PM 101 Training PMP

PM Training 101 John P Vajda Project Manager, PMP

Project Manager Training 101 Agenda

The Evolution of a Project Manager

Understanding the Phases of a Project

Managing In a Matrix Organization

Being a Resource and a PM on a Project

The Evolution of a PM

The Evolution of a PM: Status Chaser > Expeditor > Coordinator > Scheduler > Project Manager

What is a project exactly?

simply:

A project is a temporary activity with a start date and a fixed end date

A project has specific goals and conditions, defined responsibilities, a budget, and a plan

A project has multiple parties involved

A project is a series of activities increasing in complexity

You can perform many functions as a Project Manager, but what do you consider yourself?

Just chasing status is not project managing

Just forwarding emails is not project managing

Planning in only Excel is not project managing

Just scheduling meetings is not project managing

Taking credit for your team’s work is not project managing

So What does a Project Manager do?

We get work done through others

We create the game plan for the project based on our experiences

We coach, mentor, train, lead, organize, and drive the team

We solve problems and remove road blocks with qualitative and quantitative analysis

We manage stakeholders and scope, protect our teams, and always do what is best for the project’s success

We don’t get political

We keep it human

What are the Project

Manager’s deliverables?

The Phases of a Project

The Phases: Initiation > Planning > Execution > Monitoring & Controlling > Closing

5 core phases of Project Management in (PMP)

Initiation

Planning

Execution

Monitoring & Controlling

Closing

FYI: different phases are used in different methodologies or processes

The Phases: Initiation > Planning > Execution > Monitoring & Controlling > Closing

Your success depends on you understanding of what occurs in these phases

Know what inputs and outputs are critical to each phase

Be consistent, don’t take the easy road

Planning is your “game plan”, without it you have no game

The Phases: Initiation > Planning > Execution > Monitoring & Controlling > Closing Proper Distribution of Time as PM: How you may be spending your time as a PM:

Phase I: Initiation

Gathering Requirements Core Project Team Sponsors

Proper requirement gathering techniques allow you to define your scope

Engaging all key potential project members defines your scope

Be prepared for uncertainty, and learn how to plan for it

Stakeholders Uncertainty & Assumptions

Early gathering, allows you to create a statement of work

Scope

Initiation: Charter & SOW > Preliminary Scope > Final Scope Statement > Kick-Off Meeting

A Statement of Work (SOW) should be provided by your customer or sponsor

A Charter and Funding of project should be confirmed prior to starting your PM activity

A Charter authorizes you to work on the project, and give you authority

Funding provides you a budget and identifies your key sponsors. “Who is paying?”

What’s in a Statement of Work?

Project and Product Objectives

Product Acceptance Criteria

Schedule Milestones

Approval and Reporting Requirements

Order of Magnitude cost Estimate (OME )

What’s in a Charter?

Project Description

Project requirements (high level)

Assigned Project Manager, and authority level

Summary of milestones schedule

External assumptions and constraints

Business case (high level)

Signature of sponsors, or approval workflow

Initial Project Organization

Initiation: Charter & Funding > Preliminary Scope > Final Scope Statement > Kick-Off Meeting

What’s in a Preliminary Scope Statement?

Product or Service Requirements and Characteristics

Product Acceptance Criteria

Project Boundaries

Project Deliverables

Project Constraints and Assumptions

Initial Defined Risks

Schedule Milestones

Order of Magnitude initial cost Estimate (OME)

Project Configuration Management Requirements (level of change control)

What’s in a Final Scope Statement?

Product Scope Description

Project Requirements

Project Boundaries

Project Deliverables

Product acceptance Criteria

Project Constraints and Assumptions

Initial Project Organization

Confirmed Risks

Schedule Milestones

Order of Magnitude initial cost Estimate (OME)

Project Configuration Management Requirements (level of change control)

Initiation: Charter & Funding > Preliminary Scope > Final Scope Statement > Kick-Off Meeting

What’s happens during a Project Kick-Off Meeting?

Kick-offs should last no longer then 2 hours

A team Introduction

Preliminary Roles & responsibilities review

Review all aspects of the final scope statement and agree as a team

Review any supporting documentation to define the scope

Review chosen project management methodology

Review preliminary project plans & schedules

Agree to project documentation to be used

Discuss project tools to be used

Set and agree to reoccurring project meeting times

Discuss project next steps

Phase II: Planning

Planning: Project Management Plans > WBS > Scheduling > Risk Identification & Analysis > Roles & Responsibilities

Proper planning takes time, don’t rush it or cut corners

Your managers/sponsors must give you time to plan

Don’t schedule in a silo, you need input from your core project team to define your activities

Embrace the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)

Always define team responsibilities (RACI) “Who does what”

Use 21 st century social media techniques to keep the team “informed”

Project Plans aren’t schedules!

Scope Management Plan

Risk Management Plan

Communication Management Plan

Quality Management Plan

Time Management Plan

Resource Management Plan

Cost Management Plan

Procurement Management Plan

Integration Management Plan

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Visual list of activities by deliverable or phase

Avoid trying to sequence these, or put time on them right away

This is a team activity!

Helps identify “forgotten” activities

Use this as a input to build your schedule

Estimating: Different Projects call for different types of estimating!

Single point estimates : 5 days

3 point estimates : uses 3 duration estimates to represent the optimistic, most likely and pessimistic scenarios: 5, 7, 10 days

Range Estimates : (low and high range) 5 to 10 days

Planning Poker (crowd) Estimates: Team members give a number for estimates of a task, you debate the high vs. low estimates to come to a realistic conclusion. Requires strict PM moderation: ~6.5 days

Scheduling

Don’t do this in excel. Use a proper PM tool like MS Projects, Liquid Planner or applications that allow you build a timeline, Gantt charts, network diagrams, etc.

Sequence your activities properly

Review with your team as much as possible

Keep real time status of each deliverable and milestone

Update your schedules everyday!

Build activities/tasks around deliverables

Have deliverables role up into milestones

Understand task dependencies, predecessors, successors, lead (overlap) time, lag (delay) time, padding etc.

Example:

1.3 is the WBS number

Technical Design is a Milestone

Task Activities role up into this milestone

A completion summary activity is marked as “0” days in green

Task sequencing is properly defined

Resources have been indicated

Percentage complete is maintained

Use 1.3.5 as a Predecessor to other tasks

Identify and Manage Risks

Risks need to be managed throughout the Project Lifecycle

Use a Risk Register! (tracking document)

Rank your risks based on quantitative & qualitative data

Have the team participate in Risk Management

Always assign owners of risks

Some risks are opportunities and can be a positive risk 

Risks always have a cost, use EMV to figure it out (% x cost = expected monetary value)

What is a Risk Register?

Simply : A list of risks, and how you will respond to them

Roles & Responsibilities who does what?

Never assume your project team knows all their responsibilities during the entire PLC

Break it down in RACI format by deliverable or phase, use your WBS as a guide

RACI = Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed, know the difference between these terms

R&R can change from project to project depending on your team resources, deliverables, etc

Maintain an active roster of Stakeholders, Sponsors and Core team members for proper project communication

What is a RACI Chart?

Simply: A chart outlining who is responsible for what and at what level based on deliverables.

What if I want to be more detailed?

You can be as detailed as you need to be!

Phase III: Execution

Execution: Direct & Manage Project Work > Project Baseline > Information Distribution >

Be actively engaged daily in your team’s work, but don’t micro manage  (unless you have too)

Pay attention to “threads” going back and forth in different communication mediums, you may need to remove a road block, or help problem solve. People won’t always ask for your help.

Be ready to adjust to delays or resource issues, have contingencies/mitigation plans ready!

Use 21 st century Project Management techniques!

What is Social Networking Project Management?

Simply: embracing group dynamics and crowd sourcing during the PLC

How do I do it?

Work to add generalized specialists to your teams who can offer input on a range of topics from business to design to development

Look for a Cross-Pollination of ideas. Pull from your greater community the solutions to project problems

Use existing internal communication mediums to do this!

Push your teams to embrace new technology, evangelize this concept.

21st century Project Management is about collaboration not control

21 st Century Project Management Techniques

What Tools do I use to Direct and Manage Work?

Maintain a current & accurate schedule

Hold consistent time controlled status meetings (frequency = as much as needed)

Provide meeting agendas and meeting notes for every meeting

Use 21 st century collaboration tools

Use face to face interactions or conference calls over email

Obtain work performance information daily

Release progress reports and timely project status

Develop your resource management techniques & leadership skills

Always look to develop your team’s skills

Ask for help from your team’s functional managers

What is a Project Baseline?

A baseline is a set of original project estimates. This set consists of the original task, resource, assignment, and cost estimates that you enter into your schedule.

A baseline is essential for tracking progress. The original estimates it contains are permanent reference points used for comparison and variance analysis throughout the PLC

Store base lined schedules in your pre-determined OFO Directory for reference

Baseline activities also means you update all your project plans as necessary!

What is Information Distribution?

Simply: The way you collect and distribute accurate project data and information during the PLC

How do I do this?

Get accurate information from your teams and publish it in a consistent manner. (wiki updates, status emails, progress reports etc.)

Determine which stakeholders need to see what level of detail

Determine project color status weekly: Green , Yellow , Red

Never hide a red project issue, make it known to the stakeholders if the project is going red

Flag changes in scope or major issues and risks

Phase IV: Monitoring & Controlling

Monitoring & Controlling: Scope Control> Schedule Control> Monitor & Control Project Work > Baseline Updates > Communication Control > Variance Analysis

Monitoring & Controlling happens while you execute project work

It’s ongoing and is critical to the success of your project

As a PM, this is your responsibility during execution of tasks!

Never stop asking questions during the PLC

Remember the triple constraint and how changes effect your project goals

Execution Monitoring Controlling

Monitoring & Controlling: Scope Control > Schedule Control> Monitor & Control Project Work > Baseline Updates > Communication Control > Variance Analysis

Controlling scope is critical during the Monitoring & Controlling Phase

Set up a Change Control Process during your Planning Phase in the Scope Management Plan

Determine who is on your Change Control Board (CCB)

Always use variance analysis to assess changes to your scope

Remember to properly vet changes as nice to haves, or core functionality

Don’t forget the triple constraint!

It is responsibility of the PM to control the schedule and keep it current and accurate

Understand how to maximize your schedule by using resource leveling, fast tracking, de-scoping, and changes in deadlines or budget.

Know how to apply critical path method!

Simply: the longest path of planned activities to the end of the project, and the earliest and latest that each activity can start and finish without making the project longer.

Task set A: 1,2,4,5 = 12 days Task set B: 1,3,5,6 = 15 days Conclusion: Task 2 and 4 aren’t on the critcal path

Monitoring and Controlling project work is a PM’s biggest responsibility during execution

Establish usable processes, make the processes easily repeatable

Be highly organized and continually update your documents in your project document repository

Learn how to decipher roadblocks and project “hang-ups” by honing your listening and observation skills

Always be problem solving using analytical thinking techniques

Never stop asking questions

Yes, Baseline updates are still needed during this stage! Remember Execution is underway while Monitoring and Controlling occurs

Things are constantly changing around the project, so your project has to adapt and “stay current”

Execution Monitoring Controlling

Write a Communication Plan so there is no doubts about how communication will work during your PLC, refer back to it when needed

Remember ~90% of A PM’s job is communication. To make sure it’s effectively done you need to learn to properly encode and decode messages

Understand your lines of communication and who needs what type of information: Formula : n * ( n -1) / 2 = x (n * x ) /2 = Lines of communication Example: 7 people = 7 * ( 7 -1) / 2 = ( 7 * 6 ) /2 = 21 Lines

7 People = the complete team including stakeholders and you. You subtract 1, since you don’t communicate to yourself, this can tell you how much time you will spend communicating. The bigger the number the harder it will be to communicate on the project.

Be consistent! Use your Project Tracking Documents and Meeting Notes/Agenda to update your Wiki Pages (high level project status) and build accurate progress reports.

How is it done?

What is variance analysis in project management?

Simply: the difference between a budgeted or planned work and the actual work that has occurred.

3 Main Types:

Estimate to Planned. This is the difference between what we quoted and how we actually planned to do the work.

Planned to Actual. This variance looks at the difference between how work is planned and how it actually is executed

Estimate to Actual. Here, we compare what we quoted to what we actually did

Earned Value Management: a technique for measuring project progress in an objective manner. It has the ability to combine measurements of scope, schedule, and cost in a single integrated system. When properly applied, EVM provides an early warning of performance problems.

BAC (Budget at Completion)

AC (Actual Cost)

Formulas:

PV (Planned Value): BAC x Planned % complete

EV (Earned Value): BAC x Actual % complete

SPI (Schedule Performance Index): EV/PV

SV (Schedule Variance): EV – PV

CPI (Cost Performance Index): EV/AC

CV (Cost Variance): EV – AC

EAC (Estimate at Completion): BAC/CPI

VAC (Variance at Completion): BAC – EAC

Phase V: Closing

Closing: Go Live > Finalize Project Documentation > Lessons Learned > Closing Project > Release Project Team > Celebrate!

Always update your documentation and organize you Project Document Repository prior to closing a project

Plan a Lessons Learned session and indentify major gaps in the project, use these to improve project and organizational processes

Always (when in budget) plan a project celebration, whether it’s a lunch, some gift cards, it’s goes a long way to show appreciate for your team

Define a handoff now the project is closed. Projects have start and end dates, project mangers shouldn’t be the owner of ongoing operational maintenance activities. We must move onto other projects 

It’s time to go live! Now what do you do?

The biggest mistake organizations make is not allow project managers to transition off a project

Set up a clear handoff to an operational maintenance team or person once a project is live. Plan for this prior to the go live date

Review project metrics to make sure the project was a success. Refer back to your scope documents, check your budget, validate you delivered what the customer asked for

The entire team is responsible to update and finalize all project documentation

Be sure to organize your Project Document Repository and update your Project Tracking System as needed

The cataloging of Project Lesson Learned should be ongoing through the PLC. A successful Lessons-Learned program will help project teams:

Repeat desirable outcomes

Avoid undesirable outcomes

As you flag major issues, you should keep an active log of what you feel the project team can address at the end of the project

Address major issues as soon as possible, don’t wait to use Lesson Learned techniques!

At regular intervals, reflect on how to become more effective and adjust your behavior accordingly.

This information should be categorized as by Project or Organization . Not all your lesson learned are in your control as a project manager

Develop a process to provide input to your managers to act on organizational lessons learned

It is important to create a detailed final report for the project. This can encompass several areas. Your Stakeholders can tell you what they need to see

This report should be released to the core team as well as the stakeholder community and sponsors

It can include the following topics:

Project Summary

Measurable Goals & Metrics

Accomplishments, both individual and project related

Summary of Lesson Learned

Major Issues and recommendations

Future Directions, Phases, etc

Discuss with your functional managers how long you will have your project team after the project goes live.

You should plan some “buffer” time to have them available in case issues arise

Determine a clear date when the team will be disbanded

Always follow organizational internal process for release a project team member, it could be a simple as saying “your all done!” or as complex as using a resource management application

Closing: Go Live > Finalize Project Documentation > Lessons Learned > Closing Project > Release Project Team > Celebrate !

Discuss a budget with your manager for a project celebration

Create a fair system of recognition and reward. Metrics are “supposed” to be met, not completely unobtainable

Plan a lunch, dinner, or simply a nice gift for your core team members

Recognize above and beyond effort. Reward that work with incentives

Always thank your team! remember you get work done through others 

Managing in a Matrix Organization

Understanding how an organization is structured is key to your success as a PM

Below is a chart showing Organizational Structure Influences on Projects

Matrix Organization: a type of organizational management in which people with similar skills are pooled for work assignment.

* Weak Matrix Organizations are not show here

Strong Balanced

Disadvantages of Matrix Management:

Employees can become confused due to conflicting loyalties and poor information sharing

Unclear organizational goals leads to inefficiency

Multi-Reporting structure leads to the tendency to “repeat” status to many different people

Burn out, or over allocation of tasks. Wearing too many hats if roles and responsibilities are not defined.

A PM can be reduced to a coordinator if they allow themselves to be overshadowed by functional managers and executives

Advantages to Matrix Management:

Allows team members to share information more readily across task boundaries.

Allows for specialization that can increase depth of knowledge (Generalized Specialists)

Allows to pool resources from many organizations to maximize headcount

PMO organizations can directly report to a executive

Different PM authority level can be determined for different types of projects

How do I project manage in this type of environment?

Share resources effectively by accurately tracking workload and understand your teams tasks and activities.

Reduce conflict and confusion by creating collaborative social networking workspaces for better information sharing

Balance time and performance with cost. Understand how long it takes your team to do something, and how well they are executing their tasks.

Properly share authority and responsibility with your team leads

Provide Roles and Responsibilities to your team. “Who does what”

Create accurate work performance reports so you don’t have to repeat yourself to several different managers 

Establish your PM authority early on in the PLC

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