Project Management Pocket Skills Guide

Pocket Skills Guide
Project Management

©Rothwell Douglas Ltd. 2017 2
Project management is essentially aimed at producing an end product that will
effect some change for the benefit of the organisation that instigated the
project.
• produce something new or altered, tangible or intangible;
• have a finite timespan: a definite start and end;
• are likely to be complex in terms of work or groups involved;
• require the management of change;
• require the management of risks.
Why do we need project management?

1. Specification
2. Time management
3. Manage client expectations
4. Projected start and end date
5. Technicalities
6. Budget and profit manageability
7. Delegation
The important factors for Project Management

Project Management - Current Challenges
Inability to achieve on time,
within the budget and quality of
the deliverables due to
unrealistic deadlines and/or
lack of control
Resource conflicts- organisations rarely have
sufficient resources to staff all projects
concurrently. As such, projects compete
against each other for resources, and people
are often assigned to several projects at the
same time. Those with special expertise of
scarce skills may be in high demand.
Misalignment between projects
and their business objectives-
Projects drift and business
objectives change and evolve.
Without redirection, projects and
deliverables end up failing to meet
expectations
Late or delayed projects- delays
reaping business benefits and
disrupting the long-term return
on investment.
Dependency conflict- most projects are
interrelated; sharing people, equipment,
resources and deliverables. These
dependencies mean that a single project
delay has a significant ripple effect on related
projects, disrupting schedules, causing
resource conflicts etc.
Little/no project communications-
lack of buy-in due to project
managers/team members not
providing enough information to
enough people, along with the lack of
an infrastructure or culture for good
communication.
No accountability- Failure to
continuously monitor and
communicate project milestones
in real time, and budget
performance, dilutes project
accountability and responsibility

Project managers need to be very good communicators

The 5 Stages of Project Management
Initiation
Planning
ImplementationReview
Closure
Taken together, these phases represent the path a project takes from
the beginning to its end, and are generally referred to as the project “life
cycle.”
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT

PHASE 1 - Initiation Phase
• The project objective or need is identified; this can be a business problem or opportunity. An
appropriate response to the need is documented in a business case with recommended solution
options. A feasibility study is conducted to investigate whether each option addresses the project
objective and a final recommended solution is determined. Issues of feasibility (“can we do the
project?”) and justification (“should we do the project?”) are addressed.
• Once the recommended solution is approved, a project is initiated to deliver the approved solution
and a project manager is appointed.
• The major deliverables and the participating work groups are identified, and the project team begins
to take shape. Approval is then sought by the project manager to move onto the detailed planning
phase.

PHASE 2 -Planning
This is where the project solution is further developed in as much detail as possible and the steps necessary to
meet the project’s objective are planned
The team need to identify:
 A quality plan – including all of the work that needs be done
 The clients criteria
 scope management - the project’s tasks and resource requirements are identified
 A project plan - outlining the activities, tasks, dependencies, and timeframes
 The project manager coordinates the preparation of a project budget by providing cost estimates for the
labour, equipment, and materials costs. The budget is used to monitor and control cost expenditures during
project implementation
Once the project team has identified the work, prepared the schedule, and estimated the costs, the three
fundamental components of the planning process are complete.
Threats & Risks
-Risk management – identify the “high-threat” potential problems
-Actions to be taken to reduce the probability that the problem will
occur or to reduce the impact on the project if it does occur
-Identify all project stakeholders and establish a communication plan
describing the information needed and the delivery method to be
used to keep the stakeholders informed

PHASE 3 - Implementation (Execution)
Status reports should always emphasize the anticipated end point
in terms of:
• Cost
• Schedule
• Quality of deliverables
Each project deliverable produced should be reviewed for quality
and measured against the acceptance criteria.
• Maintaining control and communication during implementation
• Monitor progress and make appropriate adjustments where necessary
• Have regular team meetings to ensure the project is going in the intended direction
• Highlight & record the modification plans that have taken place from the original project
plan
• Communicate with key stakeholders regarding the progress and status of the project
The project manager uses this information to maintain control over the
direction of the project by comparing the progress reports with the
project plan to measure the performance of the project activities and take
corrective action as needed.

• The project closure & review phase is where the organisation implements the change into
business as usual and determines that the intended benefits of the project have been met.
Identified improvements to the PMM process, benefits realisation or project outputs are
captured in a lesson learned log for future projects.
• After project tasks are completed and the client has approved the outcome, an evaluation is
necessary to highlight project success and/or learn from project history.
• Projects and project management processes vary from industry to industry; however, these are
more traditional elements of a project. The overarching goal is typically to offer a product,
change a process or to solve a problem in order to benefit the organization.
Phase 4 & 5 – Review & Closure

Objectives & Goals
• Specific – A detailed solution
• Measurable – the beginning and end of the
project, how will you measure your success or
failures?
• Attainable – the project constraints & risk
management
• Relevant - identifying all the Stakeholders
needs
• Time Based – delivering the deadlines
C.L.E.A.R. Goals
A newer method for setting goals that takes into
consideration the environment of today’s fast-paced
businesses.
Collaborative – The goal should encourage employees
to work together.
Limited – They should be limited in scope and time to
keep it manageable.
Emotional – Goals should tap into the passion of
employees and be something they can form an
emotional connection to. This can optimize the quality
of work.
Appreciable – Break larger goals into smaller tasks that
can be quickly achieved.
Refinable – As new situations arise, be flexible and
refine goals as needed.

Project Aims Aligned with the People & New Ways of working
Organisational
level change
Projects
System Wide
frontline change
Projects
Programme
Initiation
Programme
Success
Transformation

Project management is a combination of knowledge, skills and effective processes.
However, getting people to drive the change is essential to successful
transformation.
Don’t lose sight of the people and culture!

Transforming the Experience of Work…
Releasing Potential in People
Empowering Effective Teams
Driving Innovation in Organisations
Connecting Expertise across Systems

Project Management Pocket Skills Guide

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