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Project Management (101)

As many of you already know, a project is defined as "a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service".  Temporary means that there is a definite start and end date.  Unique means that there is something about the product or service that is slightly different than other similar products or services. 

Project Management is applying the knowledge, tools and techniques of project management to ensure that stakeholders' (customers) needs and expectations are met.  Not only does it mean managing expectations, it also means managing the budget, constraints, issues, risks, time, resources and quality of the service or product being delivered. 

When first determining that a project should be undertaken, there are several things that must be taken into consideration: 

• Who is impacted by this project?
• When does the project have to be complete?
• Are the resources available to work on the project?  --
• people, money, material, hardware, software, etc.
• What happens if we do the project?
• What happens if we don't do the project?
• What activities have to take place before other activities can be done?
• How is all the information going to be collected and distributed to the appropriate people?
• Does this project support our strategic goals?

Sometimes it's simpler to take a piece of paper and write out the answers to all the questions we have, such as those listed above.  We call this a scope document. 

A scope document lets us document why we are doing the project, exactly what we plan to do and not do, who will and won't be impacted, how much money we expect to spend, who we project as needing to work on the project to help make it successful, what things could happen to cause it to fail, and if those things happen what we should do. 

Putting all this information together, helps to provide a clear, concise plan of what we are trying to accomplish.  It helps to give us a roadmap to know which path we should take, and helps keep us from straying off the given path.  Doing things that are not documented as part of the scope is called scope creep. 

Scope creep can easily cause a project to fail.  Too many times during project implementation, we catch ourselves performing tasks or providing features that we didn't originally plan to provide.  That's not to say that these tasks or features should not be provided.  It just means that we need to document what the changes should be, and we need to consider how these changes will impact the project.  To document these changes, we need to complete a change request. 

A change request allows the team and stakeholders an opportunity to discuss what the suggested changes are, and to determine whether or not it is feasible to include these changes as part of  the original project.  This is important because changing the scope of the project can lead to longer implementation times, additional financial costs, and a reduction in the quality of the product or service being provided.  It will also provide a means of communication back to management so they can be involved in the decision-making process, and can be made aware of how the change will impact the project roll-out.

Once the scope document has been completed, a project team is normally established and the objective of the project is discussed with the team.  During this time, roles and responsibilities of the team members are discussed, and a communications plan is established.  It is important that the team understand what is expected from them while working on the project. 

Communication is key to the success of the project.  A communications plan helps to define who will be communicating to the team, how often they will communicate,  what type of information will be communicated, and how the information will be distributed.  It is better to over communicate than to under communicate!!! 

The team should then work together to put together a timeline, known as a project schedule.  The project schedule lists what tasks need to be completed, who is assigned to complete the tasks, and when the tasks are expected to be finished.  It is important that the tasks being performed on the project are identified in the schedule and that schedule changes are reflected accordingly. 

All projects teams should meet regularly (as defined in the communications plan), and all meetings should have a formal agenda distributed prior to the meeting.  It is recommended that a scribe for each meeting be identified prior to the meeting and listed on the agenda.  During the meeting, any identified issues, action items and risks should be recorded and assigned to a team member to take responsibility for addressing.  Issues, action items, and risks from prior meetings should be items on the agenda and should be addressed accordingly.  Minutes from the meeting should be documented and distributed to the team within 2 days after the meeting.  Again, communication is critical to success and is especially important for those who were unable to attend the meeting.

Once the project is finished, a Sign Off document should be completed and signed by the Business Unit, Director, IT Project Director, Sponsor, and Customer.   The  sign off document officially closes the project and validates that the customer and the performing organization are in agreement that the project is completed. 

The final step in closing the project is for the team to participate in a Lessons Learned session.  Lessons learned allows the project team to identify and discuss things they have learned throughout the project implementation.  These lessons learned are valuable and can be used when implementing other, similar projects.