Projects occur
everywhere: Marriage is a project; raising children is a project; life
itself is a project.
Projects require
planning: "Count the Cost" is an excellent axiom to follow in engaging in
any project.
Projects of any
size, particularly when they involve a group of people, will involve a
project plan.
Care must be given
about coming to a consensus for developing the project and effective
communications is essential to success.
Success is defined
by reaching an established goal and a success for a project lies in the
stakeholders reaching the goal together.
The first question
to ask in a project is "Should this project be done at all?".
The Opportunity
Identification Phase of a project is the first thing to be done: What is the
Return on Investment (ROI)? If there will be a negative return on
investment, does the project fulfill a mandatory requirement by law which
cannot be ignored? Or is it simply the right thing to do? An Opportunity
Identification should determine the viability of a project.
The next question
to be asked is whether it can be done, and that is determined in the
Analysis Phase. After everything is defined, will the project ever have the
necessities available to complete it reasonably?
Before one thing
happens in a Project, it needs to be mapped out in Implementation Planning.
The old joke at Boeing goes that only when the paperwork equals the weight
of the finished aircraft can the construction begin. While there is some
truth to that, it isn't that bad: By saving time by taking shortcuts in
planning, it is very likely that the project will grow to be some bloated
monster which will have to be orphaned. Always get the customers /
stakeholders to agree firmly in writing on what is to be delivered before
starting. Perform contingency planning before beginning: An unanticipated
vacation of a vital participant? Prices from the vendors go up 30% in the
time between the project plan and deep into implementation? Has the project
plan been reviewed by those technically competent to do so (red team
review)? Has the faction with the money signed off (gold team review)?
Implementation
should proceed as planned. No scope creep. If the Implementation matches the
Plan, it will be a success. If not, success is dubious at best. Deliver the
agreed to goods on time and on budget--within plus (+) or minus (-) no more
than 10% and target 5%, as built into the contingency planning.
There is actually a
fifth stage of a project and that is ongoing maintenance. This should be
planned. The project may be a success, but if the completed product falls
apart from lack of maintenance in three months, the project wasn't really a
success.
Project Management
violates a basic tenet of human nature: We don't really like to follow
process. It's boring. It's time consuming. Look at it this way: If you don't
follow process, you'll have more excitement than you can handle over a
longer period of time than you can imagine.
Here is the
Information
Mapping format of Project Management:
| Introduction |
This section is dedicated
to providing the tools to manage projects.
This is not a
comprehensive tutorial on Project Management. It is intended as a guide. |
| Phases of a project |
The following are the
phases of a project: |
|
Phase |
Description |
| Opportunity
identification |
Determine the opportunity
by examining the cost versus the benefits of a project |
| Analysis |
Define the requirements
in terms of scope, deliverables, resources, risks, mitigation |
| Implementation planning |
Develop a work break down
structure, do project estimation, perform project scheduling, perform
quality assurance planning, determine financial requirements and
reporting, perform peer review |
| Implementation |
Perform the tasks, track
project progress, and bring project to closure |
| Requirements Definition |
The purpose of
the requirements definition is to determine and clearly document the
details of the requirements for a solution prior to the development of
the project plan. |
| Objectives |
The objectives of the
Requirements Definition are:
- Define the functional and
technical requirements for the project
- Identify the key constraints
- Explore alternative
solutions that satisfy the functional requirements and constraints
- Provide an evaluation and
selection of a preferred solution with an evaluation of the impact
- Specify an overall strategy
to validate that requirements have been met
|
| Benefits |
The benefits of providing a
requirements definition is:
- Increase
the probability of success for the project through a comprehensive
requirements definition
- Improve the ability to understand and
approve the attributes of the solution
- Improve the quality of information
used by the project team to accurately estimate the overall project
cost and schedule
|
| Requirements Definition
Document (RDD) |
The Requirements
Definition Document (RDD) should contain the following material:
- Overview / Background
- Opportunity
- Strategy
- Project Definition
- Project Scope
- Deliverables:
- Description with acceptance / approval
- Assumptions
- Constraints
- Considerations
- Estimated Benefits
- Alternatives; for each alternative:
- Impacts
- Estimated Costs
- Estimated Time
- Risk Analysis
- Mitigations for each risk
- Recommended Solution
- Acceptance criteria
|
| Participants |
Each project should have a
matrix of responsibilities as follows: |
|
Person |
Role |
Contact Information |
| name |
project involvement |
telephone, fax, pager, and address
where appropriate |
| Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) |
The purpose of the Work
Breakdown Structure (WBS) is to develop and communicate how the detailed
scope of project work will be performed.
The WBS is broken down into manageable
levels and tasks.
These tasks are to be no more than two
working weeks in duration and are used for:
- planning,
- estimating,
- scheduling,
- controlling
project work.
Optimally, each task should take no more
than forty hours in duration, but absolutely no more than eighty hours.
Tasks are taken to the lowest detail
effort for estimating.
The project manager / coordinator will
work with the project team to insure that each task has one or more
resources assigned to it.
Resources may be a person or person from
the team or an outside vendor(s) or service provider(s). |
| Project document layout
|
Each project will have the following
outline: |
|
Section |
Use |
| Executive Summary |
Provides an overview of
the entire project by communicating the key essentials summarized in a
concise style in one to three pages.
The Executive Summary is used where
the project document is longer than ten pages or so and depends upon
the level of the audience. |
| Project Definition |
Provides the description
of the why, and for whom the project is important as defined by the
Requirements Definition Document (RDD). |
| Project Approach / Methodology |
Defines how the project
scope work will be accomplished. |
| Project Schedule |
Provides the listing of
key activity start / complete dates and project milestones.
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
forms the basis of:
- Project major milestones
- Gantt chart schedule
- Scheduling assumptions
|
| Financial Plan |
Describes the processes and
assumptions for development of the project cost estimates and forms
the basis for tracking the entire project from start to closure.
The financial plan includes:
 The
estimating approach
Budgeting
assumptions
Funding
requirements
Capital
requirements:
|
| Project Management and controls
|
Defines the project management
methodology, techniques, and tools to be used in planning, managing,
and controlling a project.
Project management and control includes:
- Management approach
- Team staffing and organization with Project
roles matrix
- Conflict resolution process
- Status / schedule progress reporting
- Project administration including Quality
Assurance
- Problem and Change management
- Project environment
|
For further information use the Project
Management Institute as a resource.
