Introduction to PM

Characteristics

1. Start and end date
2. Goal or an outcome
3. Benefit or value
4. Allocation of resources

Life Cycle

1. Initiation
   • usually the shortest phase
   • understand your needs and consider all possible options
2. Planning
   • usually the longest phase
3. Execution
   • Risk, team management and stakeholder engagement
4. Closure

Characteristics of good PM

• Leadership
• Communication
• Creative thinking and problem-solving
• Dealing with uncertainty
• Planning

FAQ

1. high-level plan

• who will be involved
• key success factors
• bird-eye view before breakdown
• project brief / project charter

2. Where do i start?

• Start with what you know

Project Management Canvas

The Initiation Phase

• Objectives and deliverables
• Usually the shortest phase
• Key questions

Is this a project?
What is the problem that I need to solve?
What do I need?
What are my options?

• clarify 5W1H (high-level plan)

• Initiation Template

  
  
• Benefits

1. High-level plan
2. Options
3. SMART(Specific Measurable Aligned Realistic Time-bound) targets
4. Success criteria
5. How success will be Measured in the end
6. lays the Foundation of the project
7. Triangle (time, cost, quality)
8. YOU are Accountable

FAQ

• Q: Are multiple options really necessary? Shouldn't I start immediately?
  A: NO. It's hard to return to the drawing board later. Ensure you know as much as you can about the project and the quality of the available options to achieving the outcomes.

The Planning Phase

3 key areas

• Scope
• Schedule
• Cost

Key questions

How do you define the scope of the project?
What planning needs to be done?
What resources do I need?
When does it need to be done by?
How much will it cost?

Scoping the project

• scoping forms the foundation of the planning

1. Clarify around the project objectives (next level down if necessary)
2. The tasks that need to be performed (manageable activities)
3. The resources that will be required

• Clear about what is included in or excluded from the project scope (in scope & out of scope)
  [what needs to be done instead of time and cost]
  [ideally: scoping - scheduling - cost estimating]
• WBS = Work Breakdown Structure
  1. identifying all the project deliverables
  2. sub-divide the work

Scheduling the project

• triple constraints

1. quality
2. cost
3. time (least flexible)

• 5 key elements

1. Defining the activities (WBS)
2. Sequencing these activities
3. Estimating the activity resources required
4. Estimating the activity duration to complete
5. Developing the schedule

• Crashing the schedule?
  -> additional resources (over budget)
  -> lower quality

Scheduling Table Template

Costing the project

• plan, manage, control the costs, using a budget (constraint).
• developing a cost estimate

1. estimate the resources required
2. estimate the duration
3. prepare a cost estimate

• change addition?
  Revisit the original scope and WBS
  impact on schedule
  -> Seek additional budget
  -> Trade-off by reducing scope (de-scoping)

Determining Project Risk

impact factors

• The extent and duration of the project
• The period of time between the planning and execution phases
• Level of experience you or your team members have
• The maturity of the technology being used

Key question

• What risks do i need to consider on this project?

6 steps

1. understand the context
2. risk identification
3. risk assessment (likelihood x impact)
4. risk responses (accept, transfer, mitigate , avoid)
5. monitor and review (ongoing)
6. communicate

some techniques

• contingency plan
• buffer period

Risk Assessment Template

Risk Frameworks

PESTLE(Political, Economic, Social, Technology, Legal, Environmental)

FAQ

1. Risk register
   a living document
2. risk contingency
   contingency plan
3. residual risk

Project Teams and Communication

key questions

1. Am i delivering the planned specifications and requirements?
2. Am i able to secure supply of the necessary resources?
3. Will i be able to manage and control the project scope?
4. How will i be able to control quality?

Leadership

How do you engage stakeholders?
How might you lead the team?

the role of project stakeholders

internal stakeholders
external stakeholders

key project team roles

Role clarity (detail)

• assign specific tasks
• team charter

team charter

Effective project communication

keep stakeholders informed and engaged
3 channels

• upward (with senior managers)
  weekly status reports
  emails
  face-to-face meetings
  structured communication plans
• lateral (with clients, suppliers, vendors, contractors)
  resource needs, progress updates, budgets, schedule issues
  one-on-one meetings, phone calls, email
• directly (provides direction, highlights pending tasks, confirms deliverable dates, schedules team meetings)
  routine meetings
  keep up to date with regular verbal and email exchanges

effective communication tools and strategies

• centralized documentation
• publicized schedule

leadership skills and characteristics

Organized
Forward-thinking
Relationship-buidling
Inspirational
Knowledgeable

monitoring team performance

collect project progress information
investigate any variance
discuss the progress status

FAQ

1. leadership style
   trust & common purpose
   situational leadership
2. stakeholder analysis matrix
   level of influence & level of interest
   stakeholder engagement plan
3. should i take a record of communications?
   internal and external report
   legal and governance requirements
   reporting schedule

Project closure

contents

• handover / delivery
• consolidation of communications
• obtaining feedback

key questions

1. Were the original objectives of the project delivered?
2. what do i need to measure?
3. how will i give and receive feedback?
4. do i understand the PM journey?

align project success criteria to project objectives

key elements

1. project wrap up
   • approved
   • handed over
   • accepted

checklist

• obtaining project acceptance
• finalising and terminating resources
• de-establishing the team
• capturing remaining costs and closing project related accounts
• comping a final project report

2. evaluating project success
   • behavior
   • practices
   • supports improvement
3. capturing lessons learned
   challenges
   • lack of time available
   • "blaming session"
   • failure to understand the value

measuring progress

factors
* activity duration times
* resource usage
* actual costs

roadmap (goal factors)

project closure and handover

actual outcomes -> confirmation -> acceptance
documentation collated & handed over
completion meeting
- reviewing the outputs or outcomes
- confirming the arrangements for any follow-up work
- thanking the team, the sponsor, and the stakeholders for their support
- presenting the completion report for approval and sign-off

integrating customer feedback

• Did i get to where i expected to be?
• did i get there the way i expected to?
• are all the stakeholders happy with the outcome and the way it was achieved?

Canvas Framework - Key Questions