project management - keep it simple
DESCRIPTION
This whitepaper is for those who believe that project management should be a complicated discipline. I hope you find it useful! -DeniseTRANSCRIPT
Project management is essential
for many industries but many
organizations avoid applying it,
because of the complex processes
and the increased resource
demand for continuous tracking.
Most of the projects running everyday worldwide have a
short duration, small budget and limited resources that
often work for more than one project at the same time.
Project management is essential
for many industries but many
organizations avoid applying it,
because of the complex processes
and the increased resource
demand for continuous tracking.
Stressing conditions: Doing the same
job more than once by several people,
while leaving other tasks behind.
This is the begging of confusion!
THE OPTIONS YOU HAVE:
NOT TO USE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
Stressing conditions: Doing the same
job more than once by several people,
while leaving other tasks behind.
This is the begging of confusion!
More stressing conditions:
Implementing project management
in detail may also be confusing, if
applying more processes and tools
than you probably really need.
THE OPTIONS YOU HAVE:
NOT TO USE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
USE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
Stressing conditions: Doing the same
job more than once by several people,
while leaving other tasks behind.
This is the begging of confusion!
More stressing conditions:
Implementing project management
in detail may also be confusing, if
applying more processes and tools
than you probably really need.
THE OPTIONS YOU HAVE:
NOT TO USE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
USE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
Just keep it simple!
let’s get started
Here, you will find some
basic steps to start.
NOT
YET!
Here, you will find some
basic steps to start.
ps. This is just an ebook!
Keep reading books, magazines,
web sites, blogs, take a seminar…
anything that will help you improve
your knowledge and experience.
Here, you will find some
basic steps to start.
ps. This is just an ebook!
Keep reading books, magazines,
web sites, blogs, take a seminar…
anything that will help you improve
your knowledge and experience.
Here, you will find some
basic steps to start.
NOW START
Just got the job?
Congratulations!
The contract is signed, meaning
that you have agreed to deliver
the project within specific time
frame and budget (both).
Just got the job?
Congratulations!
So, what’s next?
Just got the job?
Congratulations!
The contract is signed, meaning
that you have agreed to deliver
the project within specific time
frame and budget (both).
Start working
the project of course!
Start working
the project of course! X
Start working
the project of course!
This is the first and most
common mistake that
many small companies and freelancers make.
X
Think first,
act later
preparation 1 Projects, consists of people, brought together to develop
and create a service or a product to be used by people.
It’s time for a meeting!
The first thing to do is to decide and
select the people that will work for
the project and ensure their
availability. Are they working on
something else already? Probably
yes, but do they have available time,
or do you have to release them from
what they’re doing and engage them
to the new project?
It’s time for a meeting!
The first thing to do is to decide and
select the people that will work for
the project and ensure their
availability. Are they working on
something else already? Probably
yes, but do they have available time,
or do you have to release them from
what they’re doing and engage them
to the new project?
Team selection
basic criteria
Skills
Availability
Diversity
Teamwork
Experience
preparation 1 Projects, consists of people, brought together to develop
and create a service or a product to be used by people.
Provide all information required to
your project team. They need to
know exactly what they have to do,
when and why. Get the team together
and start project planning.
Set objectives: the most important
tasks and milestone dates of the
project like the final and intermediate
deadlines and meetings with the
customer.
Save efforts and money.
planning 2
Provide all information required to
your project team. They need to
know exactly what they have to do,
when and why. Get the team together
and start project planning.
Set objectives: the most important
tasks and milestone dates of the
project like the final and intermediate
deadlines and meetings with the
customer.
Plan the scope of
the project.
Create the basic
structure (WBS) for
further planning.
Save efforts and money.
planning 2
Develop a basic plan -a graph- of the
tasks to be done. A detailed time
schedule isn’t always the solution.
Focus on the sequence of the tasks
and the person(s) that will carry out
each one.
Set small goals for everyone in the
team if possible.
Save efforts and money.
planning 2
Develop a basic plan -a graph- of the
tasks to be done. A detailed time
schedule isn’t always the solution.
Focus on the sequence of the tasks
and the person(s) that will carry out
each one.
Set small goals for everyone in the
team if possible.
Plan in detail what is
really needed, not
more and never less.
Motivate your team,
set goals.
Save efforts and money.
planning 2
Questions:
Is the plan realistic in terms of
availability, skills, experience and
work distribution?
How long will it take for each task to
be completed?
Are there any prerequisites before
the begging of any task?
How team members have to
collaborate to meet their goals?
Save efforts and money.
planning 2
Questions:
Is the plan realistic in terms of
availability, skills, experience and
work distribution?
How long will it take for each task
to be completed?
Are there any prerequisites before
the begging of any task?
How team members have to
collaborate to meet their goals?
If you can answer
the questions,
then you have set
the basic structure
of the project plan.
Save efforts and money.
planning 2
The key to planning is to make sure
that you haven’t forgotten anything
might cause changes and re-
planning in the future. Actually,
there’s always something missing
and if you don’t, the customer will.
Just accept it and get prepared;
sent the customer the project plan
for approval.
Save efforts and money.
planning 2
The key to planning is to make sure
that you haven’t forgotten anything
might cause changes and re-
planning in the future. Actually,
there’s always something missing
and if you don’t, the customer will.
Just accept it and get prepared;
sent the customer the project plan
for approval.
Changes are the
only sure thing that
you will face when
running a project.
Make your best not
to come from you
and your team!
Save efforts and money.
planning 2
Before starting to work decide how
you will track progress.
How often, daily or weekly?
You also need to know the amount of
work completed so far and what’s left
to be done.
A simple method is to focus on the
time (hours or days) planned for
each task.
Just calculate progress based on the
working hours completed and
compare against the planned.
Save efforts and money.
planning 2
Spend some time to
plan on how the
project will be
managed. How will
you measure the
progress?
The team’s
performance?
Before starting to work decide how
you will track progress.
How often, daily or weekly?
You also need to know the amount of
work completed so far and what’s left
to be done.
A simple method is to focus on the
time (hours or days) planned for
each task.
Just calculate progress based on the
working hours completed and
compare against the planned.
Save efforts and money.
planning 2
How will you receive actual data,
sending emails, completing forms?
Select a method that fits better to
your team and engage them not to
forget updating their progress.
Save efforts and money.
planning 2
How will you receive actual data,
sending emails, completing forms?
Select a method that fits better to
your team and engage them not to
forget updating their progress.
Create a simple
standardized,
communication plan.
You will find it at
least helpful.
You may also use it
for communicating
with the customer.
Save efforts and money.
planning 2
started working at last…
Keep your team connected.
A daily 15 or 30 minutes briefing to
discuss about progress, problems or
changes keeps the team close to the
big picture of the project.
Daily meetings help everyone to stay
consistent, while realizing the
importance of the process for the
project’s success.
3 executing
Keep your team connected.
A daily 15 or 30 minutes briefing to
discuss about progress, problems or
changes keeps the team close to the
big picture of the project.
Daily meetings help everyone to stay
consistent, while realizing the
importance of the process for the
project’s success.
Project management
is about people.
Listen to them and be
honest. This is the
best way to enhance
performance.
started working at last…
3 executing
You may want to use a whiteboard
easily accessible by everyone,
writing down everyday’s tasks,
notes and goals achieved!
Continuous interaction helps the
team to avoid future conflicts and
misunderstanding.
started working at last…
3 executing
You may want to use a whiteboard
easily accessible by everyone,
writing down everyday’s tasks,
notes and goals achieved!
Continuous interaction helps the
team to avoid future conflicts and
misunderstanding.
Visibility,
communication,
clarity.
started working at last…
3 executing
controlling
Control the project periodically. A
weekly progress control is great. Is
everything going as planned?
Probably not, but don’t worry! This
might happen to everyone!
Underestimated amount of work or
limited availability by a team member
may cause delays. Focus on the
variances from the initial plan and
check with your team for solutions to
get back on schedule.
4
Control the project periodically. A
weekly progress control is great. Is
everything going as planned?
Probably not, but don’t worry! This
might happen to everyone!
Underestimated amount of work or
limited availability by a team member
may cause delays. Focus on the
variances from the initial plan and
check with your team for solutions to
get back on schedule.
Set up standard
updating periods.
Compare the
results and find
solutions the
soonest you can.
controlling 4
Project controlling is a repetitive
process. Gathering actual data
during execution and comparing
actual vs. planned work is the key
factor that will help you meet your
goals.
controlling 4
closing
Closing the project requires to finish
all the last details and get the final
approval by the customer. Don’t
forget to add knowledge to your
company.
A closing meeting to discuss the
lessons learned from the project is
valuable! Share the experience
gained and improve your future
performance while creating an
historical database for reference.
5
Closing the project requires to finish
all the last details and get the final
approval by the customer. Don’t
forget to add knowledge to your
company.
A closing meeting to discuss the
lessons learned from the project is
valuable! Share the experience
gained and improve your future
performance while creating an
historical database for reference.
Never forget to
celebrate when
a project is over!
closing 5
Who is responsible?
The project manager, the
person that will manage and
coordinate efforts, should be
authorized by the company.
In small organizations,
it is related with senior
management, although
it is not always required.
What is required? project manager
role requirements
Common acceptance, knowledge
and managing skills are the some
of the most important factors to
assign the project manager’s role
to a person.
It doesn’t have to be a full time
job; a few hours per week are
enough for managing simple
projects.
What is required?
You don’t have to assign all projects to a single person; role
changing enhances responsibility and understanding among
the team members, helping to create a common organizational
culture in managing projects.
project manager
role requirements
0
project management
is team play
© COSMOS PROJECT MANAGEMENT www.cosmospm.com
prepare
plan
execute
control
close
recap keep it simple!
thanks for reading,
Denise
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© all rights reserved – Denise Fotopoulou https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisefotopoulou