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An Introduction to Project Management Workbook

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An Introduction to Project

Management

Workbook

1

Contents

About this Workbook ....................................................................................................................................... 2

The Profession of Project Management ....................................................................................................... 4

Waterfall vs Agile ............................................................................................................................................. 5

8 Principles of Professional Project Management ...................................................................................... 6

Organizational Project Management Maturity ............................................................................................. 7

Project Management Roles ............................................................................................................................ 9

The Project Management Office ................................................................................................................. 10

Choosing the Right Project .......................................................................................................................... 11

Change Control Process .............................................................................................................................. 15

The Project Management Plan .................................................................................................................... 19

Defining the Project Scope .......................................................................................................................... 22

Cost Management ......................................................................................................................................... 29

Special Topic: Earned Value Management ................................................................................................ 33

Time Management......................................................................................................................................... 35

Quality Management ..................................................................................................................................... 39

Risk Management .......................................................................................................................................... 44

People Management ..................................................................................................................................... 47

Leadership and Interpersonal Skills ........................................................................................................... 49

Communications Management .................................................................................................................... 50

Stakeholder Expectation Management ...................................................................................................... 53

Procurement and Contract Management .................................................................................................. 54

Project Reporting ........................................................................................................................................... 56

Project Closure .............................................................................................................................................. 58

Benefits Realisation ....................................................................................................................................... 64

Organisational Change Management ......................................................................................................... 65

A Project Management Methodology ......................................................................................................... 66

2

About this Workbook

This workbook is designed to be used in conjunction with a series of workshops on Introduction to

Project Management

This symbol indicates a Key Message of that module

This symbol indicates an exercise to be completed

Contact: [email protected]

3

The workshops run from 9am – 4pm each day.

Course Outline

Day 1 – Wednesday 5th May 2021

1. The Profession of Project Management

2. Managing an Organisational Portfolio

3. Choosing and Starting the Right Projects

4. Project Sponsorship and Governance

Day 2– Wednesday 12th May 2021

5. Defining and Managing Project Scope

6. Estimating and Managing Project Costs

7. Estimating and Managing Project Time

8. Managing Project Risk

Day 3 – Wednesday 19th May 2021

9. Effective Team Development & Project Leadership

10. Effective Project Communications & Stakeholder Management

11. Project Closure and Benefits Realisation

12. Assessing Project Management Maturity & Building a Project Management Methodology

4

The Profession of Project Management

Key Message: The profession of project management utilises a highly iterative and

customizable set of processes, tools, techniques based on experience to successfully deliver a

unique product, service or result within specified time, cost or quality constraints.

A DIAGRAM SHOWING THE ITERATIVE NATURE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES AND PROCESSES.

Key Message: You can’t guarantee project success. However, with the appropriate

application of the appropriate processes, tools and techniques you can increase the chances of

project success - this is what being a professional project manager is all about.

5

Waterfall vs Agile The following diagrams visually show the difference between waterfall and agile approaches.

TYPICAL WATERFALL PROCESS

TYPICAL AGILE PROCESS

Gather Requirements

Design

Test

Implement

Handover

Requirements

Design

TestImplement

Handover

Requirements

Design

TestImplement

Handover

Weeks

Months

Weeks

Iteration

6

8 Principles of Professional Project Management

1. Choose the right projects - only select the right projects to do for the right reasons

2. Plan what you are going to do - carry out an appropriate amount of planning and develop

baselines to help guide you

3. Do what you planned - execute the plans!

4. Check that what you are doing matches what you planned to do - use your plans and

baselines to check forecast progress against actual progress

5. If what you planned to do doesn’t match what you are actually doing then do something

about it - make sure at all times that what you are doing matches what you planned to do

6. Produce all of the project and product scope and deliverables

7. Carry out project closure according to your closure plan

8. Set aside time to complete a post implementation review and benefits realization process -

did the project deliver the intended outcomes? What went well? What didn’t go so well?

What lessons can we learn to apply for future projects?

The Project Management Institute - www.pmi.org & www.pmi.org.nz

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a global professional membership based organization for

the promotion and advancement of the profession of project management. It provides certification

for project managers including the Project Management Professional (PMP®) and Certified Associate

in Project Management (CAPM®). It produces many global standards including The Guide to the

Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) and the Agile Practice Guide.

Exercise: Visit the Project Management Institute website (www.pmi.org) and the Project

Management Institute of New Zealand (www.pmi.org.nz) and learn about the benefits of

membership, credential eligibility and professional development options.

7

Organizational Project Management Maturity Exercise: Complete the following questionnaire:

1. Does your organization expect project managers to hold a certification or credential

in project management?

Yes

2. Does your organization expect project managers to undergo regular professional

development through such things as ongoing training?

Yes

3. Are project managers in your organization expected to only do project management

work and not also carry out technical work?

Yes

4. Does your organization appoint a project sponsor for each project? Yes

5. Does your organization have its own, or a proprietary, project management

methodology in place and does it require this methodology to be followed in all

projects?

Yes

6. Does your organization have a standard set of templates to use on each project and

require them to be used?

Yes

7. Does your organization have a defined process to follow for starting each project and

require it to be used?

Yes

8. Does your organization have a checklist for closing a project and require it to be used? Yes

9. Does your organization have system in place for reporting progress on each project

and require it to be used?

Yes

10. Does your organization have a documented and appropriate change control process

and require it to be used?

Yes

11. Does your organization measure and evaluate the competing demands on people,

time and money between projects?

Yes

12. Does your organization regularly review its approach to project management and seek

to improve it?

Yes

13. Does your organization have a Project Management Office (PMO)? Yes

14. If so, what is its function?

a. Common reporting of all projects

b. A place where all project managers work

c. Developing and improving the methodology

Yes

Yes

Yes

TOTAL TICKS ______

Number of Ticks 0-4 Level 1 Very low level of OPMM

5-8 Level 2 Low level of OPMM

9-12 Level 3 Medium level of OPMM

13-16 Level 4 High Level of OPMM

8

Your Project Management Maturity Next Steps

Exercise: What are the top 5 things your organization could do to increase its level of project

management maturity?

(HINT: look at where you scored a ‘No’ in the above spreadsheet)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

For a more detailed assessment of project management maturity you can use the free P3M3

Self-Assessment Tool from AXELOS.

9

Project Management Roles

Key Message: There are several significant and distinct roles within a project, and it is

important that each is clearly defined.

Project Steering Committee/Group - a group of senior stakeholders who provide governance,

oversight and advice to the project manager.

Project Sponsor - the internal stakeholder and project owner responsible for providing financial and

political support for the project.

Program/Portfolio Manager - a senior level project management specialist responsible for either a

program or portfolio of projects.

Project Manager - the project management professional with ultimate responsibility and authority

for delivery of the project.

Scrum Master - This is team role responsible for ensuring the team lives agile values and principles,

and follow the processes and practices that the team agreed they would use. The use a coaching

rather than directive approach.

Agile Coach - An agile coach is a person who facilitates the performance of a team using agile

methods. They use coaching techniques to assist the team become high performing.

Product Owner - The person accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the

work of the Scrum Team. The Product Owner is accountable for effective Product Backlog

management, which can includes developing and explicitly communicating the product goal; and

creating, prioritising, and clearly communicating Product Backlog items.

Project Coordinator - a project management specialist with some responsibility and authority for a

project or parts of a project.

Project Administrator - a project management specialist with the least power and authority, often

providing administrative support to a project manager.

Project Team Member - a person with technical skills needed on the project who is a member of

your project team

Customer/Client - the person or organization requesting the product or deliverable

Stakeholder - any person, organization or group who can affect or be affected by the project.

Exercise: Which roles do you currently have in your organization?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

10

The Project Management Office

Key Message: The Project Management Office (PMO) is the centre of excellence in project

management in your organization. It will reflect the level of project management maturity that your

organization is at.

Three categories of PMO

1. Supportive - Low degree of control but providing a consultative role to projects by supplying

templates, best practise, training, access to information and lesson learned from other

projects.

2. Controlling - Moderate degree of control and providing support and compliance to ensure

people adopt and use project management frameworks and methodologies, specific

templates, forms and tools and governance requirements.

3. Directive - Directly manage all projects and employ project managers directly

Exercise: What sort of PMO do you think your organisation needs now?

11

Choosing the Right Project

Key Message: Increase your chances of project success by only choosing to do the

projects that deliver strategic benefit and meet financial or non-financial criteria.

A DIAGRAM SHOWING THE PROCESS OF SELECTING PROJECTS

12

Exercise: What are the key elements that should be incorporated into your project selection

process?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

13

Project Charter Example

Project Name: Insert name of the project

Project Manager: Insert name of the project manager and contact details

Project Sponsor: Insert name of the project sponsor and contact details

Client If the project has a client, insert client details

Date: Insert date

Version: Insert the version i.e. Draft, Final

Statement of work

Describe the currently known work to be done as part of the project. Include both project work and a

description of the product, service or result to be delivered. Attached any relevant documents, contracts,

agreements or plans.

Does this project align with the organisations strategic goals?

Describe how this project will align with organizational strategic goals.

What is the financial justification for the project?

Describe the financial justification for the project i.e. what is the payback period, cost benefit ratio, return on

investment, expected profit, net present value.

What is the non-financial justification for the project?

Describe any non-financial criteria being used to justify the project i.e. compliance with regulations or

standards, environmental objectives, charitable purposes or gaining market share.

What is the budget required?

Describe the known budget required for the project or the next phase of the project. Explain how it was

estimated.

What is the preliminary schedule?

Describe the know time the project or phases of the project will take, Explain how this was estimated.

Are there any known risks?

Describe any known projects risks, their consequences, planned responses and who is responsible for

monitoring them.

Are there any known constraints?

Describe any known time, cost or quality constraints affecting the project that may impact further project

planning.

Describe the particular project management methodology that will be used

Does the organization have a defined project management methodology? If so, name and briefly describe

it here

What level of delegated authority does the project manager have?

What levels of delegated authority to make decisions about resources, change requests, budget and time

does the project manager have?

Signatures: insert as appropriate when charter is finalised and approved

Project Sponsor:

Project Manager:

Client:

14

Your Project Charter

Exercise: What are the key elements that should be in your project charter?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

15

Change Control Process

Key Message: ALL changes to a project must be appropriately documented and assessed.

At all times in your project you must be delivering what is documented and only what is documented.

AN EXAMPLE OF A CHANGE CONTROL PROCESS

16

Project Change Control System Development Checklist and Worksheet

Project Name:

Prepared by:

Date:

Determine those responsible for approving or rejecting proposed project changes:

Be sure to provide for appropriate review of all changes.

Define Roles and Responsibilities of approving person or body:

Get key stakeholder agreement on roles and responsibilities (list stakeholders):

Define any types of changes qualifying for automatic approval without review:

Define steps by which contracts may be changed, including:

• Paperwork

• Tracking Systems

• Dispute Resolution procedures

• Approval levels required

Describe how contract changes will be integrated with the project's integrated change control

system:

Your Change Control Process

Exercise: What are the key elements that should be incorporated into your change control

process?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

17

Change Request

Project Name: Insert name of the project

Project Manager: Insert name of the project manager

Requested by: Insert name of the person requesting the change

Date: Insert date

Change Number: Insert the unique number for this change request. Record all changes

on your change log

Describe the nature of the Change Request

Describe the currently known work to be done as part of the project. Include both project work

and a description of the product, service or result to be delivered. Attached any relevant

documents, contracts, agreements or plans.

What are the implications on project cost and budget?

Describe any known impacts on project costs or budgets and propose potential solutions.

Include any necessary stakeholder approvals or comments.

What are the implications on project scope?

Describe any known impacts on project scope and propose potential solutions. Include any

necessary stakeholder approvals or comments.

What are the implications on project time?

Describe any known impacts on project timeframes and propose potential solutions. Include

any necessary stakeholder approvals or comments.

What are the implications on project quality, risk, communications or personnel

requirements?

Describe any known impacts on quality, risk, communications, and personnel parts of the

project and propose potential solutions. Include any necessary stakeholder approvals or

comments.

Are there any other impacts?

Describe any known impacts on other areas of the project and propose potential solutions.

Include any necessary stakeholder approvals or comments.

Change process

Describe the change process i.e. considered under delegated authority, submitted to change

control board etc.

Decision

Is the change request approved or declined?

Notification

List all documents and processes that need to be updated as a result of an approved change

and who will ensure the changes are made and validated.

Signatures: insert as appropriate when change approved or declined

Project Sponsor:

Project Manager:

Client:

Date:

18

Exercise: What are the key elements that should be in your change control document?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

19

The Project Management Plan

Key Message: You know the old saying “Failing to plan is planning fail”? - well its true, buts

its even more important to do the right level of planning depending on the duration, size, complexity

and duration of your project.

The Project Management plan can have any of the following plans and baselines in it:

▪ Project Selection Process

▪ Scope Management Plan

▪ Schedule Management Plan

▪ Cost Management Plan

▪ Quality Management Plan

▪ Process Improvement Plan

▪ Staffing Management Plan

▪ Communications Management Plan

▪ Risk Management Plan

▪ Procurement Management Plan

▪ Contract Management Plan

▪ Milestone List

▪ Resource Calendar

▪ Schedule Baseline

▪ Cost Baseline

▪ Quality Baseline

▪ Risk Register

▪ Project Reporting templates

▪ Project Closure Checklist

20

Project Planning Checklist

Project Name:

Prepared by:

Date:

No. Item/Comments Y N Planned

Completion

Actual

Completion

Actual

Effort

Goals and objectives defined

Scope defined

Major deliverables defined

WBS completed

Top-down planning estimates created

Major milestones defined

Master integrated schedule completed

Product and services requirements defined

Phase Plan completed

Organization Plan completed

Performance, evaluation, and test plan completed

Change Control Plan completed

Problem Tracking Plan completed

Documentation Plan completed

Education Plan completed

Communication Plan completed

Legal and Regulatory Requirements Plan completed

Risk Assessment completed

Risk Management Plan completed

Reliability, Availability, Usability Plan completed

Preliminary Support Plan completed

Interdependencies Plan completed

Resources Plan completed

Project Plan completed

Opportunity Costs calculated

Budget specified

Financial Analysis completed

Integrated Business and Realization Plan completed

Functional Deliverables defined

Top-level Architecture Specification Plan completed

High-Level Functional Specifications complete

Bottom-up Task Estimates created by functional groups

Detailed Functional Planning and Schedules completed

Functional Schedule Critical Path Analysis completed

Master Schedule Critical Path Analysis completed

Functional Coach Approval and Commitment

Master Schedule and Plan aligned with functional groups

Planning Phase Checklist completed

21

Your Project Management Plan

Exercise: What are the key elements that should be in your project management plan?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

22

Defining the Project Scope

Key Message: All projects should have an agreed description of the work to be

done, and not to be done, as part of the project.

Defining the scope of work means defining both the product scope and the project scope

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROJECT AND PRODUCT SCOPE

23

The process of scope definition is very iterative - you will often know little at the start of a

project and define more as you go along. These are the different terms to use to describe

the depth of scope.

ITERATIVELY DEFINING THE SCOPE

24

Project Scope Statement Example

Project Name: Insert name of the project

Project Manager: Insert name of the project manager and contact details

Project Sponsor: Insert name of the project sponsor and contact details

Client If the project has a client, insert client details

Date: Insert date

Version: Insert the version i.e. Draft, Final

Objectives

Describe the reason the project is being undertaken, the expected outcomes, benefits and the purpose

of the deliverable.

Project description

Describe the full scope of all the work to be done on the project i.e. the planning work, the executing

work, the monitoring, controlling and change control work, and the close out work. List the parts of the

project management plan that will be completed as part of the planning work.

Product description

Describe the product, service or result that the project will deliverable. Take care to describe it in detail

and attached any related plans, and documents.

Acceptance criteria

Describe the process of formal acceptance on behalf of both your organization and the client. List who

will formally sign off and their role.

What is not included?

Describe all the work that is not included as part of the project

What are the key project milestones?

Describe the known project milestones

What is the project budget?

Describe the project costs broken down into categories, the project budget (i.e. Costs over time), and

any uncertainty in the estimating process.

What is the process for managing change?

Describe the change control process that will be used

Team roles

List and describe project team members, their role and responsibilities

Signatures:

Project Sponsor:

Project Manager:

Client:

25

Your Scope Statement

Exercise: What are the key elements that should be in your project scope statement?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

26

Sample Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Key Message: The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the backbone of any good

project. It is a graphical representation of all the work to be done on the project. Work not in the

WBS in not part of the project. You can use the WBS to support good cost, time and resource

estimating

AN EXAMPLE OF A WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE FOR A PROJECT TO BUILD A HOUSE.

27

Exercise: What might a typical Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for your projects look like?

28

Agile Scope Definition

User stories are short, simple descriptions of a feature told from the perspective of the

person who desires the new capability, typically the user or customer of the system. They

typically follow a simple template:

As a < type of user >, I want < some goal > so that < some reason >

A Kanban board is an excellent way to capture both the work to be done and also the

progress on that work. You can simply use post it notes and a wall, or you can opt to use

one of the many pieces of software that exist to do this. The following figure shows an

example of a Kanban board.

Backlog In Progress

Peer Review In Test Completed Blocked

KANBAN BOARD EXAMPLE

Exercise: What are the best (i.e. most appropriate) ways for you to gather and document project

scope?

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

29

Cost Management

Key Message: Generally, the more accurate the forecasting or estimating technique is,

the longer it takes and the more it costs. However, remember that any process of estimating is

simply the process of trying to forecast a future state based on the information we have at hand

now. As such, the quality of the estimate is related directly to the accuracy of that information. The

more accurate the information you have, the more accurate the estimate will be.

The Ballpark Figure: Effort required is very low, and accuracy is very low (usually).

Top Down Estimating: Effort required is low, and accuracy is low.

Bottom Up Estimating: Effort required is high, and accuracy is high.

Lessons Learned: Effort required is medium, and accuracy is high.

Expert Judgment: Effort required is high, and accuracy is high.

Published Estimating Data: Effort required is medium, and accuracy is high.

Analogous Estimates: Effort required is medium, and accuracy is medium.

Parametric Estimates: Effort required is high, and accuracy is high.

Three-Point Estimates: Effort required is medium, and accuracy is high.

Optimistic (O) + (4 x Realistic (R)) + Pessimistic (P)

6

The Quote: Effort required is high, and accuracy is very high.

30

Project Costs vs. Project Budget

Managing Project Costs

Key Message: There are many sources of changes to the project costs, both

increases and decreases. It is important that you track, document and record all requests that

can have an impact on cost - you may run out of money or may not get your invoices paid!

31

Cost Estimating Checklist

Project Name:

Prepared by:

Date:

Be certain that all possible needed resources are taken into account, including but not limited to:

Project Management (figure at 10% of total)

Labour

Materials

Supplies

Travel

Fees for consultants and other outside professional services

Miscellaneous (shipping, copying, couriers, etc.)

Contingency planning

Inflation allowance.

Be as specific as possible, using as many means as you can to quantify the resources the project

will require.

Express cost estimates in units of currency.

Indicate other metrics, such as staff hours/days, as appropriate.

Be sure you consider every activity involved in the project, when computing potential costs.

Allow for realistic quantities and frequencies of cost items, such as number of days for equipment

rentals, number of workers needed for each stage of the project, and so forth.

32

Exercise: Which estimating techniques do you currently use?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Exercise: Which estimating techniques do you think would be of value to you?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

33

Special Topic: Earned Value Management

Have you ever been in a scenario like this? A project manager tells you that the project is halfway

through, but has only spent 30% of the budget and therefore everything is going well. What's

missing from the statement is, of course, the amount of work that you expected to do at this point

in the project. The project would definitely be going well if you are halfway through it, had spent

30% of the budget, and achieved 60% of the work. However, it would not be so well if you had only

achieved 20% of the work you expected to achieve by now. This is where the earned value

management technique is useful as it compares the planned value (PV) of work completed, the

earned value (EV) of work complete, and the actual cost (AC) of the work completed. Once you

have successfully determined these numbers you can then use this information to assess your

current state and likely future state of the project in relation to both cost and time.

Of these numbers, planned value (PV) and actual cost (AC) are the easiest to determine. Planned

value is simply the budget for the work that you had planned to have completed at this stage in the

project and it is determined by looking at your cost budget graph and seeing the value of work that

you had planned to have created on this date. This means that total planned value equals your

budget at completion (BAC), which is your originally approved budget for the project.

Actual cost (AC) of the work completed is obtained from your accounting software which will let

you know the actual amounts of invoices paid for work done to date. It is always a good idea to

subtract from this figure of the amount of any materials held in stock as it is goods you have paid

for and have in storage but have not yet used.

The most difficult number to determine is earned value (EV) and you may need to consider the best

way to determine the earned value. The formula for calculating it is EV = PV x physical % complete,

but this isn’t always easy to calculate when you are dealing with projects that don’t have a lot of

physical characteristics in the work being done. Instead, you could simply add up the value of all

the work completed to date which is determined by looking at the original value allocated to it and

not the actual cost of doing it. This can be quite time-consuming but very accurate. You can also

determine earned value by coming up with a simplified metric based on broader parameters. For

example on one large project I worked on which involved 10,000 m² of land area we simply ascribed

a value per square metre and calculated how many square metres with complete, how many square

metres were underway, and how many were not yet started, and gave each a value.

So once you have determined budget at completion (BAC), planned value (PV), actual cost (AC)

and earned value (EV) you can then use this information to get a snapshot of how your project is

currently performing in terms of both cost and time, and then use this information to forecast a

likely future scenario for both cost and time of your project.

You can use the formulae for calculating cost variance (CV = EV- AC) and cost performance index

(CPI = EV/AC) to determine how well you are performing in relation to cost. A positive cost variance

is good and a cost performance index above 1 is good i.e. a CPI of 1.1 means you are getting $1.10

for every $1.00 you invest.

34

You can also use the formula for calculating schedule variance (SV= EV-PV) and schedule

performance index (SPI= EV/PV) to determine how well your project is performing in relation to

time. A positive schedule variance is good and a schedule performance index above 1 is good.

With these formulae calculated you can then use the results to forecast a likely future state of the

project in relation to time and cost. You can forecast an estimate at completion (EAC) which is what

you think the project is now going to cost based on past performance. There are many formulae

for calculating estimate at completion (EAC) each with its own strengths and weaknesses

depending on which information is included in the calculation and which information is excluded.

Here are the three most popular estimate at completion (EAC) calculations:

EAC = BAC/CPI - only takes into account cost performance to date

EAC = AC + (BAC-EV) - takes into account actual cost and earned value

EAC = AC + ((BAC-EV)/(CPI x SPI)) - my personal favourite formula as it takes into account actual

cost spent to date, earned value, and both cost performance and schedule performance.

Once you have calculated estimate at completion (EAC) you can then also move on to calculate

the estimate to complete (ETC) which is the remaining amount of money required to complete the

project, and the formula is ETC = EAC - AC.

You can also calculate the variance at completion (VAC), which is the difference between what you

originally thought you would spend (BAC) and what you now think you will spend (EAC). The

formula is VAC = BAC - EAC.

There are a number of other calculations you can do with earned value management but these are

the most commonly used. It's pretty easy to set all these formula up in an MS Excel spreadsheet

and have them done automatically. Just keep in mind that earned value management is a tool for

helping you determine what was happened to date and what may happen in the future. If it is giving

you bad news about your project this does not mean that is the way things will work out but it gives

you a fair warning to undertake corrective actions.

35

Time Management

Key Message: Time estimating uses the same estimating techniques as cost estimating

with the same strengths and weaknesses of each. The better the description of the work the better

the estimates will be.

Exercise: Which of the estimating techniques from cost estimating would be useful to you for

estimating time?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

The Network Diagram

36

The Gantt Chart (named after Henry L Gantt, a railroad engineer)

37

Exercise: Draw a network diagram using the following information

Task ID Duration Predecessor

A 3 days -

B 6 days A

C 2 days A,B

D 4 days B

E 4 days C,D

F 2 days D

G 5 days E

H 3 days F,G

I 8 days G,H

38

Tracking Tasks in Agile

A velocity chart is used to compare the amount of committed work and the amount of completed

work for each Sprint so you can determine whether you are maintaining, increasing or decreasing

work velocity. The following diagram shows an example of a velocity chart.

EXAMPLE OF A VELOCITY CHART

A burndown chart is a way of representing the remaining work left to be done over time. They are

useful for predicting when all of the planned work may be completed . Their other main use is to

tell you if you are working too slow to meet agreed deadlines. The following diagram is an example

of a burndown chart.

EXAMPLE OF A BURNDOWN CHART

39

Quality Management

Key Message: Poor quality costs money, reputation, health and safety, and future

business - if you aren’t worried about quality your competitor will be.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

1. Quality assurance checks that you are following processes using audits

2. Quality control checks the quality of the product using inspection

There are many ways to record and display quality information in graphical form

The Cause and Effect or Ishikawa Diagram

The Control Chart

40

The Pareto Chart

The Run Chart

41

The Scatter Diagram

42

Quality Audit Template

Project Name:

Prepared by:

Date:

Project Manager:

Project Phase: Overall Project Status:

Audit Date: Audit Number: Audit Leader:

Audit Team:

Goal(s) of This Specific Audit:

Audit of Management of Project:

1. (required project objective #1) Assessment: Comment:

2. (required project objective #2) Assessment: Comment:

3. (required project objective #3) Assessment: Comment:

4. (required project objective #4) Assessment: Comment:

Overall Assessment of Management of Project:

Recommended Action(s)/Lessons Learned Regarding Management of the Project:

1.

2.

3.

Audit of the Product of the Project:

1. (required product characteristic #1) Assessment: Comment:

2. (required product characteristic #2) Assessment: Comment:

3. (required product characteristic #3) Assessment: Comment:

4. (required product characteristic #4) Assessment: Comment:

Overall Assessment about the Product of the Project:

Recommended Action(s)/Lessons Learned Regarding the Product of the Project:

1.

2.

3.

Audit Report Submitted To: Date:

43

Exercise: Mark on the scale of 1-10, how important quality is to your projects? (1 meaning not

important at all, 10 meaning that it is absolute critical to project success)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Exercise: What are the current quality assurance processes you have in place?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Exercise: What are the current quality control processes you have in place?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

44

Risk Management

Key Message: All projects have elements of risk or uncertainty in them, both negative and

positive risk. Being proactive in your approach to risk management allows you to minimise the

impact of negative risk and maximise the impact of positive risks.

The steps to successful risk management are:

1. Plan your approach to Risk Management

2. Identity Risks

3. Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis

4. Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis

5. Plan Risk Reponses

6. Monitor and Control Risks

Be prepared for unforeseen risks with a workaround

Exercise: What elements of risk management do you think would be useful to you?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Exercise: What are the key elements that you should have in your risk register?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

45

Risk Brainstorming Session Worksheet

Project Name:

Prepared by:

Date:

Session Facilitator:

Title/Position:

Participating Group:

Location:

Identified Risk Probability of

Occurrence

Potential Impact Proposed

Actions

Identified by

Whom?

46

47

People Management

Key Message: Successful project management relies on the 5 R’s of people management:

1. Recognising who you want and the skills they must have,

2. Recruiting these people when you need them,

3. Retaining them throughout the project,

4. Rewarding them

5. Releasing them.

Your goal is to develop a group of individuals into a high preforming team. You may have to be a

skilled negotiator to get the people you want when you want them from functional managers whom

they report to.

The Tuckman 5 stage model of team development

48

Exercise: Think about a time that you have been part of a high performing team - what

was it about that team the defined it as high performing?

49

Leadership and Interpersonal Skills

Key Message: Your own leadership development is an essential part of your professional

development as a project manager. Great leadership enhances the chances of project success and

successful projects add bottom line value to organizations. The most important characteristic of a

great leader is authenticity.

Exercise: Think about a leader who has impressed you - what was it about their leadership

style that impressed you?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Exercise: What do you hope your followers would say about your leadership style?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

50

Communications Management

Key Message: Good communication is key to project success. The absence of

communication doesn’t mean no communication is happening. If you don’t comminute

appropriately people will think you are either incompetent or don’t care about their needs. In the

absence of effective communication gossip, rumour and half-truths will fill the gap.

Communication types

Verbal Written

Formal Meetings, speeches,

presentations

Contracts, written instruction

Informal Conversations, telephone calls Memos, emails

A Model for Communications

51

Exercise: What are some of the communications issues you have had and how would you

do things differently?

52

Communications Plan Template

Project Name:

Prepared by:

Date:

Key Stakeholders

(Distribution

Schedule)

Stakeholder

Issues

Key

Messages to

Communicate

Communication

Methods to be

Used (i.e.

written, one-on-

one, electronic,

meetings, etc.)

Description of

Specific

Communications

(i.e. content,

format, level of

detail, etc.)

Timing

Issues

(see also

Bar Chart,

Project

Schedule)

Other

Client

Senior

Management

Sponsor

Project team

members

Employees

Subcontractors

Suppliers

Unions

Government

Agencies

News Media

Community

Other

53

Stakeholder Expectation Management

Key Message: A stakeholder is any person, group or organisation who can affect or be

affected by your project. The goal of proactively influencing stakeholders and their expectations is

to gain their support for the project or to ensure they do not oppose the project.

Exercise: Use the following stakeholder assessment matrix to identify stakeholders in a current

project and assess their power and interest upon your project. Which stakeholder is the one you

must manage most closely?

Stakeholder Power

(1-10)

Interest

(1-10)

Power x Interest

(1-100)

Power Score: a score of 1 means they have no power, or ability to influence your project, a score

of 10 means that they have a lot of power over your project

Interest Score: a score of 1 mean they have no interest at all in your project, a score of 10 means

they have an extremely high level of interest in your project.

54

Procurement and Contract Management

Key Message: On some projects you will decide to procure goods or services from

external parties. In which case you should have a process to help you decide what to get, what

contract to use, how to select the preferred vendor and how to ensure the terms of the contract

are being met by all parties.

Types of Contracts:

1. Fixed price (risk is with the seller)

2. Cost plus (risk is shared)

3. Time and Materials (risk is with the buyer)

Not all contracts are created equal - some are adversarial while others are cooperative. Choose

very carefully as they all come with hidden administration costs.

Exercise: Does your organisation have clear rules for procurement? If so, what works well and

what doesn’t?

Extra Reading - Go online to www.legislation.govt.nz and read the Contractual Remedies Act

55

Procurement Management Planning Checklist

Project Name:

Prepared by:

Date:

Identify types of contracts being used

Independent estimates required? Yes No

If Yes, who will prepare?

By when?

Actions that Project Management Team can take independent of Procurement Department

Source of standardized procurement documents, if needed

How will multiple providers be managed?

How will you coordinate Procurement with the following aspects of the project?

Scheduling

Performance Reporting

Human Resources

Other

56

Project Reporting

Key Message: What, when and how you choose to report project progress will depend

upon individual stakeholder requirements and the goals of your communications strategy.

Types of reports:

• Numerical

• Text

• Graphs

• Pictures

• Red/Amber/Green

• Dashboard

• Milestone chart

• Gantt Charts

Choose the type that best communicates the Key Message to the selected stakeholders.

Exercise: What are the current methods you use to report progress at the moment?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

57

Project Report Template

Project Name:

Prepared by:

Date:

Status of Project Relative to Project Objectives:

Scope (On scope? If off scope, how serious?)

Schedule (On schedule? Ahead or behind by how much, etc.)

Cost (On budget? Under or over by how much, etc.)

Quality

Progress Report: (what is completed, what is in process, key changes made, when and why, etc.)

Forecasting: (estimate of future project status and progress)

Other issues or comments:

Issue: Who Will Address:

Project Report Submitted to:

Name: Title: Date:

Name: Title: Date:

Name: Title: Date:

58

Project Closure

Key Message: All projects must be closed according to an agreed and documented

closure process. Clearly set out the closure process early in the project

Closure includes:

1. Contract closure

2. Project acceptance

3. Lessons Learned

4. Archiving

5. Post Implementation reviews

Exercise: What additional elements could you incorporate into you current project closure process

to improve it?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

59

Template for Formal Acceptance and Closure

Project Name:

Prepared by:

Date:

Name of Client or Sponsor:

Statement of Formal Acceptance:

The undersigned formally accept as complete the above-identified project, and do hereby state

that this project, project phase, or major deliverable meets or exceeds agreed-upon performance

standards for scope, quality, schedule, and cost, and state that we have seen documentation that

all relevant legal and regulatory requirements have been met or exceeded.

Additional Remarks:

Accepted by (name of client, sponsor, or other official) Date

Accepted by (name of client, sponsor, or other official) Date

Accepted by (name of client, sponsor, or other official) Date

Signed form distributed to:

Stakeholder name Date

Stakeholder name Date

Stakeholder name Date

60

Example of Project Closure Checklist

Project Name:

Prepared by:

Date:

Customer has accepted all project results: Accepted by:

1

2

3

Customer has accepted all other deliverables: Accepted by:

1

2

3

Customer has accepted from delivering organization all other project requirements:

Accepted by:

1 Staff evaluations

2 Budget reports

3 Lessons learned

4 Other

5 Other

Explain any exceptions to the above:

Documentation for the above has been filed/archived as follows:

Comments or remaining issues:

Checklist submitted by:

Name/Title: Signature: Date:

Name/Title: Signature: Date:

61

Exercise: All of the following can be used to structure a post project review - which of the

following typical post project questions would be useful to your project review process?

Circle the ones you would use.

1. Write a brief description (50 words or less) of the project, its goals, its timeline, its

approximate budget, and team members involved.

2. All in all, would you say that the project was successful? Why or why not?

3. How close was the project to meeting its scheduled completion date?

4. How close was the project to being completed within budget?

5. Did the project meet its stated objectives? Why or why not?

6. Did the project have a sponsor? If so, what was his or her role during the project?

7. What tools and techniques were used in planning and tracking the project?

8. Did the scope of the project change after the project was under way? If so, what was the

overall impact of the change of scope? How were changes approved?

9. How was project status communicated during the course of the project?

10. How were risks managed for the project? Were they identified ahead of time? Did any

unforeseen occurrences hinder the progress of the project?

11. At the end of the project, was there a formal process for gathering lessons learned or any

sort of review similar to the one used here?

12. How effective was the overall leadership of the project? Did the project manager have the

resources and support required to be as effective as possible?

13. In general, how well did the team members collaborate? Why was this so?

14. Did team members work together in a single physical area or were they physically

separated?

15. What were the primary modes of team communication? Which ones worked best? Which

ones worked less well?

16. Were all team members available at the times they were needed for project work or status

meetings? What impact did this have on the project?

17. Were all stakeholders and subject matter experts available to answer questions when

needed? What impact did this have on the project?

18. How did technology help or hinder the progress of the project?

19. Were any new technology tools introduced for this project?

20. Did the project use any kind of project management software, such as Microsoft Project?

In what ways was it used (for example, scheduling, reporting, or cost reporting)?

21. What other tools (for example, word-processors, spreadsheets, presentation software,

diagramming tools) were used in the project?

22. Was the project team able to obtain adequate advice and technical support for the

technology tools used in the project? How could this improve?

23. Are there any areas about which you would like to learn more that would make you more

effective on your next project? What resources are available for obtaining that knowledge

or skill?

62

24. Based on your project teams discussion of your individual Post-Project Review Previews,

brainstorm as many “do’s” (best practices) as possible, which you’ll want to carry forward

into your next project.

25. Based on your project teams discussion of your individual Post-Project Review Previews,

brainstorm as many “don’ts” as possible, which you’ll want to avoid in your next project.

26. Based on your project teams discussion of your individual Post-Project Review Previews,

brainstorm as many “gotchas” (unexpected surprises or setbacks) as possible, which you’ll

want to manage as risks in your next project.

63

Project Archives Checklist

Project Name:

Prepared by:

Date:

Project Documents Located: Indexe

d

Submitted for Archives Date Comments Initials

Project Charter

Scope Statement

Performance Measurement Baselines

Key Staff

Scope Management Plan

Cost Management Plan

Cost Estimates

Cost Baseline

Staffing Management Plan

Role and Responsibility Assignments

Risk Response Plan

Work Breakdown Structure

Major Milestones and Target Dates

Risk Management Plan

Schedule Management Plan

Project Schedule

Quality Management Plan

Communications Management Plan

Procurement Management Plan

Supporting Detail for all Plan Documents

Procurement Documents

Vendor Proposals

Project Contracts

Project Status Reports

All Change Requests

Performance Reports

Performance Measurement Documents

Notes and Files of Key Project

Stakeholders

Other Documentation (Specify)

64

Benefits Realisation

Key Message: Remember all those things you hoped to achieve by doing this project?

Well, did you achieve them? Don’t confuse outputs with outcomes.

Include budget, time and resources in your project plan to carry out a post implementation review.

Define a process for reviewing the expected outcomes outlined in the project initiation phase

against what has actually occurred as a result of the deliverable being produced - do they match?

Are there lessons to be learned for future projects?

Exercise: What can you do to improve your benefits realisation process?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

65

Organisational Change Management

Key Message: All projects deliver change of some sort - moving from where you are now

to somewhere else. People naturally resist change, so part of any good project management plan

is how you are going to initiate change, gain support for change, implement the change, measure

the expected benefits of the change and then ensure it sticks.

Kotter’s eight steps of change management

1. Create a sense of urgency

2. Put together a strong enough team to direct the process

3. Create an appropriate vision

4. Communicate that vision broadly

5. Empower employees to act on the vision

6. Produce sufficient short-term results to give their efforts credibility and to disempower the

cynics

7. Build momentum and use that momentum to tackle tougher change problems and

8. Anchor the new behaviour in the organisational culture

Exercise: What can you do to ensure that projects you are working are have a better chance of

being accepted and adopted permanently?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

66

A Project Management Methodology

Key Message: All organizations should have a documented project management

methodology that features an appropriate, scalable, flexible set of standardised processes, tools

and techniques for managing their projects.

Checklist - Does your methodology need these elements?

1. Project selection, justification and approval process

2. Project phases, stage gates and/or milestones

3. Project governance

4. Project sponsorship

5. Delegated authority limits

6. Project roles and responsibilities

7. Business case preparation

8. Project charter preparation

9. Project management software selection

10. Requirements definition, management and control

11. Work breakdown structure development and control

12. Scope definition, management and control

13. Cost estimating, management and control

14. Budget development and control

15. Project financial processes

16. Schedule estimating, management and control

17. Monitoring project performance

18. Managing project changes

19. Project status reporting

20. Quality assurance processes

21. Process audit procedures

22. Quality control processes

23. Risk assessment, management and control

24. Resource estimation, levelling and management

25. Project team formation and development

26. Project communications development, distribution and control

27. Stakeholder identification, engagement and management

28. Customer engagement and management

29. Procurement and contract assessment and management

30. Vendor management

31. Claims administration and resolution

32. Health and safety

33. Environmental management

34. Deliverable acceptance procedure

35. Operational handover process

36. Project, or phase, closure process and checklist

37. Gathering and documenting of lessons learned

38. Benefits realization and/or post implementation review process

39. Methodology tailoring guidelines

67

An Example of a Project Management Methodology

68

Your Project Management Methodology

69

NOTES

70

71

72

73