Project Management Principles and Practices University of Alberta

Project Management Principles and Practices University of Alberta Technology Training Center Developed by Priscilla Bahrey, PMP

Overview The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of Project Management – the principles and practices to help you to manage a project or to participate more effectively as part of a project team. This training guide covers related Project Management principles related to planning and executing a project, managing people and resources, connecting with stakeholders, maintaining and managing scope, budget and timelines.

Training Objectives: By the end of this Project Management Practices and Principles course, you will have an understanding of how to: • plan and execute a project • manage people and resources • connect with stakeholders • maintain and manage scope, budget and timelines

Agenda for 3 Days Section 1: Introduction Section 2: Initiating (Definition) Section 3: Planning Section 4: Executing Section 5: Monitoring & Controlling Section 6: Closing

Introductions • What is your Project Management Experience? • What types of projects will you be involved in? • What would you like to get out of the course?

Reference Material Project Management Idiot’s Guides As easy as it Gets! Sixth Edition

Unit 1: Introduction This unit will cover: • Project Successes/Failures • What is Project Management? • Project Management Knowledge Areas • Project Life Cycle

What is a Project? Project • A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result —PMBOK® “PMBOK” is a trademark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

Activity Why do projects fail? (Discuss what you have seen in your assigned teams)

Reasons for Project Failure 1. Poor project and program management discipline 2. Lack of executive-level support 3. No linkage to the business strategy 4. Wrong team members 5. No measures for evaluating the success of the project 6. No risk management 7. Inability to manage change

Project Management Project management • The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements —PMBOK®

PM Knowledge Areas 1. Integration Management 2. Scope Management 3. Time Management 4. Cost Management 5. Quality Management 6. Human Resource Management 7. Communication Management 8. Risk Management 9. Procurement Management 10. Stakeholder Management

Project Success Criteria • On time • Within budget • Satisfied Stakeholders

Project Priorities

Project Constraints: • Time • Cost • Scope • Resources (People) • Quality • Risk (Real world) • (Facilities and equipment, Computer Infrastructure, Physical Location etc. )

The Triple Constraint Time (Schedule) Cost (Budget) Scope (Work to be done)

Project Life Cycle

Initiating Phase • Initiate the Project • Identify the Project Manager • Develop the Project Charter • Identify the Stakeholders • Define Planning Phase • Sign off on the Project Charter

Planning Phase • Develop a Project Plan (work plan) • Organize and staff the project • Sign off on the Project Plan

Executing, Monitoring and Controlling Phase • Execute the Project Plan • Manage the Project Plan • Implement the project’s results • Sign off on project’s completion

Closing Phase • Document the Lessons Learned during the project • Post-implementation review • Provide performance feedback • Close-out contracts • Complete administrative close-out • Final project report

Discussion Discuss the rationale for the Phases of a Project and the consequence of rushing into the Planning phase too soon

Unit 1 Review What is Project Management? Key Functional Areas Project life cycle

Unit 2: Initiating (Definition) This unit will cover: • How Projects are selected • How Projects are defined and approved • How to identify and manage Stakeholders

How Projects are selected

Business Case: • Reasons why the project is undertaken • Options that were considered • Benefits that are hoped to be realized • High-level risks • High-level costs & schedule • Cost/benefit analysis Feasibility Study: • A general estimate used to determine whether a particular project should be pursued

Business Goals & Objectives The Project Manager must understand: • Goals (the need for the project and the measurable benefits) • Scope • Time to complete • Estimates of timeline, resource requirements and costs

SMART objectives S – Specific M – Measurable A – Agreed upon R – Realistic T – Time-bound

Activity Using the Case Study: 1) Define a Service that you will showcase 2) Create a SMART Project Objective for the project - S – Specific M – Measurable A – Agreed upon R – Realistic T – Time-bound

Project Charter • Purpose statement (Project Objectives) • Scope statement (In/Out) • Project approval requirements • Benefits and risks • High-level cost and schedule estimates • Sign-off (approval to move to planning)

Statement of Work (SOW) • Purpose statement • Project scope • Project deliverables • Goals & objectives • High-level cost and schedule estimates • Stakeholders • Benefits and risks • Assumptions and constraints • User acceptance criteria

Discussion What is the rationale for getting Approval or sign-off on the project and what are the consequences of not getting approval to proceed?

Estimating costs

Activity • Create a Project Charter for the case study • Scope (in/out) • Project Deliverables • Success Criteria • Assumptions and Constraints • High-level Cost and Schedule and Risks • Determine who would sign-off

Stakeholder Management PMI defines Stakeholders as: “An individual, group or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity or outcome of the project”.

Stakeholder Management Step 1) Identify Stakeholders Step 2) Determine Key Stakeholders Step 3) Determine how to Communicate (and manage conflicts) with Stakeholders

Project Sponsor • Shares responsibility for project success • Has authority to make decisions and may provide funding • Overcomes political and organizational obstacles

The Customer/User • Uses the product or services • May be internal or external • Provides requirements • May have multiple categories or roles

Steering Committee • Group of stakeholders who approve and agree on: • • • Project scope Schedule Budgets Plans Changes

Working Committee • Line managers who are responsible for delivering business results once the project is completed

Functional Managers • May manage or supply people that work on the team • Need to be communicated with • Need their commitment to the project

Input from Stakeholders

Activity Identify Stakeholders from the Case Study Determine who are the Key Stakeholders Define the Key Stakeholders’ responsibilities/goals/concerns/success criteria

Discussion Discuss the importance of knowing who the Key Stakeholders are and the consequence of not communicating with them effectively

What is the role of the Project Manager? • Ultimately responsible for project success • Plans the project • Maintains focus on the project’s objective • Leads and manages the Project Team

Discussion What characteristics/skills/competencies are required to be a good Project Manager?

Seven Traits of Good Project Managers Trait 1: Enthusiasm for the project Trait 2: Ability to manage change effectively Trait 3: A tolerant attitude toward ambiguity Trait 4: Team building and negotiating skills Trait 5: A customer-first orientation Trait 6: Adherence to the priorities of business Trait 7: Knowledge of the industry or technology

Project Leadership Gain consensus on Project Outcomes Build the best team you can Develop a plan and keep it up to date Remember that people count Gain the support of Management and Key Stakeholders Keep others informed of what you are doing

Discussion What can the Project Manager do to gain consensus and buy-in on project objectives? How can you build synergy on the project team? (What is your team is a virtual team? )

Activity Establish Ground Rules for a Project Team (Brainstorm Ground Rules that would be appropriate for this 3 -Day Project Management Course)

Unit 2 Review • Project definition • Business case • Project Charter • Stakeholder identification • Project Leadership

Unit 3: Planning This unit will cover planning: • Scope (WBS) • Schedule (Network Diagram) • Cost (Project Budget) • Responsibility Allocation (RAM)

Project Planning 1) Scope (Work Breakdown Structure) 2) Schedule (Network Diagram) 3) Cost (Budget) 2 Time 3 Cost Scope 1

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) The WBS is defined by PMI as, "a deliverable-oriented grouping of project elements that organizes and defines the total work scope of the project…. ”

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) • Breaks the large project into manageable units • Defines the total scope of the project • Starts with the deliverables • Shows work packages (tasks or activities) • Allows you to organize work to then be scheduled • Allows you to be able to assign work to team members and identify resources needed • Communicates all the work that needs to be done

To create a WBS 1. Break work into independent work packages that can be sequenced, assigned, scheduled and monitored 2. Define the work package at the appropriate level of detail 3. Integrate the work packages into a total system 4. Present in a format easily communicated to people 5. Verify that the work packages will meet the goals and objectives of the project

Work Packages • Way of managing the project by breaking it down • Help determine skills required and amount of resources needed • Communicate work that needs to be done • Work sequences are identified and understood

Activity Create a WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) List all work packages required for the Case Study on yellow sticky notes (Start with Deliverables)

Discussion Discuss the importance of defining the “what” we will do in the WBS before moving to the “how” in building the schedule?

Dilbert’s Scheduling

WBS and Network Diagram WBS: what needs to be done Network Diagram: how the work will be done (the workflow)

Scheduling 1. Establish scheduling assumptions 2. Estimate the resources, effort and duration • Effort – time that it takes to work on the activity • Duration – the time to complete the activity 3. Determine calendar dates for activities 4. Adjust individual resource assignments 5. Chart final schedule

Estimating Time • Have the people who are doing the work provide the estimates • Get an expert’s estimate • Find a similar task • Look for relationship between activity and time (parametric estimate) • Educated guess

PERT Estimating PERT – Program Evaluation Review Technique (Uses 3 time estimates to determine most probable) Optimistic estimate (O) Most likely (ML) Pessimistic estimate (P) PERT = [O + 4(ML) +P] / 6

Contingency Padding Estimates = Poor Estimates • Add contingency as an activity • (Contingency is typically 10 -15% of the base budget)

Activity List all Activities on Network Diagram Sticky Notes and determine their Duration (Start with Work Packages)

Network Diagrams • Logical representations of scheduled project activities • Define the sequence of work in a project • Drawn from left to right • Reflect the chronological order of the activities

Precedence • Precedence defines the sequencing order • How work elements are related to one another in the plan • Many activities can be done in parallel or at the same time (if resources are available)

How to create a Network Diagram: • Create an Activity for each task • Lines connect activities to one another • Activities are laid out horizontal from left to right • Parallel activities are in the same column • Precedence is shown by drawing lines from activity to activity • One activity may depend on the completion of multiple other activities

Sample Network Diagram

Lead and Lag • Lead – amount of time that precedes the start of work on another activity • Lag – amount of time after one activity is started or finished before the next activity can be started or finished

Critical Path • The longest path (the sequence of tasks that forms the longest duration) • The shortest time that you can complete your project Float • Amount of time that an activity may be delayed from its earliest possible start date without delaying the project finish date • Latest possible finish date – earliest possible start – duration = total float

Gantt Chart

Normalizing the Schedule • Assign people to the schedule • Start with the critical path first • Non-critical tasks second

Loading and Leveling Resource Load – the amount of work that is assigned to a resource Resource Leveling – redistribution to even out the distribution of work across all resources

Scheduling Tips • Ensure that learning time is identified • Ensure that administration time is included • Be aware that resources seldom work 100% of the time on one project

Activity Create a Network Diagram for the Case Study • Order all Activities on Network Diagram (relationships and dependencies) • Do a forward pass to determine the project length • (Input + Duration = Output) • Mark the Critical Path in red

Discussion Discuss the importance of knowing the critical path and how that helps the project manager make decisions

Budgeting Budget = People + Resources + Time

Classic Budgeting Mistakes • Giving a number too soon • Before WBS • Not considering risk • Not evaluating experience and skill of resources

Budgeting Levels • Rough Order of Magnitude • Definitive Estimate

Direct & Indirect Costs Direct costs (Directly attributed to the project) • • Labor Supplies & raw materials Equipment Travel Legal Fees Training Marketing/advertising

Indirect Costs Indirect costs (Shared amongst other projects) • Facilities • Site-specific requirements • Management & administrative overhead

Types of Budgeting • Bottom-Up • Top-Down • Phased

Contingency Reserve • 10 -15% of budget is normal • Don’t pad but manage the contingency PMI Library article “Change Budget- One Key to Never Padding Estimates Again” by Neal S. Gray, Keane Inc.

Activity Create a Budget for the Case Study Direct and Indirect costs (Materials, Supplies, Labour costs, Marketing, Printing etc. )

Getting the Project Plan Approved • Review the plan with key stakeholders • Project Plan must be approved • Must get Sign-off to get from Plan to Action

Risk Management Project risk is defined by PMI as, "an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on a project's objectives. "

Risk Management Step 1) Identify Risks Step 2) Prioritize Risks (Qualitative Analysis) Step 3) Develop Risk Management Strategies

Risk Categories • • Funding Time Staffing Customer relations Project size and/or complexity Overall structure Organizational resistance External factors

Risk Analysis Qualitative Analysis = Probability x Impact • Probability (Likelihood) • Impact (Consequence)

Risk Response Plans (Strategies) Threats: Opportunities: Avoid Exploit Mitigate Share Transfer Enhance Accept

Risk Track and Control Risk Register • Review and update regularly • Assign ownership to risk

Activity 1) Identify 10 Risks for Case Study Project 7 threats/3 opportunities 2) Rank the Risks (Px. I) 3) Develop Risk Response Strategies 3 threats and 3 opportunities (for highest ranked risks from Px. I)

Discussion Discuss the value of Risk Management and the consequence of not identifying risks

Project Team Need to let the team members know: • The reason they are on the team, and what they have to offer • Their Roles and Responsibilities • Standards that they will be held accountable to

Responsibility Assignment Matrix RASIC Chart Activity PS PM BA Tech Test User SOW A R S I I I Scope Doc A A R C C S Design Doc A A S R C I Test Plan A S C R C Training Plan A R C S R – Responsible A – Approves S – Supports I – Inform C – Consult

Building a team • What kinds of experience do you need? • What kind of competency do they have? • What is their availability? • Do they have a personal interest in the outcome of the project? • Will they work well in a team environment?

Staffing Alternatives • Use your own staff & people from your department • Staff from other departments • Contract with consultants, outside agencies, or temporary agencies • Hire and train new staff

Dealing with Staffing Challenges • Do the best you can with the people you have, and document problems and results. • If they do not have enough skills, and training takes too long, consider contracting. • Compromise and negotiate for the team members you really need.

Activity Using the Case Study, create a RAM (Responsibility Assignment Matrix) using any legend you wish (e. g. RACI, RASIC, PBRIS) Deliverable Person/Role Activity 1 R Activity 2 A C R I

Unit 3 Review WBS Network Diagrams Scheduling Budgeting Risk RAM Sign off on Project Plan

Unit 4: Execution In this unit, you will learn: • Operating Guidelines • Communication

Operating Guidelines • Reporting Project Status • Change Management • Decision making • Managing the team

Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle

Discussion Discuss how the role of the Project Manager changes in the Execution phase?

Communication

Communication Plan Who? Right point of contact What? Information to be communicated How? Method of communication (Format) How Often? Frequency of communication

Sample Communication Plan Develop a communication plan from the case study From Information Schedule Means of Stakeholder This person or group Project Sponsor Required Whom (Sender) of Delivery needs this information from this person or group on this schedule delivered by Status Report Project Manager Bi-weekly E-mail Format Start Date End Date in this format starting this date and ending this date Report Jan. 15 June 31 Comments Enter additional information here Summary of accomplishments for this period, plans for next period, issues barriers, overall project status

Adapt your communication style based on: • Macro and Micro Barriers • Geography, language, culture • Attitudes • Jargon and Acronyms • Stakeholder preferences

Effective Messages • Draft the message and edit • Consider audience’s expectations, actions required, and your expectations after the message is delivered • Justify the choice of delivery method • Identify the issue, context or opportunity of interest first • Make required actions clear and specific • Be concise

Activity Create a Communication Plan for the Case Study • Choose 4 Stakeholders (from Stakeholder Identification Activity) • What do they need to know (Nature of Communication) • How will you will communicate with them (Method) • How often you will need to communicate with them (Frequency) From To Nature of Method Communication Frequency

Discussion What is the value of a Communication Plan and what are the consequences of not communicating effectively with Stakeholders?

Unit 4 Review Operating Guidelines PDCA Communication

Unit 5: Monitoring and Controlling In this unit, you will learn: • What to Monitor and Control • Earned Value • Change Management • Quality

Monitoring and Controlling

Discussion What does it mean to Monitor and Control the project?

What to Monitor? • Completion of work packages compared to plan • Scope of work • Quality of work • Costs and expenditures • Attitudes and cohesiveness of team

Purpose of Monitoring • Communicate project status and changes to Project Team • Manage expectations of Stakeholders • Provide justification for project adjustments • Document current project plans compared to original

Monitoring Project Performance BAC Actual cost PV EV $ Time

Earned Value EV= Earned Value (Value of work completed) PV= Planned Value (Value of work as planned) AC= Actual Costs (Costs billed to the project) Reporting on Variances: • Schedule Variance (SV=EV-PV) • Schedule Performance Index (SPI=EV/PV) • Cost Variance (CV=EV-AC) • Cost Performance Index (CPI=EV/AC)

Reporting Cost and Time Progress Status Forecast

Using a Gantt chart to report progress

Controlling • Use the project plan as a guide • Monitor and update plan regularly • Adapt project schedule, budget and work plan as needed • Document progress and changes, communicate them to the team • Communicate actions taken to Key Stakeholders

How to Control? Techniques to compress the schedule: Crashing • Focused on critical path • Generate multiple alternatives • Add additional resources to the project Fast tracking • Overlap sequential activities

Activity How will the Case Study project be monitored? • What will be reviewed and how often?

Change Management Plan The only way to maintain and manage scope! • Roles involved in managing change • Change Authority (Sponsor, Change Control Board, PM) • Process flow diagram for change management • All changes are documented and communicated (both approved and rejected changes) • Control documents • • Change Control Log Issues Log

Sample Change Control Process No Change? Good idea? Yes Impact plan or risk? Yes Define impact No Prepare change order To issues list No Change approved? Yes Amend plan Make the change 3 -20

Sample Change Control Log 3 -21

How to respond to Approved Change • Update the original baseline for approved Project Scope changes to continue to report Project Status (Scope/Time/Cost) • Update the original plan to reflect the approved change • Communicate the change to all Stakeholders to manage stakeholder expectations (no surprises) 3 -22

Activity A change is requested by the Project Sponsor. What is the impact of delivering the event 2 weeks sooner to coincide with another similar event? • In your groups, perform a Change Impact Assessment in the Change Request Form (Tip: Consider the impact of making the change in terms of time/cost/scope and the impact of not making the change as well as any additional risks)

Quality Management Project quality is defined by PMI as the “degree to which a set of inherent characteristics (of the finished product) fulfills requirements. "

Quality • Quality Planning • Development of criteria or metrics • Quality Control: • Measuring results • Quality Assurance: • Assuring conformance to requirements 3 -22

Discussion What activities would you do on the Case Study Project to verify and validate Quality?

Unit 5 Review What to Monitor How to Control Earned Value Analysis Change Management Managing Stakeholder Expectations Quality

Unit 6: Closing This unit will cover: • Closing the project • Lessons learned • Post-Implementation Review • Final Report

Closing

Closing the Project • Final approval from stakeholders • Finalize contractual commitments • Transfer responsibilities to others • Reassign people in the project • Release non-human resources • Complete final accounting • Document results and recommendations for the future

Post-Implementation Review • Meeting with Project Team and Sponsor • (After celebration but before forgotten) • Did the Project accomplish the Objective as stated in the Charter?

Activity How would the Case Study project be closed out? What type of post-implementation review would you do and when?

Discussion Celebrate the success of the Project • Why is celebrating success and acknowledging people’s performance on the Project so important?

Final Report • Overview of project • Major accomplishments • Achievements compared to Business Case objectives • Final Financial accounting • Analysis of Quality against expectations/requirements • Evaluation of administration and management performance • Team’s Performance/Special acknowledgments • Changes (approved and impact of changes) • Issues or tasks of further investigation • Recommendations for future projects • Post-implementation date

Lessons Learned Focus areas • Project Management, Communications, Schedule & Budget, Training, Quality, Issues, Human Resources, Administration • What went well? • What didn’t? • What should be improved? • How? • Anything else?

Discussion Why document Lessons Learned on the project?

Activity • In your teams, conduct a Lessons Learned based on your team performance over the past 3 days: • What did you do well in your teams? • What could you have done better? • What advice would you give to a team about to embark on a similar project (planning an event)?

Common Problems on Projects • Start date moves but end date doesn’t • Not enough time • Changes, changes • Key person quits or is unavailable • Team has more enthusiasm than talent • People are always 90% done • Politics

Activity Put Learning into Action: Each team identifies Strategies (to address the reasons that projects fail)

Unit 6 Review Final Report Administrative Details Lessons Learned Celebrating Project Success

Review of 3 Days Section 1: Introduction Section 2: Initiating (Definition) Section 3: Planning Section 4: Executing Section 5: Monitoring & Controlling Section 6: Closing