Project Management MLP, Careers & Employability Division

Contents These slides explain some of the techniques you can use to manage work based projects, and explore: What is Project Management? Stages in Project Management Project Management tools

“Making molehills out of mountains…”

What is Project Management? Project Management helps you deliver a result: With the expected result Within required timescale Within budget To the agreed quality

Stages in Project Management 1. Definition 2. Implementation 3. Review 4. Refine

Project definition… What’s wrong with this picture?

Answer: The right questions were not asked The project team didn’t understand what the client wanted The people involved didn’t listen to each other So.... The project result was not what the client wanted

Stages in Project Management 1. Definition Scoping: what is the project? - why is it being done? Ask questions – what do they really want? Clear objectives/goals Identify resources (time, finance & people) What are the success criteria?

Stages in Project Management 1. Definition - Defining goals Set yourself objectives which are ‘SMART’ Specific: detailed, particular, focused Measurable: quantifiable Action-oriented: produce results Realistic: practical, achievable Timed: deadline Example: ‘Conduct competitor analysis of 10 Hong Kong companies by October 2007’

Stages in Project Management 2. Implementation - Planning Identify strengths/interests Breakdown of tasks required Prioritising Contingencies Key milestones

Stages in Project Management 3. Review (at stages during your project) Build in monitoring systems Communication with employer (both ways) Keep employer up to date. Explain any issues Timescales – are they still realistic? 4. Refine (if needed) Changing whenever appropriate (fluidity) Business needs DO change – so work out what the change means for your project Not a sign of failure!

Stages in Project Management Example of reviewing & refining a project: “I realised that it would be difficult to research ways to market my company’s new prototype in China, because many of the organisations I needed to check were not on the internet, and I could obtain only a phone number. I could not make calls to China easily due to cost and time difference. I discussed this with my employer, and he agreed that I could telephone the companies from his office if I was able to work for an hour early in the morning. Some days it was easier for me to do this so I agreed to telephone a couple of companies each day. This discussion of alternatives allowed me to complete the project successfully, even though it had started out as web based research.”

Project Management Tools Action Planning Sequential and Parallel Activities GANTT Charts Critical Path Scheduling

Project Management Tools Action plan: 1 An Action Plan is splitting up your project into smaller tasks which all need to be done By looking at your project like this you can work out: a)The different parts or stages of your project b)Who needs to do what c)When tasks need to be completed TIP: Start your plan from the deadline and work backwards

Project Management Tools Action plan: 2 Prioritise tasks – which are most important? Set realistic times for completing tasks Check availability of resources / people Plan for times when you know you can’t work on project (e.g. holiday, other course deadline etc) Ensure your employer knows too!

Project Management Tools ‘Sequential’ and ‘parallel’ activities These are two ways of describing tasks on your project. Any task is likely to be one OR the other Sequential activities: –Need to be completed in a sequence, with each activity being completed before the next can begin. –The more sequential tasks there are, the more time management you must do, and you must stick to deadlines Parallel activities: –Not dependent on completion of any other tasks –Or, may be done at any time before or after a particular stage is reached. This gives you great flexibility on when you do them Understanding whether tasks are sequential or parallel can help you work out when you are likely to be very busy, and which deadlines are very important to keep.

Project Management Tools Gantt Charts A graph to visually represent tasks One axis is the list of tasks The other is time (days/weeks) Block out squares to show your work on each task You can see what you are supposed to be doing, when and how long for Key milestones are clearly identified You have a chart against which to plot progress

Project Management Tools

Critical Path Scheduling This is a technique to look at the most essential parts of your project, not what is desired/preferred Think about what tasks you really must do. Identify them on your gantt chart These are good for monitoring your progress. If despite your best effort you are behind schedule, you can negotiate with your employer to see if some non essential tasks could be removed, so that you can complete your project on time.

To summarise – managing your project Do... Plan your project Make sure you know what is expected of you Communicate with your employer! Don’t... Get too focused on process/tools – focus on the result Put off difficult bits or deadlines Lose sight of the overall aim of the project