WEEK 6

Initiating

Planning

Executing

Controlling

Closing

“keeping things in control and in order“

Controlling Projects

Ensuring that the project objectives are met by monitoring and measuring progress and taking corrective action when needed.

Controlling Phase

Controlling Phase FOCUS Involves:

Measuring progress toward project objectives,

Monitoring deviation from the plan,

and taking “Corrective Actions”

OUTPUTS include:Performance Reports, Requested changes, and Updates to various plans

Scope

Quality

Cost Time

You must work with your clients to determine what THEIR definition of SUCCESS is.

◦TRIPLE CONSTRAINT:

Project Vs Operational Work Similarities”

Triple Constraint cont.

1. TIME constraint deals with the time necessary to finish a project. Should be comprised of a SCHEDULE.

2. COST can be dependent on material costs, the costs of labor, risk, and machines. PROFIT must be analyzed  

3. SCOPE is the GOAL of the overall project

Triple Constraint cont. The 3 constraints of project management will

almost always be competing with each other.

o If a team decides to enlarge the SCOPE of a project, the time will become larger, along with the cost.

o If the time constraint is tighter, the SCOPE may be reduced, but the costs will remain high.

o If the team should decide to tighten the budget, the SCOPE will become smaller but the time will increase.

TRIPLE CONSTRAINT cont. If even 1 of these constraints is not properly used, the

project will be a complete failure.

o IF you do not come in on time you will not be successful, (even if the project is high in “quality”)

o Improper costs projection--spend too much or too little and end up with an inferior product or service.

o If you don’t meet the SCOPE of your project you can miss the objectives and goals entirely.

Project Change Management Definition:

◦ “a general term describing the procedures used to ensure that changes are introduced in a controlled and coordinated manner.”

Change and adapting to change is another critical aspect of project management.

Change can come in the form of a crisis, market shift or technological development

A successful project manager will learn how to adapt and even predict changes

Effective change management is a critical core competency and Project Managers have to be able to adapt to their changing environments.

Change Management

Change Management Processes

Change Request ◦ -Requests to EXPAND or REDUCE the project

SCOPE, ◦ -MODIFY policies, processes, plans or

procedures, ◦ -MODIFY costs or budgets, or ◦ -REVISE schedules.◦ -Need to get APPROVAL for them

Change Order ◦ -Used in some companies to IDENTIFY

APPROVED “Change Requests” (order ONCE IT HAS BEEN APPROVED)

Top 5 Obstacles To Implementing Change

1. Employee and staff resistance, 2. Middle-management resistance, 3. Poor executive sponsorship, 4. Limited resources, and 5. Corporate inertia and politics.

4 out of 5 of these obstacles are about people, while only 1 of these obstacles refers to resources

Changes

Most change requests are the result of:

An EXTERNAL EVENTWeather, schedule didn’t take into the consideration of a religious holiday, supplier goes bankrupt

An ERROR or OMISSION in defining the SCOPE of the product or project

A “value-added” change (e.g., new technology, new software version, etc.)

Changes to the project that result in additional work.

If not properly identified and managed properly, ◦your project may come in considerably over budget and/or behind in schedule.

Scope Creep

Main Causes Of Scope Creep Are

1. Poor “Requirements ANALYSIS”: Customers don’t always know what they want and can only provide a “vague idea”. The "I’ll know it when I see it" syndrome.

2. Not Involving the USERS EARLY Enough: Thinking you know what the users want or need is a serious mistake. It is important to involve them in both the requirements analysis and design phases.

3. Underestimating the COMPLEXITY of the Project: Many projects run into problems because they are new in an industry and have never been done before. Nobody knows what to expect, there are no lessons learned and no one to ask.

Main Causes Of Scope Creep cont.LACK OF “CHANGE CONTROL”: You can

expect there to be a degree of “Scope Creep” in most projects, therefore it is important to design a process to MANAGE these changes. A simple process of document, consider, approve and resource can be implemented.

GOLD PLATING: This term is given to the practice of exceeding the “Scope” of a project in the belief that “VALUE”is being added. These changes inevitably consume time and budget and are NOT guaranteed to increase customer satisfaction.

How to Control Scope Creep

1. Expect that there will be “Scope Creep”2. Be sure you thoroughly understand the

project VISION. Meet with the stakeholders3. Understand your priorities and the

priorities of the stakeholders; make a list

4. Define your deliverables and have them approved by the stakeholders

5. Break the approved deliverables into “actual work requirements”

6. Break the project down into major and minor milestones and complete a schedule to be approved by the stakeholders

“Scope Creep” AVOIDANCE

Document, document, document!◦Document meetings◦Anticipate areas of miscommunication.◦Be as succinct as possible.◦Add what is NOT required.◦Obtain sign-off by key stakeholders.

Use signed-off SCOPE and REQUIREMENTS documents to manage your project◦What’s “in” and what’s “out”

Initiating

Planning

Executing

Controlling

Closing

“Crossing all your T’s, dotting all the I’s“

Closing Projects

Project CloseoutAre activities, from making sure the

“T”s are crossed in terms of the ◦CONTRACT and assessing the PROJECT and establishing any “LESSONS LEARNED”

Often shortchanged due to pressures to reassigning team members

Best accomplished by adding the close-out activities to the WBS

Typical Closeout Steps

Conduct FINAL WBS ReviewDocument closing date and who authorized the closeout, alternatively:◦document the reason for NOT closing the project

Measure outcomes and compare to scope document to verify the deliverables and final product is acceptable

DELIVERABLESthe “quantifiable” goods or services that

will be provided upon the completion of a project

may be an object, used in the greater scheme of the project. ◦For example, in a project meant to upgrade a

firm's technology, a deliverable may be a dozen new computers.

may be a function or aspect of the “overall project”. ◦For example, a software project may have a

deliverable specifying that the computer program must be able to compute a company's accounts receivable.

MILESTONE vs. DELIVERABLES

A deliverable differs from a milestone in that a milestone is a measurement of PROGRESS toward an output

whereas the deliverable is the RESULT of the PROCESS.

For a typical project, a milestone might be the:

“completion of a product DESIGN”

While the deliverable might be the:“technical diagram of the

product.”

Create and deliver final invoice for PM activities

Obtain approval from client◦Use “DELIVERABLE Template” documents

Typical Closeout Steps

“DELIVERABLE TEMPLATE” DOCUMENT 2 example

ID Deliverable Owner Complete Milestone

  [Enter a description of the deliverable] [Enter owner] [Yes/No] [Yes/No]

         

         

         

         

         

         

Typical Closeout Step cont.Provide a “physical deliverable” –

even for a NONtangible product such as a “Process”

◦Examples are: CD copy of documentation, letter of certification, a plaque

Typical Closeout StepsSolicit Feedback

◦Prepare SURVEYS◦Gather survey results◦Summarize FEEDBACK for assessment purposes

Conduct Project Assessment◦Select and invite meeting participants◦Distribute survey summary◦Discuss lessons learned◦Discuss best practices

EXAMPLES OF:PROJECT CLOSURE REPORT

PROJECT CLOSURE CHECKLIST

LESSONS LEARNED TEMPLATE 1

LESSONS LEARNED TEMPLATE 2

Celebrate Success

Typical Closeout Steps

Project Management FINAL EXAM in Week 8Project Management REVIEW TEST for M/C, T/F, “Fill in the Blank” questions:BLACKBOARD > WEEKLY LESSONS > WEEK 07

YOU WILL ALSO BE TESTED ON:1. Precedence

Table2. AON CHART3. Critical Path4. Milestones5. Risks

SEARCH for which Week’s class notes contain the items listed at left: Windows key + “F”

◦SEARCH for specific topic (at left) withIN FILE: CTRL + “F”

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OPEN UP: CH. 04 ETEXT HOMEWORK

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WORKSHOP

Quiz Time

GROUP TIME1. WORK ON PRESENTATIONS DUE

NEXT WEEK

2. Take some time today to get organized with your groups,:

assign ROLES, who will be presenting

Who is TYPING up HARD COPY and SUBMITTING

Hybrid / HomeworkRead Chapter 10Complete all activities required while

reading chapter 10Complete the Fill in the Blank

exercise for Chapter 10Complete the M/C for Chapter 10

GROUP PRESENTATION