2005 TUG

Project Management @ New York State Department Of Transportation

SiteManager PM Team:

Mike Arthur, NYSDOT

Russ Barron, InfoTech

Cheryl Falcone, NYSDOT

2005 Trns•Port User Group Conference

November 9, 2005

Daytona Beach, Florida

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Agenda

Project Management (PM) methodology background How is the SiteManager project different? The project team PM lifecycle phases Key documents/processes Key concepts Managing communication Managing issues & risks Managing the team Managing the schedule

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Background

2001 NYS Office for Technology developed the NYS

Project Management Methodology and Guidebook

2002 NYSDOT Office of Information Services (OIS)

established the Project Management Office (PMO)

By 2005 approximately 25 projects are using or

have used the NYSDOT OIS PM Methodology

NYSDOT OIS PM Methodology is scaleable to

various project sizes and types

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How is the NY SiteManager Project Different?

Replacing very functional applications – proceed with caution!

Construction and Materials simultaneously

Two agencies – NYSDOT & NYSTA

Then add LIMS

Scope

QualityC

ost Tim

e

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Typical NYSDOT Project Organization

Project Sponsors

Business Project Manager IT Project Manager Vendor Project Manager

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Add Construction and Materials Project Leads

Project Sponsors

Business Project Manager IT Project Manager Vendor Project Manager

Construction Lead Materials Lead

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Add New York State Thruway Authority

Project Sponsors (NYSDOT and NYSTA)

NYSDOT Business PM NYSDOT IT PM Vendor PM

NYSDOT Construction Lead

NYSDOT Materials Lead

NYSTA Business PM NYSTA IT PM

NYSTA Construction Lead

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“Joint Implementation”

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Add Teams

Project Sponsors (NYSDOT and NYSTA)

NYSDOT Business PM NYSDOT IT PM Vendor PM

NYSDOT Construction Lead

NYSDOT Materials Lead

NYSTA Business PM NYSTA IT PM

NYSTA Construction Lead

ConstructionLead Team

Materials Regional Team

Materials Lab Team

NYSDOT IT Team NYSTA IT Team Vendor Team

LIMS Team

Accounting Team

Environmental Team

Design Team

DWR Team

Estimate Team

Change Order Team

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The “Big 70”

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The Project ManagementLifecycle Phases

Project Initiation– Getting Started (assigning the PM)– Developing the Project Charter– Holding the Project Kickoff Meeting

Project Planning– Begin status and PM planning meetings and communicating– Developing the Project Plan– Developing the Project Schedule

Project Execution & Control (Implementation)– Managing the project processes– Providing the project deliverables

Project Closeout– Team, Administrative Closeout– Lessons Learned

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The Key Documents / Processes

Project Charter– It’s acceptance defines the formal project “start”– It provides a high level project definition of goals and

critical success factors– It establishes the initial project resource requirements &

commitments– 11 page document

Background Objectives Critical Success Factors Constraints Project Authority

NY SM Charter

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The Key Documents / Processes

Project Plan

– It completely details the project’s scope, approach, processes, roles and responsibilities, assumptions, budget and schedule

– 76 page document referencing two preliminary analysis documents which totals 444 pages!

NY SM Proj Plan

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The Key Documents / Processes

Project Schedule– It details the project’s activities to the task / resource

assignment level, and provides a continuous and current perspective with respect to project cost, schedule and effort, both actual to date and forecast, as well as variance to baseline (original + accepted changes)

– Includes Info Tech, NYSDOT, and NYSTA tasks– Maintained in Info Tech’s PlanView system– Exported to MS Project for NYSDOT & NYSTA

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The Key Documents / Processes

The Project Management Process … which consists of defining, implementing and managing the following:

– Acceptance Process– Issue Resolution Process– Issue Escalation Process– Scope Management Process– Risk Management Process– Communication Process– Schedule Management Process– Quality Process– Team & Vendor Management Process– Financial Reconciliation Process– Change Management Process

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The Key Documents / Processes

Key Forms and Templates– Project Charter Template– Project Plan Template– Weekly Project Status Report Template– Monthly Project Status Report Template– Meeting Agenda and Minutes Form– Approval Request Form– Change Request Form– Risk Assessment Spreadsheet

Other– Project “Notebook” on network share drive– Project “Spotlight” – OIS “Short Form” rollup report (for CIO)

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More Key Concepts for Project Management

Project Management is a shared responsibility– The IT Project Manager, Program Area Project Manager, and

Vendor Project Manager are a Project Management Team Project Management means taking proactive ownership of all

aspects of the project– Consider the issues are yours, risks are yours, delays are yours, etc

… but an on-time, on-budget delivery is the teams (and yours, too)! Project Management is not just about the forms and reports and

templates and project schedule (although it may seem so at times)– These are merely tools to help define, manage and communicate

various aspects of the project

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Project Execution and ControlManaging CommunicationThe Communication Plan

The Project Plan includes a Communication Plan Section The Communication Plan Section identifies all communication

events for the project, in terms of:– What the event is (weekly meeting)– Who is responsible to initiate it (PM)– Who is involved in it (Team)– Who is a recipient of it (meeting minutes … )

Typical events might include:– Weekly Team Meeting– Weekly Status Meeting– Weekly Status Report– Monthly Risk review meeting– Monthly Status Report (Short and Long Forms)– Quarterly Executive Sponsor Meeting

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Project Execution and ControlManaging CommunicationThe Weekly Project Status Meeting

What it is …– A forum to confirm and communicate project status– A forum to ensure progress in being made– A forum to make sure issues are being addressed– A forum to consider project risks– A forum to be facilitated (& controlled) by the PM

What it should not be …– A forum to resolve issues– A forum to surprise or embarrass participants– A forum to force difficult / political discussions– A forum for a team member (including the PM) to vent

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Project Execution and ControlManaging CommunicationWeekly Project Status Meeting

Suggestions for effective meetings– Start on time, end on time– Invite representatives, not the entire team– Follow the meeting agenda … do NOT jump to the issues first!– Publish meeting minutes to the entire project team afterwards – Make sure minutes are accurate– Don’t get bogged down in minutia or in trying to resolve issues– Make sure every issue / action item has an owner, expected

action, and due date– In general, it is bad form to assign owners or action items to

people not present at the meeting – do so with caution, and with someone at the meeting taking ownership in the “delegation”

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Project Execution and ControlManaging CommunicationOther Status Reporting

Short form (IT Director’s report)– Due COB the 5th business day of the month– Update key date / staffing information – Summarizes monthly status summary on Schedule and

Budget; and key (top 3 or 4) Issues, actions, and/or risks

Project Console (Dashboard)– Reports CPI and SPI weekly & Monthly– Reports qualitative data (cost, scope, quality, risk, staffing,

customer satisfaction) as red/yellow/green indicators “periodically” (as changed)

– Must be updated by COB the 3rd business day of the month

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Project Execution and Control Managing Issues

Definition of an Issue …– Something not planned, that IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW that is

having a NEGATIVE impact on some aspect of your project– If it isn’t happening yet, it is not an issue … it is a risk

Issue Process1. Anyone involved in the project can (and should) raise an issue to

the PM2. PM should thank the person for bringing the issue to his/her

attention

3. PM should look to team members for input / resolution to the issue4. PM should log / track the issue to closure5. PM should escalate the issue if not able to gain closure in a

reasonable time 6. Close the issue ONLY when the originator agrees that the issue is

resolved

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We Have Issues!

Currently tracking 284 issues!– 261 Analysis issues

86 High Priority/Urgency 130 Medium Priority/Urgency 45 Low Priority/Urgency

– 23 Project issues 17 High Priority/Urgency 3 Medium Priority/Urgency 3 Low Priority/Urgency

Reviewed Monthly

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Project Execution and Control Managing Risks

Definition of a Risk …– Something that COULD happen sometime in the FUTURE

that has a NEGATIVE impact on some aspect of your project– If it is happening now it is not a risk – it is an ISSUE

Risk Process1. Initial project risks should have been identified in the Project

Plan2. PM should facilitate a risk review session MONTHLY3. Risk log should be maintained 4. Strategies should be developed in dealing with the various

risk elements5. Current risk information is reported monthly as part of the

project status report

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We have Risks!

Currently tracking 93 risks!– 21 High Probability / High Impact– 6 Medium Probability / High Impact– 15 High Probability / Medium Impact

Mitigation Plans for above categories Monitor remainder Reviewed Monthly

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Project Execution and ControlManaging the Team

Get the “right” team – and use the team you have “rightly”

– What skills and competencies does your project need?– Which skills and competencies does your team have?– What’s missing?– How will you get it?– What is the impact if you don’t get it?– How will you negotiate for it?– Who should be assigned to which tasks?– How do you balance the load?– Should you re-assign work or mentor a team-member?

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Project Execution and ControlManaging the Team

Foster a Team Environment– Establish the project’s goals, get the team to buy into them– Empower team members, encourage the team– Get the facts and recognize and reward openly, course-

correct privately Enforce Accountability

– As a PM, be accountable to the team– Support the team in their needs– Hold the team accountable with assignments & deadlines– Include them in the decision making activities which impact

them whenever possible

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Project Execution and ControlManaging the Project Schedule

The starting point is the baseline schedule that was accepted as part of the Project Plan.

Any and all changes to the Project Schedule baseline must be done only as a result of an accepted Change Request

The entire Project Team needs to be continuously aware of the overall project schedule, the various tasks assigned to them by the PM, and the criticality of those tasks

Each team member needs to validate the assumptions for the tasks assigned to them (e.g., their ability to perform, dependencies, effort estimates, duration estimates) and communicate back to the PM if there are issues with those assumptions – BEFORE they begin the tasks

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