1. Project Management How to access the power of projects!
Your Name

2. Objectives At the end of this session you will be able to:
Avoid the major pitfalls of project management
Initiate and plan a project
Implement and monitor a projects lifecycle
Review and close a project
Develop you own project management structure 2

3. Project Management Case Study
At regular intervals during the training course you will be asked to complete different exercises as part of your very own case study.
Pick something you know a little about – at the very least – details are not vital -
Pick a project with a defined conclusion
Choose something across all groups to enable ongoing discussion
Bear in mind that each workbook exercise is one more step in developing your own project management structure 3

4. Project Management Course outline Project experience.
Why is structure important?
How to avoid project pitfalls
The 3 phases of project management
Initiation and planning
Implementation
Review and project closure 4

5. “We’re spending money on that?”
1. Project experiences
Negative comments associated with poor project management.
“Too Slow” “Even if it works it won’t help me out”
“No-one asked me so why should I care?”
“Just another hair-brained idea that will go nowhere.”
“We’re spending money on that?”
“Who knows what they do? They never tell us.”
“Those people are looking to fire all of us, I can see it in their eyes.”

6. 2. Where is project structure important?
Communication
Timeline / Deadlines
Budgets
Complexity Issues
To retain focus – “tendency to wander”
Accountability and Responsibility 6

7. 3. How to avoid the usual project pitfalls
Communication is vital before a project has even begun
Talk to those involved
Challenge preconceived solutions
Discuss breadth and focus
Identify “must haves” vs. “nice to haves”
Talk to as many people as the project scope allows
Fear of change is often endemic however when communicated correctly a beneficial outcome can remove many potential barriers 7

8. 3. How to avoid the usual project pitfalls (2)
Listening to the involved parties will take some time but save a lot of headaches:
Be realistic
Be positive
Remain objective
Nurture your networks
Communicate issues immediately 8

9. 4. The three phases of Project Management
Review
Plan
Implement 9

10. 4 The Project Team
Once the project plan is approved the hard work starts:
Establish a project team. The roles below need to be assigned however they may all reside with one person or be split.
Project sponsors.
Project manager.
Project team.
End users / clients. 10

11. 4. Initial discussions Who? What Why? How? When?
During the planning phase certain key questions need to be considered.
Who?
What
Why?
How?
When?
The specific questions will vary with each project but each of these questions needs to be answered prior to the project being accepted and a more detailed plan established. 11

12. 4. Project Deliverables Project Mission Statement
The broad sections that need to be considered are as follows:
Project Mission Statement
Financial Considerations
Breakdown of actual deliverables
IT, product development, product testing, process and documentation… etc.
Personnel required / involved
The specifics will need to be tailored to each specific project. 12

13. 4. Project Timeline
Plan
Implement
Review = + +
Of all the aspects of project planning timelines are one of the most difficult. Sufficient time should be allowed for resource or infrastructure issues. If the project is working to a fixed deadline then a realistic (minimum) implementation scenario should be developed to ensure completion. 13

14. 4. Work-stream management
It is vital to identify dependent and independent sections of the project.
Dependent tasks
Independent tasks
X, Y, Z,
Week 1 A
Task A must be completed prior to B&C
Week 2
B C D
Task B&C prior to E, task D prior to F
Week 3 E F
Task E, And F completed prior to G,
F by itself prior to H
Week 4 G H I
G & I prior to J
Week 5 J
Dependent tasks have to be completed on time in order for the project to continue. Independent tasks still have to be completed but can be done at any time during the project 14

15. Cash-flow of potential
4.1 Budgets
Budgets are both financial and physical.
New hires?
Human resources
Budget per deliverable
Direct project costs
Projected savings / gains
Cash-flow of potential
savings / gains
IT / Infrastructure
Cost of project delays
Re-training / education
Market / Consumer activity
Marketing costs
Cost of doing nothing?
Budget planning is both art and science but with a rigorous and realistic approach a solid budget can be established avoiding difficult conversations during implementation 15

16. 4.1 Detailed Project Plan
Once pre-planning has been completed and the project is preliminarily approved a more detailed assessment is required – this is the start of the Implementation phase.
Cost/Benefit analysis
Prioritisation of project components
End user / customer impact
Establishment of project team (already completed)
Lines and periodicity of communication
Issue escalation
Timeline established for planning, implementation and review cycles
Once the above has been completed the project plan needs to be presented to the Project Sponsors.
The project sponsors should receive a cohesive document detailing scope, budgets, personnel, detailed objectives, benefits and risks of the project and timeframes. 16

17. 4. Monitoring and reporting
There will always be issues. The decision is not whether to communicate but how and when.
Update meetings / calls
Report to Project sponsors
Name and shame. But be constructive.
Be flexible.
Adjust the timeline as you go.
Have individual discussions prior to meetings 17

18. 4.3 Review
Once completed there is a great deal that can be learnt from a project.
Organise a final meeting.
Ask people for honest feedback
If possible get the team together.
Create or add to the project management process.
Set a future date for a post implementation review 18

19. Always remember - 70% of the initial plan after 3 months is a success.
4. And Finally
Always remember - 70% of the initial plan after 3 months is a success.
If your still at 75% a year later it is rapidly becoming a failure.
Focus on what you need to achieve and get it done – it’s a project, not a lifetime in servitude. 19

20. Objectives At the end of this session you will be able to:
Avoid the major pitfalls of project management
Initiate and plan a project
Implement and monitor a projects lifecycle
Review and close a project
Develop you own project management structure 20