Project Management: A Critical Skill for Organizations

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Project Management A Critical Skill for
Organizations

• Presented by Hetty Baiz
• Project Office
• Princeton University

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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.

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Whats 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

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What is Project Success?
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Why Do Projects Fail?

• Changing scope
• Insufficient planning
• No risk or issues management
• Poor communication
• Lack of commitment and responsibility by
  stakeholders

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Who Are Stakeholders?
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Project Management
A Maturity Model
best practice
best practice
competent
Success rate better
than 75
aware
aware
aware
e
Success rate of 45
to 75
seat
seat
of the
of
pants
pants
Success rate of 30
to 45
Success rate less
than 30
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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

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Why Should We Care?

• To Increase the likelihood that projects will
• be done on time and within budget
• meet peoples expectations
• be done well

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What Is Princeton Doing?

• Established a project management organization
• monitor, assess, manage, support
• Developed and supports a Princeton project
  management methodology

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

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How?

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

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











Post Project Review Report
Initiation Plan
Detail Plan
Status Report
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Management Techniques

• To increase the likelihood of project success you
  must manage
• Stakeholders
• Risks
• Issues
• Change

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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

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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

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Risk Management

• What is risk?

• Any factor capable of causing the project to go
  off track.

Develop, monitor, implement Risk Plan
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Issues Management

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

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Change Management

• Uncontrolled changes to a project will probably
  account for up to 30 of a projects 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

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PPMM Summary Overview
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PPMM Summary Overview
Initiation Plan
Status Report
Post project review report
Detail Plan
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PPMM Tools

• Office 2000
• Word
• Excel
• MS Project 2000

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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

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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

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Recommended Best Practices

• Scheduling, Tracking and Control
• Break large projects into phases
• (no gt 18 - 24 months total)
• Control phase bleed over
• Post phase assessments
• Go/No Go decision points
• Sponsor sign-off
• Review Scope periodically

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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
• Whats important
• Prioritize
• Who, what, when

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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

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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

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Recommended Best Practices

• Managing Expectations
• Communication Plan
• Make major policy decisions up front
• Dont 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

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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

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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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For more information...

• Call the Princeton Project Office at (609)
  258-6335
• Send e-mail to hetty_at_princeton.edu
• Visit our web site at
• www.princeton.edu/ppo