Project Management Essentials

Project Definition

• A project is a temporary undertaking to create a unique product or service.
• Projects address problems; poor problem definition can lead to failure.
• Projects are temporal endeavors.
• Projects aim to solve problems.

Project Management

• Project management plans, schedules, and controls project activities to achieve objectives.
• Key objectives include performance, cost, and time targets, while controlling scope.
• Scope defines project boundaries and deliverables.
• Increasing scope leads to increased time and cost. Tight time leads to increased costs and reduced scope. Tight budgets lead to longer times and reduced scope.
• Common project failures include scope creep, inadequate requirements gathering, unrealistic planning, and resource shortages.
• Project scope is a way to set boundaries on your project and define exactly what goals, deadlines, and project deliverables you'll be working towards.

Project Life Cycle

• A project progresses through distinct stages from start to finish.
• The stages are initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closure.
• The project life cycle is a series of stages.

Project Backlog

• A project backlog is a prioritized list of project tasks or requirements, evolving over time.
• It encompasses features, bugs, and tasks.
• The backlog helps to organize, prioritize, and manage work throughout the project lifecycle.
• It is constantly updated based on priorities.

Visual Project Management Tools

• Gantt charts are visual tools depicting tasks on a timeline.
• They show task start and end dates, duration, and dependencies.
• Gantt charts aid in progress tracking and schedule management.
• Prototypes are early models of a product, used for testing ideas and gathering feedback before full-scale production.
• Prototypes help in identifying issues and refining concepts early on.
• Constraints are project restrictions, such as risk, cost, and time.

Project Management Process

• Establish PM infrastructure: Define resources, roles, and governance structure.
• Project definition: Finalize objectives, scope, and implementation approaches.
• Project plan: Create a detailed work plan.
• Project management and control: Implement controls (budget, risk management, team management, quality, risk reviews).
• Project close: Document project closure, complete reports, and discuss lessons learned.

Project Management Steps

• Define the problem: Understand the client's needs and desired outcomes.
• Develop solution options: Identify alternative solutions, evaluate costs, and brainstorm.
• Plan the project: Determine tasks, responsibilities, resources, and deadlines.
• Execute the plan: Implement the project plan.
• Monitor and control progress: Track progress, identify problems, and adapt the plan if necessary.
• Close the project: Formalize project completion and document lessons learned.
• Define the problem: What client need is being satisfied by the project? It helps to visualize the desired end result.
• Develop solution options: How many different ways might you go about solving the problem? Is it more or less costly than other alternatives? Brainstorm solution alternatives.
• Plan the project: Planning is answering questions. What must be done, by whom, how, for how much, when, etc…?
• Execute the plan: Implement the plan after being drafted. People sometimes go to great effort to put together a plan but fail to follow it.
• Monitor and control progress: The plan has to be monitored for it to succeed. As a manager you have to control, solve the problems and if it isn’t possible, modify the plan.
• Close the project: The project is finished, and you should think about the things that could be done better.

Agile Methodology - Scrum

• Scrum is a project management methodology, used for managing teams.
• Key Characteristics:
  • Self-organized teams
  • Time-boxed iterations (sprints) lasting 1-4 weeks, including Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Execution, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective.
  • Designated roles: Product owner, Scrum master, and team members
  • Organized by sprint planning, sprint review, sprint retrospective, and daily Scrum meetings.
  • Key elements: Product backlog, sprint backlog
  • Scrum has been used by many organizations.

Project Management Tools and Boards

• Agile project management, like Scrum or Kanban, is supported by boards.
• Open project agile boards track tasks, features, risks, etc.
• Boards consist of lists (columns) and cards (work packages).