What Is Project Management and Why Should You Care
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Transcript of What Is Project Management and Why Should You Care
What is Project Management…And why should you care?
Janice R. Maxwell Assistant Director- Project Management Office
Organizational Development Training Class 3/18/2015
What is a Project
What is a Project?
A project is temporary in that it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources.
And a project is unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal. So a project team often includes people who don’t usually work together –sometimes from different organizations and across multiple geographies.
What Does A Project Create?
The development of software for an improved business process, the construction of a building or bridge, the relief effort after a natural disaster, the expansion of sales into a new geographic market — all are projects.
And all must be expertly managed to deliver the on-time, on-budget results, learning and integration that organizations need.
A product that can be either a component of another item or an end item in itself
A capability to perform a service
A result such as an outcome or document
What Is Project Management
Project management, then, is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects effectively and efficiently. It’s a strategic competency for organizations, enabling them to tie project results to business goals — and thus,
better compete in their markets
Managing A ProjectIncludes:Identifying requirementsEstablishing clear and achievable objectivesBalancing competing demands of quality, scope, time and cost (time, cost, and quality are often known as the triple constraint)
Let’s Play A Game! Build the Tallest Freestanding Structure: The winning team is the one that has
the tallest structure measured from the table top surface to the top of the marshmallow. That means the structure cannot be suspended from a higher structure, like a chair, ceiling or chandelier.
The Entire Marshmallow Must be on Top: The entire marshmallow needs to be on the top of the structure. Cutting or eating part of the marshmallow disqualifies the team.
Use as Much or as Little of the Kit: The team can use as many or as few of the 20 spaghetti sticks, as much or as little of the string or tape. The team cannot use the paper bag as part of their structure.
Break up the Spaghetti, String or Tape: Teams are free to break the spaghetti, cut up the tape and string to create new structures.
The Challenge Lasts 18 minutes: Teams cannot hold on to the structure when the time runs out. Those touching or supporting the structure at the end of the exercise will be disqualified.
The Rules
The Marshmallow Challenge- From What is Project Management
and Why should you care?
- GSU – Organizational Development
- 3/18/2015
Winner!
Timeline of Major Projects
“Many people think of project management as a relatively new discipline. In point of fact, we’ve been practicing project management as a society, using the framework the PMI describes for as long as we’ve been able to make things. Maybe we didn’t call the steps we took by the same names we call them today, but evidence of the processes remain. This work we do
is ancient.”… Geoff Crane
http://www.projectmanagement.com/profile/papercutpm
The Project Life Cycle All the phases necessary to perform the project
At the end of each phase the project performance and deliverables may be reviewed (quality gates) in order to:Determine if the project should be
continuedDetect and correct errors cost effectively
As an industry matures, its project life cycles become industry “best practices”
The Role of the Project ManagerRole of the Project Manager – The project manager is responsible for managing the project to meet project objectives.
Assigned to the project no later than project initiating
In charge of the project, but not necessarily the resources
Leads and directs the project planning efforts
Determines and delivers required levels of quality
Assists the team and other stakeholders during project executing
Creates a change control system
Maintains control over the project by measuring performance, determining if corrective action is needed, recommending corrective actions, preventive actions and defect repair management
Is accountable for project failure
The Role of the Project Team Role of the Project Team – A group of people who will complete work on the project. The team helps plan what needs to be done(WBS) and creates time estimates for their work packages or activities.Identify and involve stakeholdersExecute the project management plan to accomplished workDefine requirementsDecompose work packages they are responsible for into schedule activitiesProvide time and cost estimatesIdentify dependencies and create the network diagramIdentify risksPerform qualitative and quantitative risk analysis and risk response planning
The Role of StakeholdersRole of the Stakeholders – Should be involved in the planning the project and managing it more extensively than you might be doing on your projects.
May be involved in the creation of the project charter and the preliminary and project scope statements
Project management plan development
Approving project changes and being on the CCB
Scope verification
Identifying constraints
Risk management
The Role of The Project Sponsor Ensuring that the project is properly launched
Ensuring that the project remains a viable business proposition
Ensuring changes to the project are properly managed
Ensuring risks are managed
Ensuring the project is under control
Resolving issues (typically competition for resources and priority clashes) that are beyond the control of the Project Manager
Resolving conflict and removing obstacles to progress
Overall quality of the project, both the methods used to develop it and the end product.
Key Concepts of Project Managers:
Make sure your stakeholders are on board.
Understand the scope of a project before you execute it.
Have a clear goal with defined milestones.
Ambitious projects require leadership
Turn obstacles into opportunities.
Make sure you’re using all your assets.
Make sure your contributors understand the context of their deliverables.
Key Take-AwaysFailing to take into account the divergent goals of your stakeholders will cause you to make decisions that you regret later.
Project leaders who fail to provide a project plan, or clearly delegate that responsibility to an actual project planner, find their project going over time and budget.
If you have an ambitious project in your hands, with stretch goals that you know will tax your strongest contributors, you need more than a good project plan and milestones: You need your people to be inspired.
Every project has obstacles to overcome. Although you can plan for some, others arrive out of the blue. A good project plan has built-in resiliency in case the more unpredictable pieces don’t deliver as expected.
More Take Aways
Being quick on your feet is no substitute for having an actual plan, of course. But once you have a plan in place, make sure it’s flexible enough to survive a few unexpected twists, and be creative enough to find alternate ways to achieve your objectives when obstacles block your progress. Giving your contributors the ability to show initiative will greatly help, but only if you have a plan.
Every project of any size needs both talented individuals to drive it forward and people to support them in that endeavor
Understand the scope of his project well enough to execute it.
Any good leader should encourage initiative in their reports. A tactical decision in the heat of the moment can sometimes make the difference between success and failure.
Key Skills For The Project ManagerKnow what you don’t know
Become comfortable with change and ambiguity
Find people for the team whose strengths compliment your weaknesses
Keep a learning journal with your daily “AHAs”
Achieve balance within the following challenging areas Ego vs. Egoless Autocrat vs. Delegator Leader vs. Manager Tolerance of Ambiguity vs. Pursuit of Perfection Oral vs. Written Communication Complexity vs. Simplicity Big Picture vs. Attention to Detail Impatience vs. Patience Flexibility vs. Rigidity
Skills The I Look For In Potential PM’sSoft Communications Ability to get long with others Team orientation Respect for others Core values (Honest, Integrity, Tolerance)
Problem Solving Tolerance for chaos and uncertainty Self-direction Initiative Ability to make a decision
Technical Core knowledge Ability to learn new skills
Contact Janice Maxwell
Janice Maxwell, PMP, CSM Assistant Director Project Management Office
Georgia State University Information Systems and Technology PO Box 3994 Atlanta, GA 30302 USA
Work: 404-413-4303 Email: jmaxw [email protected] http://www.linkedin.com/in/janicemaxwell