Introducing project management to your startup or small business doesn’t have to mean a full-time hire or creating stacks of paperwork. You can take some small, simple steps on your own that will increase your productivity and on-time, on-budget delivery. We hope this brief overview presentation helps to get you started!

1. ©2020 by Greenshaw Consulting
An Introduction to
Project Management for
Startups and Small Businesses
Kevin Murphy
Greenshaw Consulting
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2. ©2020 by Greenshaw Consulting
About Greenshaw Consulting
● Founded in January 2018, with a mission to help Pittsburgh startups and mid-sized
companies succeed and achieve their dreams.
● After starting his career as a Software Engineer, Greenshaw Consulting
Owner/Consultant Kevin Murphy has worked in Project Management for more than
12 years, including 10 as a Project Management Professional (PMP) and five as a
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM).
● Greenshaw Consulting customizes large-company project management and product
development techniques and tailors them to help startups and mid-size companies
survive and thrive on limited resources.
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3. ©2020 by Greenshaw Consulting
Why Do Startups Need Project Management?
● Efficient use of resources
● Decision-making information
● Scalability
● Credibility
Key Takeaway: Like most aspects
of a business, it’s important for
entrepreneurs to have at least a
basic understanding of
project management.
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4. ©2020 by Greenshaw Consulting
Why Do Startups Need Project Management?
“No accountability to make sure milestones and processes are working” – https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/311064
“Inability to execute” – https://www.stratomic.uk/blog/why-tech-startups-fail/
“They are usually poor at execution, which leads to issues with the product not getting built correctly or on time,
and the go-to-market execution will be poorly implemented.” – https://www.forentrepreneurs.com/why-startups-fail/
“The founding team couldn’t build an MVP on its own. That was a mistake. If the founding team can’t put out
product on its own (or with a small amount of external help from freelancers) they shouldn’t be founding a
startup.” – https://www.cbinsights.com/research/startup-failure-reasons-top/
“I made mistakes in people management, hiring too fast, firing too slow. I made mistakes in project management,
and on and on! The inexperience showed at many levels.” –
https://yourstory.com/2018/04/startup-failure-why-startups-fail-how-to-avoid-it
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5. ©2020 by Greenshaw Consulting
What is Project Management?
What’s a project?
Project1 – A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a
unique product, service, or result.
Program1 – Related projects, subsidiary programs, and program
activities that are managed in a coordinated way to obtain
benefits not available from managing them individually.
1 A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Sixth Edition.
Project Management Institute.
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6. ©2020 by Greenshaw Consulting
What is Project Management?
Knowledge Areas [1]
1. Integration Management
2. Scope Management
3. Schedule Management
4. Cost Management
5. Quality Management
6. Resource Management
7. Communications Management
8. Risk Management
9. Procurement Management
10. Stakeholder Management
[1] A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge,
Sixth Edition. Project Management Institute.
Key Takeaway:
By making you think
through each of the
knowledge areas,
even the simplest
project plan
can help.
Deeper dive: Explore
each knowledge area
[1]
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7. ©2020 by Greenshaw Consulting
What is Project Management?
Methodologies
● Waterfall / Traditional
● Agile
○ Scrum, XP, etc.
● Spiral (risk-reducing waterfalls)
● Product Development Lifecycle
○ R&D, Alpha, Beta, Pre-Production,
Production, etc.
Iron Triangle / Triple Constraint -
Scope, Schedule, Budget
Make sure you incorporate
business value into your project.
Deeper dive: Selecting
the methodology that
meets your needs
[2]
[2] Dynamic Systems Development Method. www.dsdm.com.
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8. ©2020 by Greenshaw Consulting
What is NOT Project Management?
Operations Management[1] – Operations Management is concerned with the
ongoing production of goods and/or services. It ensures that business operations
continue efficiently by using the optimal resources needed to meet customer
demands.
Forms for everything!
Giant process documents!
Bureaucracy!
[1] – A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Sixth Edition. Project Management Institute.
Key Takeaway: While they are
different topics, projects may be
used to improve aspects of
operations.
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9. ©2020 by Greenshaw Consulting
How Should You Incorporate Project Management?
1. Document your existing business processes; start simple.
2. Identify where you are already running projects, whether you knew it or
not.
3. Navigate through the Project Management knowledge areas and determine
whether or not you are addressing them.
4. Create a simple Project Plan.
5. Select a few metrics to track.
6. Execute on the plan and measure results.
7. Improve your processes. Repeat.
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10. ©2020 by Greenshaw Consulting
Metrics Example
Key takeaway: Tracking “Total
issues” showed the project
(software release) doubling in
size from the initial plan.
What are key indicators for
your projects?
Deeper dive: How to
select and measure the
appropriate metrics
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11. ©2020 by Greenshaw Consulting
Greenshaw
Consulting’s
Process
Need some help? We would be happy to
walk you through our process and make
your organization more credible to
investors, more satisfying to employees,
and more responsive to your end-users.
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12. ©2020 by Greenshaw Consulting
Questions?
Kevin Murphy
kjmurphy@greenshawconsulting.com
724-396-1905
www.greenshawconsulting.com
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