East of England In-House Programme Workshop 1/2 Project Management East of England In-House Programme Workshop 1/2 Triangle of PM – Scope, budget, time – and communications

Aims of Session 1/2 To introduce you to the basics of project management To provide you with generic information and knowledge. To enable staff to be able to practically apply the knowledge in their day-to-day roles To de-mystify project management, and make it accessible. 66% of requests to the scoping asked for generic PM skills/understanding

1. What is a project? What do you think? Definition drawn from latin – and essentially means “to plan” or “to cause to move forward”. In PM terms, “project” = a planned piece of work with a specific purpose and a time limit. Often also has a budget. Before definition revealed – ask group what they think a project is – and some examples from their day-to-day work. Stress that projects do not need to be big scale or work related. Eg =- planning an event or a meeting; preparing agendas or the bundle; creating a communication to stakeholders; briefing a Director on a topic; undertaking a written report; presenting to colleagues/stakeholders; through to running a campaign (eg flu); or major incident (flooding).

WHY? The Essentials No. 1 The Purpose What is the need? What are the objectives? What do you hope to achieve? What is the benefit? To whom? WHY?

WHAT and HOW? The Essentials No. 2 The Plan Keep it simple Brainstorm the various tasks/jobs that need to take place – and then start putting them in the right order. Work backwards from the aim – identify what needs to be in place at each stage from the end forwards. How do they link together? Stick to your scope (what’s in the agreed plan, and what is not in the plan – and therefore is not expected to be delivered). Example of scope – Millennium Dome/O2 arena – a successfully delivered project (time, budget, exhibitions etc) – but a failure as a millennium event – because not enough people visited. Footfall was not in the scope/planning – and therefore there was a huge loss of money/credibility/lost resource. Lesson – make sure you cover all angles and plan for eventualities and dependancies.

Planning Task The project = prepare and serve a cooked breakfast What is the need? – I’m hungry What are the objectives? – to prepare 5 separate ingredients, to arrive properly cooked and at the same time to be ready in 20 mins. What do you hope to achieve? – a good start to the day What is the benefit? – I won’t snack on sweets – as it will satisfy my appetite until lunchtime To whom? – me! Plan for this project Identify tasks Put them in order Understand the links Draw your plan to share with the other members of the workshop 10 mins. Post its Flip chart sheets Paper www.prawny.me.uk. License free

WHEN? Essentials No.3 Time Be realistic There will be “slippage” (your timetable will move!) – build it in Communicate early if there is slippage Who are you relying on to deliver? – will their work affect timings? Link to plan WHEN?

Essentials No. 4 Budget Do you have one? Do you need one? Is it realistic for what you need to achieve? If not – do you need to amend your objectives? Build in contingencies Communicate with the budget holder Link to the plan Keep records of everything www.stock-free.org. License free.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF P.M. Essentials No. 5 Communication THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF P.M. With your manager With the budget holder With your project team (if you have/need one) Delegate Must be regular and timely Two way Forms and formats of communication? What are you communicating? Ask group to consider what sort of communication is needed/recommended: Initial project plan (briefs, PIDS, business care etc to be covered in next session) Milestones (gantt chart/spreadsheet) Risks/issues Progress report/action log Budget/costs/expenditure Closing report.

Review and Task for Next Week Review aims Reflect on information covered The Task: Identify a piece of work that you will be undertaking this week, that you can apply PM techniques to. Identify the purpose and the “why” Identify the tasks and draw up a simple project plan (less than 1 side of A4) that works for you - the “what” and “how”. Provide a one minute briefing to the group at the next session! Any Questions? Can be done as an individual or in groups.