The document discusses several principles for improving project outcomes through proper project management. It outlines principles such as ensuring project alignment with business objectives through a documented approval and review process, establishing clear roles and responsibilities through a project charter, ensuring the project manager has the proper skills and experience, making risk-informed decisions through a documented risk management process, and promoting continuous process improvement. The overall message is that following standard project management frameworks and processes can help deliver projects that meet business needs.

1. Project Management Principles
Improve Project Outcomes
Anand Subramaniam

2. “Example is not the main thing in influencing
others.
It is the only thing.”
- Albert Schweitzer
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3. Project Alignment with Business Case
 Is approval for the project based on a business‑case that
relates the investment directly to the business function
and demonstrates the benefits of the investment to the
customer as a whole?
 Is there a business case template used by all projects?
 Is there a documented process for preparing the
business case, obtaining approvals, reviewing the
business case, etc?
 Will the business case be reviewed and revalidated at
each scheduled gate and whenever there is a significant
change to the project or the business function?
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4. Clear Accountabilities Established
 Are overall departmental accountabilities for the project defined in a
project charter?
 Is there a project charter template used by all projects?
 Is there a documented process for preparing the project charter,
identifying roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, obtaining
approvals, etc?
 Are all core project management responsibilities and functions
performed by project manager (eg. managing and controlling project
plan, scope, time, cost, quality, risk, human resources, procurement,
contract, change)
 If it has been necessary to outsource any core project management
functions, are they being acquired from a supplier other than that
involved in the primary development contract?
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5. Project Manager’s Knowledge
 Does the assigned project manager have the
knowledge, skills and experience required to
manage the project’s scope, size, complexity
and risk profile?
 Are the competencies expected and required of
project managers documented?
 Is there a documented process that defines a
training and development path for project
managers?
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6. Decisions based on Risk Management
 Does the project have scheduled checkpoints or ‘gates’ when it will be reviewed and where
management will decide on its future and, if necessary, take appropriate corrective action?
 Does the defined project life cycle detail when and where gates should be established and
what criteria must be satisfied before clearing the gate?
 Have only the funds needed to reach the next gate been allocated to the project?
 Has a risk assessment consistent with practices outlined, to identify and assess the risks?
 Is there a documented risk management process ( tools, techniques) that all projects must
use?
 Has project complexity been determined at project initiation using Function Point Analysis
(FPA)?
 Is a performance measurement tool used to provide data at frequent intervals to the
project manager on the time and money expended and on the work completed?
 Have procurement officers been involved early in the project planning so as to develop a
procurement process that reduces delays, and to design a procurement plan that best
aligns the contracting plan with the project plan? 6

7. Continuous Improvement
 Continuous process improvement and process management activities are planned
 Process capability of the organisation’s standard software process is known in
quantitative terms
 Measurable goals for software product quality and their priorities are defined
 Actual progress towards achieving the quality goals for the software products is
quantitatively managed.
 Common causes of defects are prioritised and systematically eliminated
 New technologies are evaluated to determine their effect on quality and productivity
 Appropriate new technologies are transferred into normal practice across the
organisation
 The organisation’s standard software process and the projects’ defined software
processes are improved continuously
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8. “When you cease to make a contribution,
you begin to die.”
- Eleanor Roosevelt
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9. Good Luck
http://www.linkedin.com/in/anandsubramaniam
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