Method123

With a project management template to use, a business manager has a pre-formatted document to start any project with. This is a vital tool to utilize that will help streamline the process. The advantages of this are evident as the project progresses, but one advantage that is generally overlooked is the assistance the template provides to the project manager. All successful project managers are picked because they find a way to get their job done right the first time and in budget. The project management templates that most use are not only a place to fill in the information that is needed, but also a reminder of what needs to be done. Being a project manager is a multi-tasking position that has many responsibilities. By utilizing a project management template , they have a guide to follow each step of the way through a project. This is why choosing the right program that has the templates they need is so important. Once a program is decided on, an SOP can be written on its proper us...

For several years now the phrase 'Zombie PMO' has been used to describe a PMO organization that is barely alive -- more focused on mundane self-serving practices than delivering business value.  Be sure that well before the 'Zombie' reference was born, this has been a crisis in the PM community.  For years we've seen PMOs come and go in and out of fashion, not because the concept of a PMO lacked business value, but because those executing the PMO have failed to focus on the business value they should be delivering. We staunchly support the idea of embracing best-practices, standards, governance, and employing sound methodology.  But, without an understanding of how these characteristics should be leveraged to deliver for the business, you run the risk of becoming antiquated, unnecessary, and overhead that the business will either ignore or disband. One of the critical actions that I would encourage for any PMO leader is to engage in a healthy dialog with the busines...

If you are a project manager dealing with what you perceive to be an unrealistic budget, the first thing you will want to do is discuss this with your sponsor to see if there are any factors that are driving the project budget. For instance, there may be budgetary restrictions. If you are a vendor, it is possible your sales people committed to a fixed price for the project. In some cases your manager or sponsor might set an arbitrary budget without much justification. It does not necessarily make your challenge any easier, but you may find that by better understanding the reason for the fixed budget, you may have an easier time getting yourself and your team members motivated to achieve it. When you have a full project management methodology you will have tools and techniques to respond to these concerns.  There are a number of responses to a project with unrealistic budgets. Reduce scope . Talk to your sponsor about reducing the project scope. See if there are features and function...

It has been shown that using project management templates to develop and document a project plan saves time and money. This is attributed to their ease of use and thoroughness of how they were prepared. When deciding on which set of project management templates is best for your company, there are several factors you need to consider. The first one is your computer system. If you have many stand alone units, then the project management program would need to be loaded on each and every one where a user might be working. This is becoming a rarer scene, but still exists in smaller companies. For the corporations that have a centralized server, the users will have easier access to the project management templates . With access, the project managers will be able to use all of the templates to their fullest potential if they are aware of them and know how to use them. This is where training is beneficial. In businesses across America, there is safety training every month. This is so every e...

We've worked with many organizations that have put in place some fairly mature project management processes and implemented what they call 'Governance'. While we 100% support the practice of providing a defined process around project, program and portfolio management we have detected a trend in organizations experiencing some unintended consequences of governance. Specifically, adopting a 'one size fits all' model to governance can be detrimental to the organization and to the PMO. By forcing all projects to conform to a rigid standard of controls (governance) we risk slowing down the execution of projects and overburdening them with too much process. One of the significant benefits of  MPMM  is that its highly customizable and adaptable to fit your projects needs. The PMO 'Process Police', as they are sometimes called, need to make sure that they are focused more on  business outcomes  than on governance process. Their processes should enable greater produc...

Project Management Life Cycle ...Avoiding confusion with Project Life Cycle   Project Management Life Cycle vs Project Life Cycle Unfortunately, I've seen many cases where these two are used interchangeably without acknowledging that they are truly two different and distinct things. The Project Management Life Cycle is defined by the methodology used to manage projects in your organization. MPMM©, like the PMBOK©, utilizes Initiation, Planning, Executing, and Closure phases in the PMLC. The Project Life Cycle (PLC) lives mostly within the Executing phase of the PMLC. If the project is a software development project that PLC will often be referred to as the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Its just a unique case of a Project Life Cycle. Furthermore, the SDLC may differ depending on your approach to software development --- think Agile vs Waterfall. Individual projects, being unique in nature, may have different Project Life Cycles. Think about the difference between an Agil...

One of the most frequently debated questions we have seen in today's PMO environment is that of "How much is enough process, governance and oversight"? Business managers want to be nimble and responsive and sometimes have little appetite for what they perceive as the bureaucracy of the PMO office. Project team members and SMEs may likewise feel like they are being slowed down by complying with the methodology of the PMO. To all sides of this argument we say "Yes! You can make reasonable compromises to reduce project overhead." It all comes down to  Risk  management and how much tolerance you have for it. We had devised a Risk Analysis Spreadsheet that takes into account only 24 questions and score cards them into 3 distinct project buckets - Small / Medium / Large. This shirt-sizing approach then let us manage each bucket according to a tailored methodology and governance plan. The small projects used a light-weight methodology and proceeded through a limited nu...

While project managers are focused on "getting the project done right" Portfolio Managers must focus on "getting the right projects done".  This places the role of the Portfolio Manager in a very key position that helps drive strategy in an organization. So how does the Portfolio Manager accomplish this? * Develop a process for prioritizing all projects across the organization -  A key technique for doing this is to develop a scorecard that is aligned to the organizations strategic objectives. - Force ranking the project list utilizing the above mentioned scorecard * Ensuring that the portfolio has the best chance of success by allocating the organizational resources required to successfully deliver the projects * Balancing the portfolio in such a way that short-term, mid-term, and long-term objectives are addressed in a reasonable mix that satisfies project sponsors. * Track the implementation and benefits against initial estimates * Manage the portfolio with an en...

For several years now the phrase 'Zombie PMO' has been used to describe a PMO organization that is barely alive -- more focused on mundane self-serving practices than delivering business value.  Be sure that well before the 'Zombie' reference was born, this has been a crisis in the PM community.  For years we've seen PMOs come and go in and out of fashion, not because the concept of a PMO lacked business value, but because those executing the PMO have failed to focus on the business value they should be delivering. We staunchly support the idea of embracing best-practices, standards, governance, and employing sound methodology.  But, without an understanding of how these characteristics should be leveraged to deliver for the business you run the risk of becoming antiquated, unnecessary, and overhead that the business will either ignore or disband. One of the critical actions that I would encourage for any PMO leader is to engage in a healthy dialog with the business...

Define the Objectives of Your Project Objectives are concrete statements that describe the things the project is trying to achieve. They are included in your Project Charter . An objective should be written in a way that it can be evaluated at the conclusion of a project to see whether it was achieved. A well-worded objective will be Specific, Measurable, Attainable / Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART). (SMART is a technique for wording the objective. An objective does not absolutely have to be SMART to be valid.) An example of an objective statement might be to " upgrade the customer service telephone system by December 31 to achieve average client wait times of no more than two minutes ". Note that the objective is specific. The objective is measurable in terms of the average client wait times the new phone system is trying to achieve. You can assume that the objective is achievable and realistic. The objective is time-bound , and should be completed...

Define the Objectives of Your Project Objectives are concrete statements that describe the things the project is trying to achieve. They are included in your Project Charter . An objective should be written in a way that it can be evaluated at the conclusion of a project to see whether it was achieved. A well-worded objective will be Specific, Measurable, Attainable / Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART). (SMART is a technique for wording the objective. An objective does not absolutely have to be SMART to be valid.) An example of an objective statement might be to " upgrade the customer service telephone system by December 31 to achieve average client wait times of no more than two minutes ". Note that the objective is specific. The objective is measurable in terms of the average client wait times the new phone system is trying to achieve. You can assume that the objective is achievable and realistic. The objective is time-bound , and should be completed...

Developing Effective Work Breakdown Structures The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is an often misunderstood and underappreciated tool of project management.  I would argue that it is a critical piece of the foundation of any project management methodology.  Many misconceptions exist about what a WBS is, how it is used and why it is such an important part of the project management process. A WBS is a deliverable-oriented , hierarchical grouping of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.  It organizes and defines the total scope of the project . Each descending level represents an increasingly detailed definition of the project work (ie decomposition). No reference to WHO is doing the work No reference to WHEN the work is being done No reference to HOW the work is being done Rules for WBS attributes: Use NOUNS and ADJECTIVES to describe the work No dependencies, durations, resource assignment...

This was one of the most shocking statements I had ever heard came from the mouths of an industry renowned PMP trainer and expert in the field of project management.  It was many, many years ago and I wasn't quite sure if we were supposed to laugh or argue with her.  It turns out that what she was trying to convey to us was that the typical boring status meeting where the project manager sits in a room and goes around the table asking every individual for status is ineffective and usually pointless.  The project manager should have an up-to-date understanding of where all aspects of the project are at any point in time -- especially with today's sophisticated collaboration tools that make information sharing easy and transparent.  These meeting should be designed to address  exceptions to expected results (aka management by exception). 

Project Management Office and the PMO The key to project success is in establishing an efficient Project Office function. The Project Management Office (or PMO) is the physical premise where the administration and management staff reside and it’s usually the central core of the project operation. Read on if you would like to learn the... 4 steps to creating a successful Project Office Every project team relies on the tools, guidance and processes provided by the Project Office to undertake its project tasks quickly and easily. So setting up and running an efficient Project Office environment is critical to the success of the project. To establish a fully functional Project Office environment with all of the required tools and processes, you will need to undertake the steps depicted in the following diagram: Step 1: Define the Role of the Project Office The first step taken when creating a new Project Office environment is to define the role of the Project Office function. You need to...

Project Management Templates - Delivering projects on Time As a Project Manager, you are always pushed to deliver your projects on time, by using project management templates .  Not a day goes by that you don’t worry about whether you are on, behind or ahead of schedule. To help you to boost your chances of success, we’ve described here... How to Deliver Projects On Time On a project, it is easy to get bogged down with the details, and forget about the “helicopter view”.  Other than completing Project Status Reports at the end of each reporting period, many Project Managers adopt the approach that their own knowledge and experience alone will ensure that the project delivers on time. But the reality is that all project managers need to complete some basic steps throughout the project, to make sure that it is “on track”, otherwise it is easy for a project to go off the rails. So what are the steps that a Project Manager needs to complete to make sure that the project is delivered on ti...

How to Create Project Management Methodology Pages Q: I have opened a project management methodology and I’d like to create a brand new page. How can I do this? A: Easy. There are several ways of creating new pages for project management templates methodology . First, under the File menu you can simply select the New / Page item and then type in the name of the new page you wish to create, in the Title bar. You can then choose to import content from an existing HTML page on your PC, or copy and paste content into the page from any Microsoft or other Windows application. Or you could simply do this by accessing everything online through this Project Management Software . The MPMM Support Team  

Define the Objectives of Your Project Objectives are concrete statements that describe the things the project is trying to achieve. They are included in your Project Charter . An objective should be written in a way that it can be evaluated at the conclusion of a project to see whether it was achieved. A well-worded objective will be Specific, Measurable, Attainable / Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART). (SMART is a technique for wording the objective. An objective does not absolutely have to be SMART to be valid.) An example of an objective statement might be to " upgrade the customer service telephone system by December 31 to achieve average client wait times of no more than two minutes ". Note that the objective is specific. The objective is measurable in terms of the average client wait times the new phone system is trying to achieve. You can assume that the objective is achievable and realistic. The objective is time-bound , and should be completed...

Delivering on Time with Project Management Forms To succeed as a Project Manager, you need to deliver projects on time and within budget. But delivering “on time” is not as easy as it sounds. A survey from the Standish Group estimates that up to 84% of projects fail to deliver on schedule. So how can you put processes in place to help you to deliver your projects on schedule? We suggest, by using these project management forms and by taking these steps: 3 Steps to Project Time Management Time Management is the process of monitoring and controlling time spent within a project. By recording the actual time spent by staff on a project, you can: Calculate the time spent undertaking tasks Identify the staff cost of undertaking tasks Control the level of resources allocated to tasks Monitor the completion percentage of tasks Identify any outstanding work required to complete tasks To do all of this effectively within your project, you need to implement a structured Time Manage...

Four Steps to Show the Value of Training Many businesses struggle with whether they are getting their money’s worth in sending employees to training classes . This question can be applied to project management training as well as any other type of business training. You know the cost side of training too well. But how do you tell what the business value is? The most common way to determine value today is to ask the trainee whether he or she thinks the class was valuable. This is very touchy-feely and doesn’t give you much information to go on, but it is probably the most that most companies ask in terms of follow-up. A Rigorous Approach There is a process to more rigorously determine the value received for your training dollars. These ideas are not for the faint of heart. They take more preparation and they take more of that most precious commodity – time. But see if it makes sense, and whether the results of this process will give you a much better feel for the value that you are rece...

The Power of the Aligned Organization   When was the last time you rode in a car with wheels that were not properly aligned? Chances are it was a pretty rough ride. The car either pulled in one direction, making it hard work to keep it in your lane, or, it worked against itself as one tire pointed one way and another tire another way. The same thing can happen in our companies. The ride can be pretty bumpy, not to mention noisy, unless everyone is pointed in the same direction. That’s why it’s important to understand the five benefits of an aligned organization Benefit #1 – Ensures Everyone Works on the Right Things The first benefit of an aligned organization is that with a common goal for everyone to strive towards, the right things are worked on. Here’s the trick - you need make sure that everyone clearly understands the goal and the end game. The best way to accomplish this is to clearly communicate the strategy of the company. What are the three to five most important things you...