2. Today We Will...
• Get comfortable with “Project Management”
• All 5 phases
• Focus on planning
• Learn how to construct a Charter that prevents scope creep while identifying risks
and satisfying stakeholders
• And maybe identify what all these jargon-y words really mean
• Brainstorm our way into an excellent WBS
• Then use that to create a killer Gantt Chart
• Be comfortable with planning. And planning to plan.
3. Project Management
The art and science of managing people, money and time to produce a specific service or
product.
Basic, common sense “best practices” for getting stuff done that is all wrapped up in
specialized jargon and specific tools.
The best way to make sure you produce something that makes everyone happy - but not
a guarantee that this will happen.
4. Project Management
Phases
"Project Management (phases)" by Alphamu57 - Own work. Licensed under GFDL via Commons -
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Project_Management_(phases).png#/media/File:Project_Management_(phases).png
5. Jargon
Project
Scope
Scope creep
Stakeholders
Milestone
Risk
Issue
Deliverable
Dependencies
Constraints
PERT
Gantt
Project: Activities with defined outcome
and resources, more than 50 or so hours
(official PM definition)
Scope: The size of the project, what is
applicable and what isn’tScope Creep: The addition of activities
to the project that are out of scope
Stakeholders: People affected by
the project
Milestone: A deliverable that helps
to show that schedules are
being kept - hit milestones,
make the project
Risk: Something that could happen
to the project and should be
mitigatedIssue: Something that has
happened and needs to be dealt
with
Deliverable: Something that has
been created/altered as a result
of project processes -
documents, websites, reports,
etc.
Constraints: A limit that you need to
keep in mind - time, money,
people are most common, with
rules/regs of industry also being
popular (library privacy rules,
etc.)
PERT: Program Evaluation Review
Technique - helps to schedule
activities in a project
(mathematically)
Gantt: Helps to schedule activities
in a project (visually)
6. Brainstorming
Rules:
• No judgement zone
• Everyone gets a voice
• Have a recorder
• Make sure all ideas are visible
• Distribute ideas as soon as possible
• Take time between brainstorming and idea
deciding
Techniques:
• Mind mapping techniques
• Start with a few “starter” ideas
• Build on associations
• Butcher block paper and/or post its
• Lots and lots of people in a room doing this all at
once!
7. Project Management - Planning
• First 2 phases
• Initiation
• Plan to plan
• Planning and Design
• Document the plan
• The rest of the phases execute, monitor and close out the plan
8. Initiation - Planning to Plan
• Gather needs/assess current environment
• Determine total budget
• Determine total human resources
• Determine time available
• Identify Stakeholders
• Run through project initiation checklist
• https://www.dropbox.com/s/5d11kruoiazl05d/Project%20Initiation%20Checklist%20Template.dot?d
l=0
• Create Project Charter (output)
9. Environmental Scan
• What problem is the project solving?
• What options are available as solutions?
• What resources are available to help solve the problem?
• Time, People, Money
• What constraints are in place?
• Where is the library *now* - how far do you have to go to get to “done”?
10. Constraints
• Budget
• How much money will each solution require?
• How much money is available?
• Will fundraising need to happen?
• What stakeholders can you approach to get funding increases?
• People
• What staff skills are in place right now?
• What skills are needed?
• How many people are available for the work?
• Time
• What deadlines are externally imposed?
• How long will each solution take to put into place?
11. Stakeholders
• Who is affected by the project?
• Affected by the work being done?
• Affected by the solution chosen?
• Affected by the budget, time, people requirements?
• Affected by the end result?
• Sponsors
• Workers/Project Team
• Final users
image credit: https://openclipart.org/detail/35563/abstract-people
12. The Charter - Requirements
• Whatever you need to make your project a success…
• Scope statement
• Statement of Conditions
• Assumptions, Risks, Constraints, etc.
• Project Structure
• Waterfall? Agile? begin thinking about how to plan
• Communication plan
• Team Organization
• Who’s on the project team
• Who are the project’s sponsors?
• Who are the stakeholders that need to be considered during the work?
13. The Charter - Resources
Simple Charter - One Page
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fw4jruu6eqlrgbd/Project-Charter-Simple.doc?dl=0
Full Charter - with Table of Contents and more than you probably need
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qa37ylgt1hbkuwa/ProjectCharter.docx?dl=0
14. Planning/Design
• Figure out planning method
• Waterfall? Agile?
• Get planning team together
• Figure out scope of project
• Work out deliverables needed for project
• Create WBS from deliverables list
• Project estimates
• Budget, people, time
• PM estimating tricks
• Risk identification
• Get approval of plans to start work
15. Planning Method
• Waterfall
• Plan at the beginning through to the end (traditional)
• Agile
• Plan for 2 weeks, meet again at the end of those weeks to reassess and plan for next two weeks
• Rinse, repeat
• Agile software development
• Rolling Wave
• Cross between Waterfall and Agile
• Plan to end, but revisit occasionally to assess and change as needed
16. Planning Team
• More brains is more better
• Get as wide a cross-section of the organization as possible
• Have a defined goal for each meeting
• “Run an effective meeting”
• Agenda!
• Action Items!
• Use brainstorming techniques as well as discussions
17. Scope
• What *isn’t* appropriate for this project?
• What *exactly* are we doing here?
• Scope change forms - keep them handy for use during the execution stage
• Be ruthless!
18. Deliverables
• What will be produced as a result of this project?
• Not just end-stage results - internal project docs, too
• Plan ahead for what needs to be produced before other project activities can go
ahead
• Know what dependencies are in your project
• Critical Path Planning (helpful in project time estimates)
• Match skills to required deliverables
• People management - the hardest part of project management
20. Project Estimation
• General Estimation Tips
• Figure the resource needed, double it
• With more experience, that formula can be tweaked
• Estimating people needed
• Estimating time needed
• That Critical Path Planning thing again
• Estimating money needed
22. Risk identification
• Project Assumptions
• What if you are wrong?
• Past projects
• Documentation is vital here
• Experienced staff
• Pick their brains!
• Brainstorming
24. The rest of the process
• Execution
• Do the work laid out in the WBS/Gantt Chart
• Monitoring and Controlling
• Use the charter and other planning documents to make sure you are on time, budget and schedule
• Close Out
• Finalize documentation and file it for use in future projects (reinventing the wheel is time-
consuming!!)
• Have a party!
26. Thank You!
Robin Hastings
Director of Technology Services and Technology Consultant
Northeast Kansas Library System
robin.hastings@gmail.com
Hinweis der Redaktion
Introduction
Experience with PM in my work
Goals for today:
Identify the 5 phases of project management
Use brainstorming techniques to break down a large project into smaller components and using those to create a master plan
Understand and use basic planning documentation from project management toolkits
Articulate why planning is so important for successful projects
Wikipedia's definition of PM
My definition of PM
The odds will ever be in your favor should you choose to use the tools/techniques of project management in your future projects.
Project Management Institute produces the PMBOK (bible!). This is traditional, also have Agile PM just released a few years ago.
Activities with defined outcome and resources, more than 50 or so hours (official PM definition)
The size of the project, what is applicable and what isn’t
The addition of activities to the project that are out of scope
People affected by the project
Something that has to be done before other activities can be done
A deliverable that helps to show that schedules are being kept - hit milestones, make the project
Something that could happen to the project and should be mitigated
Something that has happened and needs to be dealt with
Something that has been created/altered as a result of project processes - documents, websites, reports, etc.
Something that must be done before other project activities can be started
A limit that you need to keep in mind - time, money, people are most common, with rules/regs of industry also being popular (library privacy rules, etc.)
Program Evaluation Review Technique - helps to schedule activities in a project (mathematically)
Helps to schedule activities in a project (visually)
Some people aren’t comfortable yelling out ideas, give out post-its so they can write down their thoughts and post them on the paper
Inputs and outputs - the Charter is both an input to the Planning and Design phase (you start it in the Initiation phase) and an output to the Execute phase which helps you do the work you've spent so much time planning.
There is no way to create a route to get somewhere if you don't know where you are to begin with!
Use Project Charter information as input into this phase - you will continue to fill it out and expand on the project plans. The finished, signed charter will be the output of this phase and the document you use to move into the Execution phase.
Another use for scope change forms - Project #2 - they can be put off. Sometimes political issues make saying no impossible - make sure the person asking understands how they will be affecting the project via the change form.
Super task-chart. For larger projects, each “activity” in the box should be about 8 hours of work. For smaller projects, those activities can be broken down more, into smaller chunks.
Visual way to identify who does what and when it’s supposed to be done.
X-Axis - Each line is an activity (from WBS)
Each color is a resource (person, department, outside vendor, etc.)
Y-Axis – timeline – lets you know when the resource should be working on the activity
Visualize dependencies, constraints, resource allocation, schedule and milestone achievements