Introductions: Jeff
NSPE Webinar
• Project management background
Project Launch,
Launch, Audit,
and Closure
– Construction engineer
• General building and industrial
construction
– Researcher: Project management,
success and failure
– Teacher: Construction Project
Management, Constructability
• Education
–
–
–
–
Jeffrey S. Russell, P.E.
russell@engr.wisc.edu
B.S., University of Cincinnati
M.S., Purdue University
Ph.D, Purdue University
P.E.
• Personal
Wayne Pferdehirt, P.E.
– Running, eating
– Married, 5 children (3 daughters and 2
sons)
wppferde@wisc.edu
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Introductions: Wayne
Outline
• Project management background
– Director, Graduate Distance
Education Degree Programs
– Consulting engineering
• Waste reduction & mgt,
transportation, energy, water
resources
– R&D: Argonne National Laboratory
– UW-Madison: Education and
technical assistance
•
•
•
•
•
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• Education
– B.S., Carnegie-Mellon
– M.S., Northwestern
– P.E., AICP
Definition
Why important?
Project Launch
Audit
Closure
Practical advice
We invite your questions,
comments and additions
• Personal
– Running, backpacking/canoeing,
music
– Married, 3 daughters
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Project Management
Why Do You Need to be an Effective
Project Manager?
• Much of your career will be defined by a series
of projects
The application of knowledge, skills,
tools, and techniques to project
• Your ability to effectively contribute to the
success of projects will largely determine your
success with current/future employers
activities in order to meet or exceed
• Whether you manage the project or project
elements, you must understand how your
efforts contribute to the overall success of the
project
stakeholder needs and expectations
from a project.
Source: Project Management Institute (PMI)
• Effective project managers are worth their
weight in gold to employers
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What are the Key Competencies
of an Effective Project Manager?
Projects and Project Management
• Why do projects succeed?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Leadership skills
Communication skills
Technical proficiency
Financial management skills
O
Organizational
i ti
l managementt skills
kill
Ability to constructively engage in conflict
Ability to make timely decisions
Strategies for organizing and executing projects
Understanding and use of appropriate tools for
organizing, monitoring and controlling projects
• Political and cultural aptitude
– Proactivity – An Attitude
– People
p – As Humans,, Not Resources
– Planning – Comprehensive,
Thoughtful, Creative
– Positive Leadership – “Must Have”
– Problems – How the First One is
Handled
– Persistence – Past the “Finish Line”
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Importance of Project Management
Competency for Practicing Engineers
MEPP Course
Key Topics in Our Graduate-Level Course
for Practicing Engineers
Importance, as rated by
Alumni 5+ Years after
Graduation
Network Skills
6.7
Eng. Econ. Anal. & Mgt.
8.0
Tech. Proj. Mgt.
8.5
Intl. Eng.
ng. Strat. & Ops.
8.0
Eng. Prob. Solv. w Computers
8.0
Ind. Reading & Research
7.3
Eng. Appl. Of Statistics
8.0
Commun. Tech. Information
8.5
Eng. Bus. Data & Communications
7.0
Qual. Eng. & Qual. Mgt.
7.9
Source: Survey of MEPP Classes of 01, 02 and 03, conducted 2008
1.
Projects and Management
8.
Project Risk Management
2.
Project Evaluation and
Selection
9.
Project Budgeting
10. Resource Allocation and
Management
3.
Project Initiation, Scope
and Structure
4.
Contracts and Proposals
11. Project Monitoring and
Control
5.
Team Formation, Team
Management, and Project
Leadership
12. Engineering for
Sustainability Applied to
Project Management
6.
Project Planning and
Scheduling
13. Project Audits and Closure
7.
Project Network Analysis
14. Project Reports and
Presentations
Source: UW Technical Leadership Master of Engineering in Professional
Practice (MEPP) program, Technical Project Management course
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The Importance of
Good Project Initiation
Project Initiation, Scope
and Structure
• Engineers, regarding scope, usually
focus too much on what they know
versus what they do not know
• Scope growth in a project can be an
indicator of poor project definition and
stakeholder participation
• There is a difference between “doing”
and “thinking”
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Key Elements to be Addressed
in Project Charter
Project Initiation Keys
• Avoid “Linearity” – Push for Concurrency
• Accept Urgency – Permanent Condition
• Emphasize Clarity – “Boiled Down to the
ssence
Essence”
• Recognize Unknowns - Acknowledge
• Allow for Error – “In the Back Pocket”
• Think About Integration – Who and How
• Use Common Vocabulary –
Understandable Terms
•
•
•
•
•
Summary of Problem/Opportunity
Project Team
Project Goal
Project Objectives
Scope and Features
– Must-have’s
– Desirables
– Nice-to-have’s
• Project Success Criteria
• Project Constraints
• Assumptions, Risks, Obstacles
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Steps in Designing a Work
Breakdown Structure (WBS)
WBS: What Level of Detail?
“The usual mistake PMs make is to lay out too
many tasks; subdividing the major
achievements into smaller and smaller
subtasks until the work breakdown structure
(WBS) is a ‘to do’ list of one-hour chores. It’s
easy to get caught up in the idea that a project
plan
l should
h ld detail
d t il everything
thi everybody
b d iis
going to do on the project. This springs from
the screwy logic that a project manager’s job is
to walk around with a checklist of 17,432 items
and tick each item off as people complete
them….”
• WHAT
List task breakdown in progressively
finer levels
• WHO
Construct a responsibility matrix
• WHEN
Schedule milestones
The Hampton Group (1996)
• Identify problems
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Clarifying Who and What:
Linear Responsibility Chart
Structure--Three-Level WBS
1. Charity Auction
WBS level 1
WBS level 2
1.1 Event
Planning
1.2 Item
Procurement
1.1.1 Hire Auctioneer
WBS level 3
1.3 Marketing
1.4 Corporate
Sponsorships
1.2.1 Silent auction
items
1.3.1 Individual
ticket sales
1.2.2 Live auction
items
1.3.2 Advertising
1.1.2. Rent space
1.1.3 Arrange for
decorations
1.2.3 Raffle items
1.1.4 Print catalog
Project Organization
Continuum
Heath Care: Evolving
Project=Patient
Functional
Matrix
Functional
Organization
Project fully managed
by functional
managers
Organizational Evolution
Project Matrix
Balanced
Matrix
•
•
•
Project Team
g
Organization
Project fully managed by
project team manager
(
)
Patient Outcome Focused (Scorecards)
Evidence Based (Prove it - Do it)
Technology Breakouts (Electronic
Records)
Is your Organization Evolving?
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Types of Project Audits
• In-process project audits
– Allow for corrective changes if conditions
have changed and for concentration on
project progress and performance.
Project Closure
• Post-project audits
– Take a broader and longer-term view of
the project’s role in the organization and
emphasize improving the management of
future projects.
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What is a Project Audit &
Why Is It Done?
Examples of Issues that Could be
Addressed in a Project Audit
• Formal inquiry into any or all aspects
of a project
• Review why the project was selected and
update assessment
• Reassess project’s role in organization’s
priorities
• Is project team functioning well and
appropriately staffed?
• Check on external factors affecting project’s
direction and importance (e.g., regulations,
competition, technology)
• Budget and schedule: independently assess
current status and check on reasonableness of
projections at completion
• Performance of contractors
• Possible reasons:
– Routine external review of all projects
meeting certain criteria (size, risk, client,
regulations, etc.)
– Revalidate the business feasibility of the
project
– Reassure top management
– Confirm readiness to move to next
project phase
– Investigate specific problems
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Guidelines for Conducting an
Effective Project Audit
•
Must be clear to all that the audit’s goal is to improve the
project and the organization
•
•
Focus on project issues, not what specific individuals did
Senior management needs to voice clear support for audit,
and ensuring audit group has complete access to needed
personnel and data
Audit should engage
g g key
y stakeholder groups
g
p
Characteristics of Audit Leaders
1. No direct involvement or direct interest in the
project.
2. Respect (perceived as impartial and fair) of senior
management and other project stakeholders.
3. Willingness and ability to insightfully listen,
interview and see beneath the surface.
surface
4. Independence and authority to report audit results
without fear of recriminations from special
interests.
5. Perceived as having the best interests of the
organization in making decisions.
6. Broad-based experience in the organization or
industry.
– Not a witch hunt
•
– Senior managers, project manager, activity managers,
client(s), contractor(s)
•
•
•
Complete audit and disseminate results as quickly as
possible
Make project audits routine for all projects to reduce
stigma and anxiety, and to ensure they are conducted and
used
Create a culture of productive project auditing
– Project managers and team members should see that the
audits regularly make positive improvements to projects
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When to Terminate a Project
Project Audit Report
• Some questions to ask when considering
termination:
• Executive summary
• Context of audit
• Analysis
• Has project been made obsolete or less
valuable by technical advances?
• Given progress to date, and updated costs to
complete and expected value of output, is
continuation still cost-effective?
• Is it time to integrate or add the project as a
part of regular operations?
• Are there better alternative uses for the
funds, time and personnel devoted to the
project?
• Has a change in the environment (e.g.,
regulations & market) altered the need for the
project’s output?
– What do data, interviews and related
research/analysis tell us?
• Recommendations
– Action oriented
• Lessons learned
– For this and future projects
• Appendices
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Key Elements of Project
Termination/Closure
The Implementation Process
• Duties of the project closure manager:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Project
Closure
Organization
Financial
Purchasing
Site
Personnel
Plans
Lessons Learned
Documentation
Payables
Receivables
Budget Report
Contracts
Supplier Comm.
Final Payments
Close facilities
Dispose of materials
Equipment
Complete all remaining work
Notification to & acceptance by client
Complete documentation (accurately!)
Final payments
Redistribute assets
Legal review
Files & records
Follow-on support
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Capturing and Applying Lessons Learned Helps
Improve Organizational Project Management Maturity
The Final Report
• Focus area recommendations
• “Lessons learned”
• Benchmarks
B
h
k
• Killers
• Goal: Future project management
improvement
•FIGURE 14.1
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References
Summary
• Gray, Clifford F. and Erik W. Larson, Project
Management; The Managerial Process, 4th ed.,
McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2008.
• Meredith, Jack R. and Samuel J. Mantel, Jr.,
P j t Management,
Project
M
t AM
Managementt A
Approach,
h
Wiley, 2006.
• Project Management Institute, A Guide to the
Project Management Body of Knowledge, 3rd
Edition, 2004.
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• To receive credit for this course each
participant should use this link
Questions?
http://www.nspe.org/quiz/project-launchhtt
//
/ i /
j tl
h
011811.asp to take the quiz.
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