1. Project Management NC STATE UNIVERSITY Julie Earp BUS/CSC 516 Fall 2003

2. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU Why is Project Management important? q “When things are going well, something will go wrong. When things just can’t get worse, they will. When things appear to be going better, you have overlooked something.”

3. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU Ten major causes of project failure [ Danek Bienkowski] q The project is a solution in search of a problem q Only the project team is interested in the end result q No one is in charge q The project plan lacks structure q The project plan lacks detail q The project is underbudgeted q Insufficient resources are allocated q The project is not tackled against its plan q The project team is not communicating q The project strays from its original goals

4. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU What is project management? q The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a project. [PMI, Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 2000] q Planning, Controlling and Reporting

5. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU Management of People q Planning –Establishment of clear and precise objectives in order to reach a final, stated goal. q Organizing –Assembly of the necessary resources for carrying out the work defined in the plan. q Controlling –Definition and creation of a reporting structure at specified points through the project life cycle. q Change –Project manager will need to institute the change when a situation is discovered that requires change.

6. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU Effective Project Management q Do we have the resources for the task? q Are we certain the task is stated correctly? q How can we use limited resources most effectively? q How does recent progress affect the plan? q What lessons can be learnt for future tasks? q Are we on schedule? q How do we communicate our plan?

7. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU Roles of a Project Manager q Planner q Organizer q Staffer q Evaluator q Director q Leader

8. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU Project Manager q Serves as the prime contact for all project stakeholders q Representative to upper management q Reports status q Maintain a calm, productive, positive work environment for the team q Schedules and assigns tasks q Carries out policy q Negotiates project issues q Coordinates efforts across functional areas q Integrates planning and controls costs

9. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU Success vs. Failure q Success is not noticeable –Little evidence the manager did anything –Project looks simple in hindsight q Failure is very obvious –The manager will get blamed when things go wrong

10. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU Project Planning Tools q GANTT Charts q PERT/CPM q Dependency Diagrams

11. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU Meetings q Meetings are expensive q Meetings are necessary q What contributes to a meeting being a waste of time?

12. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU Meetings: How to do them q Announce details in advance q Written agenda, distributed in advance q Identify someone (PM in this class) to: –Keep the discussion on track –Resolve arguments q Identify someone (PM in this class) to: –Keep track of decisions that are made –Record action items –Ensure action items are carried out q Every action item should identify the responsible individual

13. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU Why bother with documentation? q Need to ensure communication, accountability, and traceability

14. © 2003 J.B. Earp, NCSU eProject Express q http://www.eproject.com http://www.eproject.com q Requires email address and password. No downloads. FREE! q What does eProject provide: –Home –Messages –Shared Project Calendar –Document Management –Task Management –Contact Management