Managing projects at speed

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Managing projects at speed

• Jonathan Kettleborough
• Corollis
• www.corollis.com

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Agenda

• project lifecycle
• starting out
• issues with projects
• the project balancing act
• managing the project
• simple controls
• working with clients
• conclusions

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Todays process
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• Technology presumes theres just one way to
  do things and there never is
• Robert M Pursig
• Novelist and philosopher

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what makes a great project?
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what makes a nightmare project?
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what makes the difference?
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what do you need to know when undertaking
projects?
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With projects we need to know. . .

• what are we doing
• when are we doing it by
• who are we doing it for
• Where are the resources coming from
• whos doing what
• whats been done, whats got to be done
• what dont we know
• what are the risks
• how do we know weve got it right
• and the list goes on. . . . . . . . .

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The project lifecycle
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what do you think that clients actually want?
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The balancing act
Desire
Reality
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Projects

• there is always a balance between desire and
  reality
• managing at speed means making compromises
• compromise doesnt mean cutting corners
• good management can, and often does make the
  difference
• development tools have lowered the barriers to
  market entry e.g. Dreamweaver, FrontPage, Flash,
  Access etc., etc.
• technical experts are not necessarily project
  experts or client relationship experts. . . . . A
  good violinist is not a conductor!!!

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Issues with projects

• many players, many promises, few deliverables
• politics can kill projects e.g. UKeU, NHSU, Ufi
  etc.
• processes and approaches are critical
• strong management is essential
• e-tools dont always lead to faster development
• clear, achievable goals
• understood approaches
• R U M B A D

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what do your clients demand?
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Clients demand . . .
more features for less money in less
time with less input
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are their demands fair?
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Old thinking
features
fixed
variable
time
resources
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New thinking
resources
time
fixed
variable
features
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The transition
resources
time
features
fixed
variable
time
features
resources
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how do you balance client needs?
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Project equilibrium
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which of the key elements is the king?
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how do you get more out of your projects?
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the key is processes
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Project equilibrium
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Simple controls

• project initiation/approach
• specification no matter how brief
• risk log
• issues log
• action decision log
• sign offs

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Working with clients

• really understand their needs, and then check
  again
• be strong, be clear
• document all key issues
• compromise dont constrain
• dont promise the world and then fail to deliver

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Conclusions

• projects differ little from one another
• strong management and project control is
  essential
• maintain clear and constant client liaison
• clear, achievable goals
• understood approaches
• R U M B A D

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Any questions?

• Before you go
• this session will have hopefully answered some of
  your questions and no doubt raised others.
• with this in mind, what else would you like to
  know?

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Contacts

• I can be contacted via the following
• w www.corollis.com
• e jonathan_at_corollis.com
• t 01606 892011
• m 07812 163004