Custom Solutions
Project Management Best Practices
Bob Dunn, Brett Gordon, Tim Richard
Agenda
• Project Management – Fact or Fiction
• The Top 5 Facts about Managing Projects
– Breaking Down the Project Phases
• Best Practice Summary
• Open Discussion – Real Life Solutions
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Fact or Fiction?
Successful
projects require a
dedicated Project
Manager who will
own the project?
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Fact or Fiction?
Answer: Fiction
Successful projects require
buy-in and ownership
from all applicable levels
Assign a Project Team
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Fact or Fiction?
Projects are easy
to manage if you
have a designated
Project Team?
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Fact or Fiction?
Answer: Fiction
Project success is directly
tied to having the right
people assigned to the
Project Team.
Assign the right team.
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Fact or Fiction?
Having the right
Project Team
assures success?
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Fact or Fiction?
Answer: Fiction
Having the right team is just a
start. You have to have solid
communication and organization
Stay organized and establish
timelines
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Fact or Fiction?
Setting
deadlines is
critical to project
success?
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Fact or Fiction?
Answer: Fiction
Managing perceptions
and setting “realistic”
deadlines is the key to
project success
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The Top 5 Facts about Managing Projects
1. Successful Projects require buy in from all levels,
including upper management
2. Project Requirements/Expectations need to be clearly
defined from the very beginning
3. Formal Discovery is “not” optional, it is required
4. Documentation is Key
5. You cannot have too much Communication
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Breaking Down the Facts
Upper
Successful Projects
Mgt.
require buy in from
all levels
Vendor
Planning Phase
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IT
Project
End
Users
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Breaking Down the Facts
Project
Requirements and
Expectations need
to be clearly
defined
Pre-Discovery
Phase
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Require and obtain a Solution Requirements
Document
Define Project Team
Perform Pre-Discovery to discuss requirements
Create a Statement of Work with budget
estimates
Obtain budget approval
Discuss and agree on realistic project
expectations
Discuss and set realistic Timelines
Schedule Formal Discovery
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Breaking Down the Facts
•
Formal Discovery
is “not” optional,
it is required
Discovery Phase
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•
Schedule appropriate discovery time based on
the Pre-Discovery Phase outcome
Perform formal solution discovery
– Tag Team discovery by having two OnBase
experts
• One leads the discovery and the other
documents requirements
•
Review “As Is” process
– Identify and document bottlenecks, issues, and
concerns
•
Review “To Be” process
– Identify and document requirements, gaps, and
assumptions
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Breaking Down the Facts
Documentation
is Key
Discovery Phase
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• Create a detailed Functional Design
Document defining the “to Be” solution
you are proposing
• Create a Statement of Work that
includes requirements, expectations,
assumptions, and a breakdown of
project costs
• Obtain sign-off of documentation prior
to development
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Breaking Down the Facts
•
Build to
Specifications
Deployment
Phase
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•
•
•
•
•
•
Develop the solution per the signed
documentation – do not stray from it
Build a “Proof of Concept” of the solution and
present it for approval
Prepare Use Cases for Testing and Training
purposes
Train the defined UAT Group
Require UA testers to document issues in an
“Open Issues” spreadsheet during UAT
Utilize a formal Change Order process for
managing change requests that fall outside the
project scope
Require formal sign-off prior to pushing the
solution into production
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Breaking Down the Facts
Transition to
Support Mode
PostDeployment
Phase
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• Make sure all Functional Documentation
is up to date and reflects the final
developed solution
• Hold a formal transition meeting with
the OnBase Administration team if you
are not that person
– Include the Vendor if they developed the
solution
– Transition the project from “Active” to
“Support Mode”
– Close out the project
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Best Practices Summary
• Planning Phase – Buy-in is not optional, it is
required
• Pre-Discovery Phase – Don’t Ignore it
• Discovery Phase – Most critical phase
• Deployment Phase – Stick to the plan
• Post Deployment – Complete the transition
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Open Discussion
Real Life Solutions
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Open Discussion
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