financial budget, schedule and scope) and the specified quality objectives The project process including the quality of the project documentation and the project plans The team working As well as looking at the team working, an individual performance review should be carried out for each member of the project team

Who carries out a PDR? The project manager carries out the project PDR with the rest of the project team An independent PDR or project audit can also be carried out by people external to the project Individual performance reviews are carried out by the project manager holding separate reviews with each individual

Checklists Checklists are used. For example: The project/product checklist The project triangle checklist The process checklist The team checklist Dealing with problems checklist The project reflection checklist

The project/product checklist Was the main project aim achieved? Was it achieved within the schedule/financial budget projections? Were the project objectives clearly defined? Were all aspects of the work completed? Are there any aspects that remain undone? (Note in your student project reports, this would give you scope for discussion in the last part of your report when you talk about problems and future plans.) Did the project give the client what was promised? Are the users happy with the result? Is it what they needed? Were their needs correctly identified? Did their needs change during the course of the project? Were all stakeholders identified from the outset?

The project triangle checklist How accurate was the financial budget? Was the planned budget exceeded? If so, why? What problems caused the escalation? Could they have been predicted? Could they have been avoided? How accurate was the schedule? Was the planned schedule exceeded? Was it just one problem that delayed all other activities or were all activities mis-estimated?

The project triangle checklist Continued … Was the original scope achieved? Were there any changes to scope during the duration of the project? Why were they approved (or why were they needed)? Did they lead to any escalation in either budget or schedule? Was the overall quality acceptable? Were the test plans adequate? Did they pick up all the errors that you know about?

The process checklist What process was used to manage the project? What parts of the process worked well? What parts of the process would be done differently if you had a second chance? Were milestones observed? Why not? What were the reasons for misapplying them?

The team checklist Was the team effective? Did the team work together and support each other? Would you define the entire project as a success? Why/why not? Was the project organised effectively?

Dealing with problems checklist If you have identified any major events that have taken place, ask yourself: Was this event positive or negative in terms of impact on the project? Was it predictable? Was it avoidable? When was it identified? Were the actions effective from that stage on? Was the communication chain effective?

The project reflection checklist What where the main strengths of the project? What were the major weaknesses? What changes would you recommend for the next project? Did you learn anything from this project? Do you think the project was effectively managed? Was the overall communication process effective? Where did it break down? Did this happen often? Did any of the methods work particularly well? What would you change in the management of the project? Describe one thing that you could have done personally to improve the outcome of the project

What do you do with the lessons learned? Lessons need to be shared Revisit working practices Use lessons to facilitate training Maintain a repository of key lessons Ensure project managers access the resource prior to embarking on a new project

End-of-project reports Purposes of end-of-project reports: Informing stakeholders that project work has finished Describing the delivered project/product Setting out the achievements of the project Documenting all the artefacts/products produced by the project Handing over the product Requesting product signoff Releasing resources Stating additional work that is still needed Thanking people for their help and their effort

Contents of end-of-project reports Marchewka (2006) suggests as a minimum: Project summary project description project measurable organisational value scope, schedule, budget, and quality objectives Comparison of planned versus actual original scope and history of any approved changes original scheduled deadline versus actual completion date original budget versus actual cost of completing the project test plans and test results

Contents of end-of-project reports Continued … Outstanding issues itemised list and expected completion any on-going support required and duration Project documentation list systems documentation user manuals training materials maintenance documentation

Caveats Note the last two slides on the contents of end-of-project reports: Are more about project progress and handover. They do not include PDR content (Marchewka discusses project post mortem reviews separately) Are more industrial in their approach. They are insufficient to satisfy the academic requirements for a student project report

Summary This lecture has covered: Post-delivery reviews (PDRs) End-of-project reports It should have given you some ideas and help about how to reflect on project experiences in a professional manner