Project Management

What does a Project Manager do?

• Owns the problems.

• Interprets the contract or statement of work.

• Authorizes the work.

• Demands creation and maintenance of program baselines.

• Monitors the work.

• Coordinates the work.

Project Management Essentials

• State the objective.

• State the plan. • Execute your plan.

• Monitor progress and take corrective action.

Project Management entails

• Organization

• Planning, Scheduling, Budgeting

• Resource Allocation

• Analysis and Management Reports

• Revisions and Data Maintenance

Structure of Work

Define DoAssess &Report

Communication

There is no such thing as a surprise.

Someone knew it a long time ago.

Don’t be afraid to ask

dumb questions.

They are easier to handle

than dumb mistakes!

Planning

Plans are worthless unless someone makes them work!

Plan for Success!

Why we don’t plan…

• It’s hard work.

• It forces us to deal with things we don’t know or understand.

• It forces us to expose our lack of knowledge.

• It’s more fun to “do” than to “define”.

• Commitment to a plan takes away your freedom (power).

Q: How does a program get to be one year late?

A: One day at a time!

Where to start…

• Have a definite project start and end date.• Read or write the specifications for the

project.• Make a “to do” list.• Sort the list into categories.• Develop a timeline of important due dates

or milestones.• Fill in the timeline with a projected

schedule so you can meet the milestones.

Project Management Objectives…

• Define & specify the product to be designed.

• Communicate the design to the team.

• Control the design (minimize possibilities for change).

• Define engineering and production test requirements and concepts.

Handling Problems1. Define the problem.2. Who owns the problem?3. Devise an action plan that follows accepted

process with deadlines.4. Propose and evaluate solutions.

Technical meritSchedule impactCost impactContractual implicationsRisks identifiedRisks mitigated“Unless one person understands the whole thing, it

won’t go together.” Abraham Lincoln

Project Management Pitfalls

1. Inadequate project definition and planning. All stakeholders must understand it and but into it. Spend the time upfront to get it right. Failure to keep the schedule.

1. Not managing the work plan. No plan should be changed after implementation. Status is measured against the work plan. Most changes are a result of out of scope work. Failure to have deadlines. Assigning activities that are too large.

Project Management Pitfalls

3. Poor project communication Everyone has different expectations. Team members don’t know what is expected of

them and pass their problems to the next person.

1. Lack of quality management It’s in the eyes of the client, not the manager. Having to redo to get it right.

Project Management Chart(Gantt Chart)

WeBGood, Inc. Mobility DeviceTask Leader Oct 11-17 Oct 18-25 Oct 26-31 Nov 1-7

SOW written Joe

Research Bethany

Finalize Design Joe/Team

Procure Materials

Jeremy

Prototype Built Julie/Team

PrototypeTested

Jeremy

Test Results Evaluated

Team

Presentation Jeremy/Team