The 20 minute course in project management... .pdf

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Fastlane

The 20 minute course in... projectmanagement

If your project plan is still on the back of an envelope and your minutes from the

last meeting are illegible, it’s time for a fresh start, whether that involves Excelspreadsheets or just a filing cabinet

Picture © Bob London

Project management is defined as “the process of planning, organising, staffing,

directing and controlling the production of a system”. Sounds simple enough, but

getting it right involves dedication, stamina and foresight. While others will step in

and out of a project when their skill is required, the project manager is there for

the duration, keeping an eye on both the big picture and the finer detail.

In the case of marketing, the project generally equates to a campaign, product

launch or event – in other words, the lifeblood of the sector. And yet project

management still isn’t traditionally seen as a marketer’s role. You’ll regularly see

project management listed on business training courses, but many marketers are

thrown into project management at the deep end.

Getting started

Marcell Redpath, account director at brand agency Dragon, believes every

project should start with a “kick-off meeting” – a discussion between all theparties involved in the project to set the parameters for what is to be achieved.

“It is imperative to ensure mutual understanding and clarity between everyone

right at the start,” he says. “A successfully managed kick-off meeting will help

safeguard against future problems.”

Ideally, the agenda should focus on three main areas: the brief, roles and

responsibilities and admin. “The brief refers to anticipated deliverables,

outcomes, level of innovation required and measures of success – including what

success looks like,” he explains. “Try to get to the heart of what matters most

for the brand, the project itself, the business and the personalities involved.”

As for roles and responsibilities, Redpath suggests establishing a day-to-daycore team, outlining their duties, as well as identifying the decision makers and

when they’ll be involved. Compile the team according to people’s strengths,

styles, personalities and their own preferences, he adds.

Finally, in terms of administration, Redpath advises agreeing budgets, setting

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Dos and don’ts

Do remember that the

planning of any project

can always be reduced

to three factors: budget,

timeline and the scope of

the work. Ideally you’d

like to meet targets you

set for all three, but in

reality this isn’t always

possible, so decide

which one of the three is

the biggest priority and

allow for flexibility on the

remaining two.

Do ensure your team

always has its eye on

the prize. The overall

purpose and strategy is

far more important as a

motivator than detailedfunctionality.

Do remember the five

roles of any good project

manager: leader,

organiser,

communicator, chaser

and co-ordinator.

Don't accept a working

environment where

failure is seen as aneveryday, accepted

occurrence. If you find

yourself in that situation,

focus on making failure

20 minute course in... project management - The Marketer magazine http://www.themarketer.co.uk/articles/professional-development/fast-la...

4 15/7/2009 1:37 µµ



timings and formalising the terms of engagement. “At an early stage, try to

ensure against unwanted surprises, such as an increase in spending. Forward

planning and transparency can help secure a great working relationship.”

Document all agreements – notably the brief, financials, timings, status and

responsibilities, he adds. “People interpret requirements differently, so

documenting it encourages clarity. The document will act as a point of reference

for the whole team.”

Assess potential risks

Risk management is keeping an eye on the stuff that could destroy the project.

“Project management textbooks often over ‑complicate this, which I think is why it

is often done poorly,” says Greg Doone, a Project Management Institute

accredited professional and managing director of London-based creative agency

Collective. “In my experience, risk management only works well where there is a

simple, honest conversation once a fortnight between the project manager and

the project sponsor – the most senior person responsible for the outcome.”

One of Doone’s favourite tips for project managers is to avoid confusing e-mail

with communication. “Any number of detailed risk registers or e-mails cannot

compensate for a genuine, serious conversation about potentially critical issuesidentified by the project manager,” he says.

Keep these conversations short and focused on the main risks, he advises, and

make sure you have an agreed approach for dealing with them. “I have worked

on many projects for high-profile brands where the risk list has been over 200

items long. It is always ignored. The shorter the list, the more effective it is.”

Elly Sample, director of marketing and communication at Oxford Brookes

University, believes no project manager can afford to avoid contingency plans.

“In marketing, you’re at the vanguard of the organisation. The variables are

infinite in terms of things that can go wrong. So you do have to be prepared and

ready for the worst.”

She provides an example. “We organised an event in Shanghai last week.

Everything was booked – the speaker, the food, the technology and the clients –

but when it came to the day, the hotel said they knew nothing about us. Another

example is when I was recently supposed to deliver nine marketing activities in

Mumbai but because of the terrorist attacks, I had to find alternative ways to

deliver my messages.”

If the project does encounter a failure that is a result of poor project

management, always put your hands up and say sorry, says Sample. “It’s an

opportunity to show how much you care about the fact that you’ve made a

mistake. Use it as an opportunity to pull the phoenix out of the flames.”

Software

While software is essential, don’t fall into the trap of over-complicating things

with a level of IT sophistication beyond your needs. “There is a plethora of

dedicated software for project management on the market, but Microsoft Project

tends to be the most popular option among marketers,” says Richard Mayer,

Institute trainer and senior lecturer at the University of Derby. “But some people

have complained that ‘you can get to the moon with it and I’m only organising a

conference’. They find it too complex for a simple project, but others value its

flexibility and avoid the features they don’t need. They key is trial and error and

finding out what works best for you personally.”

For those who find themselves drawn to the emergence of the super-smartsoftware options that have grown rapidly over the last several years, or who like

the idea of bespoke programmes, Ranjit Matharu, head of marketing

communications at media intelligence company Cision, has some words of

caution: “While accepting that the computer can categorise, organise and

unacceptable.

Don't let the urgent get

in the way of the

important.

Don't forget to schedule

Christmas and summer

holidays, when things

may slow down or stopaltogether, into your

project plan.

Tips from the top

Lea Raudsepp is a

training consultant who

tutors marketers in

project management.

She is also founder of

Fibre Training, which

specialises in

communication skills A written brief is a vital

project tool so be

prepared to compile one.

Without it your project is

open to

misunderstanding and

Chinese whispers.

Marketing is full of

subjective language. If

your stakeholder wants a

campaign that is

“exciting” or an exhibitionstand that is “dazzling”,

find out what those

words mean to them.


4 15/7/2009 1:37 µµ



compare against preset instructions faster than the human, the machine cannot

think and adapt. You need to plan for such fallibility or ensure that marketing and

monitoring software retains a human editorial touch,” he says.

Meanwhile, Elly Sample warns: “Don’t get tied into the detail so much that the

completion of the plan somehow becomes more important than delivering the

outcome of the project. In other words, don’t get so caught up in the software

that it stops you achieving what you want.”

Peter Green, Institute trainer and specialist in project management, agrees. Heis a big fan of Excel spreadsheets, even for complex projects. “If you can see

things at a glance, you’re much less likely to get bamboozled.”

Managing teams

“Gaining the continued support of the different team heads is vital in any project,”

says Steve Davis, president of GSI Commerce Europe. “One of the best ways

to achieve this is to set up a steering committee, involving the team heads, which

meets infrequently but is updated regularly. This will ensure there is a clear,

uncrowded and scheduled place for each team to be represented.”

Depending on time constraints, it can also be useful to arrange a shared projectroom for the team, he adds. “Even if all the teams are only together for one day

a week, it can make a considerable difference to momentum. The most

important consideration is to ensure your team feels a sense of community within

the project.”

Gill Kelley, a learning and development specialist and Institute trainer, says

another way to achieve this sense of community is by focusing on team building

very early on. “Research has shown that making the experience as human as

possible counts for a lot. Think about things like Justmeet.com, which puts you in

a conference room as opposed to just a conference call. So often project

leaders are selected because they’re good at meeting goals, and the human

aspect gets neglected. Ensure that doesn’t happen.”

Meetings schmeetings

At the core of any project failure is lack of communication, says Greg Doone,

but, he warns, “a crap meeting is a waste of time, while a good one is

invaluable”.

“When I was 21 my first job was as trainee project manager for a big electronics

firm. It was a lovely place to work and everyone was very nice to each other.

But . . . meetings . . . took . . . forever . . .”

As the “young keen buck”, Doone decided to remove all the chairs from the

meeting room for an intranet project he was running. “It was easily the mosteffective meeting on the project. The next week no-one turned up and the next

the chairs were back, but everyone had got the point. Our goal was not just to

be there for an hour, we were there to get something done. To run a good

meeting you need to take the responsibility of actually running it,” says Doone.

Have an agenda, he suggests, intervene to stop people rambling (it’s your

project) and learn when to park stuff people can’t agree on.

William Buist, managing director of team performance and collaboration

consultancy Abelard Management Services, believes the acronym POST can

come in useful when planning meetings.

“The P is for purpose. Setting the purpose of the meeting allows those who are

invited to see immediately how it is relevant to them. During the meeting you can

keep checking that the discussion is ‘on topic’. The O is for output. Defining what

the meeting will produce is key. Many meetings go on beyond their usefulness

To achieve a deadline

you need a timing plan.

By all means use popular

tools such as Gantt

charts, but the main thing

is simply to remember

that you need a list of

dates with corresponding

actions to achieve a

deadline.

Most problems can be

avoided with contingency

planning. Brainstorm

what can go wrong and

have a strategy ready to

prevent the problem or

to deal with it if it does.

If you need participation

from other departments

make sure theyunderstand WIIFM –

“What’s in it for me?”

Sell them the benefits of

participating.

Don’t let the virtual world

screen out the human

touch. E-mail is all very

well, but we work best

with others when there is

a human side to our

relationships.


4 15/7/2009 1:37 µµ



because no end point has been defined. If it’s a decision, you can start the

meeting by asking if people are already decided and, if not, asking what else

they need in order to decide.”

S is for structure. “Defining a structure means you can identify who you need at

the meeting and helps keep things focused because you’ve thought things

through in advance.” Finally, T is for timing. “Defining the timing means people

can join when their contribution is required and leave when they’re no longer

needed, which keeps numbers down.”

Are you ready to plan a project?

Your organisation is launching a new product, so you:

(a) Are quite happy to be given a brief playing to your individual strengths.

(b) Have a natural urge to help organise and co-ordinate, but you take a

backseat for fear of treading on toes.

(c) Are 100 per cent sure you can lead the project, so you work on

demonstrating your key project management skills.

Your organisation decides to launch a bespoke piece of project

management software. You:

(a) Do what you’re told. If it keeps the bosses happy, you use it.

(b) See it for what it is – an over-complicated piece of IT that’s slowing everyone

down, but it’s not for you to say so.

(c) Take a stand. Good project management doesn’t need advanced software

and so you suggest a better option.

You have spotted that a project may be falling off the rails, so you:

(a) Recognise that it’s not your problem, so you just get on with your individual

job.

(b) Think about raising it as a risk, but you don’t want to look silly if you’re

wrong.

(c) Flag up the potential problem immediately and find ways to address it if your

gut feeling is right.

Mostly (a)s: Sorry, but you don’t have the makings of a project manager. You

might be a good marketer, but you’re a sheep when it comes to management.

Mostly (b)s: You have the potential, but stop being so soft. If you’re going to

take on a project management role, you’ll need to be far more assertive and a

much better communicator.

Mostly (c)s: Get managing. Your bosses would be mad not to give you a

leading role.

Kate Hilpern is a freelance journalist for titles including Coaching at Work


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The 20 minute course in project management... .pdf