Pragmatic Project Planning for Libraries

Tito SierraNCSU Libraries

July 22, 2009CRC Library Staff Workshop 2009

My Background

• 5 years leading projects in the Digital Library Initiatives department at NCSU

My Background

• 5 years leading projects in the Digital Library Initiatives department at NCSU

• Before NCSU, 5 years managing web projects in start-up companies

My Background

• 5 years leading projects in the Digital Library Initiatives department at NCSU

• Before NCSU, 5 years managing web projects in start-up companies

• Professional interest in project management, and how organizations implement change

Getting to Know You

• Have you ever participated in formal project management training?

Getting to Know You

• Have you ever participated in formal project management training?

• How much time do you spend on new projects? 10%, 50%, 100%?

Getting to Know You

• Have you ever participated in formal project management training?

• How much time do you spend on new projects? 10%, 50%, 100%?

• What part of “planning a project” do you find most challenging?

Workshop Outline

• Project Management Basics• Project Planning 101• Defining Project Scope• Project Schedules• Planning Documentation

• Open Discussion

Project Management Basics

What is a project?

Project

A unique undertaking composed of interrelated activities which has a well

defined beginning and end, often involving staff from cross-functional groups, that operates under specific constraints of resources, schedules,

and requirements.

Project

A unique undertaking composed of interrelated activities which has a well

defined beginning and end, often involving staff from cross-functional groups, that operates under specific constraints of resources, schedules,

and requirements.

Project

A unique undertaking composed of interrelated activities which has a well

defined beginning and end, often involving staff from cross-functional

groups, that operates under specific constraints of resources, schedules,

and requirements.

Project

A unique undertaking composed of interrelated activities which has a well

defined beginning and end, often involving staff from cross-functional groups, that operates under specific

constraints of resources, schedules, and requirements.

What is project management?

Project Management

A set of skills and methods of planning, organizing, and managing a project

from inception to its successful completion.

Project Planning 101

What is a project planning?

Project Planning

A subset of project management activities that happens at the beginning of the

project that aims to define the project, and ensure a shared understanding

about what needs to be done.

Defining Project Scope

Why is it important to define the scope of a project?

Importance of Project Scope

• Provides a shared understanding of what is to be done

Importance of Project Scope

• Provides a shared understanding of what is to be done

• May impact the composition of the project team

Importance of Project Scope

• Provides a shared understanding of what is to be done

• May impact the composition of the project team

• Will likely impact project scheduling

Importance of Project Scope

• Provides a shared understanding of what is to be done

• May impact the composition of the project team

• Will likely impact project scheduling• Serves as the basis for all cost and

resource estimations

Project Scope Statement

A written statement, a sentence or two long, that clearly and succinctly

describes the goal of the project.

Project Scope Statement

A written statement, a sentence or two long, that clearly and succinctly

describes the goal of the project.

Sometimes it takes several revisions to get it right!

Project Scope Example #1

“The Virtual Browse Web Service may be used by multiple applications for

searching and sequential browsing of catalog records. The service accepts a variety of input parameters and returns

a set of one or more catalog keys.”

Project Scope Example #2

“The NCSU Libraries Activity Wall application will make it easy for

students to broadcast their activities and connect with each other in planned or ad-hoc contexts in NCSU Libraries

spaces.”

Defining “Out of Scope”

It is just as important to define what is “out of scope” as it is to define what is

“in scope”; doing so provides boundaries for the project, enabling the

team to focus on what is important.

Project Schedules

Why are schedules important to projects?

Purposes of a Schedule

• Provides a commitment about when things will be done

Purposes of a Schedule

• Provides a commitment about when things will be done

• Encourage everyone on the project to see their efforts as part of a whole

Purposes of a Schedule

• Provides a commitment about when things will be done

• Encourage everyone on the project to see their efforts as part of a whole

• Provides a tool for breaking work into manageable chunks

Purposes of a Schedule

• Provides a commitment about when things will be done

• Encourage everyone on the project to see their efforts as part of a whole

• Provides a tool for breaking work into manageable chunks

• Provides a tool for measuring progress

Scheduling Demystified

All schedules consist of three basic parts.

Scheduling Demystified

1. Planning• Defining what needs to be done• Deciding how it will be done

Scheduling Demystified

1. Planning• Defining what needs to be done• Deciding how it will be done

2. Implementation• Getting it done!

Scheduling Demystified

1. Planning• Defining what needs to be done• Deciding how it will be done

2. Implementation• Getting it done!

3. Testing and Evaluation• Verify that it was done right

How do you know how much time to allocate to each part?

Simplified Scheduling

When in doubt, pick a project completion date that you are comfortable with, then

split the schedule into thirds for the Planning, Implementation, and

Evaluation complete dates.

The Truth About Schedules

Schedule estimation is a probability.

The Truth About Schedules

Schedule estimation is a probability.

The important thing is not how accurate the estimates are, but having a reasonable goal to shoot for.

Planning Documentation

Planning Documentation

• Documentation varies greatly from one organization to the next

• Factors that come into play• Size of project• Cross departmental/organizational• Organizational culture (formal/informal)

• One size does not fit all!

Types of Documentation

• Vision document• Task force charge• Project specifications• Work-breakdown structure (WBS)• Hi-level project schedule• Gantt chart

Types of Documentation

• Vision document• Task force charge• Project specifications• Work-breakdown structure (WBS)• Hi-level project schedule• Gantt chart

Tito’s One-pager Specification

Good Specs Simplify

“The entire point to writing the specification is to describe things in a way that minimizes the amount of work other people will have to understand it.”

— Scott Berkun, Making Things Happen

Summary

Pragmatic Project Planning

1. Write a Project Scope Statement

2. Select a target project completion date and break up schedule into 3 phases

3. Write a one-pager specification that fleshes out the scope of your project

4. Revise one-pager until project team is clear on the scope of the project

Open Discussion

What are the greatest challenges you face in getting a project “off the

ground”?

Can you provide an example of a project you worked on that would have benefited from more project planning? What problems did you

encounter?

What are the warning signs of a project around which there is too

much planning? What can you do about this when you see it

happening?

More Information

Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management

by Scott Berkun