Project
Management
Concepts
Work Support Strategies
Leadership Summit
April 29, 2015
Session Goals
The goal of this session is
to familiarize county
leadership with practical
project management
concepts and tools that will
support planning and
implementation activities.
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What is a Project?
• Designed to produce a unique product, service or result.
• Temporary in that it has a defined beginning and end in
time, and therefore defined scope and resources.
• Unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific
set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal.
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Project Approach
Reactive Approach
• Good for small products, tasks and deliverables
• Not a lot of dependencies on other people, systems, companies
• Not a lot of potential contingencies (unexpected events)
Systematic Approach
• Requires participation from resources out of your control (outside)
• Interconnected groupings of tasks
• More than one deliverable
• Considerable risks/contingencies
4
Triple Constraint Theory
Scope/Quality = specific outcomes
Schedule/Time = definite start and end dates
Cost/Resources = established budgets
5
Project Management Phases
• START – initiating the project
• PLAN – planning the project
• DO – executing the project
• CHECK – monitoring and
controlling the project
• ACT – closing the project
6
Initiating a Project (START)
• Justify the project and gain buy in
• Find a funding stream and/or potential staffing
resources
• Gain approval from project sponsor
• Draft a charter
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Planning a Project (PLAN)
• Bring key stakeholders together to define Scope
• When developing the scope, remember to ask yourself:
• Do you have a clear idea of the objective and what it is
intended to achieve?
• Do you know why this is important?
• Do you know how and when it will be achieved?
• Have you determined who will be involved?
• Have you identified the deliverables for your project?
• Have you obtained enough information to allow your sponsor
to make a decision on whether to proceed?
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Planning a Project (PLAN)
• Develop a Charter that answers…
• What problem are we solving?
• Why are we doing it (law, money, improvement, etc.)?
• Who is involved (stakeholders)?
• The charter should…
• Include a short, concise summary of the need
• Articulate the benefit being sought
• Define scope, including boundaries
• Estimate the resources/cost needed
• Include a preliminary schedule
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Planning a Project (PLAN)
• Develop a Communication Plan that identifies:
• Key stakeholders, their role, and contact information
• Schedule and frequency of routine meetings, including who
will attend and purpose of the meeting
• How issues will be escalated
• Other methods of sharing information (e.g. shared folders)
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Planning a Project (PLAN)
• Conduct a Kick Off Meeting in order to:
• Review scope and requirements
• Validate schedule
• Consider vacations/holidays are upcoming
• Review stakeholders and communications plan
• Review project management tools
• Discuss dependencies and risks
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Planning a Project (PLAN)
Work Breakdown Structure
• Break out the work into specific deliverables
• Build activities around each deliverables
• Schedule activities and applies calendars, dependencies and
assignments
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Planning a Project (PLAN)
Project Schedule
• Includes a detailed list of action steps
• Includes duration of tasks and start/end dates
• Identifies who is responsible for performing tasks
• Considers dependencies with other tasks
• Determining the critical path
• Includes phases and milestones within the project
• Finish line!
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Planning a Project (PLAN)
#
1
1.1
1.1.1
1.1.2
1.1.3
Task
Detail the Vision (Process)
Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for new business process
Draft SOPs based on new DTA business model
Statewide processing queue
Statewide phone queue
In Person Queue
Standardized verification tool
Standardized narratives templates
Standard call/customer service scripts
Standardize supervisory review process
Conduct internal review
Complete final draft
ID
Phase
Start
Finish
3/15
1
Plan & Manage
3/16/2015
7/10/2015
2
Discovery
4/6/2015
5/8/2015
3
Design
5/11/2015
6/12/2015
4
Roadmap
6/15/2015
7/10/2015
Start
7/21/2014
7/21/2014
7/21/2014
7/21/2014
7/21/2014
7/21/2014
7/21/2014
7/21/2014
7/21/2014
7/21/2014
8/13/2014
Apr 2015
8/25/2014
3/22
3/29
4/5
4/12
4/19
End
9/26/2014
8/29/2014
8/11/2014
8/11/2014
8/11/2014
8/11/2014
8/11/2014
8/11/2014
8/11/2014
8/11/2014
8/22/2014
May 2015
8/29/2014
4/26
5/3
5/10
5/17
5/24
Task Owner
Status
Ezra
In Process
Completed
Jun 2015
5/31
6/7
6/14
6/21
InProcess
6/28
7/5
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Executing a Project (DO)
So how do we execute the project?
• Set up a method to manage expectations of all stakeholders
• Complete tasks in the work breakdown structure (WBS)
• Utilize technical knowledge
• Send, receive, and share information
• Anticipate problems and prevent them
• Solve problems that arise
• Recommend changes and courses of action
• Track issues and resolve them
• Lead and focus all stakeholders on the project plan, goals,
and deliverables
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Monitoring a Project (CHECK)
And how do we monitor the project?
• Measure against agreed upon success indicators
• Share information with other team members
• Compare actual completion time vs. estimated time
• Manage the changes, limit scope creep
• Decide to accept or reject work
• Gain approval for deliverables
• Identify needs for “re-planning” and rescheduling
• Secure additional resources if needed
• Identify and strive for customer satisfaction
• Actively manage risk
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Reviewing a Project (ACT)
Remember to….
• Reflect upon the project goals – if the outcomes match the stated
goals you have been successful
• Conduct a post-mortem and identify lessons learned
• Capture the knowledge with a project library
• Recognize, reward and celebrate
After the project is completed…
• Plan for the next phase!
• Think about how you will improve as a project manager next time
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Key Tools and Documents
• Work Plan/Schedule
• Charter
• Project Budget
• Requirements
• Communication Plan
• Issues Log
• Meeting Agendas/Minutes
• Status Reports
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