Project Management: A Critical Skill for Organizations Presented by Hetty Baiz Project Office Princeton University

Background Princeton replaces administrative systems  multiple projects  cross-functional  mutually Interdependent  multi-million dollar investment Success and failure is no longer within the total control of a given project.

What’s A Project? A “project”  Will deliver –Business and/or technical objectives  Is made up of – Defined processes & tasks  Will run for – Set period of time  Has a budget –Resources and $’s

What is Project Success? The 'Golden Triangle' of Objectives Time Cost Project Success Project success occurs when we have: I I I I A delighted client (expectations met) Delivered the agreed objectives Met an agreed budget - $, resources etc. Within an agreed time frame and I Done it all professionally & without killing the team

Why Do Projects Fail?  Changing scope  Insufficient planning  No risk or issues management  Poor communication  Lack of commitment and responsibility by stakeholders

Project Business Units Who Are Stakeholders? Outside Groups (Vendors) Team Members Information Technology Steering Committee Clients & UsersSenior Mgmt Interdependent Projects

Project Management A Maturity Model seat of the pants Success rate less than 30% aware e Success rate of 30 to 45% Success rate of 45 to 75% Success rate better than 75% best practice competent seat of pants awareaware

Competent  Methodology and standards are well established and supported  Stakeholders understand and accept roles  Discrete measures support good management  Projects are set up and managed end-to-end  Risks are clearly defined and controlled

Why Should We Care?  To Increase the likelihood that projects will : –be done on time and within budget –meet people’s expectations –be done well

What Is Princeton Doing?  Established a project management organization –monitor, assess, manage, support  Developed and supports a Princeton project management methodology

Princeton University IT Governance Model Provost Senior Advisory Group for IT Administrative Systems Planning Group Committee on Academic Technology Project Managers Team

Project Office Mission To enable the successful implementation of IT initiatives in a way that establishes a project management culture so that we deliver projects on time, within budget and with expected results.

How?  Define a Princeton Project Management Methodology (PPMM)  Support and Mentor  Offer Training  Facilitation, Audit, Review

Princeton Project Office Methodology Consulting/Mentoring Education/Training Continuous Improvement

Project Management Process Initiation Complete & Assess Tracking & Control Reporting Review Planning Initiation Plan Detail Plan Status Report Post Project Review Report Definition

Management Techniques To increase the likelihood of project success you must manage:  Stakeholders  Risks  Issues  Change

Manage Stakeholders A stakeholder is any person or group who, if their support were to be withdrawn, could cause the project to fail. - Get them involved - Keep them informed - Gain their endorsement

How to Manage Stakeholders  Identify stakeholders  Involve in planning  Establish expectations / accountabilities  Formal communication  Gain sign-off  Change and issues resolution  Project reviews  Define project completion

Risk Management What is “risk”?  Any factor capable of causing the project to go off track. Develop, monitor, implement Risk Plan

Issues Management  Unresolved issues will drive a project towards failure and consume a significant part of a project manager’s time.  Stakeholders play key role in issues management and resolution Establish Issues log, review, escalation process

Change Management  Uncontrolled changes to a project will probably account for up to 30% of a project’s total effort.  If these changes are not managed, the project will be viewed to be over time and over budget. Establish a Change Management Process

PPMM Summary Overview

Initiation Plan Status Report Post project review report Detail Plan

PPMM Tools  Office 2000 –Word –Excel  MS Project 2000

Recommended Best Practices Project Planning and Management  Follow proven methodologies  Active Executive/Project Sponsor  Identify / revisit “critical success” factors  Document assumptions –Business process change vs. customization

Recommended Best Practices Project Planning and Management  Have technical staff in place at start-up  Plan for backfill  Involve Steering Committee early  Plan production support in central offices  Plan for applying fixes  Plan for “end of project”  Plan for vacation time

Recommended Best Practices Scheduling, Tracking and Control  Break large projects into phases (no > months total)  Control phase “bleed over”  Post phase assessments  “Go/No Go” decision points  Sponsor sign-off  Review Scope periodically

Recommended Best Practices Scheduling, Tracking and Control  Building learning curve into plans  Weekly team meetings  Detail planning in 1-2 month segments  Define and manage to “critical path” –What’s important –Prioritize –Who, what, when

Recommended Best Practices Reporting  Establish monthly status reporting  Hold monthly status reviews with key stakeholders –Oral status reports are effective  Keep users of system (middle managers) informed

Recommended Best Practices Resourcing  Resource Plan  Cross functional teams work  Co-locate teams  Projects are full time job  Complete training before prototyping  Have full team train together  Leverage investment  Build team spirit

Recommended Best Practices Managing Expectations  Communication Plan  Make major policy decisions up front  Don’t make promises to users up front  Monthly status report and review  Monthly / bi-monthly presentations  Articles, web pages, newsletters  Special communications from sponsor  Focus groups, demos, town meetings

Recommended Best Practices Promoting the Project  Focus Groups during gap analysis  Demos for every user after first release  Executive Sponsor showed support  Town meetings to endorse system  Major presentation to users

Recommended Best Practices Methodology  Follow proven methodologies  Consolidate methodology ( pre-kick off )  Functional reps go to all prototyping  Use standard report formats  Co-locate developer with tester (short term)

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