project coordinator student guide

8/2/2019 Project Coordinator Student Guide

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Defense Contractor

Project CoordinationTraining Program


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Defense Contracting Project CoordinationTraining Program

By

Paul W. Beach

2008 Mythos Incorporated. All rights reserved. No part of this book may bereproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever withoutexpress written permission from Mythos Incorporated, except in the case of briefquotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please refer all pertinentquestions to the publisher.


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Table of Contents

Lesson One: Course Overview

How this Course Will Help You ................................................ 1Project Coordinator Course Goals.............................................. 1Course Conduct and Expectation of the Students ...................... 2Project Coordination Concept .................................................... 2

Lesson Two: Roles and Responsibilities

Role of the Project Coordinator ................................................. 7The Role of the Supervisor Council ........................................... 8

Lesson Three: Contracts Overview

Contract Types ......................................................................... 11Project Proposal ....................................................................... 16Statement of Work ................................................................... 17

Lesson Four: Project Baseline

Project Folder ........................................................................... 19Marketing Turnover Package ................................................... 20Risk Assessment....................................................................... 21Project Plan .............................................................................. 22Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) ......................................... 25Project Schedule....................................................................... 26

Lesson Five: Project Alignment

Project Team Selection ............................................................ 29Project Forecasting................................................................... 32Project Team Alignment .......................................................... 33Client Alignment...................................................................... 34Project Goals and Mission........................................................ 35


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Lesson Six: Project Reporting

Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System(CPARS) .................................................................................. 36Weekly Status Reports ............................................................. 37Monthly Project Progress Reports............................................ 38Project Review ......................................................................... 38

Lesson Seven: Project Coordination

Pulling Your Tools Together.................................................... 41Facilitation ............................................................................... 42Project Trackers ...................................................................... 43Staff Meetings .......................................................................... 44

Lesson Eight: Resolving Project Coordination Issues

Dealing with Staffing Conflicts................................................ 47Handling Scope Creep.............................................................. 49

Lesson Nine: Other Project Documentation

Requirements Document .......................................................... 52Design Document..................................................................... 54

Test Plan................................................................................... 55Maintenance Plan ..................................................................... 56

Lesson Ten: Project Closeout

Closing out a Project ................................................................ 58Lessons Learned Report ........................................................... 59

Project Turnover Process ......................................................... 60Client Satisfaction Calls........................................................... 61Team Evaluations..................................................................... 62

Lesson Eleven: Project Coordinator SituationalExercises


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Appendix

Sample Project Coordination Situational Exercises ......CD-ROMMarketing Turnover Checklist .....................................CD-ROMProject Forecasting Template........................................CD-ROMSample Project Proposal ...............................................CD-ROMSample Statement of Work ...........................................CD-ROMSample Risk Assessment Form.....................................CD-ROM

Sample Project Plan ......................................................CD-ROMSample Work Breakdown Structure..............................CD-ROMSample Project Schedule...............................................CD-ROMSample Project Forecasting Worksheet.........................CD-ROMInternal Project Alignment Brief...................................CD-ROMProject Kickoff Document ............................................CD-ROMProject Client Alignment Checklist...............................CD-ROMCPARS Overview Brief ................................................CD-ROM

Sample Monthly Progress Report .................................CD-ROMSample Project Review Checklist .................................CD-ROMProject Coordinator Toolbox.........................................CD-ROMProject Trackers ............................................................CD-ROMImpact Statement...........................................................CD-ROMTechnical Requirements Document ..............................CD-ROMFunctional Change Description .....................................CD-ROMDesign Document..........................................................CD-ROM

Curriculum Design Document ......................................CD-ROMTest Plan........................................................................CD-ROMMaintenance Document.................................................CD-ROMProject Closeout Checklist ............................................CD-ROMClient Satisfaction Call Checklist..................................CD-ROMTeam Member Evaluation.............................................CD-ROM


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List of Figures

Figure 1 Project Coordination Concept .................................. 2Figure 2 - Project Coordination Phases ..................................... 3Figure 3 - Project Planning Phase .............................................. 5Figure 4 - Sample Project Team Matrix ..................................... 9Figure 5 - Sample Project Folder File Structure....................... 20Figure 6 - Sample Risk Assessment Form ............................... 22

Figure 7 - Sample Work Breakdown Structure ........................ 26Figure 8 - Sample Summary Schedule ..................................... 27Figure 9 Sample Development Teams .................................. 30Figure 10 Project Coordinator Perspective ........................... 31Figure 11 Supervisor Perspective.......................................... 31Figure 12 Program Manager Perspective .............................. 32Figure 13 - Sample Project Forecasting Worksheet ................. 33Figure 14 - Sample Weekly Progress Report ........................... 37

Figure 15 Empowerment Equation........................................ 42Figure 16 Addressing Resource Allocation Conflicts ........... 48Figure 17 Impact Statement Chain........................................ 50Figure 18 Project Closeout Flowchart................................... 59Figure 19 Project Turnover Process ...................................... 60


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Defense Contractor Project Coordination Training Program

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Lesson One: Course Overview

Learning Objectives

Understand the Imagine One Project CoordinationConcept

How this Course Will Help YouThis course has been designed to help consultants and

developers to become successful Project Coordinators. Thecontinued growth and health of Imagine One depends on theeffectiveness its first line customer and client managementpersonnel. This course is intended to provide you with a morecomplete understanding of the project process from acquisition

to execution, helping you to better serve on an Imagine Oneproject team.

It is important that we remain committed to improving itsproject coordination and management processes. Therefore wehave adopted this formal Project Coordinator training process.Individuals who have successfully completed this course willsoon find themselves in positions of greater responsibilityworking closer with our customers and focusing directly on

growing our business and guiding our projects.

Project Coordinator Course Goals

This course is divided into multiple lessons, eachcoordinated to guide you through the Project Coordinationprocess. It will introduce you to the fundamentals of contracting,

walk you through the creation of a project baseline, introduceyou to coordination tools and processes and cover all of thebases necessary to ensure project success and customersatisfaction.


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At the end of this course you will be able to use thefollowing project coordination tools:

Marketing Turnover Checklist Risk Assessment Form Alignment Meeting Checklist Work Breakdown Structure Project Schedule Monthly Project Progress Report Project Notebook Project Review Checklist Project Closeout ChecklistAt the end of this course you will be able to set up and

coordinate a project including:

Gather project information from the project marketer Conduct Alignment Meetings Prepare and Maintain a Project Plan Maintain a Project Schedule Report Out on the Status of a Project Manage Client Expectations Close Out and Deliver a Project

Course Conduct and Expectations of the

StudentsSignificant effort has been spent developing this course

and several key members of the Imagine One management teamwill be sharing a considerable about of time sharing theirknowledge and experience with you. You are expected to work


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hard and take full advantage of the opportunity provided by thiscourse.

Most of the learning will take place in the classroomthrough lectures, exercises and demonstrations. You should takethe initiative to seek out other Imagine One Coordinators andManagers to discuss the issues presented in this course and seekadditional real-world examples of problems and solutions thatthey have been faced with while executing Imagine Onecontracts.

Project Coordination Concept

Project Coordination is the primary building block of ourorganization!

At Imagine One a contract is often treated as a project.Occasionally as in the case of very large, multi year contracts

they can be treated as multiple projects. During the performanceof these projects one of the primary concerns is the properalignment and balancing of tensions between three primaryareas: Quality, Schedule, and Budget.

The balancing of these three items is the Art of projectcoordination. One of the greatest difficulties faced by a ProjectCoordinator will be addressing the balancing of these tensionswithin the project teams and the client. Yours is to be the voiceof moderation and reason whose focus is to deliver the highestquality work possible, within the time allotted, within the budgetallotted.


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Quality

QualityQuality Schedule

ScheduleSchedule

Budget

BudgetBudget

Figure 1: Project Coordination Concept

As you can see in Figure 1, the tension between these threeelements is the primary results driver for all projects. We all

know that quality can be sacrificed for time and that if we havean infinite budget we can afford to not only seek but achieveperfection in all that we do. The reality, however, is that wealways have a limited budget, and a specific schedule (period ofperformance) that are the limiting factors of all of our projects.

The Project Coordinator is the juggler responsible forbalancing these forces and the personality conflicts that can

arise from the effort. Experience has shown that the best way toresolve conflicting requirements is to concentrate on the quality,budget, and schedule responsibilities with the Client Managerby the Project Coordinator. The goal becomes one of enablingthe team to create the highest possible quality within theboundaries of this three sided equation.

The more complete the teams understanding of thegeneral project requirements that were gathered during themarketing turnover process that the team has the fewerpersonality impediments you will be faced with during projectexecution. The more completely these requirements arecommunicated to your team during the internal alignmentprocess the easier your balancing will be later on in the project.We will discuss this in greater detail later in this course.


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The Imagine One Project Coordination model follows afour phase methodology described in Figure 2.

Marketing

Turnover

MarketingMarketing

TurnoverTurnoverProject

Planning

ProjectProject

PlanningPlanningProject

Execution

ProjectProject

ExecutionExecutionProject

Closeout

ProjectProject

CloseoutCloseout

Phase OnePhase One Phase TwoPhase Two Phase ThreePhase Three Phase FourPhase Four

Gather RequirementsMarketing TurnoverChecklist

Develop ScheduleDevelop WBSCreate Project Plan

Project AlignmentProject ReportingDocumentation Control

Lessons LearnedClient Satisfaction CallProject ArchiveEvaluations

Figure 2: Project Coordination Phases

Marketing Turnover

During the Marketing Turnover phase the ProjectCoordinator will review the project documents released byMarketing and the Corporate Contracts Office. Thesedocuments could include:

The Contract Statement of Work (SOW) Proposal Task Statement Cost EstimateBecause of the nature of some of the longer term contracts,

some of these documents might not be releasable to the ProjectCoordinator. Regardless, it is important that the ProjectCoordinator examine all available information sources to help


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establish and define the project performance requirements andspecific tasks.

Samples of the documents listed above have been providedfor your reference in the Appendix of this manual. Imagine Onehas developed several tools to support the Project Coordinator intheir efforts, depending on the nature of the project, you shouldutilize the Imagine One developed tools to their full extent.

Marketing Turnover Package

Risk Assessment Form

Project Planning

Once the Project Coordinator has gathered as muchmarketing data as possible, they will begin creating a ProjectPlan. The Project Plan forms the basis for the approach that willbe taken to address the specific tasks that are needed tocomplete. It is a formal deliverable document that must beclosely managed. It will be referred to again and againthroughout the execution of the project and if it is notmaintained up to date, significant communication difficultiescould arise, placing the project, the team, and even the companyin jeopardy.

During this phase, the Project Coordinator examines the

identified tasking and begins to develop a general strategy. Theyidentify the types and number of personnel that they will need toaccomplish the specific tasks. They meet with the groupsupervisors to inform them of their requirements, establishtasking priorities and identify any possible tasking or scheduleconflicts that present themselves for an individual resource.


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Supervisor

AssignsResource

Identifies

ResourceRequirements

Marketing

TurnoverPackage

Draft

Project Plan

ScheduleWBS

ManagementResolution

InternalImpact

Statement

ExternalImpact

Statement

Figure 3: Project Planning Phase

If there are resource conflicts or shortages of availablepersonnel that can not be resolved by the group Supervisors, theissue will be laid out in an internal impact statement and passedto Imagine One Management for resolution. Provided that thereare no conflicts, or that all conflicts can be adequately resolved,the Project Coordinator further fleshes out their project plan bycreating a Work Breakdown Structure and Draft ProjectSchedule. These items are integrated into the master Project

Plan and maintained by the Project Coordinator.The Project Plan as a document and its components will be

discussed in greater detail later in this course. A sampledocument is included for your reference in the Appendix.Imagine One has developed several tools to support the ProjectCoordinator in their efforts, depending on the nature of theproject, you should utilize the Imagine One developed tools totheir full extent.

Project Notebook WBS Template Project Plan Template


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Project Schedule Template Alignment Meeting Checklist

Project Execution

During the Project Execution phase, you act upon the planthat you devised in the previous phase. Project Coordinatorsmust always take into account that they must be able to adaptand be flexible and have their plan reflect this adaptability.

During this period you and your team will complete the bulk ofthe technical work for the project. Imagine One has developedseveral tools to support the Project Coordinator in their efforts,depending on the nature of the project you should utilize theImagine One developed tools to their full extent.

The Collaborative Design Environment Project Management Portal Lessons Learned Database Project Notebook LibraryYou will be required to report out regularly as to the status

of your project. You should collect weekly project status reportsfrom you technical leads and collate these at the end of eachmonth into monthly project performance reports and pass themto Imagine One Management for inclusion in the monthlycustomer status reports and invoices.

Documentation control will play a large role in your tasksas a Project Coordinator. This refers not only to the Project Plan,Schedule, WBS, and monthly reports discussed earlier, but alsoto all deliverable documentation identified in the Statement ofWork. You are responsible for all version control access and

other configuration management issues.


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Project Closeout

The final phase of any project is the Close Out phase. TheProject Coordinator will hold a final project close out meetingwith the Imagine One Management to ensure that all projectdeliverables and tasking has been accomplished and delivered tothe client as proscribed in the contract.

In order to support those team members who worked withyou throughout the course of the project it is important that you

complete your team evaluations and present them to your teammembers in a private, one-on-one meeting to gather theircomments and feedback. These evaluations will then be passedon to the team members supervisor for inclusion in their annualreviews.

Lastly the Project Coordinator will conduct a clientsatisfaction call to ensure that the client has been completely

satisfied and to gather any feedback they might have forimproving the Imagine One process. Utilizing the ClientSatisfaction Call Checklist (included for your reference in theAppendix of this document) is critical to ensure that you havegathered all of the required information.

The Project Coordinator will present any lessons learned tobe included in the lessons learned database. Documentationarchives, critical communications, project technical files and thelike will be archived and copies will be maintained by theProject Coordinator, the Imagine One Program Manager and onthe Imagine One server in the project archive directory.

Discussion Topics

How can you balance the Quality, Schedule, BudgetEquation?

What if you have ill defined requirements?


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Lesson Two: Roles and

Responsibilities

Learning Objectives

Understand the role of the Project Coordinator Understand the role of the Supervisor Council

The Role of the Project Coordinator

Project Coordination is the primary building block of theImagine One business. The single most important part of theoverall corporate management structure is the Project

Coordinator. The success of Imagine One depends on ourproject teams working well together to successfully serve ourclients current and future needs.

It is critical that the Project Coordinator understand thecausal link between the financial health of the company and thefinancial health of our projects. When projects are notcompleted within their budgets, costs go up and company profitsgo down. While Project Coordinators are not necessarily incontrol of all of the factors that affect company profits, they areresponsible for those that affect the costs associated with theirprojects.

Success Through Coordination

You have all heard it said that Project success is a result

of team effort. The more complicated the project, the morecritical a well defined approach and coordinated visionbecomes. The goal of the Project Coordinator is to appropriatelyidentify this approach and guide the team to the accomplishmentof the project goals.


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Project Coordinators serve as the focal point for translatingcustomer requirement and tasking into concrete, achievable

objectives that can be successfully addressed by the team. Theyare responsible for identifying ways of empowering the team tosucceed in accomplishing the customers objectives.

Often the Project Coordinator must not only balance thecompeting needs within the project, but they must also faceconflicts and competing demands outside of the project withinthe client organization and within Imagine One as well. Theymust serve as the champion for their projects and provide thefocus to ensure world-class results.

Project Coordinator Functions

The Project Coordinator serves a critical role in everyproject, but misconceptions about their role can oftencomplicate a project and inhibit success. Their primary

functions include:

Customer Relations Project Tracking and Reporting Asset Management and Facilitation Team Empowerment Maintaining Project Scope CommunicationThe Project Coordinator is responsible for the achievement

of day to day tasking as well as the application and maintenanceof schedules. We will discuss these coordinator functions ingreater detail later in this course.

The Role of the Supervisor Council

The Supervisory Council has been organized to providetwo primary functions: Project Coordinator support andemployee organizational support. Though members of the


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Supervisor Council may occasionally be collaterally tasked withthe role of Project Coordinator, they do not typically actively

manage projects.Employees have been organized into primary skills

categories in order to facilitate the supporting their particularneeds and to facilitate staffing. It is important for the Supervisorof an employee group to intimately understand the functionalaspects of the role their people will play in projects. This givesthem the insight needed to assist Project Coordinators withdefining and scoping their project staffing needs.

When a project is defined through contract award theProgram Manager will meet with the Supervisor Council toselect an appropriate Project Coordinator. Project Coordinatorselection will be based on several factors, such as relationshipwith the customer and special skills or knowledge needed forproject success.

Staffing a Project

Once the Project Coordinator has completed theMarketing Turnover and assessed their staffing requirements,they meet with the Supervisory Council to work with them toidentify their team members. Team members will be drawnfrom the available technical specialists.

This process is called Employee Matrixing. It allowsspecialized resources to be utilized across an organization andopens the availability of Program Coordinator opportunitiesacross skill categories. The goal is to open up opportunity andstrengthen the Imagine One corporate capabilities.

It is possible for a person who is serving as a technicalspecialist on one project to also serve simultaneously as a

Project Coordinator on another project. It is also possible for aperson to be under the coordination of a teammate on oneproject and coordinating that same teammate on another.


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ProgramProgramManagerManager

ISDISDSupervisorSupervisor

MultimediaMultimediaSupervisorSupervisor

SoftwareSoftwareSupervisorSupervisor

EmployeeEmployee

SupportSupportSupervisorSupervisor

EmployeeEmployee

EmployeeEmployee

EmployeeEmployee

EmployeeEmployee

EmployeeEmployee

EmployeeEmployee

EmployeeEmployee

EmployeeEmployee

EmployeeEmployee

EmployeeEmployee

EmployeeEmployee

ProjectProjectCoordinatorCoordinator

MultimediaMultimediaTechnicalTechnical

LeadLead

ISDISDSpecialistSpecialist

SupportSupportSpecialistSpecialist

MultimediaMultimediaSpecialistSpecialist

Sample Project TeamSample Project Team

Figure 4: Sample Project Team Matrix

The Project Coordinator meets with the SupervisoryCouncil on a periodic basis to discuss and evaluate the staffingof their project and report out on the Project ForecastingTemplate. The Project Forecasting Template addresses teammember tasking in percentage of work time. In other words aperson can be assigned to support multiple tasks as long as theirtotal tasking does not exceed 100%.

Sample Employee Tasking

Project One 40%

Project Two 35%Overhead 25%

Total 100%


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If additional resources are required or there are anypersonnel issues that need to be addressed they are handled at

this time. This allows the employees supervisor to keep abreastof their peoples level of tasking, preventing an individual frombeing over tasked or under-tasked.

Discussion Topics

Coordination vs. Command Misconceptions Where Does the Project Coordinators Responsibility

End?


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Lesson Three: Contracts

Overview

Learning Objectives

Understand the impact of different contract types onproject coordination

Understand the purpose of contract documentationtypes and their importance to project coordinationContract Types

Working as a Project Coordinator you will be faced withseveral different contact types and be required to modify your

coordination techniques to respond to their differentrequirements. We will discuss several of the most commoncontract vehicle types in this lesson so that you can understandsome of the characteristics they possess and how they can affectthe work your team needs to accomplish.

Reporting requirements are standardized across ImagineOne projects; however the focus and timeliness of theinformation gathered and reported may vary depending on the

contract type you and your team are working under.Management will work with you to ensure that you have all ofthe support you need to accomplish your project needs. At theend of this lesson you should have an understanding of thestrengths, weaknesses, and watch issues for each contract typeso that you can work more efficiently with management incontract and project execution.

Cost plus Fixed Fee (CPFF)

The CPFF contract vehicle is one of the most commoncontract types that you will come across working as a ProjectCoordinator for Imagine One. The fundamental aspects of a


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CPFF are quite simple. The actual cost of performing the work(such as the fully burdened salary of your teams) plus a fee

based on a percentage of the hourly rate charged for each teammember working on the project.

This description introduces two new concepts: FullyBurdened Rate and percentage fee. It is important that youunderstand how these items impact your project. A fullyburdened rate is defined with the following equation.

Employee Hourly Salary + Cost of Benefits + Cost of OverheadItems + Cost of G&A

Lets look at a quick example to illustrate this equation. Anemployee earns $20 an hour to perform work on a contract. Thecompany pays approximately 25% of that hourly rate out tosupply the employee with benefits (health care, dental careetc). There is an overhead cost applied to the employee of20% of the hourly rate. Finally there is a G&A cost (cost ofdoing business such as office space etc) of 15%. This makesour burdened rate equation as follows:

$20 hr. + $20(%25) + $20(20%) + $20(15%) = $32

Understand that these numbers are used for example only.They do not reflect the actual numbers used by Imagine One tocalculate the fully burdened rate for an employee. Because costof benefits and of doing business changes all of the time, severalof the factors used in this equation are modified each year. Butthe illustration stands true.

Other costs, often referred to as Other Direct Costs (ODC)could include things like software or hardware needed to bepurchased or Independent Contractors that need to be hired.

Fixed fee is an easy concept to understand. The fee is theactual profit realized by the company. It is applied to every hour


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of labor that is spent in the execution of a project. Everycompany has its own fee structure and often, like Imagine One,

they will use several different fees that they can apply todifferent situations and different customers.

In a CPFF contract the costs are constant so the only actualnegotiation that can take place on the total bid is in the Feecharged by a company. So if two companies have similar costs(most companies in a similar industry actually do haveremarkably similar costs) the only comparison lies in the Fee, orthe amount of profit they seek to earn on a contract.

Common fees applied to CPFF contracts in the DODcontracting industry are: 4%. 6%. 8%, 10%, and 15%. So if youare working on a CPFF project where an %8 fee is being applied(a fairly common fee level for our industry) using the examplewe saw above, you would have a cost of $32 an hour and a feeof 8% of $2.56 for a total charge to the contract of $34.56 anhour.

Lets extrapolate this out one step farther to view thecontract as a whole. If your total contract value was $10,0000(often called the contract ceiling) you would simply divide thetotal contract value by your total charge per hour to see howmany labor hours you can spend in the execution of the contract.

$10,000 / $34.56 = 289.35 Labor Hours

Isnt this fun! But what does it mean to you as a ProjectCoordinator?

As a Project Coordinator working on a CPFF project, youare asked to accomplish your task based on the contract funding.This tells you how many hours you have to perform your

required tasks. Since you do not know the actual burdened ratesof your fellow employees or the specific fee that is beingapplied to your project (very sensitive items of information thatare tightly controlled by management), it is important that youcommunicate with management to get an accurate definition ofthe parameter within which you need to work.


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This kind of contract is often referred to buying hours.Requirements tend to be less rigidly defined in these contracts to

give the customer the flexibility needed to change their minds(excuse me . adjust tasking requirements).

Unlike other contract vehicle types which will bediscussed later, your CPFF customers are entitled to very,VERY, detailed reporting on costs and charges. Managementwill be tracking these items very closely and it is important thatevery hour worked be charged so that the company can realizethe fee (profit) needed to exist as a company.

Looking at the example above we see that of the $10,000contact the company only realizes 8% as profit, or $800. If youdo the math a $1,000,000 contract with similar fee wouldgenerate $80,000 profit. So a company like Imagine One needsto sell a lot of $1,000,000 contracts to generate the profit neededto grow and expand and enhance its employees workexperiences.

A Period of Performance (POP) will also be applied to thiscontract vehicle. This simply means the time frame withinwhich the contract exists. This POP defines when you and yourteam will start and end work on your project. The customer canask you to place more people on the project to get work doneearlier which will mean that you will burn up your projectfunds faster. This means that you could spend all of the money

before the end of the POP. This is not necessarily a problem if itis properly anticipated and planned for. But it does leave youwith an interesting situation where you have a contract withtime left on it but no ceiling or funds available to work on it.The contract you see has a kind of life of its own.

Management will work very closely with you on theseissues. We will discuss this more fully later on when we

introduce the Statement of Work and other documents thatdefine a contract.


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Firm Fixed Price (FFP)

The Firm Fixed Price contact can be the bane of yourexistence as a Project Coordinator and it can also be your savinggrace. It is important that you understand the implicationsplaced upon you and your team when you work on these typesof projects. There is the potential for great risk but also for greatprofit.

The FFP contract has very strict parameters applied to itthat makes if very definable yet very inflexible. For example ifthe period of performance for an FFP contract is defined as May1st to September 30th, then the contract MUST be completed bySeptember 30th or earlier. The life of the contract has hard andfast dates.

This inflexibility also goes with payment. You get paidupon delivery and acceptance, however if you do not deliver on

time, you dont get paid anything. Conversely, if you finishearly and spend less then expected to accomplish the projectgoals, then the left over money is all profit.

So if we look at our $10,000 contract example under theterms of a Firm Fixed Price contract, it takes on an entirelydifferent personality. Instead of looking at the maximumnumber of hours that you can work on a project to accomplish

its goals, you balance the Project Coordination equationintroduced in Lesson One very closely to maximize profit andquality within schedule.

You might ask What is so different about that? I thoughtthat I always balance the equation this way.

The difference is that with an FFP contract you will becoordinating to maintain your labor level within a minimum

profit level. That might sound a little odd, but if we look at itmore closely it makes sense.

You are guaranteed the profit fee in CPFF. In FFP there isno guarantee of profit. It is up to you as the Project Coordinatorto insure that the project is delivered on time and WELL within


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budget. Since there is no fee applied to a FFP contract,management will define a minimum acceptable profit level for

the project (similar to fee), but since the vehicle is so inflexiblewhen it comes to delivery they will often place a security bufferinto that profit margin. Just because you know that there is abuffer, consider it a kind of de militarized zone, which, ifthreatened, you must immediately bring management into theequation to manage the financial risk.

Firm Fixed Priced contracts should only be utilized whenrequirements are concrete and clearly defined. Ill definedrequirements can lead to scope creep. Scope creep will driveyour costs up and profits down.

Reporting requirements are significantly different in FFPcontracts. FFP contracts can be seen as a black box event wherethe customer puts money and requirements in, you put labor inand pull out product at the end. By the very nature of the FFPcontract, the customer should have no concern over how a

project is completed or what the actual nature of the costs were.This can vary some what from customer to customer andcontract to contract, but remember that unless otherwise agreedupon, you are not obligated to report out on financial specificsand cost.

Benefits of FFP Concerns of FFP

Well Defined Structure Inflexible Schedule

Limited ReportingRequirements

Inflexible Funding

Potential Higher Profits No Guaranteed Fee

Requires Well DefinedRequirements

Possibility of IrrecoverableScope Creep

As Project Coordinator, it is important that you clearlyidentify the review and acceptance process for all deliverableson all projects. This is never more true then when working onFFP projects. Review and acceptance procedures are the singlebiggest sticking point on contracts. If the review and acceptance


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process is unclear in an FFP contract, it can adversely affectyour profit margin.

Time and Materials (T&M)

You will come across Time and Material contract vehiclesfairly often as a Project Coordinator. These contract vehiclesprovide a convenient way of buying hours of labor similar toCPFF contracts; however, there are several differences betweenT&M contracts and CPFF contacts that we should discuss.

Whereas in a CPFF contract you see cost identified andreported separately from fee (profit) and only specific costs canbe combined in to define the base labor rate, in T&M you willuse Labor Rates applied not to individuals but to LaborCategories. For example, in a CPFF contract you might have thefollowing breakdown of charges:

Employee Fully BurdenedRate

Employee 1 $33.40

Employee 2 $18.98

Employee 3 $22.02

Employee 4 $35.60

As you can see in this example the customer has veryspecific information reported out on each and every approvedemployee. To these numbers you would add the hourly fee anddiscussed earlier in this lesson.

In a T&M contract, the four example employees would begrouped into labor categories that reflect their jobs and theirburdened rates. Employees with similar jobs who have similarburdened rates are grouped together and the fee or profit level isadded to the labor rate to create a Composite Rate.

A Composite rate is one that refers to a group of rates thatare not identical. The important thing to note about this is that


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since each employee assigned to a labor category has a differentburdened rate (usually because of differences in salary) the

amount of profit realized on each individual will vary.Employees whose burdened rate is higher will realize less profitfor the company. One benefit to this is that the level of detailthat is reported out to the client is significantly lower then in theCPFF example.

Employee Labor

Category

Labor Rate Profit

Employee 1($33.40)

$7.54(%22)

Employee 4($35.60)

Senior Analyst $40.94$5.34(%15)

Employee 3($22.02)

$2.20(%10)

Employee 2($18.98)

Analyst $24.22$5.24(%27)

The only information that the client sees is the LaborCategory and the Labor Rate. They are not provided informationpertaining to the actual employee cost or the profit realized foreach employee.

Because employees are grouped into labor categories and

these labor categories represent the purchased hours it iscritical that the tasking that was identified to be completed by alabor category is completed by employees in that labor category.For example if a task identified to be completed by Employee 2(an Analyst with a rate of $24.33 and a profit of $5.24) iscompleted by Employee 4 (a Senior Analyst with a rate of$40.94)m the company can only bill the client for the AnalystRate as agreed upon in the contract incurring a loss of $11.37 to

the company.

Analyst Rate (Amount Billed) Senior Analyst Rate + Profitthat would have been realized

- Or -


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$24.33 - $40.94 + $5.24 = -$11.37

In most other aspects that pertain to the ProjectCoordinator the T&M contract is treated the same as the CPFFcontract. The most important thing to keep in mind as a ProjectCoordinator working on a T&M contract is to ensure that theappropriate employees complete their appropriate tasks onschedule and if there is a need to switch employees on a taskthey must be from the same labor category to ensure that a loss

will not be incurred by the company and that the customer willallow the hours to be charged.

Things to Keep in Mind About all ContractCoordination

Balance the Schedule, Quality, Cost equation based onthe type of contract vehicle.

Reporting requirements vary depending on the type ofcontract vehicle.

Do not substitute one labor category for anotherwithout examining the impact to cost

Do not assume that a labor category substitution (evenif financially feasible) will be allowed on the contract.Always check with Management if you find yourself inthis position.

Prevent scope creep to keep costs in line withprojections.

Clearly identify and define technical requirements toprevent scope creep.

Clearly document and understand acceptance andreview process to minimize cost.


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Project Proposal

The project proposal is the trigger element for all projects.It contains the initial project definition and discusses the initialtechnical approach. It will also illustrate most of the primaryrequirements that your team will have to be prepared toaccomplish. As such reviewing the proposal will become aprimary element of the Marketing Turnover process.

Realize that even though the proposal containsrequirements and stipulates initial technical approach, it is notthe project bible. Additional requirements will be introduced inother project documents like the Statement of Work (addressedlater in this course), and the actual technical approach you willuse will manifest as you complete the requirements analysis andproject planning phases.

When working with new customers it is important toremember that the project proposal is often the first real

introduction to the company that a client PM might have. Returncustomers already have a good base knowledge of how thecompany works and rely less on the project proposal whendealing with your team. In fact often there will not be a formalproposal when dealing with repeat customers.

The project proposal is commonly broken into severalareas of information. Most of these areas are of little practical

interest to the Project Coordinator. Some of the areas that are ofparticular interest to you as a Project Coordinator include:

Technical Approach Scope of Work Schedule and Milestones Initial Project Assumptions DeliverablesBecause project proposals are usually written in response

to solicitation announcements these sections might be namedslightly differently depending on the language used in the


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solicitation. Work though the proposal with the proposal ormarketing manager to make sure that you understand all of the

particulars.

Statement of Work

The Statement of Work (SOW) will serve as thefoundation for your initial project plan. It contains definitionsand descriptions of all of the required project elements such asdeliverables, detailed task descriptions, project objectives,reporting requirements, and identifies any special project needs.

The SOW will be the definitive tool that you will use todefine the scope of your project tasks. It is particularlyimportant that you and the client project manager have similarunderstanding of the SOW components and agree on the keyaspects of the project as described in the document.

Statements of work will vary in detail with each projectyou coordinate. The more familiar your relationship with thecustomer, the more likely it is that the SOW will lack detail,which can cause difficulties in the project later on in thedevelopment and delivery cycle. They type of contract vehicleassociated with the project will also affect the detail found in theSOW. If you are working on a FFP contract, it is very importantthat there be a high level of detail.

Experience shows that if the deliverables are clearlydefined in detail up front, misunderstandings can be avoidedlater. If support items such as software and hardware licenses,warrantees, spare parts, reports, and other documentation are notspecifically called out in the SOW then the natural tendency isfor the client to assume that these types of things willautomatically be provided. Assumptions must be avoided or

documented in great detail.When deliverables and products are clearly identified and

defined, the tasks to produce them are scheduled and properlypriced, and necessary resources are allocated. Every ProjectCoordinators nightmare is to discover new deliverablesexpected by the client when there is no time or money left to


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produce them. For this reason the deliverables identified in theSOW must be clearly understood and backed up by deliverable

lists and delivery schedules in the Project Plan. This will bediscussed in greater detail later.

Discussion Topics

Possible exceptions to the FFP black box analogy Situations when management should be brought into

the coordination process

Benefits and considerations of the three basic contractvehicles

How can you control client expectations by clarifyingdeliverables up front

Note: A great reference for Project Coordination andProject Management information can be found athttp://www.pmforum.org/

, or athttp://www.pmforum.org/library/glossary/PMG_O01.htm


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Lesson Four: Project Baseline

Learning Objectives

Understand the organization and purpose of theProject Folder and the Imagine One projectconfiguration management requirements

Understand and be able to utilize the projectcoordination tools to support the project goals

Understand the project schedule and be able to createa schedule to work with the Imagine One master matrixschedule

Understand the basis and purpose of the Project Planand be able to create and utilize one to support yourproject goals

Project Folder

As a Project Coordinator, one of the more useful tools youwill have at your disposal is a well maintained and organizedproject folder. This project folder exists in both electronic and orpaper format. The dual format of the project folder is not aquestion of preference, but of configuration manageability,

portability, and redundancy.All of the documentation, tools, and development files that

your team generates during the execution of the project will bemaintained in this file. Upon the close of the project, the projectfile will be backed up and archived for future corporate use.Depending on the nature of your contract deliverables, portions,or all, of the file may be transmitted to the client as a formaldeliverable.

For security purposes the project files must be maintainedon the Imagine One server and backed up to CD-ROM at theend of every week. While development files and workingdocuments may be stored on individual team member


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computers, all master documentation must be hosted on thecorporate server. There are no exceptions to this rule.

The electronic project folder is described in the figurebelow.

Figure 5 - Sample Project Folder File Structure


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Marketing Turnover Package

Prior to the start of any project, a Marketing Turnoverprocess must take place to ensure that the project starts off onthe right foot. The Project Coordinator is responsible forconducting the Marketing Turnover meeting and process. Youshould meet with the proposal or contract manager andmanagement before meeting with your project team to makesure that you have a clear understanding of the goal, objectives,and limitations of your assigned project.

The Marketing Turnover Checklist (see Appendix) hasbeen developed to assist Project Coordinators with gathering therequisite marketing and project information. Along with thischecklist you must apply your understanding of the client, yourteam, and your project environment to ensure a completeturnover. Some of the topics you should cover in yourdiscussions include:

Scope of Work Client Expectations Project Assumptions Review and Acceptance Criteria Schedule Budgetary Considerations Deliverables Management Intelligence associated with the Client Determine which personnel were originally proposed

and determine the impact of changing or removing anyof these people

Find out what, if any, verbal agreements orunderstandings took place between the client and themarketing team that might not be represented in theproposal and SOW documents


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The Marketing Turnover package is an internal processthat does not involve the client. The client will be brought into

the equation during the Client Alignment meetings that follow.You will also need to ensure that internal financial tracking

requirements are clearly understood. The proper charge numbersmust be passed to you from management and since contractsoften contain more then one charge number for the differentwork being performed in execution of your tasks, you mustclearly understand who may charge to which number and when.

It is critical during this process for the Project Coordinatorto review the proposed schedule and milestones. The SOW andthe proposal should contain a reasonable level of detailconcerning the schedule. It will at the least identify the Period ofPerformance and list the deliverables. Often times the marketingteam will provide you with insights pertaining to schedule thatwill help you create your initial baseline project schedule.

Risk Assessment

The Risk Assessment Questionnaire is a simple projectcoordination tool that you can use to identify areas of potentialrisk for your project. This gets you to start thinking about riskmitigation and helps you to start any discussion withmanagement that you may have to alleviate risk at the beginning

of a project.


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you must bring the risk assessment to the attention ofManagement.

Project Plan

The Project Plan serves as the communication and controlbasis of the project. It encapsulates and describes theunderstandings upon which the project teams work together.This formal deliverable document is used to organize the projectmanagement tools such as schedules and work breakdownstructure as well as some of the less tangible planningcomponents such as assumptions upon which some of theproject approaches are based.

It is important to understand that Imagine One can bemade contractually obligated to every element described withinthe Project Plan. Statements made pertaining to schedule, scope,and deliverables can be made binding. Do not place anything

into the Project Plan that you and your team can not accomplishor accommodate.

The components of a Project Plan include but are notlimited to:

Introduction Scope of Work Project Assumptions Review and Acceptance Requirements Project Deliverables Project Schedule Work Breakdown StructureThis living document is prepared by the Project

Coordinator and reviewed by all parties including the ClientProject Manager and Imagine One Management. Imagine One iscommitted to accomplishing all items described and laid out inthe Project Plan and the customer is limited to the scope of the


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tasking described. This document becomes the primary tool foridentifying scope and understanding and protecting the company

and the project team from scope creep.While Imagine One has a Project Plan template that we

will be using in this course, it is important to understand thatsome customers will insist on using templates familiar to theirorganizations. This can be one of the more difficult aspects ofproject coordination. It at all possible, require the use ofImagine One processes to manage Imagine One tasking.

Certain sections must be contained within the Project Planregardless of which parties templates will be used. The Scope ofWork section describes the limiting factors to be used in theproject. These elements are derived from the Statement ofWork.

Project Assumptions

The Project Assumptions section contains a list of specificassumptions that help the Project Coordinator to protect theproject from scope creep. They can also be used to furtherdefine elements of the technical solution to facilitatedevelopment. For example, if the Statement of Work or otherareas of the Proposal indicate that All content will bedeveloped for use on the Internet, the assumption, All web

based development will be designed to be optimized withInternet Explorer 5.0 or higher can be incorporated into thissection to create a tacit agreement between the client andinternal teams that IE 5.0 will be used as a baseline technologyto accommodate the less specific Proposal statement.

Some sample project assumptions:

The project team will have access to Client end users,supervisors, and help desk personnel who will beidentified during project alignment. The Client ProjectManager will have the requisite authority needed tomake decisions related to this project.


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The Client will schedule and coordinate all meetingsand interviews, and ensure project participants and

others are informed of the schedule.

The project team will apply its expertise to this project.However, the success of the project is largelydependent on the Client for accessibility to end usersand technical personnel during analysis anddevelopment, and for rapid reviews and approvals ofsystem documentation and prototypes.

The project team anticipates adhering to a strict reviewand acceptance process consisting of one in-processreview and revision cycle for all Client documentationand content materials developed under this tasking.The Client will accept full responsibility for thetechnical accuracy of all content materials.

Resource/reference documentation will be madeavailable to the project team.

Existing materials will be leveraged to the greatestextent possible.

The Client will provide the project team with access torequired hardware and software, including the Clientsnetwork and Intranet.

The Client will be facilitating all infrastructurepreparations for the prototype and development phasesof the project.

All materials will be developed using developmenttools and environments suggested by the project teamand agreed upon by the Client Project Manager.

Project Deliverables & Review andAcceptance Policies

The Project Deliverables section specifically calls out anddescribes all project deliverables and provides a description of


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the content, the date of delivery, and the format of delivery.Each deliverable described in this section of the Project Plan

should correlate to a deliverable described in the Statement ofWork.

You must be very careful not to add documents to thissection indiscriminately. Imagine One will become contractuallyobligated to provide any document described in this section,whether it has been indicated in the SOW or not.

Each deliverable must be reviewed and accepted by the

customer. Consequently it is important that the review andacceptance requirements are clearly defined, described, andunderstood by both teams. Time must be built into the scheduleto accommodate for the reviews and turn over process.

Acceptance must also be described. It is common toassume that the Client Project Manager possesses the authorityto formally accept a deliverable, but occasionally this individual

may have the authority to review but not to accept. Theaccepting authority should always be described in the SOW butif it is unclear or if acceptance authority exists in another areathat must be stipulated within the project plan.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The Work Breakdown Structure is one of the primarycoordination tools that you will used in your projects. It is usedto describe all of the project phases, tasks, and sub tasks and thepercentage of the total project that each section an elementrepresents.

The WBS is used to organize work into manageableelements and provide a framework for managing the resourcesneeded to complete the effort. The WBS is constructed to ensure

that all of the activities are accounted for and appropriatelyresourced. These activities can then be mapped to a schedule.

The WBS shows the relationship between project and task,not task and time. The Imagine One WBS structure is ahierarchal representation of the project with the final product on


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top, the second level breaks down the project phases which arefurther broken down into tasks. It is recommended that an

allowance for project coordination activities be included in thefirst level of the WBS.

The WBS is not intended for use in place of schedulingtools. Fully functional project schedules must be designed anddeveloped for every project. We will discuss this later in thecourse.

Weighted ValueA weighted value is assigned to each project phase

described by the WBS. The total value of every project equals100% so the combined weighted value of all project phasesmust also equal 100%. The weighted values of the individualtasks that comprise a project phase must equal the totalweighted value for that phase.


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PERCENT COMPLETE CALCULATION

BY WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

SOFTWARE PROJECTS

Client: Some Client In this column

Project Coord. Paul Beach enter 0, 1,

Project Name: Sample or a number

Project #: 9999-002 in-between

Relative Project Detailed

No. Effort Tasks Weighting(%) % Complete

1 10.0% PLANNING

1.1 Conduct Alignment Meeting 5% 100% 5.0%

1.2 Generate Project Plan 5% 100% 5.0%

2 20.0% ANALYSIS

2.1 Gather Audience Data 10% 100% 10.0%

2.2 Analyze Data 10% 100% 10.0%

3 20.0% DESIGN

3.1 Generate Objectives 1% 100% 1.0%3.2 Generate Evaluation Items 2% 100% 2.0%

3.3 Design Flowcharts 7% 50% 3.5%

3.4 Design Storyboards 9% 50% 4.5%

3.5 Obtain Client Approval 1% 0% 0.0%

40.0% DEVELOPMENT

4 4.1 Develop Courseware 20% 0% 0.0%

4.2 Develop Supporting Documentation 10% 0% 0.0%

4.3 Conduct Internal Testing 5% 0% 0.0%

4.4 Obtain Client Approval 5% 0% 0.0%

5 5.0% PILOT IMPLEMENTATION

5.1 Install Software at Client 1% 0% 0.0%

5.2 Conduct Pilot 2% 0% 0.0%

5.3 Gather Data/Feedback 2% 0% 0.0%

6 5.0% DELIVERY

6.1 Correct Pilot Discrepancies 2% 0% 0.0%6.2 Test Courseware 1% 0% 0.0%

6.3 Install Software at Client 1% 0% 0.0%

6.4 Obtain Client Final 1% 0% 0.0%

Acceptance Sign-off

Project Overall Percent Complete = 41%

Figure 7 Sample Work Breakdown Structure

Project ScheduleAn accurate project schedule can be built off of the

organizational baseline described by the WBS. The tasksidentified in the second and third level WBS can be integratedinto a schedule and assigned resources and durations that areappropriate based on the weighted values defined in the WBS.

After a task is scheduled a resource has to be assigned to it.

Resources are project team members. After the resource isassigned to a task, the Project Coordinator must estimate theamount of time needed to accomplish the task. This initialassignment is only estimation. It is up to you to work with yourproject team members to fine tune these labor estimates tocreate an accurate representation of labor. Other essential


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elements such as project milestones and deliverables can also beincluded into the schedule once all tasks have been defined.

All projects can benefit from three basic types ofschedules:

Detailed schedules for the project team Summary schedule for management Contract deliverables schedule for the customerCreating the project schedules is one of the most time

consuming tasks that the Project Coordinator has. It is importantthat the schedule be complete and accurate, but it must also beflexible to succeed.

Figure 8 - Sample Summary Schedule

The detailed project schedule should be maintaineddescribing all of the specific tasks identified in your projectincluding the resources that you have assigned to complete the


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tasks. This ensures that all members of your team understandtheir specific roles and responsibilities and completely

understand your expectation for task completion. It also helpsyour team members to see how their tasks relate to and directlyaffect the other tasks on the projects.

A summary schedule should be maintained formanagement. This schedule should include all of thedeliverables and primary task phases but not include the specifictasking that is identified for completion by individual teammembers. It is important to keep management informed of yourproject status and of the deliverable status, but specific taskingshould only be reported upward in cases where you are seekingmanagement support in resolution of a conflict or of a resourcemanagement issue.

Often times the customer will have specific contractdeliverable schedule requirements or formats that are notaddressed by the Imagine One standard schedules. For example

they may use a specific software package or track itemsdifferently which would require that you maintain a separateclient schedule.

Under rare circumstances the client can be shown thedetailed schedule, but this should be avoided as a rule to preventthem from attempting to second guess your schedule andtasking. Some more proactive customer managers will even try

to manage your team if you provide them with too muchinformation. In these cases it is your obligation to shield theteam from the client manipulations while ensuring that the clientdoes not feel excluded.

Discussion Points

The risk of implied deliverables and marketingassumptions

What are some of the limitations to the RiskAssessment form


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How can you channel client expectations using theProject Assumptions section of the Project Plan

When is enough, enough when developing the projectschedule


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Lesson Five: Project Alignment

Learning Objectives

Understand the team selection process and be able towork with the Supervisor Council to properly staff yourproject.

Understand and be able to utilize the projectforecasting spreadsheet and be able to use it tocommunicate need and availability to the SupervisorCouncil.

Understand the importance of team alignment, bothinternal and client, and be able to create and executealignment briefs and documentation.

Understand the difference of Statement of Work Goalsand hidden customer motivated project mission and

goals and be able to leverage these to Imagine Onesadvantage.

Project Team Selection

To successfully complete your project planning process itis critical that you identify the team members necessary to

complete all of the tasks that you identified during yourplanning and scheduling phase. There are several aspects toconsider when considering your team composition:

Technical Experience Supervisory Expectations AvailabilityThe Supervisor Council has been put in place to assist you

with all of your staffing and team selection issues. Good ProjectCoordinators possess a wide array of personal experience andability that assists them in understanding the full range of tasksneeded to complete the projects they lead. People with singleareas of expertise usually are ideal to fill the roles of Technical


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Leads or Specialists. Use all of your of your experience to helpyou identify how many team members and what type of team

members you will need to succeed.Lets take a quick look at the team member components of

a two typical project types (courseware development andsoftware development) so we can illustrate the relationshipsbetween team members.

ProjectProject

CoordinatorCoordinator

MultimediaMultimediaTechnicalTechnical

LeadLead

ISDISDTechnicalTechnical

LeadLead

SupportSupportTechnicalTechnical

LeadLead

MultimediaMultimedia

SpecialistSpecialistISDISD

SpecialistSpecialistTestingTesting

SpecialistSpecialistDocumentDocument

SpecialistSpecialistISDISD

SpecialistSpecialistMultimediaMultimedia

SpecialistSpecialist

ProjectProjectCoordinatorCoordinator


TechnicalTechnical

LeadLead

SoftwareSoftware

TechnicalTechnical

LeadLead

SupportSupport

TechnicalTechnical

LeadLead


SpecialistSpecialistWebWeb

SpecialistSpecialistTestingTesting

SpecialistSpecialistDocumentDocument

SpecialistSpecialistDatabaseDatabase

SpecialistSpecialist

Courseware Development Team

Software Development Team

Figure 9 Sample Courseware and Software DevelopmentTeams

Based on the information that you gather during yourMarketing Turnover and project requirements analysis process,

you need to identify the technical labor scope needed toaccomplish the delivery goals, schedule, and budget. The firststep in proper team selection is the identification of your keyteam members. These key team members will serve as yourtechnical leads and provide limited oversight within your projectfor their specific technical categories.


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Once identified, your Technical Leads can then assist youin the further identification and definition of the staffing

resources needed to accomplish your project goals. Your projectTechnical Leads will work with you to identify appropriatetechnical support specialists.

Once you have identified your initial staffing requirementsas well as any individuals that you specifically wish to havesupport you on your projects, you will go to the SupervisorCouncil to present your requirements and request their supportin providing the identified staff. The Supervisor Council willwork with you to de-conflict any staffing issues and perhapsidentify project hazards or considerations that you might nothave identified due to your perspective.

For example: you and your Technical Leads identify astaffing requirement that calls for the assignment of a particularindividual. That individual might be concurrently staffed on twoother projects. The Supervisor Councils job is to identify the

conflict and negotiate an appropriate staffing solution thatadequately supports all of the projects and customersrequirements without excessively tasking the shared resource(team member).

Conflict identification and resolution is often a question ofperspective. Examine the three diagrams below to understandthe focus that each layer of coordination and management

applies to Imagine One projects.


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Requirement

Requirement

Requirement

Project Coordinator View

Figure 10 Project Coordinator Perspective

Supervisor Council View

Project Project

Project Project

Figure 11 Supervisor Council Perspective


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Customer Customer

CustomerCustomer

Program Manager View

Figure 12 Program Manager Perspective

Every project is unique, but we will address the staffingand alignments using a unified and repeatable process, making iteasy for individual technical specialists to support multiple

projects. Understanding the perspective of each tier ofmanagement can be critical to successful staffing.

Project Forecasting

Project Forecasting is simply the projected estimates ofstaff utilization over the course of the project over the span of

the entire schedule. The Project Coordinator is responsible tomaintain an accurate estimate of staff utilization and feed thatinformation back to the Supervisor Council on a regular basis sothat the Supervisors can ensure that the individual teammembers are being completely utilized.


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To accomplish this, a simple Project Forecastingspreadsheet has been developed for use by the Project

Coordinators. This spreadsheet helps you to identify utilization(proper, over, and under utilization) on a team member by teammember basis.

Team Est. Actual Est. Actual Est. Actual Est. Actual Est. Actual

Project Coordination 0Paul Beach 40 30 40 30 40 30 40 30 40 30 50

0

ISD 0Peter Hall 40 10 40 20 40 30 40 5 40 0 135Kathy McBride 40 40 40 50 40 50 40 50 40 50 -40

0

Software 0

Rohit Soni 10 20 20 0 0 0 30 40 30 30 00

Multimedia 0

Angela James 5 5 10 10 40 40 40 50 40 35 -5Jason Lumpkins 0 0 0 0 40 40 40 40 40 40 0

0

Support 0

Dan Trossbach 0 0 0 5 5 5 5 10 10 15 -15Iris Peg 5 5 5 5 5 0 6 0 10 10 11

0

SUMMARY 140 110 155 120 210 195 241 225 250 210 136

EI/DS Project Forecasting for November 2004

Week One Week Two Week Three Week Four Week Five

Figure 13 Sample Project Forecasting Worksheet

The proper utilization of the Project ForecastingWorksheet provides a powerful information source for theProject Coordinator to feed over and under worker utilizationinformation to the Supervisory Council. The council can thenuse this information to assist in their staffing decision makingprocess. It also helps to identify possible issues that mightremain hidden unless spotlighted with this tool.

Over utilization, which is indicated by a negative numberin the summary columns, can be indicative of several things:

Improper Project Scoping Poor Worker Performance Improper Focus of Responsibilities (Tasking)

Project Team AlignmentAs discussed earlier, communication is the key element of

a successful project. Properly aligning the various teamsworking on the project from the very beginning of the projectgreatly increases your probability of success. Project team


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alignment is a continual process containing multiple elementsthat sets the overall tone of the project.

The goal of the project alignment is to ensure that allparties are reading and working from the same plan and areinformed enough about all of the various project aspects to beable succeed and to support and enable areas of the project otherthen their own. Methodologies and processes provide the ProjectCoordinator with guidance for successful team and projectcoordination, but if they are not creatively and flexibly appliedto individual project situations no amount of meetings,briefings, or process management will result in successfulprojects.

Managing client expectations begins with the alignmentprocess. Identifying who will accept the output of the projectallows the team to ensure that all acceptance criteria are fullyunderstood by Imagine One and the client up front.

One powerful tool at the Project Coordinators disposal isthe Project Alignment Brief. Regardless of the approach used,the following elements need to be identified, documented anddisseminated amongst the team:

Client Expectations Client Acceptance Criteria

Schedules Deliverables Resources

Client Alignment

The client is a critical component of your project Team.Aligning the client expectation and understanding of projectconsiderations is a continual process. The client project manageris often not a technical manager. Occasionally financial orcontract managers are put in charge of technical projects and


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will turn to you for guidance and decision support for executionissues.

The clients understanding of technical considerations,team capabilities, and design elements are often limited. It is theProject Coordinators responsibility to guide the client throughthese design and implementation issues while at the same timelistening to their needs and empowering them.

Creating proper relationships between the client and theother team members is also an important element of client

alignment. The Project Coordinator needs to serve as the focusand filter for the Client and team, managing the tasking andteam so that the client does not have to. If the client manages theteam directly, communication and roles become unclear andproblems begin to arise. Balancing the amount of direct contactand information that a client has in a project will vary fromproject to project, but the sense of balance must always bemaintained.

Project Goals and Mission

Project Scope was addressed earlier in this training course,however often satisfying a client expectations requires theproper identification of project goals and client missionobjectives that are not specifically described in the project

tasking. Identification of these underlying mission objectiveswill help you to ensure client satisfaction.

A successful Project Coordinator will endeavor to developa complete understanding of the clients environment and needs.This includes investigation and discovery of several elementsincluding:

The Clients Political Environment The Current Client Support Infrastructure Identification of Contract Motivation FactorsBy examining these elements, you will be more able to

identify growth and expansion possibilities for Imagine One. By


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analyzing your clients political environment you can oftenidentify non-technical project pitfalls before they become an

issue. The client support infrastructure is often one of theprimary elements that a Project Coordinator needs to understandto ensure success. The existing support infrastructure canequally help to ensure success or failure. Mapping out thepolitical and support environments will help you to create abroad understanding of the clients needs.

Discussion Points

Considerations for team selections Limitations of the various project management points

of view

Effects and considerations of underlying missionobjectives and customer goals


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Lesson Six: Project Reporting

Learning Objectives

Understand the Imagine One project reportingrequirements

Be able to support your management team withmeasurable reporting tools designed to support annual

CPARS requirements Be able to conduct formal and informal project reviews

Contractor Performance AssessmentReporting System (CPARS)

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 15.304,

requires that past performance information be collected andused in source selection evaluations for competitive negotiatedprocurements. The Contractor Performance Assessment Report(CPAR) is an evaluation of specific elements of the contractor'sperformance. The assessment, made by the ProcuringContracting Officer, creates a record in the system, both positiveand negative, on a given contract during a specific period oftime. This paints a picture for the government of Imagine Ones

Past Performance.

It is critical that all Project Coordinators understand theImagine One project reporting procedures and are able to reporton the status of their projects in such a way that the companiesannual CPARS evaluation reports can draw from your projectreports to accurately illustrate the superior job that Imagine Onehas performed while supporting its customers throughout the

year.

The CPARS Past Performance reports are one of theprimary evaluation tools used in the contract award process.These reports are often developed by customer support staff thatdo not have personal experience with your project so they turnto the monthly reports submitted by Imagine One to gather the


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information they need. Some times this is the only place theylook for information.

Your management support team is responsible for ensuringthat the proper information is provided to the customer, howeverthey depend upon you to provide them with the information theyneed. A support brief used by the Air Force and the Navy toeducate team members on the CPARS application and process isincluded in the appendix of this manual.

Weekly Status ReportsWeekly status reports are a useful tool that the Project

Coordinator has at their disposal to collect information fromtheir teammates that can be compiled into the monthly statusreports. While not required, these reports take very little time tocomplete and can help you to ensure that your monthly reportshave the level of detail needed to support your CPARS reports.

PUT THIS IN AS A PICTURE

MISSING

MISSING

MISSING

MISSING

Figure 14 Sample Weekly Progress Report

The sample Weekly Progress Report shown aboveillustrates how simple this process can be. Using this tool, the

Project Coordinator can reduce the amount of time spent torecording individual activities for later reporting. These reportsalso help you to identify technical problems and schedulingissues. They can also be very informative in identifying personalwork trends.


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Monthly Project Progress Reports

Monthly Progress Reports are required from all projects.Your management team will let you know the specific deliverydates of these documents at the beginning of the project. Somecustomers require delivery of monthly reports by the 5th of themonth, others on the 15th of the month. Each contract isdifferent, so be prepared to adjust your reporting accordingly.

Monthly Progress Reports, like the Weekly ProgressReports discussed above, focus on the technical aspects of theproject. While Imagine One has a standard report format that isused for these deliverables, occasionally a contract will havecustom reporting requirements that must be identified andfollowed. This is most often the case when Imagine One isworking as a subcontractor on a project and not the primarycontractor.

While the Project Coordinator supplies the technical

information and the status of deliverables and schedule items onthe Monthly Project Reports, your management team will takethose items and add financial and invoicing information to thembefore sending them on to the customer. If you are approachedby the customer about any invoicing or financial information,you should refer them to your management team.

When completing your Monthly Progress Reports pay

particular attention to the Performance Assessment and theDeliverables section. Entries into these sections should alwaysbe accompanied by schedule information illustrating how yourteam exceeded the contract specified delivery schedule. Byquantifying this information the CPARS evaluators havemeasurable metrics with which to rationalize awarding ImagineOne a Superior CPARS rating. Simply providing all work ontime, within specification, and within budget will result in a

simple Satisfactory rating. A Satisfactory rating will excludeImagine One from certain competitive situations.


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Project Review

Informal Project Review

During the life cycle of your project you will have toconduct various Project Reviews, both formal and informal.Informal reviews include monthly schedule and statuspresentations with the Supervisory Council. During these shortmeetings, you will go over your schedule with the Supervisors

to identify any staffing or scheduling conflicts that might becoming over the horizon, and you will discuss any deliveryissues that might have come up regarding your scheduleperformance.

Formal Project Review

If the period of performance of your project spans severalmonths, you may be asked to conduct a formal Project Reviewwith your management team. These reviews should provide acomprehensive report and update on several items including:

Summary of Project Goals Summary of Technical Approach Overall Project Schedule Status of all Project Deliverables Staffing and Labor Projections Client Issues Follow-on Opportunities Identified

Risk Management Quad ChartFormal Reviews are a good opportunity for you to inform

your management team of any new innovations, processes, orlessons learned that they can apply to other projects ormarketing campaigns. You will work with your managementteam to identify budget and invoicing information as well as


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budget burn rate data. By providing accurate staffing and laborprojections, you will assist in the identification of budget

shortfalls or excessive balance issues that could negativelyaffect the overall profitability of your project.

Final Project Review

At the end of your project as part of your Project CloseOut process (discussed in Lesson 10 of this course), you willconduct a Final Project Review. This review is similar in manyways to the Formal Project Review; however you will focus inon the status of a

project coordinator student guide

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