Method123

Every organization will have to deal with projects that are under-performing, over budget, behind schedule -- in a word troubled ! We identify 2 very specific things that organizations need to do in response. The first is immediate and the later is a more systematic response to prevent projects in the future from becoming troubled. 1. Deal with Troubled Projects Head On When a project gets in trouble, too often, the first tendency is to extend the deadline and spend more money on it in hopes of getting it finished. This is a bad idea, especially if the situation occurs late in the project's life cycle. Ideally, early on, the PMO leader should develop a basic list of conditions that will trigger an investigation into whether a project is in trouble. Usually, a "consensus" on trouble inevitably will emerge, but it often occurs too late in the process. The primary means of addressing troubled projects are: Re-scope : Assess if there is value that can be derived from the p...

Every organization will have to deal with projects that are under-performing, over budget, behind schedule -- in a word troubled ! We identify 2 very specific things that organizations need to do in response. The first is immediate and the later is a more systematic response to prevent projects in the future from becoming troubled. 1. Deal with Troubled Projects Head On When a project gets in trouble, too often, the first tendency is to extend the deadline and spend more money on it in hopes of getting it finished. This is a bad idea, especially if the situation occurs late in the project's life cycle. Ideally, early on, the PMO leader should develop a basic list of conditions that will trigger an investigation into whether a project is in trouble. Usually, a "consensus" on trouble inevitably will emerge, but it often occurs too late in the process. The primary means of addressing troubled projects are: Re-scope : Assess if there is value that can be derived from the p...

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...

In the TenStep ® Project Management Process, once the project is executing, all of the project management processes are integrated in the schedule. The integration occurs here because of an overriding philosophy of the TenStep process – “what’s in the schedule gets done”. In other words, all of the work of the project should be in the schedule and if an activity is not in the schedule, it should not be worked on. The schedule is the focal point of managing the project, and all the project management processes are integrated in the schedule. You should have activities and time allocated in your schedule for communicating, managing scope, updating the schedule and all other project management activities. The integration occurs when the project management processes touch each other, as well as when the project management and project lifecycle activities overlap. Consider the following examples: A large scope change request is approved, resulting in more work. This is a typical integrati...

When you create a schedule you generally don’t know enough to enter all of the detailed activities the first time though. Instead, you identify large chunks of work first, and then break the larger chunks into smaller pieces. These smaller pieces are, in turn, broken down into still smaller and more discrete activities. This technique is referred to as creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). A question people ask is how small the activities should be before they do not need to be broken down further. This is referred to as your “estimating threshold”. Work can be broken down into smaller activities than the estimating threshold, but normally no work would be left at a higher level. The threshold can be different based on the size of your project and how well the work is understood. You can use the following criteria as a guide. For a typical large project (say 5000 effort hours or more) the activities should be no longer than two weeks. Medium and small projects (say 1000 effort hou...

When you create a schedule you generally don’t know enough to enter all of the detailed activities the first time though. Instead, you identify large chunks of work first, and then break the larger chunks into smaller pieces. These smaller pieces are, in turn, broken down into still smaller and more discrete activities. This technique is referred to as creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). A question people ask is how small the activities should be before they do not need to be broken down further. This is referred to as your “estimating threshold”. Work can be broken down into smaller activities than the estimating threshold, but normally no work would be left at a higher level. The threshold can be different based on the size of your project and how well the work is understood. You can use the following criteria as a guide. For a typical large project (say 5000 effort hours or more) the activities should be no longer than two weeks. Medium and small projects (say 1000 effort hou...

All projects need a schedule. If you have a small project perhaps the schedule is a simple checklist or Excel spreadsheet. As projects get larger they need more formal scheduling templates and tools. The processes you use to manage a schedule also vary depending on the size of the project. Large projects need a lot of schedule management rigor. Small projects can use a lighter process. The following steps can be used to mage the schedule of a small project. Review the schedule on a weekly basis. Identify activities that have been completed during the previous week and update the schedule to show they are finished. Determine whether there are activities that should be completed, but are not. Work with the individual that is assigned to the work see what is going on. Determine how much additional effort and duration are needed to complete the work and update the schedule accordingly. Evaluate the remaining work to see if the project will be completed within the original duration. You may...

The Schedule Management Plan describes the process used to develop and manage the project schedule. Not all projects need a Schedule Management Plan, but if your project has a complex schedule that requires special handling, you may find this plan helpful. The components of the Schedule Management Plan can include: Roles and responsibilities. You can describe different roles and their ability to access the project schedule. Schedule owner. This is probably the project manager. Who can update? Normally the project manager, but on larger projects it could be more complex. For instance, a Project Administrator might make the initial schedule updates based on the project status reports and then provide this draft to the project manager for final updates. It is also possible that team members will update the status of their assigned activities and the project manager will perform final analysis after those updates. Who can read? Usually the schedule is not considered confidentia...