1. Best Practices in Project Management Ben Sady, Principal Kelly Dao, Senior Consultant

2. Meet your facilitators
Leader of DHG Risk Advisory Services in Richmond
Experienced in internal audit, IT audit, SOX, project consulting, process improvement and cybersecurity
Has led approximately 20 pre- and post-implementation assessments
Has led requirements gathering projects
Ben
Ben Sady, CIA, CISA, PMP
Principal
Risk Advisory Services
Richmond, VA

3. Meet your facilitators
More than seven years of financial industry experience
Clients range from mortgage providers to insurance and energy companies
Knowledgeable throughout project management, root cause analysis and process improvements
Kelly
Kelly Dao
Senior Risk Consultant
Risk Advisory Services
Richmond, VA

4. Presentation Overview
Ben

5. Why does project management matter?
DHG:
The Project Management Institute is recognized as an industry leader worldwide
Helps organizations complete projects on time, on budget and within the original scope
Uses consistent, standardized processes
Has more than 750,000 certified project managers
Ben
Source: Project Management Institute

6. The DHG experience Case study overview
DHG reviewed a company’s Project Management Office to uncover problems and deliver solutions
Client’s deadlines regularly were missed and projects consistently were over budget
This presentation highlights DHG’s observations and recommendations based on the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK)
Kelly

7. Project management basics
What constitutes a project?
Defined as a temporary endeavor to create a unique product or service, projects:
Deliver products or services based upon an agreed set of expectations relating to scope, cost and timeline
Includes a start and end date
Help standardize processes
Have 5 stages
Kelly
Developing a new product
Merging 2 businesses
Obtaining and implementing new software
Source: Project Management Institute

8. The 5 stages of project management
Initiate
Plan
Execute
Control & Monitor
Close
Kelly
Source: Project Management Institute

9. Projects start with a business need
Initiate
Projects should:
Tie back to organization’s strategy and mission
Facilitates value creation
To initiate a project, it should ideally fit into one of the below criteria:
Meet regulatory or legal requirements
Satisfy stakeholder requests and needs
Implement or change business or technological strategies
Create, improve, fix products, processes or services
Plan
Execute
Control & Monitor
Kelly
Close
Source: Project Management Institute

10. The business case Kelly
Importance of the business case to not only get the ball rolling, but to establish funding, resources, and scheduling needs of the project

11. Develop your project charter
Initiate
Plan
Execute
Control & Monitor
Close
Obtain formal authorization to begin the project (required)
Define success/completion criteria
Identify constraints and assumptions
Key milestones
Budget
Loop in stakeholders early
Stakeholders = anyone with vested in the project
Seek project approval from sponsors and key stakeholders
Kelly
Source: Project Management Institute

12. The project charter
Kelly

13. Project management plan
Initiate
Plan
Execute
Control & Monitor
Close
Proper project management can prevent “scope creep.”
Be sure to:
Involve stakeholders early and consistently
Engage all appropriate parties
Stick to the scope!
Kelly

14. Project management plan
Initiate
Plan
Execute
Control & Monitor
Close
Requirements Management
Create checklist to help ensure project scope is met
Validate during testing process
Work Breakdown Structure
Work packages
Sub projects
Kelly
Source: Project Management Institute

15. Project Management Plan
Initiate
Plan
Execute
Control & Monitor
Close
Develop a Communication Plan
Correlation between communication and project success
Be transparent
Deliver a one-page template so stakeholders know what to expect and can get through it easily
Kelly

16. Project management plan
Initiate
Develop a Robust Risk Management Plan
Create a Reliable Change Management Plan
Process changes may require different tiers of review and approval based on how they impact project timeline, costs and scope
Plan
Execute
Control & Monitor
Kelly
Close

17. Execute
Initiate
Plan
Execute
Control & Monitor
Close
Kelly

18. Execute
Initiate
Plan
Execute
Control & Monitor
Close
Kelly

19. Control and monitor Initiate Plan Execute Control & Monitor Close
The development of cost and schedule forecasts are crucial to successful project completion and scope management. They help ensure project plan changes are well-documented.
Where possible, track estimated versus actual values for:
Financial Tracking Plan
Project Schedule
Ben

20. Control and monitor
Initiate
Plan
Execute
Control & Monitor
Close
Ben

21. Close Initiate Plan Execute Control & Monitor Close
Ensure all closure reports have documented stakeholder approval
Verify documentation confirms project requirements have been met
When applicable, provide updated and finalized documentation, including contracts, requirements testing results, cost forecasts, schedules, risk registers and change logs
Host a “Lessons Learned” meeting
Ben

22. No such thing as ‘best practices’
Process recap
Initiate
Plan
Execute
Control & Monitor
Close
A business case study justifies how the project relates to the organization’s strategy and mission
Create the charter with key stakeholders
Build your project management plan and define your scope
Move through your planned process to help ensure changes go through the proper channels
Confirm criteria for success has been completed and approved
No such thing as ‘best practices’
Ben
No such thing as ‘best practices’ = “generally accepted practices”

23. Key recommendations
Perform necessary quality assurance checks and use proper performance metrics to ensure consistency throughout:
Phase Gate Reviews
Customer Surveys
Use a consistent process to prioritize and assess new projects that enter the project portfolio
Kelly
Source: Project Management Institute

24. Key recommendations
Kelly

25. Key recommendations Maintain consistent processes and documentation
Develop project management policies and procedures
Make sure stakeholders sign critical documents (i.e. charters and closure/acceptance document)
Store documentation in a central location
Kelly
Software tool to implement and standardize the process

26. Key recommendations
Have a Third Party Vendor Risk Management Program to review potential vendors
Do your research!
A TPRM team can help in assessing, measuring, managing, and controlling risks associated with third party vendors
Ensure contracts are reviewed by a legal and risk representative
Kelly

27. Internal Audit’s Role
Stay in the loop on the schedule of all planned major changes
Attend and participate in key meetings
Perform project audits for major changes to project scope, budget and schedule
Ben

28. Project audits Validate projects are completed based on requirements
Validate output/deliverable functions as designed
Validate project management documentation is available and completed throughout the project (i.e. initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing)
Validate appropriate approvals for authorizing documents
Control project costs and reduce the risk of going over budget
Audits can occur “in-progress” (multiple times) and “post-implementation”
Ben

29. Metrics to monitor Budget to actual variance
Number of defects or performance issues after cutover
Schedule / milestone variance
Number of change orders
Audit recommendations related to the implementation
Timeliness of user training
End user satisfaction rating
Timeliness of cutover to production
Return on Investment
Ben

30. Summary & Wrap Up
Ben

31. Summary Lack of project management controls can:
Cause projects to misalign with organizational goals
Result in deliverables that don’t meet project objectives because requirements gathering is not done properly
Lead to poor project management (planning, executing, monitoring), extend deadlines and increase costs
Minimize vendor oversight
Limit controls on who can make changes
Create teams that are not sufficiently trained
Ben

32. Q&A
Ben
The information in this presentation is based upon the internal revenue code and other relevant legal authority as of a specific point in time. These authorities are subject to change or modification retroactively and/or prospectively and such changes may affect the validity or correctness of this information. Additionally, the information contained within the presentation may be tailored to a specific audience and therefore may not be applicable to all taxpayers or all situations. This presentation does not constitute tax advice by DHG.