Project Implementation and Tendering - Notes

8/13/2019 Project Implementation and Tendering - Notes

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Session 7 - Project Tendering, Implementation and

Management

General

The delivery of a successful project relies on a number of basic parameters these include:

A professional team who are both competent managers and have the necessarytechnical and contractual background, and management skills;

A well designed project;

A well specified project;

A well implemented project; and

A well managed project.

In general terms these key aspects provide the basis for a successful project.

More specifically each of the above will be discussed in some detail below. However, beforediscussing these let us quickly look at the tender process that will incorporate componentsfrom above and run throughout the duration of the project. Effectively the tender documentwill provide a set of rules and procedures that will guide the project over the greater part ofits duration and where not being guided will be reliant on inputs in the form of a design ortechnical specifications.

Human Resource Capacity

Obviously human resource capacity and skills are key parameters to any project and willimpact across all sectors of a project, in particular the design, the specifications, preparationof the tender document, the implementation and finally the management. Hence the specific

merits of each of these and may others will be raised in the following sections as appropriateand applicable.

Project management is not something new, and it is not rocket science as many are lead tobelieve, therefore along with a number of the other parameters already identified above it ismore a matter of the application of good skills and ensuring that common sense prevailswhich will assist in helping make sure that a project is implemented properly.

Project Design

The design is an important component of the overall project. If the design is weak so most

likely will be the end result of the project.

It is necessary at the commencement of a project to fully understand exactly what your objectis and the requirements of the end user.

The designer must appreciate:

The location of the project tropical climates are harsh on components


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Acknowledge the end users capacity and ability to provide future servicing andmaintenance post commissioning and post the maintenance period - if indeed thereis one.

An elaborate design may make it difficult and costly to build and may also poselonger-term maintenance problems are replacement parts available and if so atwhat cost.

Generally simple robust designs are the most appropriate, using materials andcomponents that have proven track records and are readily available at an affordableprice.

Project Technical Specification/s

Writing technical specifications is a crucial stage in any project and therefore to obtain thebest equipment for your application, you should:

have your specifications drafted around equipment that has previously been proven in

a similar application;

seek assistance from those who have had field experience with a particularequipment noting that it is preferable not to base tender specifications on

manufacturers brochures or advertisements only;

clearly state the environmental condition of the project site some equipment may

not have the durability to withstand certain climatic conditions such as high ambient

temperatures, salt spray, dust, high humidity, etc;

use other tenders as models it is always ideal to use previous tenders as a basis for

your tender. It is also to be mindful of which ones where successful;

get external advice it is worthwhile to get an external opinion on your design and

tender specifications.

Project Implementation and Management

project implementation is one of the most critical components of a project and morespecifically the overall management.

For project management there area number of tools available that will help you to plan andschedule activities but the these tools are only as good as the operator or imputer and as thestory goes rubbish in rubbish out. Hence the need to ensure that any such tool or aid used

in the planning process is properly managed and that the inputs are accurate and realistic.

The first partof this section will primarily cover activities relating to the actual tenderadvertising, selection and award procedures.

Note: the following section is an extract from the Manual of Instructions Contract forWork, Supplies and Services Concluded for the Purposes of Community Cooperationwith Third Countries SEC(1999) 180/2


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INTRODUCTION

Supply contracts concern the design, manufacture, delivery, and assembly andcommissioning of goods together with any other tasks specified in the contract, e.g.

maintenance, repairs, training and after-sales services.

"Supplier" describes any natural or legal person furnishing supplies. A supplier submitting atender is known as a "tenderer" and one applying to take part in a simplified procedure as a"candidate".

The contracting authority, which is always specified in the procurement notice, is theauthority empowered to conclude the contract. Supply contracts are generally concluded bythe recipient with which the Commission draws up a financing agreement (decentralisedcontracts).

The recipient must submit tender dossiers to the Commission for approval before issuingthem. On the basis of decisions thus approved and in close consultation with theCommission, it is responsible for launching tender procedures, receiving tenders, chairingtender-examination sessions and deciding on the results of tender procedures. The recipientthen submits the result of this examination and the contract award proposal to theCommission for approval. Once the award has been approved, the recipient signs thecontracts and notifies the Commission accordingly. The Commission is normally representedwhen tenders are opened and evaluated and must always be formally invited.

14. AWARD PROCEDURES

14.1. Contracts

14.1.1. Open procedure

As a rule, supply contracts are the subject of an international open tender procedurefollowing publication of a procurement notice. The Commission may, on behalf of the'recipient, award framework contracts for repeat purchases of a given item or category ofitems.

14.1.2. Negotiated procedure

However, with the prior agreement of the Commission, the recipient may award supplycontracts by negotiated procedure in the following situations:

(a) Where unforeseeable events oblige the contracting authority to act with an urgencyincompatible with the periods laid down for the open or simplified proceduresdescribed in sections 15, 16 and 17. The circumstances invoked to justify extremeurgency must in no way be attributable to the contracting authority.

(b) Where the nature or particular characteristics of the supplies warrant, e.g. whereperformance of the contract is exclusively reserved for the holders of patents orlicences to use patents.


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(c) For additional deliveries by the original supplier intended either as a partialreplacement of normal supplies or installations or as the extension of existingsupplies or installations where a change of supplier would oblige the recipient toacquire goods having different technical characteristics which would result in eitherincompatibility or disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and maintenance.

(d) Where a tender procedure has been unsuccessful, i.e. where no qualitatively or

financially worthwhile tender has been received. In such cases, after cancelling thetender procedure, the recipient may, with the prior approval of the Commission,negotiate directly with one or more suppliers chosen by it from among those that tookpart in the tender procedure, provided that the initial requirements of the tenderdossier are not substantially altered (see section 6 "Cancellation of awardprocedures").

14.2 Contracts

14.2.1. Local open procedure

In this case, supply contracts are awarded by an open procedure in which the procurementnotice is published only in the recipient country. The Commission publishes the references ofsuch tender procedures (dossier number, country, contracting authority and type of contract)on the Internet with the address of the Delegation from which firms can obtain furtherinformation.

14.2.2. Negotiated procedure

With the Commission's agreement, the recipient may award supply contracts by negotiatedprocedure in the situations given in section 14.1.2.

14.3. Contracts

14.3.1. Simplified procedure

Supply contracts under 30 000 are awarded by simplified procedure. Three suppliers mustbe consulted, but no procurement notice need be published. However, the contractingauthority may place orders for supplies of a value of 5 000 or less on the basis of a singlequote.

15. INTERNATIONAL OPEN TENDER PROCEDURE

15.1. Publicity

In order to ensure the widest possible participation in competitive tendering and the requisitetransparency, a procurement notice must be published for every open tender procedure.

15.1.1. Publication of supply procurement notices

The procurement notice is published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, onthe Internet and in any other appropriate media. The Commission is responsible forpublication in the Official Journal of the European Communities and on the Internet, while therecipient must see to local publication.


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The notice must identify clearly, precisely, and completely the contracting authority and thesubject of the contract. If the procurement notice is also published locally, it must be identicalto the procurement notice published on the Internet and appear at the same time.

The tender dossier for the contract in question is sent to would-be suppliers in the recipientcountry or Europe by the recipient or the Commission (delegations, offices in the MemberStates or headquarters).

15.2. Drafting and contents of the tender dossier

It is vital that tender documents be carefully drafted not only for the sound functioning of theaward procedure but also for the proper execution of the contract.

These documents must contain all the provisions and information that tenderers need topresent their tenders: the procedures to follow, the documents to provide, cases of non-compliance, award criteria, etc.

Responsibility in this regard generally falls to the recipient, which must submit the tenderdossier to the Commission for approval prior to issue. The tender dossier must contain thefollowing documents:

instructions to tenderers, which must include: (i) the contract award criteria, (ii)whether variants are authorised and (iii) the currency of the tender;

the general conditions for supply contracts;

special conditions, which amplify, supplement or derogate from the general conditionsand, where they conflict, override them;

technical annexes, containing plans, technical specifications and provisional timetablefor

performance;

price schedule (for completion by the tenderer);

tender form;

contract form.

guarantee forms from a bank or similar institution for:- the tender (1-2% of the budget available for the contract),- the payment of advances,- performance (10% of the contract value)

Unless warranted by the nature of the contract, technical specifications mentioning productsof a given brand or origin and thereby favouring or excluding certain products are prohibited.However, where products cannot be described in a sufficiently clear or intelligible manner,they may be named as long as they are followed by the words "or equivalent".

15.3. Selection and award criteria

The selection criteria concern the tenderer's capacity to execute similar contracts. In certaincases, where the contract includes works or installation services, the tender dossier mayinclude selection criteria concerning the tenderer's technical capabilities.

The award criteria applied to technically compliant tenders are price and, where proposalsare requested for after-sales services and/or training, the quality of such proposals.

15.4. Additional information during the procedure


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The tender dossier should be clear enough to prevent contractors from having to requestadditional information during the procedure. If the contracting authority, either on its owninitiative or in response to a request from a tenderer, provides additional information on thetender dossier, it must send such information in writing to all tenderers at the same time.

If it proves impossible to identify potential tenderers in the case of an open tender procedure,a notice setting out the changes to the tender dossier must be published as laid down insection 15.1.1("Publication of supply procurement notices "). The deadline for the submission

of tenders may be extended to allow tenderers to take account of the change.

Tenderers may submit questions in writing up to 21 days before the deadline for submissionof tenders. The contracting authority must reply to all tenderers' questions at least 11 daysbefore the deadline for receipt of tenders.

15.5. Deadline for the submission of tenders

Tenders must reach the contracting authority at the address and, at the very latest, the dateand time indicated in the tender dossier. The period for submission must be sufficient toguarantee the quality of tenders and so permit truly competitive tendering. Experience showsthat too short a period prevents candidates from tendering or causes them to submitincomplete or ill-prepared tenders.

The minimum period between the date of publication of the procurement notice and thedeadline for receipt of tenders is 60 days. In exceptional cases, and with the priorauthorisation of the Commission, periods may be shorter.

15.6. Period during which tenders are binding

Tenderers are bound by their tenders for the period specified in the tender dossier. Thisperiod must be sufficient to allow the contracting authority to examine the tenders, approvethe contract award proposal, notify the successful tenderer and conclude the contract. The

period of validity of tenders is fixed at 90 days from the deadline for the submission oftenders.

In exceptional cases, before the period of validity expires, the contracting authority may asktenderers to extend the period for a specific number of days, which may not exceed 40.

The successful tenderer must maintain his tender for a further 60 days from the date ofnotification of award.

15.7. Submission of tenders

Technical and financial offers must be placed in separate sealed envelopes within a package

or outer envelope bearing:

a) the address for submission of tenders indicated in the tender dossier;b) the reference of the tender procedure to which the tenderer is responding;c) where applicable, the numbers of the lots tendered for;d) the words "not to be opened before the tender-opening session" written in the

language of the tender dossier.

15.8. Opening of tenders


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On receiving tenders, the contracting authority must register them and provide a receipt forthose delivered by hand. Envelopes must remain sealed and be kept in a safe place untilthey are opened.

Tenders are opened and evaluated by a committee made up of an odd number of members(at least three) possessing the technical and administrative capacities necessary to give aninformed opinion on tenders. The members must sign a declaration of impartiality.

The evaluation committee opens the tenders in public at the place and time fixed in thetender dossier. The following are announced at the tender-opening session: the names of thetenderers, the tender prices, the provision of the requisite tender guarantee and any otherformality which the contracting authority thinks appropriate.

The Delegation must be informed automatically. It is represented as an observer at thetender opening session and receives a copy of each tender.

Only tenders in envelopes received by the date and time indicated in the tender dossier areconsidered for evaluation.

The purpose of the tender-opening session is to check that the tenders are complete, thatthe requisite tender guarantee has been provided, that the documents have been duly signed

and that the tenders are generally in order.

Minutes are taken of the tender-opening session. They are signed by all members of theevaluation committee and state:

the date, time and place of the session;

the persons present;

the names of the tenderers who have replied within the deadline;

whether tenders have been submitted in sealed envelopes;

whether tenders have been duly signed and the requisite number of copies sent;

the tender prices;

the names of tenderers whose tenders were found to be non-compliant at the

opening session; the names of any tenderers who withdrew their tenders;

any declarations made by the tenderers.

15.9. Evaluation of tenders

Before conducting a detailed evaluation of the tenders, the contracting authority checks thatthey comply with the essential requirements of the tender dossier.

A tender is deemed to comply if it satisfies all the conditions, procedures and specificationsin the tender dossier without substantially departing from or attaching restrictions to them.Substantial departures or restrictions are those which affect the scope, quality or execution of

the contract, differ widely from the terms of the tender dossier, limit the rights of thecontracting authority or the tenderer's obligations under the contract or distort competition fortenderers whose tenders do comply.

Tenders which do not comply with the tender dossier must be rejected by the contractingauthority and may not subsequently be made to comply by undergoing corrections or havingdiscrepancies or restrictions removed.

Having evaluated the tenders, the committee rules on the technical admissibility of eachtender, classifying it as technically cQp1pliant or non-compliant. Where contracts include


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after-sales service and/or training, the technical quality of such services is also assessedduring the technical evaluation.

Once the technical evaluation has been completed, the committee checks that the tenderscontain no arithmetic errors. Any errors are corrected without prejudice to the tenderer.

15.10. Award of the contract

15.10.1. Choice of contractor

(a) Price is the sole criterion for awarding supply contracts not involving after-salesservices. All non-compliant offers having already been eliminated, the contract isawarded to the tenderer submitting the least expensive, compliant tender.

(b) Where a supply contract includes services such as after-sales and/or training, thetechnical evaluation must take account of the quality of such services. All non-compliant offers having already been eliminated, the contract is awarded to thetender that is most economically advantageous in terms of the technical quality of theservices offered and the price proposed.

In either case, if the tender selected exceeds the budget allocated for the contract, theprovisions of section 14.2.2(d) apply.

The entire evaluation procedure must be recorded in an evaluation report to be signed by allthe members of the committee. This report must state why tenders were deemed technicallynon-compliant and how they fell short of the technical specifications laid down. The recipientthen transmits the evaluation report and the contract award proposal to the Commission forapproval.

The entire evaluation procedure, including notification of the successful tenderer, must becompleted while the tenders are still valid. It is important to bear in mind that the successfultenderer might be unable to maintain his tender if the evaluation procedure takes too long.

The entire tender procedure up to the notification of the successful tenderer is strictlyconfidential. The committee's decisions are collective and its deliberations must remainsecret. The members of the committee are bound to secrecy.


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The second partof this section will follow on from the award of the tender and cover theactual project implementation aspects through to monitoring and evaluation.

This section has been based on the TenStep Project Management Process. Full details ofthe processes can be found at (www.TenStep.co)

The ten steps in this process include the following:

1.0 Define the Work2.0 Build the Workplan3.0 Manage the Workplan4.0 Manage Issues / Process5.0 Manage Scope6.0 Manage Communication7.0 Manage Risk8.0 Manage Documents9.0 Manage Quality10.0 Manage Metrics

More specifically the overview of each of the steps and the sections within the steps issummarised below.

1.0 Define the WorkOverviewHow many times have you heard about or been involved in a project that failed miserably?Or perhaps it just was not as successful as it needed to be. Did you ever spend time lookingback to see what caused the project to go wrong.

If you did, chances are that you will have said, "You know, we should have spent more timeplanning." Most projects have deadlines, and it seems they are getting shorter and shorter.

Hitting aggressive deadlines puts pressure on the project manager to start the project assoon as possible. However, before the project work begins, there needs to be time spent inup-front planning to make sure that the work is properly understood and agreed to. This isnot wasted time or 'overhead' time. This is the time the project manager spends ensuring thatthe project team and the client have common perceptions of what the project is going todeliver, when it will be complete, what it will cost, who will do the work and how the work willbe done.

At the end of a difficult project, the benefits of planning might be obvious. But, the benefitsare known ahead of time as well. At a high-level, the benefits include:

Understanding and gaining agreement on project objectives, deliverables, scope, risk,cost, approach, etc. (from the Project Definition).

Determining if the original business case is still valid. For instance, a project that

requires 10,000 effort hours might make business sense. If the more detailedplanning process results in a more refined estimate of 20,000 hours, the project maynot make business sense any more.

Making sure the resources you need are available when you need them. Providing a high-level baseline, from which progress can be compared. Validating the processes used to manage the project ahead of time with the client.

It should make sense that small projects need a shorter planning cycle, and larger projectsneed a longer planning cycle. The effort required to plan the project depends on the amountof information, and the level of detail, that needs to be understood and documented. Theduration required to define the work depends on the length of time necessary to discover and


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document the information, as well as the time required to gain agreement and approval fromthe client.

At times, the project manager can get frustrated because of the difficulty in gainingagreement with the client on scope, timeline and cost. But that is exactly the reasonthis work is done ahead of time. Think of the problems you will encounter trying togain agreement with the client on scope, schedule or cost when the work has started

and the deliverables are actually being produced.

Before the main work on a project begins, a number of items need to be in place. For smallerprojects, many of these conditions are met informally or implicitly. However, the larger aproject gets, the more important it is that these criteria be met formally and explicitly.

Client gives approval to begin planning.Normally, implicit approval is assumed tohave occurred for the project to even get this far to begin with. However, if the projectdid not have a business case prepared and if it did not go through a prioritizationprocess, then explicit approval should be sought before project planning begins.

Project is defined. This is documented in the Project Definition, which containsobjectives, scope, assumptions, deliverables, budget, etc. (For medium or smallprojects, this might be the Abbreviated Project Definition or a Service Request.)

Project Workplan is created.A workplan must be prepared and used to manage theeffort. This includes checkpoints, or milestones, when the project can be evaluated toensure that it is appropriate to continue.

Client gives approval to begin project.This is signified through a signed, approvedProject Definition. The Sponsor must sign the document to ensure agreement.

Project Management Procedures are defined and approved- Procedures must bein place to describe how the project will manage issues, communication, risks,quality, scope, etc. This is especially true for large projects, and less important as aproject gets smaller.

Project team resources are assigned- You must have the right people to staff andexecute the project. Sometimes valid, approved projects must be delayed becausepeople with the right skills are not available.

Now we can get on with the TenStep Project Management Process.

1.0.1 What is a Project?OverviewBefore you can be a good 'project manager' and apply good 'project management'techniques, you must first be sure that the work you are undertaking is, in fact, a project.Some people say that all work is a project. I don't think that is accurate. There are really twokinds of work - routine work (support) and project work.

Routine work covers the normal things you do as an ongoing part of your job. In manyorganizations, this is called support work. For IT development people, support work consistsof answering questions, going to regularly scheduled meetings, fixing problems in the

production systems, etc. For sales people, this could be making daily sales calls, movingcontracts through an approval process, updating call logs, etc. For an accounts receivableclerk this could be checking reports, balancing accounts, posting journal entries, closing outthe system, etc. The key criteria is that the work is an ongoing, and routine, part of your job.This is the work you do today, tomorrow and a month from now.

On the other hand, projects are not routine. The biggest difference is that projects, by theirdefinition, have a defined start and end-date. There is a point in time when the work did notexist (before the project), when it does exist (the project), and when it does not exist again(after the project). This is the key determinant of whether a piece of work is a project.


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However, other characteristics of a project include a defined scope, finite budget, specificend result (or deliverables) and assigned resources. Another characteristic of a project is thatthe work is unique. Even if a project is similar to another one, it is not exactly the samebecause circumstances change and because things are always different when you aredealing with people.

That being said, now you must get practical. In theory, projects can be one hour, 100 hoursor 100,000 hours. So, you must recognize that, although the creation of a small deliverable is

a project, it does not need the structure and discipline of a much larger project. For a one-hour project, you 'just do it'. Any planning analysis and design is all done in your head. For atwenty hour project, you mostly'just do it'. However, now you may need to plan a little bit,maybe communicate a little bit, maybe deal with problems a little bit. A one hundred hourproject probably has too much work to plan and manage it all in your head. For instance, youneed to start defining the work and building a simple workplan. A five thousand-hour projectneeds full project management discipline. On the other extreme, a 10,000 hour projectprobably has too much to get our heads around it all. Now you start to break the largerproject up into smaller, but related, projects to get the entire piece of work done.

Before proceeding through the TenStep Project Management Process, make sure youhave a project and make sure you apply the appropriate discipline and rigor, based on theproject size.

1.0.2 The Role of a Project ManagerOverviewOn the surface, the role of a project manager should be easy to describe. In fact, from atextbook perspective it probably is. But the challenge to understanding roles andresponsibilities is that they are different from company to company. So, although thiswebpage will provide an overall perspective of the role, you still need to determine what therole of a project manager is at your company, or in your organization.

General DefinitionIn general, the project manager is responsible for the overall success of the project. In some

companies, this person might be called a Project Coordinator, or a Team Leader, however,the key aspect is that the person is responsible for ensuring the success of the project.

What does it take for the project to be a success? If you follow the TenStep ProjectManagement Process, or a similar approach, you first must define the project and build theworkplan. This is where the project manager's responsibilities start. If the project begins andyou find out later that you are not clear on scope, the project manager is the one who isaccountable. If your project is executing a poor workplan, the project manager isaccountable.

The work around defining the project means that you understand and gain agreement on theoverall objectives, scope, risk, approach, budget, etc. It also includes defining or adopting thespecific project management procedures that will be used to manage the project.

This does not mean that the project manager must do all this work themselves. There maybe an entire team of people helping to create the Project Definition and workplan. However, ifsomething does not go right, the project manager is accountable.

Process ResponsibilitiesOnce the project starts, the project manager must successfully manage and control the work,including:

Identifying, tracking managing and resolving project issues Proactively disseminating project information to all stakeholders Identifying, managing and mitigating project risk


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Ensuring that the solution is of acceptable quality Proactively managing scope to ensure that only what was agreed to is delivered,

unless changes are approved through scope management Defining and collecting metrics to give a sense for how the project is progressing and

whether the deliverables produced are acceptable Managing the overall workplan to ensure work is assigned and completed on time

and within budget

People ResponsibilitiesIn addition to process skills, a project manager must have good people management skills. Thisincludes:

Having the discipline and general management skills to make sure that people followthe standard processes and procedures

Establishing leadership skills to get the team to willingly follow your direction.Leadership is about communicating a vision and getting the team to accept it andstrive to get there with you.

Setting reasonable, challenging and clear expectations for people, and holding themaccountable for meeting the expectations. This includes providing good performancefeedback to team members

Team building skills so that the people work together well, and feel motivated to workhard for the sake of the project and their other team members. The larger your team

and the longer the project, the more important it is to have good team-building skills. Proactive verbal and written communicator skills, including good, active listening

skills.Again, you are responsible for the success of the project. If the team has poor morale and ismissing deadlines, you need to try to resolve it. If team members don't understand exactlywhat they need to do and when it is due, then you are responsible.

Multiple RolesDepending on the size and complexity of the project, the project manager may take on otherresponsibilities in addition to managing the work. For instance, the project manager mayassist with gathering business requirements. Or they may help design a databasemanagement system or they may write some of the project documentation. Projectmanagement is a particular role that a person fills, even if the person who is the projectmanager is working in other roles as well.

Responsibilities in a Matrix OrganizationThe most prevalent organizational structure today is some form of matrix structure. Thematrix organization allows the most efficient use of people resources for a company.However, one of the challenges of the matrix organization is that the team members areassigned to the project for work (full t ime or part time), but the resources report to someoneelse from a people management standpoint. This can mean that it is harder to get theresources to do the things you need to have done, and there is sometimes a sense that teammembers would rather do what their functional managers request, rather than what theproject manager needs.

Matrix management involves a complex and delicate balancing act between projectmanagers and functional people managers. At the same time that you struggle to achieveyour results from people that may not work for you full-time, you may also have additionalnon-project, functional responsibilities as well. The project manager always has limitedpeople management authority in these situations. And yet it is possible to complete yourprojects successfully. There are many project management processes and techniques thatcan help. You should also make sure you utilize the project sponsor. After all, it is theirproject. They can help you generate the urgency and focus, and they can also have animpact on the functional managers, if necessary, to make sure that the project is successful.


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Having Project Management Accountability but not ResponsibilityIn some organizations, the project manager is accountable for the success of the project, butdoes not have the right level of responsibility. Managing the team in a matrix organization isan example of that. You are asked to manage a project utilizing people that you do not havedirect management responsibility for. In other cases, you may find that your ability to resolveissues is hampered because you are not high enough in the organization to get an issueresolved quickly. In other instances, you may find that your ability to be innovative andflexible is constrained by organizational policies and inertia.

1.1 Define the Work / ProcessOverviewAll projects should spend time up-front in a definition step. For small projects, there is notmuch additional information needed, and therefore the planning process is short. As theproject become bigger and bigger, the need to fully understand what is being requested ismore important, and gaining agreement on what is to be delivered is harder to define.Therefore, more time needs to be spent planning the work. The following webpages describeprocesses for defining the work depending on the size of the project.

1.1.1 Define the Work / Small Projects Small Project Overview

1.1.2 Define the Work / Medium Projects Medium Project Overview

1.1.3 Define the Work / Large Projects Large Project Overview

For projects, small, medium and large the process is similar and obviously scaled to suit theproject size where the main difference is that for larger projects there is more informationnecessary to define, and the length of time required to complete the definition process isnecessarily longer and more complex.

1. Look for all the information that may already be available for this project. Thisincludes any previous project deliverables, memos, emails, etc. In many cases,before the project begins, the client must perform some type of high-level cost/benefitanalysis or value proposition. All of this information should be gathered as a startingpoint for understanding the work to be done.

2. Work with your manager and the Project Sponsor to understand what the approvalprocess will be. For instance, determine whether the sponsor wants to approve thedefinition before other stakeholders, or whether the sponsor wants to have the finalapproval? You should also determine who actually has to approve the documentversus those that should just receive a final copy.

3. Meet with the appropriate stakeholders (managers, clients, interested parties) and tryto understand their perceptions of the work being requested. Before you meet withthe various stakeholders, make sure that you are familiar with the basic informationthat is required to define a project of this size. If you are not sure what information togather, you can review the Project Definition deliverable. In general, this informationincludes:

Executive Summary: The full Project Definition document may tend tobecome large and difficult for the senior managers to digest. Include


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an Executive Summary for management to read. The ExecutiveSummary is an overview of the actual Project Definition document. It isnot just an overview of the project.

Project Overview: Add the business benefit of the project. Share anybusiness goals and objectives that this project is trying to achieve.

Project Objectives: State the objectives that the project will achieve.The project objective should support the business goals andobjectives. The deliverables produced should support the Project

Objectives. Project Scope: Define the deliverables being created by this project

and provide some explanation regarding what the deliverable will looklike. Also add information as to what the project will not produce. Inother words, what is out of scope?It is very important to be clear aboutwhat things the project could produce, but will not. This will make itmuch easier to manage scope change throughout the project. Inaddition to deliverables, further describe scope in more specific termssuch as:

o What data will the project work with and what data is out ofscope?

o What organizations will be effected and which will not be?o What business processes are in scope and out of scope?o What transactions are in scope and out of scope?o What other projects are impacted and which will be left alone?o Any other in-scope / out-of-scope qualifier that makes sense.

Estimated Effort Hours: Estimate the effort required to complete theproject. Provide information on how the estimate was prepared, whatestimating assumptions were made, etc.

Estimated Duration: Estimate how long the project will take tocomplete, once it starts. If the start date is known, then the end datecan be determined here as well.

Estimated Cost: Estimate the cost for labour, based on the efforthours. Add any non-labour expense such as hardware, software,training, travel, etc.

Major Assumptions: Assumptions are external events that mustoccur for the project to be successful. If it looks more than likely thatthese events will occur then they should be listed as assumptions.Assumptions can be identified through the experience of knowing whatactivities or events are likely to occur in your organization, throughbrainstorming sessions with the clients, stakeholders and teammember, and by looking at items that were identified as low risk in therisk management process.

Major Risks: Risks are future, external events that will causeproblems to the project is they occur. If there is a good likelihood thatany of these events will occur then they should be identified as a risk.If so, then these should be identified as risks.

Approach:At a high level, describe in words the information that is

represented in the Project Workplan.This information is for thebenefit of the client and stakeholders who will not be able to easilyinterpret the actual workplan. You should describe major projectphases and milestones, and the general sequence of the work. Youshould also communicate when the major deliverables will beproduced. Also take some time to explain ant interesting or our-of-the-ordinary techniques that will be utilized on the project - for instanceRapid Application Development (RAD), Joint Application Design (JAD)sessions, etc. Depending on the size of your project, this section couldbe fairly long.


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Project Organization: The organization chart for a large projectusually has boxes that reflect more direct involvement from variousstakeholders. For instance, the project may have a formal projectmanager from the client organization who also reports to the ProjectSponsor. There may be a high-level Executive Sponsor, as well as alower level Project Sponsor to represent the sponsor on a day-to-daybasis. Key stakeholders may be organized into a Steering Committeeto provide overall strategic guidance to the project. Vendors or

suppliers may have a formal role and would need to be represented inthe organizational structure. (The three major ways that project teamsare organized are described in 1.2.1 Define the Work / ProjectOrganization). Large projects may also benefit from defining howdeliverables get created and approved. This is described in furtherdetail in 1.2.2 Define the Work / Responsibility Matrix. Many of thespecific project roles are described in 1.2.3 Define the Work / Rolesand Responsibilities.

4. Create your first draft of the Project Definition. Make sure you write the content for thebenefit of the reader, not for your benefit. The information should be easilyunderstood by the reader.

5. A draft of the Project Workplan should be started, given as much information as isknown at this time. Information from the workplan is used as input into the ProjectDefinition, and information from the Project Definition is used to help build theworkplan. See 2.0 Define the Work for more information on building the workplan.

6. Document the Project Management Procedures for this project. It is important todocument them ahead of time and get buy-in from management, clients andstakeholders. For instance, it is much easier to resolve a scope change request byfollowing an approved procedure rather that having to invent the procedure andresolve the scope change at the same time. The larger your project is, the moreformal and disciplined your Project Management Procedures need to be. If you haveprocedures defined from a similar project, or if your organization has a common set ofprocedures defined already, use them as your starting point.

7. Circulate the Project Definition and Project Management Procedures in draft form togather feedback and build consensus. The first drafts may go to a small group ofinterested parties. The Project Workplan does not normally need to be circulatedunless there is a specific request to look at it.

8. Update the documents based on accumulated feedback.

9. Circulate the revised documents to a larger group of interested parties for one moreround of feedback. Update the documents again based on this feedback.

10. Start the approval process, as defined in the initial discussion above.

11. After the approval process is complete, circulate copies of the approved ProjectDefinition and Project Management Procedures to all interested stakeholders.

12. The project is now ready to officially begin. A Project Kickoff Meeting can be held toofficially launch the project.


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1.2 Define the Work / Techniques

Work on the Project Definition and Project Workplan SimultaneouslyThere is not necessarily a sequential order between defining the project and building theworkplan. That is, you do not have to completely define the project first and then build theworkplan second. Notice that some of the sections of the Project Definition, for instance,cannot be completed without starting to lay out the overall project workplan. At the sametime, you cannot complete the workplan without gaining agreement on theProject Definition.

For instance, you cannot build the workplan without gaining a high-level agreement ondeliverables and scope. Defining the project also involves describing an overall projectapproach, which is needed before the workplan can be completed.

To a certain extent, defining the project and building the workplan need to be donesimultaneously. The two main deliverables, the Project Definition and project workplan,should also be developed in parallel. You will find that as you gather information aroundscope and deliverables, you can start laying out a high-level workplan. As you gather moreinformation on the project, you can fill in more details on the workplan. When thedeliverables, scope, assumptions and approach are complete, you should have enoughinformation to be able to complete a high-level workplan. You can then use the high-levelworkplan to estimate the necessary budget, effort and duration - which in turn are used tocomplete the Project Definition.

Break Large Projects into Smaller Pieces

Set up a Program to Coordinate a Set of Related Projects

The Client May Not Know Enough to Completely Define the Project

Project Organization - Roles and Responsibilities

Project Approvalso Project Sponsor and key stakeholderso Other management stakeholderso Other interested parties

1.2.1 Define the Work / Goals and Objectives

OverviewGoals and objectives are statements that describe what the project will accomplish, or thebusiness value the project will achieve. Goals are high level statements that provide overallcontext for what the project is trying to achieve, and should align to business goals.Objectives are lower level statements that describe the specific, tangible products anddeliverables that the project will deliver. The definition of goals and objectives are more of anart than a science, and it can be difficult to define them and align them correctly.

GoalsGoals are high-level statements that provide the overall context for what the project is tryingto accomplish. Let's look at an example and some of the characteristics of a goal statement.One of the goals of a project might be to "increase the overall satisfaction levels for clientscalling to the company helpdesk with support needs".

ObjectivesObjectives are concrete statements describing what the project is trying to achieve. Theobjective should be written at a lower level, so that it can be evaluated at the conclusion of aproject to see whether it was achieved or not. Goal statements are designed to be vague. Awell-worded objective will be Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Achievable, Realistic andTime-bound (SMART).


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Importance of ObjectivesObjectives are important because they show a consensus of agreement between the projectmanager and the project sponsor about what the project is trying to accomplish. The specificdeliverables of an IT project, for instance, may or may not make sense to the projectsponsor. However, the objectives should be written in a way that is understandable by all ofthe project stakeholders.

Define Objectives Before the Project StartsThe project objectives, and the business goals they support, should be defined and agreedupon before the project starts. The deliverables of the project are created based on theobjectives - not the other way around.

1.2.2 Define the Work / Roles and ResponsibilitiesOverviewProjects of different size have different ways and requirements on how the people areorganized. In a small project, little organization structure is needed. There might be a primarysponsor, a project manager and a project team. However, for large projects, there are moreand more people involved, and it is important that people understand what they are expectedto do, and what role other people are expected to fill. This section identifies some of thecommon (and not so common) project roles that may need to be defined for your project.

Client

Client Project Manager

Functional

Program Manager

Project Director

Project Manager

Project Team

Sponsor (Executive Sponsor and Project Sponsor)

Stakeholder

Steering Committee

Suppliers / Vendors

Users

1.2.3 Define the Work / Responsibility MatrixOverviewIn a large project, there may be many people who have some role in the creation andapproval of project deliverables. Sometimes this is pretty straightforward, such as one personwriting a document and one person approving it. In other cases, there may be many peoplewho have a hand in the creation, and others that need to have varying levels of approval. Forcomplicated scenarios involving many people, it can be helpful to have a Deliverable -Responsibility Matrix. This helps set expectations, and ensures people know what isexpected from them. For instance, do the members of the Steering Committee approve theBusiness Requirements document? The matrix can lay it all out.On the matrix, the different people, or roles, appear as columns, with the specificdeliverables in question listed as rows. Then, use the intersecting points to describe eachperson's responsibility for each deliverable. A simple matrix follows, followed by suggestedresponsibility categories.


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ProjectSponsor

FunctionalManager

Projectmanager

ProjectTeam

SteeringCommittee

Project Definition A A C R A

Communication Plan A R C R A

Business Requirements A R R C A

Status Reports R R C R R

"A" means that they approve the deliverable"R" means that they review the deliverable"C" means that they create the deliverable. Usually there is only one person who isresponsible for creating a deliverable, although many people may provide input.

1.2.4 Define the Work / Project OrganizationOverviewThe way that the project team is organized is directly related to the way the entireorganization is structured. There are three major organization structures to manage work andpeople.

Functionally Based Project Based

Matrix Based

2.0 Build the WorkplanOverviewThe project workplan is created along with the appropriate Project Definition deliverable fromStep 1.0. It may seem obvious, but the workplan is a vital tool to ensure that the project teamknows what they need to do. Many people are uncomfortable creating a workplan. Usuallythis is because the project has not been well defined. How can a decent workplan be built ifthe project manager is not really sure of what the project will deliver?

In the prior step you defined the project to be sure you have an agreement with the projectsponsor on what work should be completed in this project. In this step the project managerdetermines how the work will be completed. Different approaches should be taken in thisstep according to the size of the project. The workplan for small projects can be built withouta lot of formality. It is possible to use a project management package like MS Project, or aspreadsheet, or a piece of paper.

If you do not have a workplan template to use as your starting point, the Work BreakdownStructure (WBS) technique can be used. The WBS is a technique for looking at the project ata high level, and then subsequently breaking the work into smaller and smaller pieces untilyou can get the full picture of the totality of work that needs to be performed. The entire teamcan collaborate on this exercise.

The Relationship Between Defining and Planning the ProjectDefining and planning the project are not necessarily a sequential process. You will often findthat you cannot complete the Project Definition without starting to lay out the overall projectworkplan. In many cases, these two deliverables need to be worked on in parallel. As yougather information around scope and deliverables, you will need to start laying out an overalltimeline so that you can get your hands around estimated effort and duration. As you getmore information, fill in more detail on the workplan. When the deliverables, scope,assumptions and approach are complete, you should have enough information in the


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workplan to estimate the necessary budget, effort and duration - which in turn are used tocomplete the Project Definition.

2.1 Build the Workplan / ProcessOverviewThe section describes the process for building a workplan. The workplan for small projectscan be built without a lot of formality. If you have a medium to large project, there are a

couple techniques that can be used to build a workplan. The best approach is to utilize asimilar project workplan from a prior project as your starting point. If you do not have a priorworkplan, the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) technique can be used. This WBS processis utilized in the following process. The general process is as follows.

Gather Pre-existing Baseline Documents

Create a Work Breakdown Structure

Create a Network Diagram

Assign Resources

Adjust Plan and Add Milestones

2.1.1 Build the Workplan / EstimatingOverviewThis section takes you through a process for estimating effort, cost and duration. The placeto start is estimating effort hours. Duration and cost can be derived using the effort as astarting point.

Before you begin

Get a clear picture of the work that is being estimated

Determine who should be involved in the estimating process

Determine if there are any estimating constraints

Use multiple estimating techniques if possibleEstimating Effort

Determine how accurate your estimate needs to be

Create the initial estimate of effort hours

Factor the effort hours based on the resources assigned

Add specialist resource hours

Consider rework (optional)o Add into the original estimateo Add as separate activitieso Add as blocks of time

Add project management time Add contingency hours Calculate the total effort. Review and adjust as necessary Document all assumptions

Estimating DurationWhereas effort is normally given in terms of hours, duration is given in terms of days, and anend date. It could be confusing to say that the duration of a project is three months, since youdon't know if this means that the duration is actually 90 days, or 60 work days. What youshould say instead is that the project duration is 90 days, and the estimated end date is 31December 2002. Then the estimated number of days of duration, as well as what thetargeted end date, is clear.


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However, those perfect circumstances are not indicative of how work is actually performed.Therefore, you can convert effort hours to duration for resource-constrained activities usingthe following process.

Estimate the productive hours per day

Determine how many resources will be applied to each activity

Factor in available workdays

Take into account any resources that are not full time

Factor in multi-tasking productivity loss for part-time resources

Calculate delays and lag-times

Determine what work can be done simultaneously Document all assumptions

Estimating Costs

Estimate labor costs

Estimate non-labor costs

Document all assumptions

2.1.2 Build the Workplan / Estimating ThresholdOverviewThe process of creating a work breakdown structure requires a repetitive process of breakinglarger chunks of work into a series of smaller and smaller pieces. An appropriate question toask is how small the activities should be before they do not need to be broken down further.This is the estimating threshold, under which it makes no sense to break down the work anyfurther. There is no hard and fast rule for the threshold, but there are some generalguidelines and then some caveats where different rules might apply.

2.1.3 Build the Workplan / ApproachOverviewThe project approach in a section in the Project Definition that describes in words thethinking that goes into the creation of the Project Workplan. This information is for the

benefit of the client and stakeholders who will not be able to easily interpret the actualworkplan. There are a number of ways the section can be prepared. Usually, you start offwith general content about how the organization and environment will impact the project.Then you walk chronologically through the project, starting at the beginning and going to theend.

Discuss whether any broader company initiatives or strategies impacted how thisproject was structured.

Identify any constraints or time-boxes in terms of budget, effort, time or quality, andthe impact to the project.

Describe any company standards that will impact how the project is executed. Note any company or industry best practices that will have an effect on the project. Describe other options for the overall approach, and why you chose the one you did

over the others. Note why you think this approach has the best chance of successover the others.

Talk about how the deliverables will be supported and maintained after the projectends. Also indicate whether the approach was influenced by the support andmaintenance implications.

Discuss any other related projects that are completed, in progress or pending thatinfluenced the approach for this project, and why.

Discuss, at a high level, how the project will progress from start to end, and what theinterdependencies are between the high-level stages.


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Discuss any techniques that might be of interest to the reader. For instance, if therequirements will be gathered in a three-day Joint Application Development (JAD)session, you can note this in the approach.

Note whether new technology or new processes are being utilized, and why. Identify any unusual staffing requirements, such as consultants or outside specialists,

and explain why you need them. Describe the use of outsourcers, contractors or vendors, especially if they are doing

significant work.

2.1.4 Build the Workplan / Precedence RelationshipsOverview

When you are building the Network Diagram, you will f ind that all of the activities in the workbreakdown structure are related to at least one other activity. In many cases, therelationships will involve more than two activities. The most common case you will find iswhere one activity cannot start until another activity has finished. This is referred to as aFinish to Start relationship, and it is the most common form. However, there are four waysthat one or more activities can be related to another one.

Finish to start, start to finish, start to start, and finish to finish.

2.1.5 Estimating Productive Hours Per DayOverviewIt can be challenging to provide project estimates for effort hours, duration and cost. Of thethree estimates, you must start off with an estimate of effort hours. Without an idea of theeffort hours, you cannot accurately estimate duration or cost.

2.1.6 Build the Workplan / Work Breakdown StructureOverviewDescribes additional best practices, tips and processes for building the Work Breakdown

Structure (WBS).

Summary Activities

Use the Old-Fashioned Approach - Yellow Sticky Pads

Focus on Deliverables, Then Activities

How Big Should You Make an Activity?

Do Not Make the WBS Too Tall

Phase and Stages

2.1.6.1 WBS ExamplesOverviewA noted previously, there are a number of ways to create the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

Remember that the WBS is the first step toward creating the project workplan. It is not the workplanitself. It is important to use the WBS to identify all the major work to be done. It is not important tobreak the work down into levels or patterns that provide a sense for the timing and sequencing. Thiswill all be done later.

Here are some examples of how the WBS can be structured.

WBS by major project phase or work unit

WBS by timeline

WBS by deliverable


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2.2 Build the Workplan / TechniquesUse Previous Similar Workplans and Pre-Built Workplan Templates

The process described for building a project workplan for medium and large projects usesthe Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) technique. However, the best way to build a workplanis to reuse one that was created previously. For instance, if a similar project was completed

in the past, start by using that workplan as your base and modifying it accordingly. This willsave all of the effort associated with 'discovering' how the work should be laid out. This isespecially valuable if the previous project manager kept the workplan up-to-date. Then youwill have the actual workplan that was used to complete the similar work.

Always Assign One Person to be Primarily Responsible for Work

Assign Generic Resource Groups First, Then Specific Resources

Use Full-Time Project Resources When Possible

Who is the Best Person to Write the Project Workplan?

Create a draft and circulate to stakeholders

Build the WBS and workplan through direct stakeholder involvement

Predetermined End Dates / Timebox

Estimating Techniques Spend More Time Up-Front to Save Time Later

2.2.1 Build the Workplan / EstimatingEstimating TechniquesThe following techniques can be used at a project level or activity level, or for any sized workin-between. For instance, an expert opinion can be used to help guide the estimate for anentire project or a specific piece of work.

Previous History Analogy Ratio

Expert Opinion

Delphi Work Breakdown Structure PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) Parametric Modelling

Estimate in Phases

Fixed Costs and Variable Costs Time-Constrained and Resource-Constrained Activities Include Project Meetings and Collaboration Time in the Estimate Start Off With an Estimate Range Accounting for Estimating Risks - Monte Carlo Modelling Wishful Thinking Almost Always Will Get You in Trouble Validate an Old Estimate When a New Team is in Place Should You Include Client Cost and Effort? The Client Says the Estimate is Too High Creating an Estimating Packet

2.3 Build the Workplan / Deliverables

A small project requires some basic fields on the workplan. This workplan can be enteredinto a project management tool, a spreadsheet, paper, etc. The project status can be quickly


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gathered by reviewing estimated end date versus actual end date, and estimated effort hoursversus actual effort hours.

(1) Deliverable: Project Workplan

For medium and large projects, you really need to be using a project management tool. Atool will allow you to set up and track dozens of additional fields if you need to. Remember as

well that the more information tracked the more complicated the updating process will be.However, the following information will certainly be needed.

(1) Estimate of Work(2) Deliverable: Project Workplan(3) Deliverable: Associated Reports

2.4 Build the WorkplanAdditional Workplan ActivitiesDepending on your project, you would need to add information on estimated start date,estimated effort, actual effort hours, resources, etc. to make the project workplan complete.In most cases, the project manager is responsible for this work, unless specifically delegated.

3.0 Manage the WorkplanOverviewAt this point, you have completed defining the project and planning the work. The majordeliverables in place are the Project Definition and project workplan. Some project managersthink that defining and planning the work means that the hard part of managing the project isbehind them. That is definitely not the case.

You will never be a successful project manager if you do not keep the workplan up to date.

Remember that the workplan is only a deliverable. It describes the work that needs to occur,the order of the work, how much effort is required, who is assigned, etc. However, it onlyrepresents your best-guess as to how to complete the remaining work at any particular pointin the project.

The more complex your project is, the more change is going to be required in your bestguess workplan over time. That is why this is such an important project management skill.The project manager must evaluate the workplan on an ongoing basis (say weekly) anddetermine the current state of the project. Based on the current state of the project, and yourcurrent understanding of the work remaining, the project manager needs to re-plot a coursethat will allow the work to be completed within the original budget and deadline if at allpossible.

For the most part, the workplan will need to be reviewed on a weekly basis. During thisreview, the project manager updates the workplan with the current state of work that iscompleted and in-progress. The remaining work should be evaluated to see if the project willbe completed within the original effort, cost, and duration. If it can, then you are in goodshape. If it cannot, then the project manager must implement corrective action.

Of all of the aspects for managing the project, this one is perhaps the most fundamental.Depending on the dynamics of your project, the project manager may be in a position ofhaving to constantly utilize their experience and creativity to get the project completed withinexpectations. One week your project many be on track. The next week, you may have workassignments that are late and issues that have surfaced. If an activity on the critical path is a


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week late, the project manager cannot sit back idly and allow the entire project to be a weeklate. Instead, they must evaluate the resources and options available and get the projectback on track. If you are good at it, managing the workplan can be one of the morechallenging and rewarding aspects of project management. If you do not relish the detailedwork that is required, you may find it is much more difficult to be successful.

3.1 Manage the Workplan / Process

Small Projects1. Review the workplan on a weekly basis.2. Identify activities that have been completed during the previous week and update the

workplan to show they are finished.3. Determine whether there are any other activities that should be completed, but are

not. If an activity is behind schedule, work with the individuals who are assigned tosee what is going on. There could be problems that need to be resolved or it may bethat the length of time needed to complete the activity was underestimated.Determine how much additional effort and duration will be needed to complete thework and update the workplan accordingly.

4. Evaluate the remaining work to see if the project will be completed within the originaleffort, cost and duration. Even though some activities may be completed later thanplanned, other work may be completing early.

5. Adjust the workplan so that it reflects how the remaining work will be completed. Thefirst priority should be to complete the project within the original estimates for effort,duration and cost. If you are behind schedule or trending overbudget there are manytechniques you can utilize to get back on track.

6. If the original budget or deadline estimates cannot be met, new estimates need to beprepared and communicated to management and to the client. This is importantinformation to share because there may be areas where they can provide input. Forinstance, the client may agree to reduce the remaining requirements to allow theproject to complete within the original estimates.

Medium and Large ProjectsReview the process associated with small projects. Although a small project may havetwenty activities and a large project many have five thousand, they both end up using a

similar process. However, there is more rigor that is put in place for larger and largerprojects. In the case of larger projects, there may be a person(s) responsible for actuallyupdating the project workplanwith actual results, and then running reports that are presentedto the project manager for evaluation and analysis.

1. Review the workplan on a regular basis.For a medium project, this is probably stilla weekly process. For larger projects the frequency might be every two weeks. Donot go any less frequently than every two weeks. (A frequency of monthly is too long.There is too much work taking place, and if there are problems, too much time maypass before they are surfaced.)

2. Capture and update actual hours. If the project is capturing actual effort hours andcosts, update the workplan with this information. Identify activities that have beencompleted during the previous time period and update the workplan to show they arefinished. The effort hours and status can come from team members through theStatus Reports and status meetings. In some cases, a scheduling tool might be setup so that team members can update the workplan directly with their effort hours andcompletion status.

3. Review your schedule situation. Determine whether there are any other activitiesthat should be completed, but are not. This information can be gathered by runningthe appropriate report from the project management tool. If there are activities thatare late, work with the individual(s) who are assigned to see what is going on. Therecould be problems that need to be resolved, or it may be that the length of timeneeded to complete the activity was underestimated. Determine how much additional


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effort and duration will be needed to complete the work and update the workplanaccordingly.

4. Reschedule the project.After the workplan has been updated to show the currentreality, let the tool reschedule the work to see if the project will be completed withinthe original effort, cost and duration. Even though some activities may be completedlater than planned, other work may be completing early.

5. Run additional workplan management reports.Run additional reports from theproject management tool to help determine how the project is progressing. For

instance, look at resource allocation. The project may be completing on schedulebecause some of the team member are being scheduled for 80 hours per week. Ifyou saved a baseline version of the workplan, you can run reports to compare thecurrent workplan against the baseline to see the variances.

6. Review your budget situation.Review how your project is performing against yourbudget. Because of how financial reporting is done, you may need to manage thebudget on a monthly basis, even if you update the workplan on a weekly or bi-weeklybasis. If you are keeping all of your expenditures in your project management tool,this may be as simple as running a report to compare actual expenditures againstbudgeted expenditures. More than likely, however, you are keeping up with yourbudget on a separate spreadsheet, since many organizations have separate financialreporting systems. If you are fortunate, your financial systems and project trackingapplications will be integrated so that all of the financial information is in one place.

7. Look for other signs that the project may be in trouble.These could include Activities starting to trend over budget or behind schedule early on in

the project. There is a tendency to think you can make it up, butusually these are a warning that you will get further in further in trouble.

A small variance starts to get bigger, especially early in the project. You discover that activities you think have already been completed are

still being worked on. You need to rely on unscheduled overtime to hit the deadlines,

especially early in the project. Team morale starts to decline. Deliverable quality or service quality starts to deteriorate. Quality control steps, testing activities and project management time

starts to be cut back from the original schedule.If these situations start to occur, raise visibility through risk management. Puttogether a Risk Management Plan to proactively ensure that the project stayson track. If you cannot successfully manage through the problems, raise anissue.

8. Evaluate the critical path of the project.The critical path is the sequence ofactivities that must be completed on time for the entire project to be completed onschedule.

9. Adjust the workplan.Update the workplan so that it reflects how the remaining workwill be completed. The first priority should be to complete the project within theoriginal estimates for effort, duration and cost.

10. Communicate any schedule and budget risk. As soon as you feel you at risk ofmissing your budget or deadline, you should communicate this to the sponsor and

stakeholders. You do not have to state that you will miss your estimates for sure.However, start to communicate the risk so that you can implement actions to try toget the project back on track.

11. Add more details to future work.On a monthly basis, adjust future work to reflectany additional information you know now. Note that this step refers to originallyidentified work that requires more detailed information. This is not the place to addnew work.


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3.1.1 Manage the Workplan / Critical PathOverviewCritical path refers to the sequence of activities that must be completed on schedule for theentire project to be completed on schedule. In other words, if the end date for the project hasslipped, it is because at least one activity on the critical path did not complete on time. It isimportant to understand the critical path sequence to know where you have flexibility andwhere you do not. For instance, you may have a whole series of activities that end up

running late, yet the overall project will still complete on time. On the other hand, if yourproject is falling behind, placing additional resources on non-critical activities will not result inthe overall project completing earlier.

The Logic Behind Critical Path

Why is the Critical Path Important?

The Critical Path May Change

Calculating the Critical Path Free Float, Path Float and Total Float

3.2 Manage the Workplan / Techniques

Techniques to Get a Project Back on ScheduleJust because you monitor your project on an ongoing basis does not mean that you maynever miss deadlines. The good thing about managing the workplan is that you will knowvery quickly if you are trending over the end date. This will give you an opportunity to put aproactive plan in place to get back on schedule. There is not a simple process that will do thetrick in every case. However, there are some techniques you can apply to get the job done.

Techniques to Get a Project Back on BudgetJust as the project manager may face scheduling difficulties, you may also find yourselftrending overbudget. If you monitor costs regularly, you should know very quickly if you aretrending over your budget. This control process is somewhat more difficult than managingthe schedule, because there could be a variety of reasons why your financial information is

not as good or as accurate.

Make Sure Team Members Know What Their Assignments AreOne of the basic responsibilities of the project manager is to assign work to team members.However, some project managers are not always clear on what needs to be done and who isresponsible. This causes uncertainty in the team and can result of some activities runninglate.

Team members need to be clear on what they are assigned and when the work is due. Ifthey understand the work perfectly, but don't deliver on-time, you have a problem. If theydeliver the wrong work to you, on time, you also have a problem. When you assign work toteam members, be clear about the following:

Activity name(s), from the workplan. An explanation, if necessary, of what the work is. Start date and end date. If they cannot meet the dates, they need to let the project

manager know as soon as possible. Estimated effort hours. If they cannot complete the activities within the estimated

effort hours, they need to let the project manager know as soon as possible. Estimated costs. If they cannot complete the work within the cost estimate, they

need to let the project manager know as soon as possible. Deliverable. The team member needs to understand the deliverable or work

component (a portion of a larger deliverable) that is expected.


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Dependencies. Make sure the team member knows their relationship with otheractivities - either ones that are waiting on them, or ones that must be complete beforetheirs can start.

Other resources.If multiple resources are working on the same activities, they mustall understand who is responsible for what, and who has overall responsibility foreach activity.

Tolerances

When you manage the workplan, you do not want to be accurate to the minute or to thedollar. You also do not want to make a big deal if your project is a day over deadline oneweek, and a day ahead of schedule the next. Use common sense and work with your clienton the tolerance levels for budget and deadline. If you stay within the tolerances, then youare fine. If you go outside those limits, then you should be concerned.

Earned ValueProjects, especially larger ones, are never executed exactly as they are planned. Someactivities finish early. Some finish late. Sometimes it is not easy to know if you are ahead ofschedule of not. Likewise, sometimes it is hard to know if you are underbudget or not.This is the purpose of earned value calculations. Earned value is a method for determiningthe progress of a project, given where you are versus where you expected to be.

Team Resistance to Managing the WorkplanIt's one thing to build a project definition and the workplan. It's another thing to effectivelymanage the project. If you could issue the plan and the work assignments and haveeveryone complete their activities on-time, the project manager's life would be much easier.However, the process of managing the team and the workplan becomes complicatedbecause of the people element involved. To understand how the project is proceeding and toensure that it stays on track, controls are needed. The project manager also needs tocommunicate the processes effectively, including the overall value to the project. Oncediscussed with the team, it is important to apply the processes consistently for them to beadopted successfully on the project.

Who Updates the Workplan?In most projects the project manager is responsible for the workplan and updates it on aweekly or bi-weekly basis. In most projects the project manager is the only one that isallowed to update the plan. However, in some cases, the project manager asks each teammember to update the workplan with a current status.

Proceed with Caution if Managing by Percent CompleteMost project management tools have an available field for entering the percentage completefor each activity. Before an activity starts, it is 0% complete. When it is finished, it is 100%complete. However, in between can be tricky. Asking when the work will be completed givesyou concrete information you can place on your workplan, while also getting the teammember to make another commitment to the end date.

Managing by Due Date

In many organizations, project estimates are based on costs, effort hours and duration.However, when the project starts they do not collect the actual effort hours worked on eachactivity. Unless tracking effort hours is important to your organization, the project managershould feel comfortable to manage the project schedule based on completion dates.

Managing by MilestonesA milestone is a scheduling event that signifies the completion of a major deliverable or a setof related deliverables. A milestone, by definition, has duration of zero and no effort.Milestones are great for project managers because they provide an opportunity to validatewhere the project is and what the future looks like. In particular, you can do the followingactivities:


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Update the workplan and validate where you are trending in terms of overall projectbudget and deadline.

Validate that work done up to this point is correct and accurate. The client shouldhave approved any external deliverables produced up to this point.

Make sure that the rest of the project workplan includes all the activities necessary tocomplete the project.

Double-check the effort, duration and cost estimates for the remaining work. Basedon prior work completed to date, you may have a much better feel for whether the

remaining estimates are accurate. If they are not, you will need to modify theworkplan. If it appears that your budget or deadline will not be met, raise an issue andresolve the problems now.

Issue formal communication and status, per the communication plan. Evaluate the Risk Plan for previously identified risks, and perform a new risk

assessment to identify new risks. Update all other project management logs and reports.

These activities should be done on a regular basis, but a milestone date is a good time tocatch up, validate where you are at, get clear on what's next and get prepared to chargeahead.

The Project AuditSometimes the project manager can get too comfortable (or too uncomfortable) in how the

project is progressing. In many cases, it makes sense to have an outside party come in toevaluate the project management processes being employed and double-check to makesure the project is progressing as expected. . The project manager or functional managermight call for a project audit as part of an overall quality management program. In somecases, such as a government project, periodic audits may be called for as a part of theoverall contract. In any event, an outside audit should provide comfort to the projectstakeholders that effective project management processes are being utilized.

When 'Completed' Activities Are Not Really Completed (3.2.P12)The team member may say the work is complete, but when the deliverable is checked it isdiscovered it is incomplete or needs additional follow-up work. To avoid this, make sure thatthere is an approval process for all major deliverables, and that the workplan leaves time forthe approval process and for rework based on feedback.

Action ItemsAction items are nothing more than work that need to be done to complete an activity,answer an outstanding question, etc. One technique to ensure that action items arecompleted is to place them in the workplan.

3.2.1 Manage the Workplan / Action ItemsOverviewAn action item is work that requires follow-up execution. By their nature, action itemsnormally cannot be planned for in advance. They arise on an ad-hoc basis during meetingsor as a by-product of working on something else. An action item is assigned because there is

not enough knowledge, expertise or time to resolve the item at the time. In many cases,action items are administrative in nature, but in other cases they can require substantial workto complete. Action items need to be assigned, worked on later and completed.

1. Action items may be identified by anyone on the project team. They often arise out ofinteractions between and among project team members, particularly at statusmeetings.

2. The project manager or a designated person enters the action item in the Action ItemLog. This records its existence to ensure that it receives attention and is carried out.

3. The project manager or designated person assigns the action item to a teammember, who assumes responsibility for the action item and takes the necessary


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steps to complete it. A quick estimate of effort should be agreed to and added to thelog.

4. A date for the completion of each action item should be entered in the log.5. If completing an action item involves more work than anticipated, it should be brought

to the attention of the project manager.6. The Action Item Log should be reviewed at regular intervals during project team

meetings to ensure that action items have been completed successfully.Action items are normally time sensitive. If an action item has not been completed in a

reasonable timeframe, it should be eliminated.The project manager (or designated person) must follow-up to ensure that action items areclosed.

3.2.2 Manage the Workplan / Earned ValueOverviewEarned value is a set of techniques that were first used in the 1960's in the Department ofDefense to objectively measure the status of a project in terms of budget and schedule. Theconcepts are interesting and of value for all projects managers. However, from a practicalstandpoint, very few companies and projects utilize earned value. It is a concept worthknowing, but probably not one worth applying to your project unless your entire organizationchooses to track progress this way.

Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP)

Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP)

Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS

Schedule Variance (SV)

Cost Variance (CV)

Schedule Performance Index (SPI) Cost Performance Index (CPI)

Budget at Completion (BAC)

Estimate to Complete (ETC)

3.2.3 Manage the Workplan / Getting a Project Back on ScheduleOverviewPeople who have worked on project teams know that there is a lot that can go wrong that canresult in a project trending over its deadline date. Sometimes you discover that activitieswere simply underestimated.

Regardless of how you get there, many times you will find that you are trending beyond yourcommitted deadline date. If you discover that happening, the first obligation of the projectmanager is to try to determine the cause. If you look for remedies without knowing the cause,you are susceptible to having the situation re-occur over time.

What should you do after you know the cause? Should you notify the client and push theproject end date out further? Not yet. The next obligation of the project manager and projectteam is to try to make corrections that will get the project back on track again. If you aretrending over your deadline at the beginning of a long project, you have many optionsavailable to you. If you are toward the end of the project there may be fewer optionsavailable. The following techniques can be applied to your situation. Note that this list is notin a priority order. Some techniques may work better in certain situations while others can beapplied more successfully elsewhere. Options include:

Work Overtime

Reallocate Resources onto the Critical Path

Double-Check all Dependencies

Check Time-Constrained Activities

8/13/2019 Project Implementati

Project Implementation and Tendering - Notes

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