Project Management Basics Module 5 PDF

PROJECT MANAGEMENT BASICS MODULE 5 Module Overview Discuss and understand the project life cycle: Execution and production Monitoring and control 2 EXECUTION This phase is when the actual doing takes place. The major objective is to keep the pr...

PROJECT MANAGEMENT BASICS MODULE 5 Module Overview Discuss and understand the project life cycle: Execution and production Monitoring and control 2 EXECUTION This phase is when the actual doing takes place. The major objective is to keep the project on track after it has been launched and do what the plan calls for. Leaders work with the project team and need to make sure they are meeting the quality requirements and deadlines within the timeline agreed upon, while judiciously using the resources allocated to the project. The concept and plan are acted on and some of the most important activities during this phase include Leading and managing the team Meeting with the team members Communicating with stakeholders 3 EXECUTION Communication is key and one of the key reasons projects fail. Effective communications must occur with all stakeholders, including project sponsors, vendors, users, and financial units. Making sure that supplies are received on time is essential, but quality issues must be communicated and corrected immediately as well. Another common issue involves delays communicating future needs, so lead times are insufficient and what is needed arrives late, causing delays or additional costs as expediting fees are assessed and added. 4 EXECUTION While often undesirable, conflict is to be expected during project management. It is best to avoid any kind of dysfunctional conflict that can derail the successful work of the project, but when it occurs, it must be resolved promptly and effectively. Unresolved conflict generates resentment and can lead to poor performance, lack of cooperation among those involved, and absenteeism and excessive turnover. The PM is the person responsible for managing project team dynamics and resolving them. It must be remembered, however, that dysfunctional conflict is often the result of poor planning and expectations setting, and delays addressing the early signs of disagreements. When problems are left unresolved, the problems seldom go away. In fact, they usually fester, grow larger, and costlier. 5 EXECUTION Another element of effective project management is obtaining necessary resources when needed. Delays or inadequate substitution can be very damaging to the successful completion of the project and often occur when conditions are unexpected and there is a rush to address them. Performing a project risk assessment, identifying control points, and contingencies will go a long way toward avoiding or properly addressing these issues. Progress reports that include relevant KPIs are a great tool to identify issues promptly and monitor their remediation. 6 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 7 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT There are many individual functions hat are required to deliver a successful project. The business has to define the requirements, the application developers have to deliver the code, the quality assurance group and testers have to validate the code, and the infrastructure groups have to support the application. People with various skill sets may be assigned to a project team. Project assignments may be full or part time. Team members may be transferred or matrixed to the project team. The challenge for the project manager here is making sure that: Appropriate governance is in place. Right resources, such as money, people, and facilities are available at the right time. The project has a work breakdown structure that is sufficiently detailed to carry out. Project tasks are prioritized to prevent interference with other projects’ due dates. Deliverables are produced successfully and in a timely fashion. Management is being communicated with and sufficiently involved. The end user is involved and takes delivery of the agreed-to-project results. 8 OVERSIGHT AND TRACKING 9 OVERSIGHT AND TRACKING O&T helps ensure that a project lives up to its commitments. As with anything, the best laid plans can fail due to poor execution. Controls need to be put in place to identify projects that are running astray. O&T during all phases of the development process helps ensure that standard processes (or requirements) are followed, and control is maintained. O&T continues after the project is implemented to ensure that all business benefits promised when the project was approved are realized as well as ongoing costs stay in line with the original estimates. The objective of O&T is to provide adequate visibility into actual progress so that management can take effective actions when the project’s performance deviates significantly from the plans. These requirements must be documented and controlled. 10 OVERSIGHT AND TRACKING (SAMPLE) 11 OVERSIGHT AND TRACKING (SAMPLE) 12 PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS 13 PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS Effective project management requires the use of stand-alone and enterprise-wide project management tools. For enterprise-wide project development and tracking, for example, there are several functions that can be automated and integrated like: Project task planning and tracking Resource and time tracking Labor hour tracking Time capture and billing Time reporting Project budgeting Project communication Project documentation 14 PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS Enterprise-wide project management tools allow for tracking people working on multiple projects and aid in identifying cross-project dependencies and issues. They also integrate tasks, resources, and costs into a single repository. If management has decided to use time and measurement tools, such as Critical Path Method (CPM), Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT), or Gantt charts, then the auditor, for instance, must ensure that these tools are used according to the management’s specifications. The use of one of these tools can help management or the auditor with time management for the entire project. The auditor can also use these tools to help get recommendations through and show management how much time is needed to implement recommended controls. Additional project management tools are task sheets, which are used to allocate time (actual versus forecasted), assign personnel, and log the completion date and cost. In this way, the auditor and management can obtain a more detailed account of the time and money spent on a project and can track what is being worked on and what is finished. Future projects benefit most from these task sheets because management can base future project estimates on a history of times and costs. 15 PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS The complexity of today’s projects virtually requires the use of tools such as Microsoft Project and Deltek’s Open Plan. For example, Microsoft Project provides a flexible tool designed to help project managers handle a full range of projects. The project manager can schedule and closely track all tasks, as well as use Microsoft Project Central, the Web-based companion to Microsoft Project, to exchange project information with the project team and senior management. Some of the main benefits and features of Microsoft Project include: Personal Gantt chart. Renders Gantt views such as those in Microsoft Project to outline each team member’s own tasks across multiple projects. Task delegation. Once assigned by the project manager, tasks may be delegated from team leaders to team members or from peer to peer. The delegation feature can also be disabled if desired. View nonworking time. Team members can report nonworking time to the project manager, such as vacation or sick leave, and also report work time that cannot be devoted to the project. Database performance. Gets improved performance and access to data with changes to the Microsoft Project database. Network diagram. Customizes network diagrams with new filtering and layout options, increased formatting features, and enhanced box styles. 16 PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS Another project management tool is Deltek’s Open Plan, which allows the project manager to closely monitor and evaluate a project’s priorities, risks and status from initiation to completion. Open Plan is an enterprise project management system that substantially improves an organization’s ability to complete multiple projects on time and on budget. With multi-project analysis, critical path planning, and resource management, Open Plan offers the power and flexibility to serve the differing needs of businesses, resources, and project managers. 17 QUESTIONS? 18 THANK YOU! See you on our next class 19