Project Management The much neglected art of running

Project Management The much neglected art of running a project to a successful completion 15/07/2016 (C) Management Expert Academy 1

Project Definition It's a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. 1. A project is temporary in that it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources. 2. A project is unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal. So a project team often includes people who don’t usually work together – sometimes from different organizations and across multiple geographies. And all must be expertly managed to deliver on-time, onbudget results, while learning and integrate with the organization’s needs. 15/07/2016 (C) Management Expert Academy 2

Project Management: Definition Øthe application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. ØIt has always been practiced informally, but began to emerge as a distinct profession in the mid-20 th century 15/07/2016 (C) Management Expert Academy 3

Example: Internal Change Projects Owners Top management (CEO) Management Level Board Value Added Processes Step 1 Change Projects Value Added Processes Step 1 Department Level Sales/Customers Step 2 15/07/2016 Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Value Added Processes Step 3 Accounting Marketing process Change Projects Step 2 Step 1 Procurement Step 2 Operations Procurement process Step 3 Step 1 (C) Management Expert Academy Step 2 Step 3 Other Transport process Step 3 Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 4

Project Scope / Project Types 1. Change projects = achieve a certain change in an organisational process, e. g. implement a new ITsystem 2. Construction projects = can be anything from year long Joint Ventures to Buildings, developing ITsystems, road projects, fulfilling a contract for 5 years to extract oil from the underground, maintenance tasks, etc. 3. Information projects = Seek information, e. g. about vendors, customers, IT-developments, competitors – just anything you can imagine! 4. Communication = A specified communication campaign toward customers, partners or internally 5. And more …. Conclusion: Project management is an integrated part of any managers job so he must learn all about it Project management becomes increasingly important as you advance in 15/07/2016 your management career – go to the top and that is almost all you do! (C) Management Expert Academy 5

Project Lifecycle This is a formal contract between management and project manager it is called the Initiation “Project Charter” • Scope • Integration • Time • Economics • Human Resources • Quality • Riscs • Communications • Stakeholder Management 15/07/2016 Monitoring and control mechanisms Planning Execution • Opening project files, structures, documents, monitoring and control mechanisms • Develop monitoring systems • Time • Economics • Human Resources • Issue resolving mechanisms • Other results • Communications • Planning • Resolving Issues • Track economics • Track progress / Time • Develop deliverables • Progress reports • Continuously monitor • Time • Economics • Human Resources • Issue resolving mechanisms • Other results (C) Management Expert Academy Closing • Testing completeness • Handover procedures • Completeness testing • Final hand over • Closing project management • Develop learnings • Close files, documents, structures • Completion report 6

Key Points to Good Project Management Ø Initiation Ø A clear “contract” defining scope is essential Ø An early implementation of the project’s organisational structure Ø Staffing, availability and workload per staff Ø Meeting Agendas Ø Develop Inter-project communication platform Ø Planning Ø Plan for the task – do not overdo it! Ø Gantt charts are not project management just a tool Ø Make attention to issue resolving mechanisms – define issues, resolve them and get back on track Ø Be sure to raise issues that change the project scope with the stakeholder management team – otherwise you enter the scope creeping territory and you do not want that Ø Be sure to manage financials (costs and cash flows) effectively 15/07/2016 Ø Execution Ø Communication, communication Ø Track everything daily /weekly Ø Be sure to update project staff Ø Double-check all deliverables back to scope / contract and deliver in “over the target” quality Ø Project progress reports in an agreed format on time every time Ø Closing Ø Prepare for testing / handover / transfer Ø Develop training plans for handover Ø Develop final project completion report Ø Be sure to learn from experience (C) Management Expert Academy 7

Other recommendations • Because of the cross-boundary staffing structure in most projects communication platform on the web are useful • Project management packages are available on the web (charting, documents, website, chat, team communications, project tools) • As examples see Wikipedia, projectmanager. com, or twike. com or see a review on http: //www. reviews. com/project-management-software/projectmanagercom/ of 5 online project management systems (we are not associated with these) • Before you buy into this or other software like Microsoft Projects try develop your own templates on paper / excel / word so you know the tasks and know your priorities or try my template in excel that guides you through a project’s lifetime tasks • If you have many projects consider creating a Project Management Office (PMO) with professional project management staffing • Remember that project management is not only a technical discipline but also very much requires human resource and communication skills • All projects have different focus so prioritize those components of utmost importance to a successful completion. 15/07/2016 (C) Management Expert Academy 8