Undertake project work (BSBPMG522)

Undertake project workBSBPMG522

Student Workbook

1st Edition

Student Workbook BSBPMG522 Undertake project work

1st Edition 2015

Part of a suite of support materials for the

BSB Business Services Training Package

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Published by: Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd Level 11 176 Wellington Pde East Melbourne, VIC 3002 Phone: +61 3 9815 7000 Fax: +61 3 9815 7001 Email: [email protected] www.ibsa.org.au

1st edition published: April 2015

1st edition version: 1

Release date: April 2015

ISBN: 978-1-925123-74-6

Stock code: BSBPMG5221D

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Table of Contents

Getting Started ....................................................................................................................1

Features of the training program .................................................................................1

Structure of the training program ................................................................................1

Recommended reading ................................................................................................2

Section 1 – Introduction to Project Management

1.1 – About Project Management ......................................................................................7

About projects ...............................................................................................................7

History of project management ................................................................................ 10

Section summary ....................................................................................................... 13

Further reading .......................................................................................................... 13

1.2 – Elements of Project Management ......................................................................... 14

What skills will you need? ......................................................................................... 14

Increased use of project management tools ........................................................... 15

Key terms and definitions ......................................................................................... 16

Project management principles ................................................................................ 17

Project management structures ............................................................................... 19

Project management systems .................................................................................. 21

Legislative and regulatory requirements .................................................................. 24

Project roles ............................................................................................................... 29

Project management descriptions and methodologies........................................... 30

Developing your skills ................................................................................................ 34

Common project problems ........................................................................................ 36

Section summary ....................................................................................................... 37

Further reading .......................................................................................................... 37

Section checklist ........................................................................................................ 38

Section 2 – Undertaking a Project

2.1 – Project Management Cycle .................................................................................... 41


The project management life cycle ........................................................................... 42

Software and support ................................................................................................ 44

Section summary ....................................................................................................... 47

Further reading .......................................................................................................... 47


2.2 – Initiating a Project .................................................................................................. 48


Purpose and aims ...................................................................................................... 49

Project deliverables ................................................................................................... 50

Goals and objectives ................................................................................................. 51

Project parameters .................................................................................................... 53

Selecting the team ..................................................................................................... 55

Identifying the stakeholders ...................................................................................... 56

Key documents and tools .......................................................................................... 58

Section summary ....................................................................................................... 59

Further reading .......................................................................................................... 59


2.3 – Planning a Project .................................................................................................. 60


Planning the project ................................................................................................... 61

Identify the tasks with a work breakdown structure................................................ 68

Building the team ....................................................................................................... 70

Assigning tasks .......................................................................................................... 71

Scheduling the work .................................................................................................. 72

Develop a budget ....................................................................................................... 76

Managing risk ............................................................................................................. 77

Develop a communication plan ................................................................................ 80

Consult with team members ..................................................................................... 82

Get training ................................................................................................................. 83

Obtain approval for project plan ............................................................................... 83

Section summary ....................................................................................................... 84

Further reading .......................................................................................................... 84


2.4 – Implementing a Project Plan ................................................................................. 85


Managing the project team ....................................................................................... 87

Stick to your plans ..................................................................................................... 88

Solving problems ....................................................................................................... 89

Monitoring team performance: Coach your team .................................................... 98

Section summary ..................................................................................................... 104

Further reading ........................................................................................................ 104

Section checklist ...................................................................................................... 104

2.5 – Monitoring a Project ............................................................................................. 105

What skills will you need? ....................................................................................... 105

Monitor plans and strategies .................................................................................. 106

General characteristics of KPIs ............................................................................... 108

Report on progress .................................................................................................. 111

Section summary ..................................................................................................... 112

Further reading ........................................................................................................ 112


2.6 – Closing a Project ................................................................................................... 113

What skills will you need? ....................................................................................... 114

Finalising a project – planning in advance ............................................................ 114

Finalise the project – general overview .................................................................. 115

Review with the client/sponsor............................................................................... 117

Section summary ..................................................................................................... 119

Further reading ........................................................................................................ 120


Glossary .......................................................................................................................... 121

Appendices ..................................................................................................................... 123

Appendix 1 – Max Lionel Realty simulated business ............................................ 123

Appendix 2 – Forms and templates ....................................................................... 126

Appendix 3 – Max Lionel Realty Privacy Policy ...................................................... 151

Appendix 4 – Project initiation document .............................................................. 154

Appendix 5 – Communications management plan ............................................... 168

Student Workbook Getting Started

Getting Started

Features of the training program

The key features of this program are:

● Student Workbook – self-paced learning activities to help you develop an understanding of key concepts and terms. The Student Workbook is broken down into several sections.

● Facilitator-led sessions – challenging and interesting learning activities that can be completed in the classroom or by distance learning that will help you to consolidate and apply what you have learned in the Student Workbook.

● Assessment Tasks – summative assessments where you can apply your new skills and knowledge to solve authentic workplace tasks and problems.

Structure of the training program

This training program introduces you to international marketing. Specifically, you will develop the skills and knowledge in the following topic areas:

● Section 1 – Introduction to project management:

○ 1.1 – About project management

○ 1.2 – Elements of project management

● Section 2 – Undertaking a project:

○ 2.1 – Project management cycle

○ 2.2 – Initiating a project

○ 2.3 – Planning a project

○ 2.4 – Implementing a project plan

○ 2.5 – Monitoring a project

○ 2.6 – Closing a project.

Your facilitator may choose to combine or split sessions. For example, in some cases, this training program may be delivered in two or three sessions, or in others, as many as eight sessions.

BSBPMG522 Undertake project work 1st edition version: 1 © 2015 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd Page 1 of 168

Getting Started Student Workbook

Recommended reading

Some recommended reading for this unit includes:

Print ● Great Britain Office of Government Commerce, 2009, Managing Successful

Projects with PRINCE2, Stationery Office Books, London.

● Project Management Institute, 2013, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 5th edn, Project Management Institute, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

● Standards Australia, 2002, AS 4915-2002 Project management – General conditions, SAI Global.

● Standards Australia, 2003, AS ISO 10006-2003 Quality management systems – Guidelines for quality management in projects, SAI Global.

● Standards Australia, 2009, AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 Risk management – Principles and guidelines, SAI Global.

Online ● Accounting Tools, 2014, ‘Functional organizational structure’, Accounting Tools,

viewed August 2014, <http://www.accountingtools.com/functional-org-structure>.

● Bond, C., 2009, ‘Realising project benefits: the Tasmanian Government approach’, Tasmanian Government, viewed August 2014, <http://www.egovernment.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/78314/ Realising_Project_Benefits_Tasmanian_Government_Approach_Presentation.pdf>.

● BusinessMate, 2010, ‘What is a functional organizational structure?’, BusinessMate.org, viewed August 2014, <http://www.businessmate.org/Article.php?ArtikelId=184>.

● Egeland, B., 2009, ‘Five key steps to closing down the project’, Project management tips, viewed August 2014, <http://pmtips.net/key-steps-closing-project/>.

● Haughey, D., 2010, ‘Avoid failed projects’, Project smart, viewed August 2014, <http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/avoid-failed-projects.php>.

● Haughey, D., 2010, ‘The project management body of knowledge (PMBOK)’, Project smart, viewed August 2014, <http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/pmbok.php>.

● Hutchings, R., 2014, ‘RegPM (Registered Project Manager) – Project Manager level certification’, Project Management, viewed August 2014, <http://www.projectmanagement.net.au/index.php?id=7>.

● Inter Agency Policy and Projects Unit, 2008, ‘Project management fact sheet: why project management?’, Tasmanian Government, viewed August 2014, <http://www.egovernment.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/78187/Why_Project_Management_Fact_Sheet.pdf>.

1st edition version: 1 BSBPMG522 Undertake project work Page 2 of 168 © 2015 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd

Student Workbook Getting Started

● Jordan, A., 2012, ‘Your project’s approved ... now what?’, ProjectManagement.com, viewed August 2014, <http://www.projectmanagement.com/articles/275421/ Your-Projects-Approved---Now-What->.

● Microsoft, 2014, ‘Project’, Office, viewed August 2014, <http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/project/>.

● Office of Government Commerce, United Kingdom, 2011, ‘PRINCE2 methodology’, PRINCE2.com, viewed August 2014, <http://www.prince2.com/prince2-methodology>.

● Project Management Institute, viewed August 2014, <http://www.pmi.org>.

● Project Management Office, 2007, ‘Project management templates and FNL examples’, National Cancer Institute – Frederick: Project management resources, viewed August 2014, <http://ncifrederick.cancer.gov/Staff/ProjectManagement/ Templates.aspx>.

● Shrewsbury, L., 2011, ‘What is an agile project?’, Project manager.com.au, viewed August 2014, <http://projectmanager.com.au/agile-project/>.

● Stanleigh, M., 2010, ‘Combining the ISO 10006 and PMBOK to ensure successful projects’, Business Improvement Architects, viewed August 2014, <http://www.bia.ca/articles/pj-combining-iso-10006-pmbok-to-ensure-successful-projects.htm>.

● Tasmanian Government, 2013, ‘Risk management’, Tasmanian Government, viewed August 2014, <http://www.egovernment.tas.gov.au/assets_for_review/ supporting_resources/toolkit/risk_management>.

● TechMediaNetwork, 2014, ‘Mac Project Management Software Review’, TopTenReviews, viewed August 2014, <http://mac-project-management-software-review.toptenreviews.com/>.

● Wallace, S., 2007, ‘Project structure and organisation’, The ePMbook, viewed August 2014, <http://www.epmbook.com/structure.htm>.

● Walsh, A., 2011, ‘5 Why’s’, Chart it now, viewed August 2014, <http://www.chartitnow.com/5_Whys.html>.

● Wideman, M., 2002, ‘Wideman comparative glossary of project management terms v3.1’, Max’s project management wisdom, viewed August 2014, <http://www.maxwideman.com/pmglossary>.

Please note that any URLs contained in the recommended reading, learning content and learning activities of this publication were checked for currency during the production process. Note, however, IBSA cannot vouch for the ongoing currency of URLs.

Every endeavour has been made to provide a full reference for all web links. Where URLs are not current we recommend using the reference information provided to search for the source in your chosen search engine.


Section 1 – Introduction to Project Management


Student Workbook 1.1 – About Project Management

1.1 – About Project Management

About projects

What is a project? A project is usually defined as a set of distinct processes and tasks and runs for a set period of time, and delivers academic, business or technical objectives. According to the Project Management Institute, ‘a project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result’.1 Therefore, a key feature of projects, as opposed to operations, is that they have distinct beginnings and ends.

Case study: Max Lionel Realty

Max Lionel Realty was founded in 2008 by property developer Max Lionel. Through its client agents, the organisation manages property sales and rentals (both residential and commercial) on behalf of a range of clients. The organisation also separately engages in investment activities, such as property and land development. Max Lionel Realty has been a member of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) since 2008 and proudly follows the REIV Code of Conduct.

Max Lionel conducts day-to-day operations to achieve company strategic objectives. These strategic objectives include:

● engaging with customers and clients

● building goodwill and reputation for integrity

● supporting innovative thinking, management and leadership skills

● creating a high-performing, highly profitable organisation.

On occasion, Max Lionel will sponsor projects to further the strategic objectives listed above. Successful past projects at Max Lionel include:

● rollout of new computers and outsourced IT services to all agents

● agent induction program design and pilot rollout

● implementation of new accounting system, including training of relevant employees.

1 Project Management Institute, 2013, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 5th edn, Project Management Institute, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, p. 3.


1.1 – About Project Management Student Workbook

Why do businesses run projects? Some of the reasons a business might initiate a project include:

● market demand for a quality product or service

● technological advances

● solving a business need

● request from a customer

● ensure new laws and regulations can be complied with

● response to competition.

Planning and keeping track of all the elements of a project has become a management skill in its own right, with a defined set of parameters.

What is project management? There are numerous definitions of project management. Definitions may differ depending on whether the focus is on organisational change management as such or on the delivery of products goals or outcomes. According to the Tasmanian State Government, project management is a formalised and structured method of managing change in a rigorous manner to meet these outcomes.2 According to the Project management institute, ‘project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements’.3

Project management concentrates on using knowledge and skills to achieve specific outcomes to be accomplished by a certain time, to a clear quality standard and within a given level of resources or budget.

Wherever you work, the chances are that you will need to understand the language and concepts of project management and to apply the skills you will learn in this course of study.

Customer expectations You might think that project management is only required to get a specified outcome, but it’s more than that. It’s about getting an outcome that meets the requirements of the customer, whether that customer is internal or external, a client or senior management.

Scope, cost and time: The ‘triple constraint’ of project management

Many workplaces, whether business, academic or manufacturing, use project management as a way of getting set tasks completed on time, within budget and to an agreed specification.

2 C. Bond, 2009, ‘Realising project benefits: the Tasmanian Government approach’, Tasmanian Government, viewed August 2014, <http://www.egovernment.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/78314/ Realising_Project_Benefits_Tasmanian_Government_Approach_Presentation.pdf>. 3 Project Management Institute, 2013, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 5th edn, Project Management Institute, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, p. 3.



Ensuring that quality, cost and time requirements are met is critical to project management and critical to business.

Project management methodology provides the structure to manage business needs and customer expectations with regard to:

● scope/quality/performance, for example, what is done, delivered and to what specification

● cost, for example, human or physical resources

● time, the duration of the project.

These three components of project management are often referred to as the ‘triple constraint’ of project management. Changing one constraint setting necessarily affects one or two other constraints. For example, increasing the amount or quality of deliverables will increase cost, time or both.

Reasons for project failure While using project management methodology greatly increases the chances of the project succeeding, some projects do fail. Some of the reasons for project failure include:

● changing scope (that is, what’s in/what’s not – keeps changing as the project evolves)

● insufficient planning

● risks are not managed

● issues are not managed

● poor communication

● lack of commitment and responsibility by stakeholders.

By keeping an eye on the reasons for failure, we can reduce the likelihood of project failure.

Learning activity: Quality, time, cost

The three components of project management are:

● scope/quality ● cost ● time.

Changing one component affects the other two.

Discuss how/why.



Research ‘3 constraints of project management’ on the internet.

● What models exist?

● Why, in some models is quality or performance considered separately to scope?

Consider an example of a work project you were involved in or are aware of in which one, two or all three constraints were altered during the course of the project. For example, contractors took too long to finish a project-related task and both cost and time increased.

Discuss how changes in one constraint affected the other constraints.

History of project management

Although it is claimed that modern project management has only existed since the 1950s, students of history might find this hard to believe. In the past, how did people:

● build the pyramids of Egypt?

● build Chartres Cathedral?

● undertake the campaigns of the Crusades?

● build the Great Wall of China?

● build the Suez Canal?

● build transcontinental railroads?

They did it by following project management principles. As these examples show, the basic principles of project management are easy to understand and have been around for a long time.



Fast forward to the modern era At the beginning of the last century, project management took on a more scientific approach. Modern project management principles are what they are today because of this movement.

Project management has evolved from various industry fields, such as construction, engineering and defence. Initially, the most notable contributors to project management were Henry Gantt and Henri Fayol. They used planning and control techniques and are famously known for the development and use of the Gantt chart as a project management tool, as well as the five management functions (which currently forms the basis for the body of knowledge associated with project and program management today).

Prior to the 1950s, projects were managed using mostly Gantt charts and various other informal methods. During the First and Second World Wars, project management was used for managing resources and undertaking campaigns.

Learning activity: History of project management

Do an internet search for the following terms:

● history of project management

● project management timeline.

Visit and read through this site, which provides an interesting insight into the history of project management:

● Lessons from history, ‘The history of project management’, viewed August 2014, <http://www.lessons-from-history.com/history-project-management/history-project-management-page>.

In what way were the major projects built in ancient times similar to projects undertaken today?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gantt_Chart


More recent times Current project management methods have been used only as recent as the 1960s.

Project management is now extensively adopted by most organisations as it is a work structure that provides effective use of time and resources, quality control and cost management. Effective project management is vital for the successful undertaking of a project. A successful project means that the specified results are delivered on time and within budget.

Tip: Project skills are increasingly in demand

Business projects can be quite diverse, for example, the development of a new product or service; the establishment of a new production line in a manufacturing organisation, a public relations campaign, or a major building (or re-building) program.

While the 1980s were about quality and the 1990s all about globalisation, the 2000s are about velocity (including speed to market, rapid response to customer needs, etc.).

Learning activity: Project attitudes

Why is it important to manage the activities involved in achieving a specific outcome? Complete the questionnaire below.

What are your current attitudes towards project management?

Using the scale shown below, evaluate the following statements before proceeding any further with this unit. On a scale of zero to five, zero stands for strongly disagree and five stands for strongly agree.

0 1 2 3 4 5

Strongly disagree

Disagree Somewhat disagree

Somewhat agree

Agree Strongly agree

1. I can trust that other people will do their job without me following them up.

2. Projects always run late. There’s nothing you can do about it.

3. The holiday/house/event won’t cost any more than the amount I’ve been quoted.

4. I’m only going on a holiday, nothing can possibly go wrong.

5. I believe the old Aussie saying, ‘she’ll be right mate’.

Total Score:

The range of scores achieved in the questionnaire can range from 0 to 25. If you are:

● closer to 25 – You may be too optimistic. You might need to change your attitude in order to do well in this program

● closer to 0 – you are a natural project manager, you just need to do the course to get the technical skills.



Project managers have to be able to lead and motivate, but they also have to be able to step away and analyse and plan for what can go wrong.

What you can you learn and put into practice about project management will not only improve your score, but also how you can improve the likelihood of achieving your goals on time and on budget, by following a project management methodology.

Section summary

You should know understand what project management entails, and have a background on how it has been applied historically and in more recent times.

Further reading

● Bond, C., 2009, ‘Realising project benefits: the Tasmanian Government approach’, Tasmanian Government, viewed August 2014, <http://www.egovernment.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/78314/Realising_Project_Benefits_Tasmanian_Government_Approach_Presentation.pdf>.


● Wideman, M., 2002, ‘Wideman comparative glossary of project management terms v3.1’, Max’s project management wisdom, viewed August 2014, <http://www.maxwideman.com/pmglossary>.


1.2 – Elements of Project Management Student Workbook

1.2 – Elements of Project Management Many organisations use a project management methodology to achieve their organisational or corporate goals and objectives as well as for process improvement initiatives.

This section will discuss project management methodologies, where they are used and why they are used.

Case study: CRM system implementation at Max Lionel Realty

To build client relationships and improve client service, Max Lionel Realty intends to source and implement a new customer relationship management (CRM) system. The purchase and initial rollout of the system, including relevant training will constitute a project sponsored by Operations General Manager, Kim Sweeney. The project has a fixed, six-month timeframe for completion.

Kim Sweeney, your manager, has asked you to project manage this important implementation. You are excited about running this project but, focusing on your role as an estate agent, you have not worked as a project manager for some years. You will need to re-acquaint yourself with important methods and terms.

The budget for the implementation will be in the range of $50,000, a significant capital expense for Max Lionel Realty. But, according to cost-benefit analysis already undertaken the project will deliver a sizable return on investment over the next three years. For these reasons, the project must succeed (by meeting all stakeholder expectations regarding scope, quality, cost and time) and has been given the highest priority.

What skills will you need?

In order to effectively prepare for projects as a project manager, you must be able to:

identify basic project management principles and methodologies

have an understanding of project management systems and structures

outline legislative and regulatory requirements.


Student Workbook 1.2 – Elements of Project Management

Increased use of project management tools

The last five to ten years have seen increased accountability requirements on companies and government agencies, resulting in a greater focus on efficiency and effectiveness in the way they conduct their business and allocate resources.

Today’s rapidly changing economic environment, with its diverse opportunities and requirements, can be supported by using project management methodologies to support the achievement of organisational goals, while providing greater assurance to stakeholders that the organisation’s resources are being used effectively.

Objectives are clarified and agreed, resources identified and allocated, thereby ensuring accountability for performance and results, engendering a focus on the benefits to be achieved for all concerned.

Some of the benefits of using project management methodology include:

● efficiency – so more work is achieved in less time, with fewer resources

● reduced project risk – as risks are identified and managed

● increased customer satisfaction – as better quality outputs are produced

● learnings from past experience are utilised – so mistakes are not repeated.

Tip: Who uses project management?

Organisational types currently using project management include:

● defence departments, e.g. ship building, re-fits, etc.

● government departments, e.g. Department of Infrastructure

● local government, improvements/upgrades to roads and community amenities

● construction industry – houses, shopping centres, high-rises

● software developers – customised, modified software

● sporting associations – finals, international competitions

● large scale organisations (LSOs) – product management, implementing new internal systems, complying with new government requirements

● small to medium enterprises (SMEs) – small business, including tradespeople – tendering for contracts, managing existing contracts.

Typical projects Types of projects that are undertaken by various organisations on a regular or ad hoc basis include:

● IT builds – new, modified, upgrades of computer systems and software

● building and construction – from houses to high-rises, bridges and freeways

● major events – Commonwealth and Olympic games, football finals, expo’s (e.g. the annual age career expo for students)



● factory closures, sometimes with off-shore relocation

● defence departments – acquiring/building/refurbishing planes, ships, bases

● individual or company moving to new premises (requires printing new stationary, physical relocation and set up of all equipment, etc.)

● office refurbishment/house renovation (e.g. do staff have to be temporarily relocated or will work be done at the weekend?)

● installation of new telephone or computer systems in existing work premises (e.g. computer system would require identifying and training relevant employees, as well as the testing and installation of the new system).

Key terms and definitions

As is often the case, there is some ‘project jargon’ that is often used in project management that will be essential for you to understand.

Deliverables A deliverable is an output produced at the end of a project or task. It’s usually something tangible. Examples of deliverables can include products, plans, reports, buildings, computer programs, policies and procedures.

Gantt charts A Gantt chart is a type of horizontal bar chart that shows a project schedule. They can show the dependencies between tasks.

Goals and objectives A goal or objective is a projected state of affairs that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. An objective is a level of performance or achievement and can be monitored and graphed, for example:

Milestones Milestones are project checkpoints. They have no duration but they mark significant points of progress in a project.

Milestones are used to see whether a project is on time or not. A milestone may be ‘Design is finished’, ‘Sign contract’, ‘Project ends’, etc.

Parameters Parameters are ‘a fact or circumstance that restricts how something is done or what can be done. In a project, this most commonly refers to budgets, timeframes and the scope (or size) of a project.

We will increase sales by 10% by the EOY 201X.



Project plan A project plan is a document that describes and brings together the components of a project. The project plan:

● is the guidebook for all stakeholders to the project

● covers all aspects of the project, with the level of detail dependent on the project size.

Scope How ‘big’ is the project? The project scope defines the ‘What’s in’ and ‘What’s out’ of the project.

Scoping processes are required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully.

Scope creep ‘Scope creep’ is the continual extension of the scope of a project, often leading to a runaway project. As some projects progress, especially through development, requirements continuously change incrementally, causing the project manager to add to the project objectives. A related concept is ‘feature creep’.

Stakeholders Stakeholders are people with a vested interest in the outcome of the project. Individuals and organisations that are involved in, or may be affected by, project activities.

Tasks Tasks are activities with a fixed timeframe that contribute to the project outcome.

Work breakdown structure A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a hierarchical, sequential breakdown of the tasks (work) to be done in the project.

Project management principles

Most projects are governed by time, cost and quality.

On time, within budget, to specification.

Being capable of understanding and using standard project management methods and tools will help you to ensure that you get the best possible outcome within the parameters of the project brief.



Principles for project management differ somewhat by methodologies described later in this section. For example, consider the PRINCE2 set of principles. These would apply to all but the most free-wheeling of project management approaches: 4

Continued business justification

Keep focused on the business goals the project is meant to promote.

Learn from experience

Be willing to alter your approach to the project, re-plan and try new approaches as required. Most project management approaches encourage an ‘iterative approach’ in which outcomes are constantly monitored and plans are altered as more information becomes available. Some methodologies, such as agile, which will be discussed later, focus on rapid cycles of development and improvement.

Define roles and responsibilities

This is a point on which methodologies may differ or interpret differently.

Manage by stages The next section, will look more closely at the project life cycle.

Manage by exception Look for project variances and act to keep performance within tolerances. You want to ensure no delays and that team performance meets targets. Remember, over-performance may be as detrimental to your project as underperformance. For example, adding extra but unnecessary features to products, i.e. ‘gold-plating’, may take up your team’s time and resources that would be better spent on key outcomes and picking up slack in other areas of the project.

Focus on products What do you need to deliver? To what quality? What does your customer or client need?

Tailor to suit the project environment

No two projects are the same. The level of control required for a multi-million dollar project is much greater than that required for a project only costing ten thousand dollars. The number of stages required for a high risk project is likely to be greater than a low risk project.

Keep these principles in mind as you make your way through this Student Workbook and note how they are applied in the different phases of the project life cycle and in different knowledge areas of project management, such as risk management or coaching.

4 Great Britain. Office of Government Commerce, 2009, Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2, Stationary Office Books, London, p. 11.



Good, fast or cheap? Another look at the triple constraint model Recall the triple constraint model discussed earlier. Resources are finite, so when you are trying to meet project outcomes, you are balancing scope, cost and time.

In the triangle illustration on the right, you are given the options of fast (time), good (scope) and cheap (cost) and told to pick any two. Fast refers to the time required to deliver the product, good is the scope of the final product, while cheap refers to the total cost of designing and building the product.

The triangle reflects that these three properties of a project are interrelated, and it is not possible to optimise all three – one will always suffer.

In other words you have three options:

● fast and good, but expensive

● fast and cheap, but poor quality

● good and cheap, but it will take a lot longer to produce.

It is important, therefore, to educate your project stakeholders on the interrelationship of time, cost and quality factors to set realistic expectations for the project. This is best done in the project initiation phase, which will be discussed later in this Student Workbook.

Project management structures

Some types of organisations are more open to project management approaches than others. Not all organisations have the prerequisite structures, systems and behaviours to be able to successfully carry out a project.

You need to be aware of your organisational structure in order to manage your projects effectively.

Functional structures A functional organisational structure is based upon the functions of specific jobs within the organisation. Most organisations in Australia would be organised functionally.

Organisation with a functional structure



There is only one chain of command in a functional organisation.

These types of organisations could carry out a project effectively when one functional area or department (i.e. manufacturing) has a dominant role or stake in the project.

Project structures Some businesses are organised solely around projects. Typically these include:

● IT businesses

● construction businesses

● consulting businesses.

Organisation with a project structure

These types of organisations are structured around projects and obviously need systems and structures that focus on projects.

These types of structures are simple, focused and effective. However, they are also expensive to operate.

Matrix structures Matrix structures are somewhere between functional and project organisations. There are many variations on the matrix structure but they typically have two chains of command (a functional manager and a project manager).

Organisation with a matrix structure



For example, one such instance of a matrix structure is essentially a functional organisation with a standing project team (see above). The different functional areas can conduct projects under the guidance and support of a standing project team/manager that works with the functional area for the duration of the project.

Learning activity: Project management structures

Visit the websites listed below to find more information about the following key areas.

For information relating to project structure and organisation:


For information relating to matrix organisation structure:

● ‘What is a “matrix organisational structure”?’, 2011, Blurtit, viewed August 2014, <http:// http://business-finance.blurtit.com/23724/what-is-a-matrix-organisational-structure- >.

● ‘Matrix management’, 2011, Global Integration, viewed August 2014, <http://www.global-integration.com/matrix-management-training/>.

For information relating to functional organisation structure:

● ‘What is a functional organizational structure?’, BusinessMate.org, viewed August 2014, <http://www.businessmate.org/Article.php?ArtikelId=184>.

Take notes relating to what you have learned and any questions you have for your facilitator.

Project management systems

A project management system is a pre-defined set of management procedures designed as a guide to developing, planning, managing and implementing projects and the quality management framework in which projects are conducted.5 This can include:

● project software

● policy and procedures

● documentation such as forms.

What are workplace systems? Workplace systems aim to guide the business or organisation to conduct its business in an efficient, professional, ethical, reliable and consistent manner. Workplace systems are often supported by project management software and have the ability to provide tasks

5 Inter Agency Policy and Projects Unit, 2008, ‘Project management fact sheet: why project management?’, Tasmanian Government, viewed August 2014, <http://www.egovernment.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/ pdf_file/0004/78187/Why_Project_Management_Fact_Sheet.pdf>.



such as forecasting, scheduling, time and attendance, and will work in conjunction with an organisation’s existing budgeting and planning tools. Additionally, there are many other workplace systems within an organisation, including:

● IT requirements

● quality control systems and processes

● work health and safety

● people management policies and processes

● operational processes

● manufacturing processes

● customer service.

Quality standards Standards and systems for project management quality continue to develop as project management methods become more accepted and used by businesses and Project Management Offices (PMOs) within businesses. Two recognised standards for project management are:

● AS 4915-2002 Project management – General conditions

● AS ISO 10006-2003 Quality management systems – Guidelines for quality management in projects.

Methodologies such as PMBOK and PRINCE2, discussed later in this section, may also be considered standards. The organisation behind PMBOK, the Project Management Institute (PMI), for example, offers a number of recognised certifications, such as PMP, which is based on the application of PMBOK.



Learning activity: ISO and PMI

The following articles is provides a good comparison of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Guidelines for Quality Project Management and PMBOK:


Outline the key strategies incorporated by both the ISO standard and PMBOK to ensure a successful project is achieved.

Communication systems When planning your project you need to consider how, when and what you will communicate with your stakeholders and the communication system to be used.

The strategy that you use will be determined by the systems that your organisation has available. These may include:

● intranets

● websites

● email lists or groups

● newsletters

● SMS gateways

● noticeboards.



Tip: Survey your communication systems

Take the time to identify what sort of communication systems that your organisation has at hand. When your project starts, you will need to be able to make good use of the resources you have available.

You may need to:

● interview key people to find out how information is transmitted in the organisation

● organise training for yourself in things like using:

○ the organisation’s intranet

○ mailing lists.

Legislative and regulatory requirements

When implementing project management strategies, you need to make sure that you and your organisation will comply with the legislative and regulatory requirements that apply to your industry.

Types of legislation Legislation is frequently updated so it’s important that your knowledge is current and that you’re aware of recent changes. Some key legislative and regulatory areas to consider include:

● work health and safety (WHS/OHS)

● anti-discrimination legislation

● privacy laws

● ethical principles

● codes of practice.

The federal, state and territory governments have responsibility for different areas of legislation, so it is important to know exactly what applies in your workplace. Listed below are the websites where you can find information.



Legislation

Click on the links below to access federal legislation and the legislation for each state and territory.

Federal legislation:

● ComLaw has the most complete and up-to-date collection of Commonwealth legislation, <http://www.comlaw.gov.au>

● The Australian Attorney General’s Department provides legal and policy information on domestic human rights matters, <http://www.ag.gov.au/RightsAndProtections/HumanRights>

State and territory legislation:

● Australian Capital Territory: <http://www.legislation.act.gov.au>

● New South Wales: <http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au>

● Northern Territory: <http://www.dcm.nt.gov.au>

● Queensland: <http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au>

● South Australia: <http://www.legislation.sa.gov.au>

● Tasmania: <http://www.legislation.tas.gov.au>

● Victoria: <http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au>

● Western Australia: <http://www.slp.wa.gov.au>.

Work health and safety (WHS/OHS) The legislative framework for work health and safety in Australia is made up of:

● Acts

● Regulations

● standards

● codes of practice and guidelines.

WHS Acts are different for each state and territory, and there are also guidelines and codes of practice that apply to specific industries. It is important to know which legislation is applicable to you in your workplace.

Learning activity: WHS legislation

Find a code of practice or piece of legislation relating to work health and safety that is specific to an industry sector and explain why it is needed for this industry.



What legislation or codes of practice could apply to the Max Lionel Realty CRM rollout?

Anti-discrimination Anti-discrimination legislation promotes equal opportunity for all people by making it unlawful to treat a person unfavourably based on personal characteristics. These characteristics may include age, gender, marital status, race or disability. There are a number of Acts at both state and federal levels that deal with anti-discrimination and it is essential that you know which ones apply to your workplace.

Learning activity: Anti-discrimination legislation

Search the internet and find a piece of Commonwealth legislation that deals with issues of discrimination. Summarise it below.

How would the legislation affect the Max Lionel Realty’s CRM implementation project?



Privacy The Australian Government has restricted the amount of freedom an organisation is allowed when dealing with private information. The Privacy Act outlines how an organisation should protect the privacy of individuals, in regard to:

● data collection

● data use and disclosure

● data quality – data is to be accurate, complete and up-to-date

● data security

● openness

● access and correction

● identifiers

● anonymity

● transborder data flows

● sensitive information.

Most organisations have their own privacy policy that seeks to establish guidelines and a set of minimum acceptable standards for protecting the privacy of online users. Included in Appendix 2 of this Student Workbook is an example of a privacy policy.

Learning activity: Collecting Information

Most retail stores rely on keeping up-to-date with customer trends by collecting various types of information. After reading through Max Lionel Realty’s Privacy Policy (Appendix 3 of this Student Workbook), determine whether each which of the following ways of using customer information would be considered appropriate and why:

● Collecting a client’s postcode, and using it to determine how many clients come from a particular neighbourhood.

● Selling a client’s contact details and purchasing behaviour to numerous marketing companies.



● Storing a client’s details onto the company database after the customer has placed an order via email.

● Recording a client’s internet address, domain name, and date and time they visited the Max Lionel Realty website.

Ethical principles A code of ethics is a set of rules or standards that help guide staff to determine how to behave on ethical issues during their daily interactions. Every employee shares in the responsibility for creating and maintaining an organisation’s ethical culture.

Example: Code of ethics

The following is a summarised list of the Code of Ethics that ABC University staff must adhere to.

The main principles of their Code of Ethics are as follows.

● ‘We are committed to student-centered, quality learning opportunities.’

● ‘We work towards building a harmonious working environment in which we maximise our professional performance.’

● ‘We recognise and value the contributions made by people to the University.’

● ‘We demonstrate openness and fairness in all our dealings with people.’

● ‘We respect the essential dignity of all people.’

● ‘We recognise our responsibility to build civilised communities.’

● ‘We care for the social and natural environment.’

● ‘We value and support the right to confidentiality.’

Each of these principles is further explored and detailed in ABC University’s Human Resources Code of Ethics policy.



Codes of practice Codes of practice are developed through consultation with representatives from industry, workers and employers, special interest groups and government agencies. For example, codes of practice for work health and safety are made under the relevant state or territory Act and must be approved by the relevant minister before they come into effect. A code of practice is not law, but it should be followed, unless there is an alternative course of action that achieves the same or better standards.

It is important for project managers to be aware that they should determine and follow any code of practice relevant to their work (or the work of employees, contractors, suppliers involved in the project to meet legal obligations. Codes of practice should be used in conjunction with any Act or Regulations that apply to project work.

Project roles

There are a number of roles directly associated with project management. These include:

project owner – initiator/financer of project

project sponsor – executive responsible for the project (often the owner)

project manager – manages the project’s implementation

project team – undertake tasks involved in the project

stakeholders – other interested parties, for example:

○ clients

○ company management

○ suppliers

○ customers.

Jobs directly related to projects Especially within a large organisation, there are many job roles that use or require project management methodology and skills. Some of the roles are:

● product manager

● product development

● continuous improvement manager

● IT/software development

● program manager

● event managers

● project coordinator

● engineers.

Tip: Who does what?

The project manager is not necessarily the one to facilitate each activity.

For example, a middle manager may prepare a project proposal with the project manager being appointed afterwards.

Someone external to the project can conduct the project closing, if required.



Project management descriptions and methodologies

A project management methodology is an approach that a group takes to managing a project. Some typical project management methodologies include:

● traditional, PMBOK, approach (discussed in this Workbook)

● PRINCE2 (discussed in detail below)

● Agile

● critical path method (CPM) – developed for managing plant maintenance

● critical path project management (CPPM) – puts emphasis on resources

● extreme project management – PERT based – for large, one-off projects

● event chain methodology – next advance from critical path/chain method

● process-based management – project control

● rational unified process – iterative software development framework

● interactive – related series of projects executed over a broad period of time

● incremental – low-risk, short-term projects

● phased – deliverables are completed in phases.

PRINCE2 (Projects in Controlled Environments)

Many organisations now use the PRINCE2 project management methodology, originally developed by the UK Government, where projects are rigidly reviewed at key points.

It has been estimated that this methodology provides savings of £500 million per year (approximately AUD$1 billion) to the UK Government.

PRINCE2 project management methodology specifically describes:

● product-based planning

● change control techniques

● quality review techniques.

PRINCE2 was released in the 1990s as a generic, process-driven project management method and is now used in over 50 countries and has been subsequently updated. PRINCE2 defines 45 sub-processes organised into eight processes:

1. Starting up a project (SU)

2. Planning (PL)

3. Initiating a project (IP)

4. Directing a project (DP)

5. Controlling a stage (CS)

6. Managing product

delivery (MP)

7. Managing stage boundaries

(SB)

8. Closing a project (CP)



For more information regarding PRINCE2, visit:


● Office of Government Commerce, United Kingdom, 2011, ‘PRINCE2 methodology’, PRINCE2.com, viewed August 2014, <http://www.prince2.com/prince2-methodology>.

The PMBOK methodology The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) approach to managing projects recognises five basic process groups and nine knowledge areas typical of almost all projects. As this is the main focus of this Workbook, we will be addressing these steps in greater detail in the following sections. These basic concepts are applicable to projects, programs and operations.

The five basic process groups are:

Many methodologies exist, but they all follow the same basic cycle or process as PMBOK. This is known as the project management life cycle.

These processes usually overlap and interact throughout the overall project and phases of the project. Processes are described in terms of:

● inputs (documents, plans, designs, etc.)

● tools and techniques (mechanisms applied to inputs)

● outputs (documents, products, etc.).

Example: PMBOK

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is US-based organisation that sets standards, researches and provides education in project management.

The publication A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge is recognised as the industry standard project methodology.

You can find out more by visiting the PMI site at: <http://www.pmi.org>.

1. Initiating 2. Planning 3. Executing 4. Monitoring and controlling 5. Closing



Agile methods Agile methods are relatively new, but are gaining acceptance by business, particularly in high-risk and volatile industries such as software development. According to the PMI:

adaptive methods are generally preferred when dealing with a rapidly changing environment, when requirements and scope are difficult to define in advance, and when it is possible to define small incremental improvements that will deliver value to stakeholders.6

Perhaps because it is so new, and the fact that agile methods are often mixed with more traditional approaches, there is some disagreement as to what agile means. Generally, however, agile approaches have the following attributes:

Iterative Agile methods are characterised by rapid prototyping of deliverables to satisfy priority requirements. The prototype is then successively improved in cyclic phases until all stakeholder requirements are met. Agile is a great method to use when, due to the nature of the product or deliverable, exact requirements can’t be known at the beginning. Consider the example of the software development cycle, in which software is continuously tested and improved in later versions. Consider also a training program that is rolled out in pilot form and then improved with learner feedback until a final version of the training is developed.

Phased, short term

Agile is characterised by detailed scheduling for near-term prioritised goals. Long-term schedules for inherently longer-term, unknown, or lower-priority items are left to be worked out later, presumably when more information on stakeholder requirements and actual results are available to feed into future planning.

Have fixed time and scope

This element of agile methods is sometimes referred to as ‘time-boxing’. Both the work to be done and the time are fixed and strictly enforced before a review is undertaken to determine the next phase of development.

Lower risk for some projects

Agile methods, because they entail short development and review phases, may be considered inherently less risky because of the high level of regular scrutiny and stakeholder involvement in that scrutiny. There are more opportunities, therefore, to address problems when the project is in trouble and more opportunity to deliver value to customers (that is, products that deliver real benefits and meet present customer expectations).

6 Project Management Institute, 2013, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 5th edn, Project Management Institute, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, p. 46.



Change is expected and embraced.

The focus is on delivering on customer expectations. The ‘solution’ may not be known at the outset, but with stakeholder involvement the end result is more likely to satisfy the real requirements and expectations of the client or stakeholder.

Focused on people, team and collaboration

Perhaps a key attraction of agile methods is its involving the team and stakeholders in a collaborative effort in which performance and results are given more value than enforcement of strict, hierarchical roles. The project manager is not so much a ‘manager’ as a coach and facilitator aiming to get the best out of their team.

Although agile methods are new, they have had a significant effect on the application, if not the theory and supporting body of knowledge of other methodologies. As you read through this Student Workbook and research different project management methodologies, note the influence of agile methods. Even if you work in an environment where projects are always undertaken in the same traditional way, make note of how agile methods could be applied to reduce risk, encourage more active involvement of stakeholders, and improve outcomes through more rigorous and regular review.

Learning activity: Project management methodologies

There are many methodologies for project management and the body of knowledge around project management is constantly evolving.

Use the internet to search for the following methodologies:

● PMBOK

● Agile

● PRINCE2

● SCRUM

● Another method of your choice.

What did you discover? Note your findings below.



Developing your skills

A great project manager will possess a number of skills and abilities. The skills and abilities identified below may take several years to develop. Many people who are good project managers now may have left a wake of failed projects behind them.

What is most important is that you continually analyse and reflect on your own skills and abilities and learn from your mistakes.

What skills do you need to manage projects? The nine knowledge areas of PMBOK, referred to above, are:

1. Project integration

management

2. Project scope management

3. Project time manegement

4. Project cost management

5. Project quality management

6. Project human resources

management

7. Project communications

management

8. Project risk management

9. Project procurement management



As a project manager you need to have some capabilities in all of these areas. For example, PMBOK knowledge area 9, ‘Project procurement management’, requires skills such as:

● procurement planning

● solicitation planning

● solicitation (making requests or petitions)

● source selection

● contract administration

● contract close-out7

Example: A typical project manager job ad

A job ad for a project manager may list the following tasks/competencies.

● Create and execute project work plans and revise as appropriate to meet changing needs and requirements.

● Identify resources needed and assign individual responsibilities.

● Manage day-to-day operational aspects of a project and scope.

● Review deliverables prepared by team before passing to client.

● Effectively apply project management methodology and enforce project standards.

● Motivate and manage the project team to achieve project outcomes, using appropriate team-building and management skills.

● Prepare for project reviews and quality assurance procedures.

● Minimise the company’s exposure and risk on project.

● Ensure management and stakeholders are informed of the project’s progress with timely, relevant information.

● Ensure project documents are complete, current, and stored appropriately.

Using project work as an opportunity for professional development You may find that your employer needs you to be a part time project manager. This is not uncommon in small and medium-sized businesses. If you are asked and you agree to participate on a project team and that is not your usual job role, ensure that:

● team membership is agreed upfront

● your responsibilities are agreed in writing

● project duration is agreed on, hours you will work and other related issues are also agreed to by all concerned (e.g. your usual manager, yourself, project manager).

7 Haughey, D., 2010, ‘The project management body of knowledge (PMBOK)’, Project Smart, viewed August 2014, <http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/pmbok.php>.



There are many advantages that result from participating on a project team. These can include additional training, responsibility, teamwork, networking, learning time management and self-discipline.

Remember to update your resume or curriculum vitae when the project is completed, noting your achievements.

Common project problems

Finally, be aware that they are some common problem areas for projects. These include:

● communication (or lack of)

● resources – people, equipment, office space, funding

● scope creep – define the scope – agree and record changes

● risk identification and management (or lack of)

● time and cost estimates (usually under-estimated)

● skill/experience of the project manager and team (or lack of)

● monitoring performance and meeting milestones (or lack of).

Learning activity: Make an agenda

Think of a possible project that you could be involved in. If no projects come to mind, use Max Lionel Realty’s CRM rollout as your project.

In the space on the following page, create a standard agenda for a ‘project review meeting’. Use the list above as a starting point and include:

● how often do you meet?

● who needs to attend?

● what issues should you discuss?



Section summary

This section examined the background of project management as well as taking a look at the principles and methodologies that are regularly used today. It examined the project management systems and structures that help make a project successful. This section also outlined some of the legislative and regulatory requirements that need to be considered by project managers.

Further reading

● Accounting Tools, 2014, ‘Functional organizational structure’, Accounting Tools, viewed August 2014, <http://www.accountingtools.com/functional-org-structure>.

● BusinessMate, 2010, ‘What is a functional organizational structure?’, BusinessMate.org, viewed August 2014, <http://www.businessmate.org/Article.php?ArtikelId=184>.

● Haughey, D., 2010, ‘The project management body of knowledge (PMBOK)’, Project Smart, viewed August 2014, <http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/pmbok.php>.


● Inter Agency Policy and Projects Unit, 2008, ‘Project management fact sheet: why project management?’, Tasmanian Government, viewed August 2014, <http://www.egovernment.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/78187/Why_Project_Management_Fact_Sheet.pdf>.

● Office of Government Commerce, United Kingdom, 2011, ‘PRINCE2 Methodology’, PRINCE2.com, viewed August 2014, <http://www.prince2.com/prince2-methodology>.


● Shrewsbury, L., 2011, ‘What is an agile project?’, Project manager.com.au, viewed August 2014, <http://projectmanager.com.au/agile-project/>.





Section checklist

Before you proceed to the next section, make sure that you understand:

identify basic project management principles and methodologies

have an understanding of project management systems and structures

outline legislative and regulatory requirements.


Section 2 – Undertaking a Project


Student Workbook 2.1 – Project Management Cycle

2.1 – Project Management Cycle The Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) provides an excellent structure for scoping project management activities. Successful project management involves adhering to proven principles and techniques.

It is important to note that the individual phases in project management are not one-time events. Instead, they are overlapping activities that occur at varying levels of intensity throughout the life of the project.

Case study: Max Lionel Realty and the project management cycle

Recall that Max Lionel intends to implement a new customer relationship management (CRM) software system to meet organisational goals over the next three years. You have six months in which to initiate and close the project.

Max Lionel Realty is a small company, that runs projects infrequently, does not have a Project Management Office (PMO) to run projects, nor even has strict project management procedures to provide strict guidance. However, the company has run successful projects in the past and has been supportive of methodical, best practice approaches. The company appreciates that following standard practices allows for finer control, results in better outcomes and greater buy-in, and generates valuable organisational learning to apply to future projects.

You have decided, therefore, that the best way to approach this project is to use the five phases of the project management life cycle, which align with most project management standards, methods and bodies of professional knowledge such as PMBOK:

1. Initiate 2. Plan 3. Implement/execute

4. Monitor and control

5. Close

This approach advantages you in two ways: the project management cycle will provide you with a basic framework to plan and manage your project to completion; and the framework will also allow you freedom within each phase to plan specific, custom activities to meet the needs of Max Lionel Realty for this project.

Using project management methodology helps organise any project, as well as help make the project smoother, more efficient and more effective. This section will take a very brief overview of the project management life cycle, as we will cover each phase in greater detail in the following sections.


In order to work effectively as a project manager, you must be able to:

understand the project management life cycle

have an awareness of the various types of project management software available.


2.1 – Project Management Cycle Student Workbook

The project management life cycle

A project is often described as having a limited life from beginning to end. Below we can see that the project management life cycle comprises five phases:

Note: Each of these phases will be covered in greater detail in later sections of this workbook.

Initiate Project ‘initiating’ involves:

● describing purpose, aims and deliverables

● stating parameters (timescales, budgets, range, scope, territory, authority)

● stating people involved and the way the team will work (frequency of meetings, decision-making process)

● establishing ‘break-points’ at which to review and check progress, and how progress and results will be measured.

Plan Project ‘planning’ phase enables the project manager to identify what has to be done, by whom, at what cost and when, and involves the following steps.

1. Defining and refining objectives.

2. Preparing the project plans and associated sub-plans for running the project.

3. Review of current operations.

4. Financial analysis of costs and benefits, including a budget.

5. Stakeholder analysis, including users and project team.

6. Gaining final allocation of funding.

7. Project charter including costs, tasks, deliverables and schedule.

Note: Some of the biggest problems that projects encounter arise from inadequate definition and poor planning.

Implement ‘Implementing’ the project involves:

● executing the project plans

● coordinating people and other resources to carry out the project plans.



Typically, this is the longest phase of the project. Implementing includes management of:

● change requests

● issues logs

● project monitoring

● status reports.

Monitor ‘Monitoring’ the project includes:

● ensuring that project objectives are met by monitoring and measuring progress regularly to identify variances from the plans

● taking corrective action when necessary; tracking variances and changes.

Close ‘Closing’ involves bringing the project to an orderly end by:

● formalising and communicating the acceptance or conclusion of a project

● handing over to the ongoing accountable area

● completing a project completion report

● holding a post-implementation review.

Learning activity: Organising a BBQ (or other project)

For each of the five basic process areas, outline the tasks you may be undertaking if you were to do one of the activities below:

● organising a BBQ

● making a wooden table

● purchasing a car

● implementing the CRM at Max Lionel Realty.

Initiating

Planning



Executing

Monitoring and controlling

Closing

Software and support

All projects should be assessed for the appropriate level of control required, as too much control is time consuming and too little control puts the project at risk.

The approach so far has been based on MS Office tools (Word and Excel); however, there are other options.

Project management software There is a plethora of project management software available free and for purchase. Some are suitable for simple ‘one-off’ projects, while others are more suitable for large consultancies managing complex multiple projects.

These systems are used to plan, monitor and control the project, ensuring it stays on track, on time and within budget. Project control occurs early in the project planning ends late in the project, at the post implementation review stage, with thorough involvement in each phase.

Desktop or web-based? Project management software can be purchased as a program that runs on your computer like Microsoft Word. This will give you a fast and graphically-intense style of interface.

Project management software is also available as a web application, accessed through an intranet or extranet using a web browser.



Open source or proprietary? Another consideration is using open source or proprietary software. Open source tends to have the advantage of low or no purchase cost, but it may or may not be well supported by the developer should you have problems with it.

Simple or complex? Another consideration is the complexity of the project. Some software (like Outlook) is more about simple task management and this may be sufficient for your needs. Other projects may require fully featured project management tools like MS Project.

Some products Some of the products available include:

● MS Project

● dotProject

● Remember The Milk

● MS Outlook

● MS Office Visio (Gantt chart template)

● MS Excel.

Tip: Criteria for good project management software

Below are some criteria that project managers should look for when deciding which project management software to use:

Collaboration

Collaboration is the way information and issues are communicated, including email, conference calls, meetings, intranets and web-based locations. Collaboration should be simple and intuitive.

Resource management

A project management program should manage and control the limited resources needed to run a project, such as people, money, time and equipment.

Project management

The processes, practices and specific activities needed to perform continuous and consistent evaluation, prioritisation, budgeting and selection of investments. This provides the greatest value and contribution to the strategic interest of the organisation.

Ease of use

All online project management has a learning curve, but the best software has features and instructions that are easy to find and simple enough for anyone to use.

Help/support

Project management services should offer a comprehensive user guide and help system. The manufacturer should offer a customer service email address or telephone number so you can get answers directly from the technical support team.



Learning activity: Project management software

Imagine that you a are a project manager in charge of the Max Lionel Realty CRM rollout.

Research at least three popular project management software programs.

Think about how you would expect project management software to assist you and list how you would expect each one to perform in the following areas.

Software 1:

Software 2:

Software 3:

Collaboration:

Resource management:

Project management:

Ease of use:

Help/support:

Which of the three project management software products do you consider to be most suitable for the project and why?



Section summary

This section took a brief outlook on the five phases of the project management life cycle – initiate, plan, implement, monitor and close. This section also examined how software can used to help support project management decisions.

Further reading

● TechMediaNetwork, 2014, ‘Mac Project Management Software Review’, TopTenReviews, viewed August 2014, <http://mac-project-management-software-review.toptenreviews.com/>.


Section checklist

Before you proceed to the next section, make sure that you can:

outline the five phases of the project management life cycle

describe the various types of project management software available.


2.2 – Initiating a Project Student Workbook

2.2 – Initiating a Project The project management cycle commences with the initiate stage.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step

The project initiation is the, ‘who, why, what, when and how’, part of the project. It defines all major aspects of a project and forms the basis for its management and the assessment of overall success.

‘Initiate’ is the first step in the project management life cycle

Case study : Max Lionel Realty: Initiating the project

Recall that Max Lionel Realty intends to implement a new customer relationship management (CRM) software system to meet organisational goals over the next three years. You have six months in which to initiate and close the project.

To begin the project you will first need to formally initiate the project. In this phase you will need to answer some key questions for the CRM rollout.

● What is the purpose of the project?

● What are the deliverables?

● What are the goals and stakeholder expectations?

● What are the project constraints?

● What human and physical resources are available?

● What skills do your people have?

● Do you need to train people to do the work the project requires?

● Who are your stakeholders?

You have decided to consult with key stakeholders and to document all the above key details of the project in a Project Initiation document, which includes details of agreed scope.

You have also decided to agree on a project charter with team members and stakeholders to ensure everyone is on the same page about procedural rules before you begin.


Student Workbook 2.2 – Initiating a Project


To increase the likelihood of project approval and success, a number of key activities are undertaken during the project’s conception, feasibility and initiation phases.

It is imperative that the project is thoroughly scoped, as project scope has a big impact on probability of project success.

To this end, during project initiation, you should be able to:

identify the purpose and aims

identify deliverables

develop goals and objectives

develop key success criteria

identify constraints

identify stakeholders

select the project team

develop project rules.

Purpose and aims

Have you ever worked on a project that is going nowhere fast? Or perhaps one that just got bigger and bigger? It could be that the project was poorly defined.

If you don’t know where you are going, every road will take you there!

Before you start anything, you need to ensure that somebody with authority has conducted sufficient research to establish:

● aims – what are we doing?

● purpose – why are we doing it?

● feasibility – can we do it?



Example: Is it feasible?

Bruno is a trainer in a small training company. His manager instructed him to work with the sales team and the new products team to develop a training program in warehousing for unemployed people.

When the project started, Bruno asked to see the market research in order to get a better understanding of the purpose and aims for the project. The sales team were unable to produce any research. When he asked what the rationale was for the project, the team were incapable of providing that either.

Despite raising these concerns with his manager, Bruno was asked to continue, which he did. About three weeks later, Bruno had the program put together and was ready to present to the manager, sales team and new product manager.

The manager chose not to implement the program because of lack of clear market interest and the risk of losing money in the program. Bruno wondered whether the program was ever feasible and was frustrated and angered by the wasted time.

Project deliverables

The project ‘deliverables’ are agreed upon, tangible results that are delivered by the project. Generally speaking, any planned outcome of the project that you can touch or see is a deliverable. Some examples of this could include products like:

● for a consultancy project, the deliverable may be a final report

● for an IT project, the deliverable may be software or hardware

● for an engineering project, the deliverable might be a product (like a newly designed car)

● for a construction project, the deliverable might be a bridge or building.

Learning activity: A new product

Consider a manufacturing business that makes power tools.

After having some success with angle grinders, the management team has concluded that they need to develop a cordless drill.

Apart from the drill itself, list three other possible, associated deliverables that may be required for this project to address this aim:



Consider a project run by your organisation or a project you are familiar with.

List all the deliverables:

List all the possible deliverables for the Max Lionel Realty CRM implementation:

Goals and objectives

A normal project tends to have a purpose, aim and targets. Goals and objectives are terms that are used interchangeably in project management and these are the targets that you aim for with your projects.

Project goals and objectives must be clearly defined. If all participants know and understand the project goals and objectives, they are better able to respond to changes and keep on track.

Goals Goals are statements of what the company wants to achieve. Examples of company goals are:

● to improve profitability

● to increase efficiency

● to capture a bigger market share

● to provide better customer service

● to improve employee training

● to reduce carbon emissions.

However, these goals are not specific enough. Goals need to include clear and measurable targets called objectives.



Objectives Objectives are the measurable outcomes that a goal sets out to achieve. For example, a retail tyre company might set one of the goals above; to provide better customer service. The objectives of this goal might include:

● greeting each new customer within one minute of entering the store

● refurbishing the reception area – new reception desk, carpet and wall paint

● installing a screened-off lounge area for customers to sit, have coffee and read magazines while waiting for tyres to be fitted

● offering a free tyre check, rotation and balance after 10,000 kilometres.

Tip

Each goal and objective statement needs to begin with a measurable and observable action verb. This clearly outlines the behaviour required and makes the action assessable. The answer to ‘has the objective been achieved?’ must be answerable with a yes or a no.

Goals and objectives need to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timeframed).

● Specific – a ‘short and sweet’ statement of what it is you want to achieve.

● Measurable – have a component that can be measured either quantitatively (as in quantity, you can count it) or qualitatively (as in quality, you can measure people’s feelings or satisfaction levels).

● Attainable – not too ‘pie in the sky’. Aim for what you believe you can realistically achieve in the short term.

● Relevant – objectives should align with the organisation’s vision and mission statement.

● Timeframed – an objective should have a specific start and expected finish date.

Example: Setting SMART goals

Frank is an IT officer in a medium-sized business in Australia. He has been asked by the IT manager to upgrade the operating systems in the Melbourne, Sydney and Perth offices. Frank finds that he gets requests at times that lack clear objectives. Frank has clarified this request by wording it as a SMART goal. Frank has identified that:

The IT team must upgrade all Melbourne, Sydney and Perth computer operating systems to Windows 7 by the EOY 2014.

This goal is SMART, since it defines:

● what is to be done (upgrade all computer operating systems)

● to what standard (all of them to Windows 7)

● by when (by the end of year (EOY) 2014).



Key performance indicators Key performance indicators (KPIs) tell you how you are progressing towards your goal. In the example above, a KPI could be:

● number of computers upgraded

● percentage of computers upgraded.

Key success criteria What outcomes will indicate that you’ve done a good job? You may need to clarify that with the customer or the project stakeholders. You may need to ask them questions like:

● ‘What do you believe will be the outcomes of the project?’

● ‘How do we know when we’ve completed the project successfully?’

● ‘How do we know if we have done a good job?’

Tip: Key performance indicators and key success criteria

A lot of project managers get confused on KPIs and key success criteria and objectives.

It helps to think of a road trip in a car. Let’s say you have to attend an event in Sydney on Friday night and you live in Melbourne.

● Where are you going? These are your goals and objectives. It might be something like you need to leave for Sydney on Friday morning and be there by Friday night.

● How can you tell how you are progressing? These are your key performance indicators. Speed, distance travelled, time, fuel, and so on. If you don’t keep an eye on your KPIs, you are doomed!

● How can you tell if you made it there successfully? This might include things like you arrived at the event on time, safe and healthy, didn’t run out of petrol and the car didn’t break down.

Project parameters

Unfortunately project management types often don’t speak in plain English. Words like parameters, scope, assets, etc., often sound impressive but are not well understood by anyone. ‘Project parameters’ is one such term.

Project parameters are the limits or constraints of the project. Everything has limits and so should your projects. Typical constraints include:

● deliverables of the project (scope)

● features of the deliverable (also scope)

● time (timescales)

● money (budgets)

● location (territory)

● control and influence (authority).



Recall the triple constraint of project management discussed earlier: scope, time, and cost (resources). Change in one constraint inevitably impacts others and may impact the final outcome of your project. Constraints such as scope must be monitored and managed by the project manager. Otherwise, the project could start to run away.

Three certainties in a project manager’s life: Death, taxes and scope creep!

Everyone knows how scope changes can cause problems. Scope will change, you have to expect this.

As projects develop, more complications will creep in. Many things can’t be foreseen until you implement the project. So you need to have some methods for managing it. (These will be investigated in the next section on planning).

Example: Feature creep

Feature creep is a type of scope creep. In this case, a manufacturing business was making cordless drills for an Australian retail business.

When they defined the product originally, nobody felt it was worth mentioning the need for a spare battery. The retailer assumed the manufacturer thought the same way they did. However, the manufacturer didn’t intend to provide it unless the retailer specified it.

When defining scope, make sure you look at it from at least three different perspectives. Some recommended definitions include:

● define deliverables

● define functionality

● define technical structure.

Workshop the scope with the stakeholders (this may include the customer).

Learning activity: Review scoping document

In Appendix 2 of this Student Workbook, you’ll find a scoping document.

Consider the Max Lionel Realty CRM rollout.

Try completing that document with that example in mind.

You may want to role-play this with a fellow learner, acting as the project manager while they play one of the stakeholders.



Selecting the team

In organisations that are familiar with project management methodologies, the team selection may be completed at the same time as the project is initiated.

This may be because:

● there is no choice about which resources will be used

● projects do not enter the definition phase unless approval has been given.

Effective teams An effective team is a group of people who act together and are committed to a common purpose or goal.

A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team. Teams normally have members with complementary skills. They generate synergy through a coordinated effort which allows each member to maximise his or her strengths and minimise his or her weaknesses.

Effective teams can:

● solve problems better

● tackle bigger and more complex issues

● create a sense of wellbeing and purpose

● make better use of resources

● facilitate work flexibility.

However, poorly functioning teams can also be sources of conflict and stress.

Team skills It is important to match project task requirements with the project team’s skills. You may require the assistance of human resources professional to help you establish this.

Tip: Can you do it?

It is essential to have a skills matrix for your project team. You need to be able identify, at a glance, what skills and experience your project team has … or doesn’t have.

This information is often presented in a table. In the example shown below, skills required for the project are listed down the rows and across the columns, the project team members are shown.

Each team member is given a rating for their level of competence in each skill.



The skills gaps can be easily identified and then addressed through training, recruiting or outsourcing.

In addition to technical skills, in order to work in a team, team members must have some specific team skills. Some essential skills are:

● communication

● conflict resolution

● group decision making

● problem-solving

● time management.

Identifying the stakeholders

When you are initiating a project, it is important that you identify all of the ‘stakeholders’ of the project.

The project team may include some of the stakeholders, but it is a common mistake on smaller projects to neglect the needs and wants of the stakeholders.

The project manager needs to spend some time and effort in identifying all of the stakeholders.

It helps to think of project stakeholders as those internal and external people or groups who:

● have an interest in a project

● are affected by a project

● sponsor a project

● can otherwise influence a project (positively or negatively).



Example: Improving meat merchandising

A supermarket’s management team has identified that the meat and poultry department is underperforming. They want to improve the quality standards of the product as well as merchandise and market more effectively.

A small project team has been established, but in addition to the customers, there are a number of stakeholders in this project, including:

● butchers

● merchandising/sales staff

● managers

● buyers

● supply chain (inward goods)

● administration.

Getting approval The project initiation document will need to be formally approved and signed off by the project owner at the end of the initiation stage of the project.

Note: If the scope is not defined up front it is almost impossible to control it throughout the project.



Key documents and tools

There are a number of documents that are relevant in this stage of the project management cycle. These include:

● project initiation document

● scoping document

● project charter

● skills matrix.

Learning activity: Project initiation document

An integral part of formal project methodologies such as PRINCE2, is a project initiation document (PID) which brings together the key information needed to start a project on a sound basis.

The purpose of the project initiation document is to ensure that the project has a complete and sound basis before there is any major commitment to the project and to act as a base document against which the project’s progress can be assessed.

Refer to Appendix 4 for an example template of a project initiation document.

Examine the template and write down any additional benefits of having a project initiation document.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRINCE2


Section summary

You should now understand the importance of thoroughly scoping your project during initiation and gaining approval to proceed from the project sponsor.

Project scope includes the project charter, project sponsor, project manager and project team. Project scope documents can include a business case and feasibility study.

Further reading

● Jordan, A., 2012, ‘Your project’s approved ... now what?’, ProjectManagement.com, viewed August 2014, <http://www.projectmanagement.com/articles/275421/ Your-Projects-Approved---Now-What->.


Section checklist


identify the purpose and aims

identify deliverables

develop goals and objectives

develop key success criteria

identify constraints

identify stakeholders

select the project team

develop project rules.


2.3 – Planning a Project Student Workbook

2.3 – Planning a Project Planning is a critical stage in the project management cycle. To ensure project success, it is necessary to undertake rigorous planning activities.

There’s an old saying: ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’.

While you may be tempted to start the actual work immediately, planning the project is an essential activity that will greatly increase the likelihood of the project’s success, saving time in the long run, and ensuring there are no last minute crises.

‘Plan’ is the second step in the project management life cycle

Case study: Max Lionel Realty: Planning the implementation of the CRM

You have now completed the initiation of the CRM rollout project at Max Lionel Realty. Kim Sweeney, the project sponsor, senior management and other key stakeholders have agreed on the main goals and project parameters.

Among other tasks, your project will include the following:

● You will need to ensure the right system is purchased to meet business needs to organise and retrieve client information.

● You will need to install software.

● You will need to train agents to use the system to a minimum defined level of competence.

To manage the project and schedule to complete the project in six months and to agreed specifications, you will need to perform a number of management tasks. These tasks include developing a work breakdown structure (WBS) and resource estimation (budget), project plan or schedule, team building, risk assessment and development of contingency planning and obtaining approval for the planning.

The cost of the system and implementation will be significant, so it will make sense for Max Lionel Realty to amortise the expense of the project over a number of years. The CFO, Riz Mehra will require you to create a detailed project budget for reporting purposes.

Planning involves analysing the project and breaking it down into smaller tasks or activities.

The plan is only as good as the information, effort and estimates that go into it. The work required needs to be accurately estimated. Some tasks can be done in parallel while others need to be done sequentially.


Student Workbook 2.3 – Planning a Project

There are no good project managers – only lucky ones. The more you plan, the luckier you get!


As a project manager planning a project, you will need to be able to:

develop a project plan

build the team

develop and approve a budget

develop risk management plans

identify and consult with team members

obtain approval for project plan

use project management tools.

Planning the project

The big picture A plan is a blueprint for how the project’s goals are to be achieved. Plans outline the ‘how, when, where, what, why and who’. Plans are constantly monitored to ensure that changes in the operating environment are responded to effectively and efficiently.

A project manager relies on a range of different plans to guide their operations at different levels. Different types of plans have different specific purposes, but generally they all provide guidance for those wishing to find out about the operation of business.

When creating workgroup plans, you will need to know about the organisation’s range of other plans so that yours can be designed to align with them.

Workgroup plans designed for a project Workgroup plans are developed by project managers to outline the specific actions required for a group of workers over a specified time period. They provide a way to track performance and assess achievement.

A workgroup plan can be written for routine daily, weekly or monthly activities. They can also be prepared for projects and one-off events. Like all plans, they will include the required human, physical and financial resources as well as timeframes and targets.

Workgroup plans must take into account two key considerations.

1. The desired outcome of the project.

2. The needs of the customer.



Creating workgroup plans is a vital step in project, because they set out how tasks are to be completed, by who, when, where and what targets need to be reached. All parties involved in the work task can then access the plan to find out about it.

As a project manager, there are a wide range of different workgroup plans that you may be involved in preparing and/or using, including:

● budgetary plans

● production plans

● reporting plans

● sales plans

● training plans

● project plans

● team and individual learning goals

● team participation

● work schedules.

The nature of each of these plans varies widely from one to another, and also based on the size and complexity of the work task being undertaken, the size of the organisation and a wide variety of other factors.

Scenario: Tania’s product launch

Tania works for a marketing company in the city. They have just won a new client, a major cosmetics company called Rouge.

Tania’s manager, Lou, has delegated the first project with the new client to Tania, as he knows that she is highly experienced. The project involves preparing promotional material and a media show for a new range of perfume. Tania is given a budget to work with and the contact details of Rouge’s marketing manager, Madge.

Tania knows that the best way to manage a project like this is to create a workgroup plan in order to focus the team’s activities, and to which everyone can refer to find out the project requirements and their roles. In order to create this, Tania begins gathering the necessary information.

Tania contacts Madge to clarify the exact details of the launch and to confirm Rouge’s needs. The launch is being held in a hotel in the city in six weeks’ time. Tania’s company are to design a range of flyers and posters and a media show to be broadcast at the launch luncheon.



Now she understands the project requirements, Tania finalises her plan. She defines the project goal as:

● develop promotional material and implement a media show for Rouge, to the satisfaction of all parties.

She sets objectives:

● design and confirm an advertising theme

● create print-based promotional materials

● create an advertising film

● organise and run promotional show within a timeframe of six weeks.

With a clear goal and objectives set for the project, Tania can now begin creating the rest of her workgroup plan. To do this, she will need to define the actions that are required to achieve each objective, evaluate the human, physical and financial resources at her disposal, develop a schedule and set key performance indicators so that she can monitor the project’s progress and success.

Planning considerations No company operates in isolation; we are all a part of a bigger corporate, social and physical environment. Organisations are becoming increasingly aware of their role as a corporate citizen. Business planning now takes into account a wide range of factors, including:

Social How does the company engage the local and wider community as a corporate citizen? Do they give back to the community in some way?

Cultural Do the company’s operations take into account the cultural heritage of the area with which it interacts? Does it have a management plan that considers all stakeholders in the project?

Ethical Is the company upholding the ethical expectations and standards of the community? Will its operations inflict any harm on another person?

Environmental Will the company cause harm to the environment? Is there a plan for sustainable use of resources, waste and pollution management and site restoration?

Legal Does the company’s project meet the requirements of governing legislation and organisational standards?



Learning activity: Ethical planning

Briefly describe how your company (or a company you know of) meets its obligations under the five broad categories listed above. If you are unsure, ask someone from the human resources department.

Social:

Cultural:

Ethical:

Environmental:

Legal:



Structure of a workgroup plan Workgroup plans follow the standard format of most plans. A structure for a project plan is set out below.

Project Title

The Project aim is a short overview of what the project is setting out to achieve. It should be no more than one small paragraph.

Goals are the broad desired outcome, written using SMART principles.

Objectives are the measurable outcomes that a goal sets out to achieve. There can be several objectives for each goal.

Actions are the specific tasks required to achieve the objectives. These should clearly identify the ‘who, what, when, where and how’.

Resources: There are three common categories of resources.

● Human – what staff, paid and/or volunteer, will be required to achieve the objective?

● Physical – what physical requirements are needed, e.g. equipment, consumables, and capital items?

● Financial – each goal should include a budget of financial requirements.

Outcomes/performance indicators are the specific measures that will tell you that the action has been achieved.

Tip

For most projects, limit the number of goals, objectives and actions to no more than five. This will keep the plan manageable.

Workgroup planning template example The following example uses the Workgroup planning template in Appendix 2 (under heading 1.2 – Planning) to show how a workgroup plan can be formalised and tabled. In this case it is for a small project.

Project aim

Goals

Objectives

Actions

Resources

Outcomes



Remember, there are many different possibilities for setting out workgroup plans. Continue to research and develop a format that works for your own project.

Project title Install a secure chemical storage unit at a fruit packing shed.

Project aim To install a chemical storage unit that meets industry regulations for the safe and secure storage of all industrial and agricultural chemicals used in the operation of the packing facility.

Goal 1 Identify the requirements of industry regulations for safe and secure chemical storage.

Objective 1.1 Obtain written copies of all relevant regulations.

Action Action 1.1.1

Admin Officer conducts an internet search and prints off regulations, standards and codes of practice.

Action 1.1.2

Admin Officer emails Department of Primary Industries (DPI) to request relevant information.

Action 1.1.3

Admin officer visits the Farmsafe Extension Officer to seek advice on regulations.

Timeframe End of project week 1 (insert actual date).

Human resources

Admin Officer x 6 hours.

Physical resources

Existing office equipment and vehicle.

Vehicle costs for visit to Farmsafe office.

Financial resources

Admin Officer x 6 hrs @ $22 = $132

Vehicle x 120km @ 0.70 = $84

Subtotal = $216

Performance indicators

Action 1.1.1

Printed copies of regulations.

Action 1.1.2

Information received from DPI.

Action 1.1.3

Written summary of meeting with Farmsafe Extension Officer.

Objective 1.2 Seek approval from the DPI for the chemical storage unit.

Action Action 1.2.1

Continue as above until all the project goals are written into the plan.

Goal 2 Continue as with Goal 1 above.



Learning activity: Workgroup plan

Use the workgroup planning template in Appendix 2, heading 1.2 – Planning, to develop a workgroup plan for a project or activity that is relevant to your work. Complete at least one goal with all objectives, actions, resources and performance indicators. Alternatively, use the Max Lionel Realty case study project.



Identify the tasks with a work breakdown structure

When developing a project plan a key document will be the work breakdown structure (WBS). Large projects are often organised by breaking them down into smaller and smaller tasks until they are a collection of defined ‘work packages’.

A WBS enables:

● more accurate and specific definition and organisation of the scope of the total project

● assignment of responsibilities, resource allocation, monitoring the project, and controlling the project

● double checking of all the deliverables’ specifics with stakeholders, ensuring no omissions or overlaps.

Inputs to the work breakdown structure

● project scope statement

● project scope management plan

● organisational process assets

● approved change requests

WBS

Work breakdown structure outputs

● work breakdown structure (a list of broken down deliverables)

● WBS dictionary (a document that describes each component in the WBS)

● scope baseline

● project scope statement (updates)

● project scope management plan (updates)

● requested changes



Example: Work breakdown structure

Weddings tend to be sizeable projects in themselves. Imagine yourself as a wedding planner with an understanding that there are many tasks that need to be organised. A WBS is a good way to list and organise them all in one place.

The work breakdown needs to provide the project manager with enough detail to:

● prepare an accurate budget

● accurately schedule the work

● indicate the actual effort required to those performing each task.

Developing the WBS is a key process for identifying and limiting the scope of a project.

The following is an example of a work breakdown structure for the banquet segment of Sally’s upcoming conference.

Example: Work breakdown structure (WBS)



Building the team

Many organisations undertake team-building activities in order to get their team functioning effectively.

While skills like effective communication techniques and an understanding of group development processes are important for turning groups into cohesive and effective teams, there are often other factors to be considered.

These can include:

● team size – cohesion is easier to generate in small, rather than large teams

● amount of time teams spend together

● past successes – these reinforce a positive commitment to the team and the valuing of individual team members.

Example: Team, group or herd?

The term ‘team leader’ as the name suggests is about being able to ‘lead’ a team. That of course assumes that a ‘team’ exists.

Even though people are bought together as a work group they are not automatically a team, even if that is their title, i.e. ‘the accounting team’.

A team needs to have a clear picture of why it exists and how its contribution will support the organisation in reaching goals and objectives. A team vision is important when trying to establish your team’s goals and objectives.

Each team member should understand their part in the team and how their individual contributions impacts on the team’s success.

Stages of team development Be aware of the stages of team development. As a project manager, you need to get your team performing as quickly as possible.

For an ad hoc team or a team that has come together for a specific project, the curve might appear as the one that follows.

Stages of group development for a project team



Assigning tasks

When you initiate the project, you will need to identify the stakeholders and the team members. However, now that you are planning project tasks and have undertaken some scheduling, you will need to start assigning people to tasks.

A project manager needs to define the parameters of each project team member’s responsibility. As a project manager, you will need to examine your own overall responsibility of the project as well as individual team members within the project, how variations to the project will affect how the project is managed and who is responsible for each task.

It is important that each member of your project team has a series of clearly defined responsibilities to ensure that they understand exactly what they should do and what every other team member is doing. This is essentially defining the scope of responsibility. Creating clear tasks and responsibilities will also ensure that team members don’t undertake tasks that they are not authorised to do (or even ensure that they aren’t doing less than they should be!).

Example: Who will do it?

Below is an example of a skill matrix that will help allocate responsibilities for each team member based on their skill and ability.

A well prepared skills matrix gives you a good indication, at a glance, at who can carry out different tasks.



Scheduling the work

Once you have identified all of the tasks, you can start estimating duration of tasks and preparing schedules.

To estimate the duration of the project, consider:

● time required to complete each task

● duration of each task

● dependencies among the tasks.

Schedule the tasks using a network diagram or Gantt chart.

A Gantt chart is like a horizontal bar chart. It can show not only tasks and milestones but also dependencies.

Example: Gantt chart

In a Gantt chart, the tasks appear as bars and the milestones as diamonds.

Example: PERT chart

Drawing tasks in PERT charts, network diagrams or flowcharts can help you identify concurrent tasks.

Action plans are lists of tasks that indicate:

● tasks to be done and who is responsible to complete the task

● costs comprising both time and/or money.



Example: Action plan

This example shows a number of activities undertaken by a worker to improve workflow in their work area.

Objective/goal: To reduce waste in work cell

Action How? Who? When? Status

Consult Discussed project with cell. Jared/Cell Feb 14

Spaghetti diagram

To help visualise movement in cell.

Jared Mar 14

Value stream map

To help visualise wasteful processes.

Jared April 14

Pareto charts To identify most significant waste.

Jared April 14

Report results Toolbox meeting in the cell. Jared/Cell/ Supervisor

May 14

Success in actioning the plan depends on how well the project manager:

● develops the project team

● communicates with stakeholders

● tracks the project’s performance

● modifies plans when required.

Tip: Action plans, Gantt charts, schedules

Fortunately, with modern project management software, you don’t have to choose between a Gantt chart or a schedule. If you put your tasks in correctly, you can display your data in a number of ways.

The screenshot below is from a free project management software program called ‘dot Project’. (See <http://www.dotproject.net/>.)

The project data can be displayed as Gantt charts, task lists, reports, and so on.



Tip: A note on bigger projects

When managing larger/more complex projects:

● understand project management frameworks

● specify parameters and constraints

● specify team selection criteria

● identify deliverables and associated performance criteria

● perform thorough risk management analysis and planning

● use network diagrams to schedule tasks

● manage and record variations to project scope

● understand the capacity of project management software.

Remember, ‘prevention is better than cure’. Without a project definition and project plan, you risk scope change, different perceptions and expectations from stakeholders and a very difficult project to manage.

Learning activity: How do I make a Gantt chart in Excel?

For small projects, you may find that you have a need to create a Gantt chart but you don’t have the budget or need for project management software.

You can actually make simple Gantt charts in Excel by using the ‘stacked bar chart’ type available in Excel. The following sites will show you how:

● ‘Create a Gantt chart in Excel’, Microsoft Office Online, viewed August 2014, <http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HA010346051033.aspx>.

● ‘Gantt chart template for Excel’, Vertex42: A guide to Excel in everything, viewed August 2014, <http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/excel-gantt-chart.html>.

Review the sites above and make note of anything important. Then, use Excel to create a Gantt chart of your own.



Learning activity: Scheduling work at Callaghan Collision Centre

Watch the video ‘BSBPMG510A: Scheduling work at Callaghan Collision Centre’ on IBSA’s YouTube channel at <http://youtu.be/42Crp4Vx6ds>.

Answer the following questions.

List the various functions that the program ScheduleBoss allows the team at Callaghan Collision Centre to perform.

The project management software that Callaghan Collision centre uses to allocate tasks displays data in a Gantt resource chart. Using a chart like this, how can you distinguish between different types of tasks e.g. buff and polish, paint, repair, etc.?



Develop a budget

The project budget is the estimate of the costs of the project. These costs will likely include labour, materials, and other related expenses. The project budget is often broken down into specific tasks, with amounts assigned to each task.

Example: Project budget

Project Name:

Income Inc. GST Ex. GST

Stage 1 $5,000

Stage 2 $5,000

Total Income $10,000

Expense Inc. GST Ex. GST

Design $600

Development $5,000

Graphics $300

QA 1 $300

QA 2 $400

Editing $700

Subtotal $7,300

Contingency (+10%) $1,000

TOTAL $18,300

Project Sponsor:

Version: 1 Project Client:

Project Manager:

Date: File Name:

Riskplan.doc Page 1 of x



Managing risk

In any project, things don’t always go as planned. Unexpected events can threaten your project outcomes.

Risk management is the systematic identification, assessment and control of risks to business or project objectives. Risk management approaches, such as the methodology described in the recognised Australian standard for risk management, AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009, include the following phases (or similar) as applied to projects:

1. Identify and characterise potential threats to the project.

2. Determine the risk (i.e. analyse the probability and impact of these occurring).

3. Evaluate the acceptability of the risk with respect to the project and business objectives.

4. Identify strategies to manage the risk.

5. Prioritise risk reduction measures based on a strategy.

Review and monitor the risks As a project manager, you are responsible for managing the risk in the project. In practise, this means keeping a register of potential risks to project success and reviewing their status periodically throughout the project.

It helps to review risks in terms of their probability and impact. For example, a high priority risk is one that combines serious consequences (impact) with a high probability of the risk occurring.

You may want to add risk assessment to your project meeting agendas.



Common project risks When you are planning the project, you need to consider all of the ‘what if’s’, i.e. what if:

● the client goes bankrupt or can’t pay?

● I lose a key member of my project team?

● I have issues with one of my suppliers?

The following list contains a number of typical risks you may need to consider when undertaking a project.

Type of risk Impact

Project schedule Increased project time

Budgets/funding Increased cost

Personnel issues Loss of key team member – not enough team members for the project

Quality Doesn’t meet standards

Key stakeholder consensus Conflicts and project delays

Scope changes Increased project time and cost

Project plan Increased project time and cost, impact on quality, poor direction and communication

Project management methodology

Increased project time and cost

Business risk Poor public image

Management risk Re-organisation resulting in loss of team members

Vendor issues Delivery delays

Legal issues Increased costs, poor public image

Political issues Poor public image

Environment risk Increased costs, delays to schedule, poor public image

Weather or natural disasters Schedule delays, delivery delays, increased costs

Technology risks Not available when needed

Project complexity Inexperience of project team

Project manager skills Inexperience of project manager

Team skills and abilities Inexperience of team members, lack of training



Tip: Develop a risk register

With your project team, it is recommended that you brainstorm the potential project risks.

Recording this in a project ‘risk register’ is a good idea. That way you can be sure not to miss something that may threaten your project outcome if left unmanaged.

Note: An example of a risk register can be found on the Tasmanian Government’s website:


Risk management strategies Identifying and assessing risk is critical, but you also need to manage the risk. Strategies to manage risk fall into these categories:

We can see these four categories demonstrated on a risk matrix, where the result of a particular event stemming from exposure to a specific risk, is plotted against the likelihood of the event occurring. From the diagram below it is easy to see that projects with high-risk and high-impact should try to be avoided at all costs, as ideally the project tries to retain a low risk and low business impact strategy.

Avoid (eliminate)

Reduce (mitigate)

Transfer (outsource or

insure)

Retain (accept and

budget)



A good tool for addressing the impact that specific events may have on a project is to undertake a ‘risk management plan’. You may not need a documented risk management plan for all risks, but you will definitely require this for the high probability/high impact risks. The following is an example of a project manager assessing the risk to his project for three potential dangers to the project.

Example: Risk assessment form

Risk Likelihood (H/M/L)

Impact (H/M/L)

Risk response (contingency strategies) Responsible

Equipment supplier can’t make delivery

H H Source alternative suppliers

PM

Project team members don’t have capability

H H Commence training/mentoring program prior to implementation

PM

Bugs are identified with software

H L Patches to be installed

PM

Project Sponsor: Bob Jenkins

Version: 1 Project Client: Innovative Widgets

Project Manager: Paul Miloknay

Date: 19/05/20XX

File Name: RiskPlan.doc

Page 1 of 1

Develop a communication plan

How are you going to communicate with the project team? Whose role is it to communicate with the stakeholders and management?

A good communication plan will tell the stakeholder the following information.

1. What information needs to be communicated.

2. Who is the target audience.

3. Why (purpose – why do they need to know).

4. When (frequency).

5. How will it be delivered (e.g. Regularly updated website, regular report, meeting, etc.).

6. Who is responsible to communicate this information.

Good communications among all stakeholders is critical for project success.



Scenario: Progress reporting

Bob was responsible for rolling out a national project for improving standard work procedures. The project required a small project team that would travel state to state consulting, presenting and training staff in new processes.

The national sales manager, Frank, was also involved in the project and saw their role as dealing with the top level management. Bob was happy with that and sent monthly project reports to Frank. Bob assumed that since Frank was dealing with the client management, that Frank would be sending the progress reports on to the managers.

About three months down the track, Bob and Frank’s Director pulls them into his office for a ‘please explain’. The top level management of the client had no idea about what was going on and asked for a status report. Bob and Frank’s Director wanted to know why management weren’t getting the report.

It turns out that Frank hadn’t been forwarding the reports. Bob assumed it was Frank’s job. Frank assumed it was Bob’s job.

As this scenario illustrates, you must have a good communication strategy in place in order for the project to be successful.

Plan to communicate and communicate the plan.

Example: A communication plan



A communication plan comprises strategies to communicate to stakeholders identified in the project proposal and any new stakeholders subsequently determined who need to be informed of the project’s progress.

Websites are often used to communicate the latest project updates to a target audience. Information included on the website can include:

● news stories relevant to the work of the group

● discussion boards (which could be led by a team member)

● a calendar of relevant events and deadlines

● a list of projects being conducted by sub-teams, including their status and priority

● shared files – such as administrative documents, relevant research, meeting notes

● other helpful web links.

Learning activity: Communication plan

Consider a previous project you have run or one you were involved in or familiar with. Alternatively use the Max Lionel Realty case study project.

Think of some of the major pieces of information that needed to be communicated to customers and other staff members.

Complete a communication plan.

You may want to use the Communication Plan template that is located in Appendix 4.

Consult with team members

Now that all the preliminary planning is completed, you need to get team and stakeholder feedback.

As the project manager, you will need to communicate the project plan to the team and actively get their input and feedback. After all, they are the ones who have to do it, so they should at least understand what they are meant to be doing and have some input into how it will be done.

An effective way is to provide relevant documentation and conduct a follow-up meeting. At the meeting, record your team’s feedback and affirm what you have agreed on by distributing minutes of your meetings with them.



Get training

While it is an unwritten rule of project management that you don’t recruit team members who don’t have the capacity to do the task, in reality, it rarely works that way.

You may need to source training for people before the project commences.

Example: Gap training

Neil is a project manager in a small business owned by Jim. Jim has asked Neil to implement a process improvement project relating to the computer production department.

Jim’s cousin Theo works in music production and is influential but not very capable at using advanced computer software, and Jim has insisted that Theo is part of the project.

As a result, Neil has had to source training for Theo. Theo underwent a basic computer systems course and used his current production skills to relate his strengths towards his new role. After the training, he was a much more valuable contributor to the team.

Obtain approval for project plan

Before you start implementing your project, make sure that you communicate the plan to relevant stakeholders and that you are given the necessary approval for the project to go ahead. This may include:

● submitting reports/presentations to management or other stakeholders

● conducting a project approval meeting.

The key to project approval meetings is to be ready with options and alternatives for finishing earlier, spending less money and using alternative resources. Good project managers are eager to change the plan to fit senior management needs and preferences as long as the scope, budget and duration are feasible. Remember, trade-offs are important!

Case study: Peter jumps the gun

Peter is part of a project team that is reorganising a work area in a factory. A project planning process has been put in place requiring that all the stakeholders are consulted on any changes before implementation occurs.

Peter is enthusiastic (maybe too enthusiastic) about the changes in his team’s area. His team have discussed their ideas with their supervisor and the supervisor has agreed to take them to the next planning meeting for approval.

While his supervisor was away on the Friday, Peter got sick of waiting. He decided to take the opportunity to make the improvement. After all, all of his team members were convinced that the improvement was going to make their jobs easier, so why not just do it?



Monday morning, all hell breaks loose. When Peter’s supervisor returns, the other supervisors are waiting for her. Apparently, while the changes made Peter’s area work better, the changes had a negative effect on the adjacent areas.

Section summary

You should now understand the importance of completing a project plan and obtaining sign-off by the project sponsor.

Included in the project plan are work breakdown structure, risk management plan and communications plan.

The project plan is your ‘road map’ to the completion of your project.

Further reading

● ‘Create a Gantt chart in Excel’, Microsoft Office Online, viewed August 2014, <http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HA010346051033.aspx>.

● ‘Gantt chart template for Excel’, Vertex42: A guide to Excel in everything, viewed August 2014, <http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/excel-gantt-chart.html>.


● Standards Australia, 2009, AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 Risk management – Principles and guidelines, SAI Global.


Section checklist


develop a project plan

build the team

develop risk management plans

identify and consult with team members

obtain approval for project plan

use project management tools.


Student Workbook 2.4 – Implementing a Project Plan

2.4 – Implementing a Project Plan Implementing is when you are doing all of the ‘work’ in the project management cycle.

A badly planned project will take three times longer than expected – a well planned project only twice

as long as expected.

If you have scoped and planned well, your chances of success are greatly improve. However, the real test is implementation.

‘Implement’ is the third step in the project management life cycle

Case study: Max Lionel Realty: Turning the plan into action

You are now ready to implement the rollout of the CRM system at Max Lionel Realty. You have created a work breakdown structure (WBS). From the WBS you have been about to estimate resource duration, effort and cost. You have created a project plan or schedule and incorporated risk management in the form of buffers and contingency plans. You have also developed a communications plan to keep key stakeholders on side throughout the life of the project.

Your previous project management experience has taught you several important lessons about implementing projects:

● Regularly monitor small units of work, so that people are held regularly accountable.

● Act quickly to respond to issues and coach poor team performers.

● Expect, even embrace, change:

○ Issues will occur, but if you have taken actions to identify, control and plan for contingencies, you should be able to manage these; moreover, change is not necessarily bad for a project: new tools or technology may become available to speed progress; business needs and stakeholder expectations may change or become clearer over the course of the project. Taking an iterative, agile approach to planning and replanning is often the best approach to take to project management.

You will need to be calm, resourceful, flexible and fair with your team. Use your project plan as a guide to keep your project on track.

Project management is management by objectives. Implementing the project consists of the processes used to complete the objectives defined in the project plan in order to accomplish the project’s outcomes. Typically, this is the longest phase of the project.


2.4 – Implementing a Project Plan Student Workbook


As a project manager implementing your plan, you will need to be able to:

manage tasks

solve problems

coach your team.

Learning activity: Internet research

Project management is more than just managing a schedule. Using the internet, search for the following terms:

● leadership style

● coaching.

What is the difference between managing and leading?

What leadership styles are there? What style are you? How can you learn from the other styles to improve your leadership of projects?

What is coaching?

Considering what you have learned about project management and methodologies so far, how would you apply leadership attributes and coaching to your implementation of projects?



Managing the project team

It is important that project managers are able to manage their team and activities through meetings, communicating, supporting, and helping with decisions (but not making them for people who can make them for themselves).

One of the big challenges for a project manager is deciding how much independence to give for each specific task. Stringent parameters and lots of checking are necessary for team members who like clear instructions, but this approach may result in the kiss of death to experienced, entrepreneurial and creative people. For the latter, they tend to prefer a wider brief, more freedom, and less checking.

Manage people by the results they get – not how they get them. It is important for project managers to differentiate in personality and working styles in their team. Misunderstanding personal styles can get in the way of team cooperation (that’s why their role here is to enable and translate). Face-to-face meetings, when you can bring team members together, are generally the best way to avoid issues and relationships becoming too personalised and emotional. It is important to constantly communicate the progress and successes of the project regularly to everyone.

Give the people in your team the recognition, particularly when someone high up expresses satisfaction, while trying not to accept plaudits yourself. Conversely, a good project manager must be able to stand up and take the blame for anything that goes wrong – and be sure to never ‘dump’ problems or stresses on anyone in the project team. As project manager, any problem is always ultimately down to you anyway.

Use empathy and conflict handling techniques, and look out for signs of stress and manage it accordingly. A happy, positive team with a basic plan will outperform a miserable team with a brilliant plan every time.

Tip

Many successful leaders find their success using this simple philosophy:

‘Praise loudly; blame softly’.

Starting out You may want to commence implementation with a meeting to ‘kick-off’ the project and reiterate the project details with the team.

An effective start-up meeting will ensure that all project team members have an understanding of:

● the project objectives

● scope and constraints

● roles and responsibilities in the project

● work plan (deliverables and milestones)

● tracking their project time

● finding project documentation.



They should have a good handle on the details but may need to be refocused since considerable time may have passed between planning and implementation.

Stick to your plans

In the previous section, you identified plans and strategies. These included:

● project plan

● communication plan

● risk plan

● budget.

Implementing requires you to follow these plans and strategies and adjust as necessary.

Use workplace systems and resources Keep in mind that as you are implementing the project, success or failure doesn’t all fall on your shoulders. The whole organisation should have a stake in your success or failure.

Providing yourself with project management tools to assist your project team is a quick and easy way to help guide your project down the correct path. Additional tools used in projected management can often include:

Project management software

Such as MS Project and SEER software.

Stakeholders and sponsors

Ask people who have an interest in your project if they are willing to share in any of the tasks or if they are able to contribute in other ways such as mentoring staff or donating money or time.

Other workplace resources

It is amazing how often resources in the workplace get underutilised. Having a thorough knowledge of resources available for use can be a big contributor as to whether a project will meet its budgetary requirements as well as concluding in a timely fashion. A good project manager is never afraid to search and ask for additional people or equipment that will help give the project the edge it needs. Remember: never be afraid to ask for additional assistance.



Tip: Critical success factors

Critical success factors (CSFs) are things that are needed for the project to be successful.

Identifying critical success factors is important as it allows a project team to focus their efforts on building their capabilities to meet the CSFs, or even allow the project manager to decide if they have the capability to build the requirements necessary to meet CSFs.

Note that CSFs are often confused with KPIs. KPIs measure the achievement of your project goals and objectives to indicate how you are performing.

A critical success factor helps the business improve. Without them, you can’t achieve your goals and objectives. For example:

● KPI = number of workplace injuries

● CSF = appointment of a WHS advisor to assist in improving safety.

Note also that, in various project management sources and contexts, the term Critical Success Factors may also, confusingly, refer to:

● project objectives as quantified and measured by KPIs

● project activities considered key to project success, such as gaining stakeholder agreement, risk management, etc.

Solving problems

Without a doubt, you will be faced with problems at some point during the project.

Murphy’s law: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong!

Project managers are accountable for making short- and medium-term decisions to ensure the goal of the organisation is achieved. In doing so they must be able to identify and solve problems. Good problem-solving skills are essential for any project manager to possess.

Problem-solving process The process for identifying and solving problems contains three basic steps:

1. Defining the problem.

2. Developing, weighing and selecting alternative solutions.

3. Implementing the selected solution/s.



The flow of these steps has these processes:

Using this flow requires flexibility. While the flow may appear to move from step to step, real life is somewhat different.

The flow, in use, overlaps. For example, information gathering occurs at all steps. New information may force the redefinition of the problem. Some steps, for some problems may be shortened or missed altogether.

Problem-solving methods There are countless methods at disposal for a project manager to use problem-solving methods. Some suggested methods include:

● 5-Whys approach

● root cause analysis (fish bone diagrams)

● 8 Disciplines (8Ds).

5-Whys: The 5-Whys is a method used to explore the cause/effect relationships underlying a particular problem. Ultimately, the goal of applying the 5-Whys method is to continuously ask ‘why’ questions until a solution has been determined to the root cause of a defect or problem.8

8 A. Walsh, 2011, ‘5 Why’s’, Chart it now, viewed August 2014, <http://www.chartitnow.com/5_Whys.html>.

define the problem

gather information

develop alternatives

weigh alternatives

select best option

implement solution

monitor progress

review/learn from your

experience



Example: The car won’t start

Problem: The car will not start.

Why? – The battery is dead. (first why)

Why? – The alternator is not functioning. (second why)

Why? – The alternator belt has broken. (third why)

Why? – The alternator belt was well beyond its useful service life and has never been replaced. (fourth why)

Why? – I have not been maintaining my car according to the recommended service schedule. (fifth why, a root cause)

Why? – Replacement parts are not available because of the extreme age of my vehicle. (sixth why, optional footnote)

Solution: I will start maintaining my car according to the recommended service schedule.

Note: The sixth why was added to indicate that the process does not have to end precisely after the fifth why.

Root cause analysis From time to time it may be necessary to come together as a team and confront a particular problem or issue that is affecting results. The fishbone technique is typically a great place to start as it tends to identify the root or cause of the problem so that time isn’t wasted trying to fix the effects.

The following figures show an example of a manufacturer tackling the problem of the need for extra production for the busy Christmas period.

Need extra production

for Christmas

period

Methods Materials

Machinery/Equipment People



Cause and effect diagrams: Identifying the likely causes of problems



Making a fishbone diagram

Stage 1: Identify the problem 1. Write down the exact problem you face in detail.

2. Where appropriate, identify who is involved, what the problem is, and when and where it occurs.

3. Write the problem in a box on the left hand side of a large sheet of paper. Draw a line across the paper horizontally from the box. This gives you space to develop ideas.

Stage 2: Work out the major factors involved 1. Next identify the factors that may contribute to the problem.

2. Draw lines off the spine for each factor, and label it.

3. These may be people involved with the problem, systems, equipment, materials, external forces, etc. Try to draw out as many possible factors as possible.

4. If you are trying to solve the problem as part of a group, then this may be a good time for some brainstorming.

5. Using the ‘fishbone’ analogy, the factors you find can be thought of as the bones of the fish.

Stage 3: Identify possible causes 1. For each of the factors you considered in Stage 2, brainstorm possible causes of

the problem that may be related to the factor.

2. Show these as smaller lines coming off the ‘bones’ of the fish.

Stage 4: Analyse your diagram 1. By this stage you should have a diagram showing all the possible causes of your

problem.

2. Depending on the complexity and importance of the problem, you can now investigate the most likely causes further. This may involve setting up investigations, carrying out surveys, etc. These will be designed to test whether your assessments are correct.

Learning activity: Fishbone diagram

Consider a project issue that has arisen in a project you have run or in which you have been involved.

Set aside for a moment the actual cause arrived at and, in the space provided on the following page, complete your own fishbone diagram to identify the cause of the issue and identify a solution.



Did you identify a different cause, or different solution to the issue? If so, what would you have recommended doing in your project to address the issue?



8 Disciplines (8Ds)/Plan, Do, Check, Act The 8D system is a problem-solving process that:

● identifies problems

● takes interim containment action

● describes problems in measurable terms

● analyses them using data and basic statistical tools

● finds the true root cause

● corrects the problem by eliminating the root cause

● implements mistake proofing to prevent reoccurrence

● uses ‘lessons learned’ concepts as prevention techniques.

Often it is summarised as the methodology of ‘Plan, Do, Check, Act’. This can be seen from the diagram below:



Example: Plan, Do, Check, Act

Peter is a project manager who hires temporary staff but not often enough to have a designated Human Resources Department. Peter hires employees occasionally but because it is not part of a larger system, important information that an employee should be aware of is missed in the process. This results in a less than ideal experience for the new employees.

To help make staff transition more productive, Peter does the following:

1. Plan – Plan what needs to be done to improve the hiring experience. This may include creating a new employee orientation check list. This can be done by asking employees what information would have been helpful for them when they started their job.

2. Do – Roll out the plan and test it on new employees as they are hired.

3. Check – Follow up with new employees who have used the new process and collect data on how well that process worked for them and if they could suggest any other changes that could help improve the new process.

4. Act – Incorporate what was learned into the new process and implement. Repeat the process again.

This is a very simplified example but it’s important to understand that this does not have to be a difficult process; just one that keeps on task and is followed-up on.

Learning activity: Which analysis technique?

As a project manager in charge of developing a new computer software program for accountants, which of the following do you think you might use if you were having problems with the software ‘crashing’ during the testing phase? (there’s no incorrect answer)

● 5-Whys

● root cause analysis

● 8 Disciplines (8Ds).

How did you make your decision?



Corrective action A corrective action is a change implemented to resolve a problem. Sometimes corrective actions are implemented in response to:

● a customer complaint

● poor quality

● an internal audit.

Corrective action can and should be taken to address project issues and problems. Every project must have a process in place to ensure issues and problems are:

1. investigated thoroughly

2. escalated (if necessary)

3. resolved in an efficient manner.

Change requests Change requests are a request to obtain formal approval for changes to the scope, design, methods, costs or planned aspects of a project. They:

● may arise through changes in the business or issues in the project

● should be logged, assessed and agreed on before a change to the project can be made.

Issues log Issues are usually raised by team members. An issues log helps to:

● re-assign and track issues

● analyse and prioritise issues

● report on issues

● indicate the project ‘health’ and production readiness

● record resolutions, as a reference for future similar or repeated issues.



Learning activity: Review documentation

Review Appendix 2 of this Student Workbook, heading 1.3 – Implementing.

How would you use these documents to implement a project, for example, the Max Lionel Realty CRM rollout?

Monitoring team performance: Coach your team

Work coaching Workplace coaching is a collection of methods and techniques used by managers and supervisors to help them to maintain or improve their employees’ work performance.

What do we coach? When we are talking about coaching people’s work performance, we are usually talking about:

Task goals Which include bottom line targets that are measured by KPIs, production goals, deadlines, quality standards

Non-task goals Which include targets such as housekeeping, attendance at important meetings, and participation in continuous improvement

Behaviours Which include things like attitude towards workmates, personal attire.

Who do we coach? Traditionally, managing has involved controlling and directing the work of other people. As a coach, however, the manager works with the employees to guide them towards solving problems for themselves, rather than directing them to the solution.



Generally, most performance problems can be resolved through effective communication between managers and employees. Most employees can benefit from coaching in some way. Coaching applies to any skill at any time. It is a simple way to set, discuss, and monitor goals in a collaborative way.

How do we coach? Good coaches challenge employees and ask questions that help the employee to discover how to improve.

● Coach when you wish to focus attention on any specific aspect of the employee’s performance.

● A coaching meeting should focus on just one or two aspects of performance. Any more than that and employees won’t remember the main impact of your meeting.

● Keep coaching conversations brief and between five and ten minutes long.

● Being an effective coach requires understanding of what motivates the members of your team. Remember that people are motivated in different ways. Be sensitive to the things that drive your people to perform.

● When things are performing well, take the time to understand what is working and why.

● Good coaching is guiding, not telling or doing.

● Allow the employee to own the problem and its solutions. Ask them: ‘How do you think we should handle this?’

When do we coach? Coaching is different to formal training. But how do you know when you should step in, or let employees work through the problems for themselves?

● Observe the employee's work and be alert for certain triggers or signs. For example, you may notice an attitude or behaviour creeping in, or you discover a slump in the weekly KPIs.

● Coach when you want to focus attention on any specific aspect of the employee's performance.

● Don’t hesitate – do it now. Coaching is a process that is most effective when it happens daily.

● Be sure you document any key elements that come out of your coaching sessions and store them in the employee’s file.

Characteristics of good coaches Good coaches:

● understand employees’ jobs

● are accessible and approachable

● lead by example

● practise what they preach

● are sincere and honest



● make decisions on facts not feelings

● don’t procrastinate

● listen more than talk

● seek assistance when necessary.

Example: The life of a workplace coach

Steve is a department manager with a team of eight employees. He notices that one of his staff members, Alex, seems to lack direction, displays low self-esteem, and has a number of performance issues (regularly shows up late for work and takes more sick days that the other employees). Steve has tried a number of things, but has had little or no success.

Steve spoke to Jill in HR who suggested he might try coaching Alex. Steve approached Alex and asked if he wanted to try coaching. They both agreed it was worth trying and they agreed to work together once a week over three months.

The first thing Steve asked was for Alex to write a list of the things he was good at and the things he wasn't good at. This gave them both a focus, as they were able to look at the areas they could work on to help Alex improve over the coaching and monitoring period.

Six months later the improvements were noticeable. Alex is now the first one at work every day and is being recognised as a motivated team member. Instead of potentially losing a staff member, Steve has gained a valuable asset and is now looking at more training to help Alex develop his career.

What is the difference between coaching and mentoring? Coaching and mentoring are two techniques that can be used to develop individual workers or teams. These approaches help to motivate employees.

‘Coaching’ is a good solution when an individual has a wide range of general performance issues. It involves a workplace coach monitoring and addressing an individual’s general skills over a period of time.

‘Mentoring’ is a good solution when there is specific knowledge or skill that an individual needs to build. It involves a more experienced or senior staff member passing on their knowledge or skills in a short timeframe.

Mentor Coach

Focus Individual, career and personal development.

Performance.



Role Mentor has no agenda. Coach has specific agenda.

Relationship Selected by ‘mentee’. Comes automatically with the job or team project.

Source of influence

Perceived value of mentor’s experience.

Position held by coach.

Approach Can be informal, meetings can take place when mentee needs advice, guidance or support.

Generally more structured in nature and meetings are scheduled on a regular basis.

Agenda

Agenda is set by mentee, with mentor providing support and guidance to prepare them for future roles.

The agenda is focused on achieving specific, immediate goals.

Learning activity: Finding a mentor/buddy for a new team member

Sometimes you will need to organise a mentor for a new team member.

Sandra has recently joined the sales department for an online sales advertising business. Her position responsibilities include being 2IC – second in charge! She has been trained and her manager has provided her with support and resources.

Mandy, another member of the team, has extensive sales experience and recognises she needs help to develop her leadership skills.

What mentoring options would you suggest?



Now consider and note your own experiences with mentoring and coaching.

● Do you have a mentor? What is it about this person that makes them a good mentor?

● What do you consider to be the characteristics of or qualities of an effective coach?

● If you were to choose a mentor to support you with this unit of study, who would it be and why? How can you make this happen?

● What are the benefits of coaching as a performance improvement tool?

● What benefits do coaching provide for the person being coached?

● List the benefits that coaching can provide an organisation.



The GROW model In the world of performance management, a number of different workplace coaching models exist.

GROW is a simple but effective model for running coaching sessions. GROW is an acronym that stands for: Goal – (current) Reality – Options – Will.

Goal Things can change, and the employee’s goals may need to be revisited and reviewed.

Current Reality Getting to the root cause of problems means asking the team member about what is happening and how the problem is affecting them. Often managers can leap to a conclusion about solving a performance problem. Important information that can help to solve the problem is often missed.

Some useful coaching questions include:

● How is this change affecting your work?

● If things changed do we need to revisit how we planned to approach this?

Options Once you and your team member have explored the current reality, it's time to start exploring the alternatives for solving the problem. It should be a two-way process, so encourage the team member for their ideas and views about what might be done.

Ask questions like:

● What other options have you considered for how we might handle this?

● What are the alternatives?

● How else could we approach this? What risks are involved?

● What are the possible risks involved in these other options?

● What constraints exist?

Will By this stage you will have examined the current reality and canvassed the options for what could be done. The team member should now have a clear idea of how to deal with the situation. The final step for you as a coach is to get them to commit to taking action.

● So how will you take this forward?

● How are you going to achieve this?

● What obstacles could prevent this happening?

● What else will you do?



Note: The coaching conversation does not need to rigidly follow the order above. Any genuinely two-way conversation will develop in unplanned ways. Nevertheless, each element of the GROW model should be addressed at some point in any coaching session that is likely to be effective.

Section summary

You should now understand some of the importance of implementing your project against the approved project plan and taking corrective action to solve problems.

Implementing the project means ensuring that the project team follows the project plan, taking the required actions to ensure that the project is progressing toward the attainment of the agreed outcomes as well as managing any risks and issues that arise. It is also important to keep stakeholders informed of the project’s progress.

Further reading


● Walsh, A., 2011, ‘5 Why’s’, Chart it now, viewed August 2014, <http://www.chartitnow.com/5_Whys.html>.

Section checklist


manage project tasks

coach your team.


Student Workbook 2.5 – Monitoring a Project

2.5 – Monitoring a Project While others are ‘doing’ the project, another key part of your role, as the project manager, is to monitor the project.

‘If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?’

— Will Rogers

‘Monitor’ is the fourth step in the project management life cycle

Case study: Max Lionel Realty: Monitoring and progress reporting

The rollout of the customer Relationship Management (CRM) system at Max Lionel Realty is underway. Over the course of the implementation you have had to deal with some team turnover, poorly performing team members and a key supplier missing a delivery date.

In a major development, senior management identified a business need involving extra CRM functionality. This scope-creep could have derailed the project had you not built in a time buffer and, knowing this sort of thing regularly happens with software implementations, planned appropriately for contingencies.

Overall, the project has been kept on track due to your planning and quick responses to issues. Possibly, a key factor has been the supportive, tough but fair approach that you have taken with your team as performance coach. You are proud of the leadership skills you have demonstrated in addition to your management skills.

Now you will need to remain vigilant and provide regular progress reporting against baseline performance measures, such as labour cost, completion of installation, and numbers of agents trained in the new CRM.


In order to monitor a project effectively as a project manager, you must be able to:

monitor plans and strategies

take corrective action

report on progress.


2.5 – Monitoring a Project Student Workbook

Monitor plans and strategies

Project implementation involves coordinating people and resources, integrating, performing, controlling and monitoring the activities of the project plan, ensuring that the deliverables are produced as outputs of the processes, performed in accordance with the project plan.

The project manager is accountable for achieving the project outcomes:

● on time

● on budget

● to agreed specifications.

Therefore, a critical aspect of managing projects is to ensure that project activities are properly executed and controlled. Items to manage therefore include:

● time

● costs

● communication.

Project monitoring is a process. It needs to be done regularly and consistently. Setting the boundaries of the monitoring process is critical from the outset of your projects. Plan how you will monitor progress right along with how you will accomplish the work. Set the process in motion and keep it moving from the beginning.

The following are some important aspects of monitoring projects.

Monitor the project at different levels The needs of the project determine the level at which you need to track progress:

● task level

● assignment level

● as total

● as progress by time period.

Track and report on progress and variance At the very least, a project manager will need to track the variance between what is actually happening and what was planned. This includes analysing whether start and finish dates for specific tasks are being met; how planned costs are being followed or possible in practise; whether planned resource requirements are being utilised as they

Monitoring the project at different

levels

Tracking and reporting on progress and

variance

Monitoring how your project relates to

other projects and business priorities



should, and; whether the expected outcomes are being created. It’s important to remember that a project can easily slide further and further behind schedule simply due to a lack of effective monitoring of these most basic elements.

By using various monitoring processes (face-to-face meetings, email, written reports, periodic groups meetings, etc.) as the project leader, you will have the responsibility of tracking the project. Setting a clear expectation for progress and status throughout the project is an efficient way of keeping a project under control.

With this in mind, if you set an expectation (for example, that status reports are to be submitted weekly) you must follow up on it. If someone has not submitted a report by the deadline, you must contact them and get it. A project manager can’t make informed decisions about what actions to take when the project gets off track if they don't know it's off track!

Monitoring the technical aspects of a project is often where most of the time is focused. Many project managers are given their position in the first place because of their technical ability to complete particular tasks. However, if the monitoring process is only placed on technical measurements, there is a strong possibility that the things that will cause problems in the project will be team and interpersonal issues (a project team doesn’t ‘blow up’ as a result of a simple technical problem). So, in addition to the monitoring those nice clean technical tasks, you must also keep an eye on the ‘health and welfare’ of the team working on the project.

Monitor how your project relates to other projects and business priorities Another ingredient to monitoring a project successfully is to be able to monitor the status of your project in light of every other project that your organisation is undertaking at the same time. Shifting priorities often affect most projects. Keeping an eye on the changing priorities in your environment can warn you of impending problems in time to prepare for them.

Tip

Having project management software (as outlined in Section 1.2) is often a great tool to assist in monitoring how a project is going. When using the software as a reporting tool, ensure you use the reporting capabilities of tools to display only information you and your stakeholders require – hide irrelevant data. Consider using the tools to create one-page summaries, or project dashboards with key performance measures for stakeholders to view.



General characteristics of KPIs

In a previous section, we discussed KPIs as a measure of progress towards your project goals.

KPI characteristics KPIs must conform to three minimum characteristics:

● KPIs must be simple enough for anyone to understand

● KPIs must be calculated in a standard way across the organisation

● KPIs must be documented.

KPIs must be measurable KPIs are performance measures agreed upon by your project team and stakeholders. KPIs provide everyone with a clear picture of what is important in order to achieve successful implementation of the project plan.

They also help to define each person’s role in making that happen. KPIs may be for the entire team or specific for the individual.

On a team level, KPIs are typically tied to a company’s strategy and are used to help a project team define and evaluate how successful it is. The KPI, when developed properly, should support clear goals and objectives, coupled with an understanding of how they relate to the overall success of the organisation. Published internally and continually referred to, they will also strengthen shared values and create common goals.

A KPI is a key part of a measurable objective, which is made up of a direction, a KPI, a benchmark, a target, and a timeframe. For example, a retail company may state that they will ‘Increase the average revenue per customer from $30 to $35 by end of year 2013’.

As mentioned earlier, a KPI should not be confused with a critical success factor (CSF). For the example given above, ‘average revenue per customer’ is the KPI, while the factor critical to the KPI’s success (the CSF) might be a new product range or better marketing of existing products. KPIs are also frequently used to add value (or measurement) to activities that are sometimes hard to measure, such as the benefits of leadership development or customer satisfaction.

On an individual level, when setting KPIs for employees, there are three basic principles you need to be aware of.

1. Key – is of fundamental importance and a ‘make or break’ component in the success or failure of the current project. For example, the level of money is an important factor in project management operations, but it may not be critical (key) if the project has no problem in using alternate resources to continue achieving its plans.

2. Performance – can be clearly measured, quantified and easily influenced by the project manager. For example, bad weather influences many tourist-related businesses, but the project manager cannot influence the weather. Sales growth in holiday packages may be important to performance criteria but the targets set must be measurable.



3. Indicator – provides leading information on future performance. A considerable amount of data within the organisation only has value for historical purposes, for example, annual trends in sales or how long it takes for invoices to be paid. By contrast, rates of new product development provide excellent leading edge information.

Make adjustments to KPIs KPIs are an instrument used to provide feedback on performance and can alter over time due to changes in objectives, roles and priorities. The key to making adjustments to KPIs is to continue to incorporate the characteristics that make them effective, ensuring that they:

● are aligned with the overall strategy, and are relevant and refreshed when appropriate

● are owned by the team and the individuals

● are leading indicators

● can be actioned within the team context

● are limited to just a few in number

● are easy to understand

● link back to the overall objectives

● are standardised in definition, calculation and rules

● are reinforced by incentives.

If KPIs are not being met or are not able to be met by an individual within a team, sometimes it may be necessary to evaluate the portfolio of work assigned to them and other team members. This can occur for a range of reasons, from a change in the assigned workload (which can be seasonal) to a new skill being required. Usually within a team environment it is possible to re-allocate job tasks to ensure workloads are equitable, and to ensure that the person with the required skill set is assigned to the task.

Key

•make or break component

Performance

•measurable and quantifiable

Indicator

•provides information usable for future performance



Learning activity: Characteristics of effective KPIs

Identify three examples of projects or individual KPIs on a project you have managed or are familiar with.

Explain how the KPIs demonstrate the characteristic listed above that make them effective.

Graphing KPIs If KPIs are measurable, then they can also be displayed graphically. Graphing your KPIs will assist greatly when running projects. KPIs look at performance over time, which is why they are typically displayed as a graph (time-series charts tend to be the best way to display KPIs).

If you can see KPI progression ‘at a glance’, you can easily tell whether or not the project is going well.

Example: In control

A KPI that is on track or ‘in control’ can usually be displayed as being within upper control limits (UCL) and lower control limits (LCL).



A KPI that is heading out of control will appear as one deviating out of the control limits.

Report on progress

Regular status reports help to ensure that the team has a clear vision to the true state of a project and that management stays properly informed about project progress, difficulties, and issues, by periodically getting the right kinds of information from the project manager. Frequent communication of project status and issues is a vital part of effective project risk management.

The reports should let management know whether the project is on track to deliver its outcome as planned, and must highlight to management any place where their decision making or direct help is needed.

Status reports A status report is often a one- to two-page document that provides an overview of progress on a project. The format normally incorporates the following three sections.

1. What we did last period.

2. What we’re doing next period.

3. Issues we’re working on now.

The report is formatted to allow stakeholders and team members to quickly assess a project’s status, progress, and key current activities.

Many project managers use special software (such as MS Project) to track progress on project tasks as well as for project reporting.

Tip: One-page report

Project management methodology recommends the use of a ‘planned’ versus ‘actual’ approach when evaluating specific tasks, linked to milestone reviews. This requires setting a tolerance limit, e.g. +/– 5%.



A one- or two-page report can be produced that tracks progress against the end phase. Is the project on track? Some even like to use ‘traffic lights’ – red, yellow, green – to illustrate progress.

Clear reporting ensures project performance is regularly monitored and that variances from the project plan are identified and corrected.

Note: Examples of project status report templates can be found at the following sites:

● ‘Project status report’, Microsoft Office Online: Templates, viewed August 2014, <http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/templates/project-status-report-TC001141723.aspx>.

● Project Management Office, 2007, ‘Status reporting’, National Cancer Institute – Frederick: Project management resources, viewed August 2014, <http://ncifrederick.cancer.gov/Staff/ProjectManagement/Media/Documents/StatusReporting.doc>.

Section summary

You should now understand the importance of monitoring and controlling your project’s implementation against the approved project plan.

Monitoring and controlling the project enables you to ensure that the project is progressing toward the attainment of the agreed outcomes as well as managing any risks and issues that arise. It is also important to keep stakeholders informed of the project’s progress.

Further reading

● Microsoft Office, 2010, ‘Project status report’, Microsoft Office Online: Templates, viewed August 2014, <http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/templates/project-status-report-TC001141723.aspx>.


● Project Management Office, 2007, ‘Status reporting’, National Cancer Institute – Frederick: Project management resources, viewed August 2014, <http://ncifrederick.cancer.gov/Staff/ProjectManagement/Media/Documents/StatusReporting.doc>.

Section checklist


monitor plans and strategies

report on progress.


Student Workbook 2.6 – Closing a Project

2.6 – Closing a Project Once the project deliverables have been completed, a number of tasks are required to be undertaken to close the project.

If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried!

‘Close’ is the final step in the project management life cycle

Case study: Project close and review

It is now six months since the beginning of the customer relationship management (CRM) system rollout and the project is now complete.

● The system has been purchased and installed as per the supplier contract.

● Company processes have been updated.

● Agents have been trained on the new CRM.

Previous experience has taught you that, even when successful projects finish, the way you end is critically important. You want to avoid the sense of the project simply fading away with the project deliverables delivered and project team drifting back into their former roles.

You will now need to finalise the project by meeting with key stakeholders to handover and get sign-off on the project deliverables. This represents an opportunity to thank the stakeholders and ensure their satisfaction and final impressions on the project. You will also need to ensure you have handed over the CRM in a way that it will fit seamlessly into ongoing operations. In addition, Operations General Manager Kim Sweeney, the project sponsor, has asked you to prepare a post-implementation report to evaluate the project and its performance against requirements and a review report to identify lessons to take away. Recording such lessons will be important for Max Lionel Realty’s continuous improvement of project management. Your handover, post-implementation and review reports represent an opportunity to you to underscore for your stakeholders the successes of the project and your professionalism.

Finally, you have also planned to meet with your team individually to thank them for their efforts and officially assign team members to new roles where appropriate. Before your team members take up their new roles, you have planned to hold a party for the project team to close the project on the best possible note.


2.6 – Closing a Project Student Workbook


As a project manager closing a project, you will need to be able to:

finalise the project

review the project with the client.

Finalising a project – planning in advance

The way to close/finalise a project successfully is to plan its closure from the beginning of your project. The following are ways to plan during the early stages of a project to give your project team the best chance of a successful close.

Plan for support Your project team will need to think about the plans it is going to put in place for supporting the deliverables of the project – for example, if you are delivering a new computer program, you will need to determine an approach regarding how to provide support for users going forward.

Things a project manager should consider include the following.

1. Will your organisation need to provide a support function that will pick up the ongoing maintenance and queries?

2. Will there need to be a user guide or manual produced as part of the project to be provided as part of the support function?

3. Will your project team be conducting additional activities after the completion of the project that would provide useful information for the support function?

Involve any support people early After you have identified your client and the deliverables, try and involve the support team early in the project. It is a lot easier to gain their support for something if they have been involved throughout the project.


1. Will your project require assistance from any support team after the project is concluded? (And what role will they perform?)

2. How much of a time commitment will your project need from the support people between now and the time that the project is officially handed over?

Organise documentation Inevitably you will need to hand over project paperwork to relevant stakeholders and the support team, so it is important to keep documentation organised and up to date. This includes documenting the outcomes of regular review sessions.




1. How will your project team organise and store project documents?

2. How will the project team identify what documents would be useful for the support team?

3. Are there any other databases (like a ‘wiki’) that would be useful to hand over to support?

What will indicate the close of the project? It is beneficial, from the early stages in the project, to think about how the closure of the project will take place.


1. When will you conduct any final consultation or communication about project closure?

2. How will the final consultation or communication be conducted?

3. How will you help the project team transition to new projects or other roles?

4. What will you do if you can’t close all actions, risks and issues? (And who will take over anything outstanding?)

The project team will also need to consider the timeframe for the closure phase. It is often easy to underestimate the amount of work required to finish up a project appropriately and complete the handover.

Tip

If the work begins to tail off while you are in the closing phase, it might be worthwhile to begin another project at the same time; however, beware of not finishing what you started in the best possible way. Complete formal handovers of deliverables; ensure client satisfaction; lead the project until it is done; be there to take credit for a well-managed project.

Finalise the project – general overview

All activities of the project team are finalised as part of the project closure phase.

This activity should be completed as soon after implementation and handover as possible. The project team will inevitably disperse, and contract staff may leave. You may need to assign team members to new roles. You should act to ensure this transition is as seamless as possible. You may wish to meet individually with your team members to thank them and debrief. It is also important to seek their views before they leave on the project experience and on your performance. Treat the feedback as an opportunity to grow as a leader and manager.



Finalise all tasks The project handover report summarises what the project has delivered, including the following.

Scope The project deliverables are validated through the quality control process and the completion of the project is verified against the scope of objectives to ensure that all have been achieved.

Quality This gives an overview of whether or not the project was able to deliver on what it set out to achieve at the level of quality expected.

Costs This summarises the costs involved with the project and whether or not the budget was adhered to.

Schedule This identifies whether the project schedule was met and if anything is yet to be completed.

Identify follow-on actions With some projects, there may be follow-on actions required. These may be important for providing ongoing support to the project outcomes or deliverables or for the purposes of repeat business.

After all, if you do the project well, you want to get the opportunity to do it again!

Review with the project team Convene the project team and review the lessons learned. This may include discussing the following questions.

● Did the delivered project meet the requirements and objectives?

● Was the client satisfied?

● Was the project schedule met?

● Was the project completed within budgeted cost?

● Were the risks identified and mitigated?

● What could be done to improve the process?

Document the lessons learned Document and distribute the lessons learned from the project. A combination of individual interviews, workshops and surveys can be used to identify:

● what worked well and can be repeated in the future

● what didn't work well and how it could be done better next time

● how well the project outcome was received

● how the objectives of the project were fulfilled.



When gathering information, consider the following methods.

● Individual interviews are better for getting unbiased information but will usually present contradictions which need to be resolved.

● Workshops tend to give a ‘group view’ that is subject to hierarchical influences and can be dominated by a vocal minority.

● Surveys are ideal for reaching a large number of people, but often raise more questions than they answer unless they are well designed. Piloting the survey is often a useful tactic. An external market researcher can be useful to help with this.

Acknowledge the successes Despite what they may say, most people like to have their efforts recognised and acknowledged.

You may want to organise:

● a final presentation

● rewards or awards

● a party to celebrate the achievements of the project team.

Review with the client/sponsor

Project review Once a project has been implemented, it is useful to assess the project outcomes at a specified time after implementation. This process is called post-implementation review (PIR).

A typical post-implementation review will take somewhere between one and three weeks to complete, depending on the size of the project and the availability of resources. The PIR includes holding a meeting and sharing information on how obstacles were overcome, and what could be done better in the next phase or next project. This process collects and utilises knowledge learned during a project’s implementation with the purpose of optimising the delivery and outcomes of future projects.

The PIR process is a tool and means of collecting and communicating information. It is also a comprehensive feedback mechanism designed to assess project outcomes and how well those outcomes met the expected needs that the project intended to fulfil, i.e. did the client get what was needed?

How it’s done Reviews with the client or stakeholders can be done by:

● questionnaires, surveys

● participant Interviews

● observation

● walk-through inspections

● observations

● workshops

● discussions.



Learning activity: Review documentation

Review Appendix 2 of this Student Workbook and identify different forms of project closing documentation.

Practise completing a template for a previous project of your choice.

A post-project review report typically contains:

● project sign-off

● staff and skills used

● project organisation structure

● schedule management

● cost management

● quality management

● client expectation management

● lessons learned.

Tip: Project review

It is important to have someone external to the project carry out the post-implementation review. Someone external to the project without a biased opinion is usually the best resource to look objectively at the project.

Note: Benefit realisation is not one of the tasks of the close phase. Often benefits are not realised until some months after the implementation of the project’s outcome.

For various reasons, there are some projects that are closed without being completed.

After the review What will happen with the PIR report?

● A list of actions is of no use unless someone is going to manage the completion of the actions.

● Unless there is a clear owner of the actions arising from the PIR, it is pointless to undertake the work.

● The issue of benefit realisation should be discussed with the client prior to the review taking place. It may be appropriate to include benefits or it may be more appropriate to pass them over to another area (e.g. internal audit or finance) to review at some time in the future.

Note: It is not the method of documentation that counts as much as the fact that documentation exists of the knowledge gained in the project.



Tip: Five key steps to closing a project

Here’s a list of five key actions that a project manager should conduct to ensure proper closure of a project that has just finished.

1. Ensure all relevant documentation and deliverables have been signed off by the client/management. This will help ensure that your project team doesn’t have anybody coming back making requests after the project is over – especially if there are any question marks over work or payments outstanding.

2. Get a final sign-off on implementation/project acceptance. You may have the best relationship in the world with your client, but don’t skip this step.

3. Carry out a reflection session with your project team on what you have learned from the project. The information received from this type of session can be very useful to you as a project manager going forward, to your client as they go ahead with the implemented solution, and in identifying any other types of ongoing support required.

4. Hold an appropriate handover to any additional ongoing support team (such as tech support). Make sure they have all information they need to properly support the client after the project has been completed.

5. Keep in touch with the client after the project. You may have an agreement to offer assistance to the client before a formal transition takes place (for example, a 30 or 60-day agreement to help with any problems); but don’t just drop them at that point – keep checking back. It’s good for your project team’s reputation with the client and for your company’s reputation. 9

Section summary

You should now understand some of the reasons why the post-project review activity is so essential. Conducting a post-implementation review enables you to assess the success of your project and importantly, your project management skills.

9 B. Egeland, 2009, ‘Five key steps to closing down the project’, Project management tips, viewed August 2014, <http://pmtips.net/key-steps-closing-project/>.



Further reading

● Egeland, B., 2009, ‘Five key steps to closing down the project’, Project management tips, viewed August 2014, <http://pmtips.net/key-steps-closing-project/>.


Section checklist

After completing this section, make sure that you can:

finalise the project

review the project with the client.


Student Workbook Glossary

Glossary

Term Definition

Assets Everything of value that is owned by a person or company.

Business case/ project proposal

A document that defines why the project is required and what the change is to be. It should include an outline of the project’s objectives, deliverables, time, cost, technical, safety, quality and other performance requirements, and the major project risks and upside opportunities. It might also include information on the competitive impact, resource requirements, organisational impacts, key performance indicators and critical success factors of the project and its outcome.

Deliverable An output produced at the end of a task. Examples of deliverables are plans, reports, computer programs, policies and procedures, etc.

Duration The length of time needed to complete an activity.

Feature creep See ‘Scope creep’ below.

Gantt chart A type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Some Gantt charts show the dependency relationships between activities. Gantt charts can also be used to show current schedule status.

Milestones An event of zero duration that marks a significant point of progress in a project. Milestones are used to see whether a project is on time or not. A milestone may be ‘Design is finished’, ‘Sign contract’, ‘Project ends’, etc.

Objectives A statement of what the project is designed to achieve within the scope. They should be specific, measurable and identify business problems that are being solved. They should be stated with some benefit or end result in mind.

Post-implementation review

An evaluation of the project’s goals and activity achievement as measured against the project plan, budget, timelines, and quality of deliverables, specifications and client satisfaction. The objective of the PIR is to identify the lessons learned from the project and to share the information to improve the performance of future projects.

Project charter The written authorisation for the project manager to proceed with the project. It is signed by the project sponsor. It often heads up the project plan.


Glossary Student Workbook

Term Definition

Resources People, equipment, materials or services needed to complete project tasks. The quantity of resources affects the scope and time of a project.

Risk analysis An examination of risk areas or events to assess the probable consequences for each event, or combination of events in the analysis, and determine possible options for avoidance.

Scope The processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully (‘what’s in/what’s out’)

Scope creep The continual extension of the scope of a project, often leading to a runaway project. As some projects progress, especially through development, requirements continuously change incrementally, causing the project manager to add to the project objectives.

Stakeholders People with a vested interest in the outcome of the project. Individuals and organisations that are involved in or may be affected by project activities.

Work breakdown structure

A hierarchical, sequential breakdown of the work to be done in the project.


Student Workbook Appendices

Appendices

Appendix 1 – Max Lionel Realty simulated business

From Max Lionel Realty business plan FY 2012/13

About Max Lionel Realty Max Lionel Realty was founded in 2008 by property developer Max Lionel. The company currently employs approximately 100 people, 80 of whom are licensed real estate agents. Through its client agents, the organisation manages property sales and rentals (both residential and commercial) on behalf of a range of clients. The organisation also separately engages in investment activities, such as property and land development. Max Lionel Realty has been a member of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) since 2008 and proudly follows the REIV Code of Conduct.

Mission: ● to achieve the highest returns for our clients and to deliver a client experience

that is second to none in the industry.

Vision: ● to establish, within five years, the MLR brand — the highest ethical standards

with best-in-breed performance for clients.

Values:

● integrity

● client-focus

● active encouragement of excellence, innovation and continuous improvement

● teamwork

● recognition of the diversity and expertise of MLR employees and agents.

Strategic directions:

● engaging with customers and clients

● building goodwill and reputation for integrity

● supporting innovative thinking, management and leadership skills.

● creating a high-performing, highly profitable organisation.


Appendices Student Workbook

Max Lionel Realty organisational chart

Max Lionel Realty management responsibilities

Max Lionel, CEO Max is responsible for working with the Board of Directors to oversee the business, set overall strategic directions, manage risk, and authorise large financial transactions.

Riz Mehra, Chief Financial Officer Riz is responsible for preparing quarterly financial statements and overall budgeting. Riz Is also responsible for overseeing budgets for cost centres and individual projects. At the completion of financial quarters and at the end of projects, Riz is responsible for viewing budget variation reports and incorporating information into financial statements and financial projections.

Kim Sweeney, Operations General Manager Kim is responsible for the day-to-day running of the company. Kim oversees the coordination, as well as the structural separation, of the Residential, Commercial, and Investments centres. Kim is responsible for sponsoring projects which affect operations of the organisation as a whole. Kim works with the Human Resources Manager to coordinate systems and projects in order to achieve company-wide synergy.

Les Goodale, Human Resources Manager Les is responsible for the productive capacity and welfare of people at MLR. With the Operations General Manager, Kim works to coordinate projects and management systems such as performance management, recruitment, and induction. Kim will need to ensure aspects of the recently launched WHS management system, such as risk assessment, management, consulting, reporting and continuous improvement, are coordinated with all subsequent activities.

Board of Directors and CEO

Max Lionel

Chief Financial Officer

Riz Mehra

Operations General Manager

Kim Sweeney

Human Resources Manager

Les Goodale

Manager Residential Realty

(Sales and Rentals)Sam Lee

Manager Commercial

Realty (Sales and Rentals)

Pat Mifsud

Manager Investments

Peter Mitchell



Sam Lee, Manager Residential Realty Sam is responsible for the management of all aspects of residential realty. Sam manages the activities of residential agents.

Pat Misfud, Manager Commercial Realty Pat is responsible for the management of all aspects commercial realty. Pat manages the activities of commercial agents.

Peter Mitchell, Manager Investments Peter is responsible for the management of all aspects investment realty. Peter manages the activities of investment agents. Peter works with the Operations General Manager to ensure separation of investment from obligations to residential and commercial clients.



Appendix 2 – Forms and templates

1.1 – Initiating Project purpose and rationale The justification and validity of the project needs to be confirmed before the project proceeds. This document is used to clarify the project purpose and justification and to gain approval to proceed to the next phase.

Project title Working title

Project purpose Describe the purpose/need/rationale/feasibility for the project.

Background and strategic context Explain the background to the project and how it relates to the key strategic plans.

Priority Note the importance and/or urgency of the project to the organisation.

Related projects Any other projects that have been undertaken in the past, are currently underway, or planned for the future that will or may be affected by or simply connected to this project.

Project client/owner The person who requires the project to be undertaken.

Project sponsor The person who is providing the funds and has the ultimate authority over the project.

Project manager The person who has the responsibility to manage the project on a day-to-day basis.

Project status What has already been decided about the project? What decisions have already been made? What work has already been done in relation to the project? Any assumptions or constraints?

Special provisions Special regulations, ethical considerations, etc.

Project approvals Add any signatures that are required for approval to proceed to the next phase.

Project Manager Project Sponsor

Project Client/Owner Other

Project Title:

Date: File Name: ProjectPurposeandJustification2007.doc

Project Sponsor: Project Manager:

Project Client: Page x of y



Project scope document This template is a tool that can be used with key stakeholders to clearly define the logical boundaries of the project. Ensure that you note any requirements that are OUT of scope to achieve absolute clarity about what is and is not covered by this project, and to avoid the potential for problems later on.

In Scope Out of scope (exclusions)

Assumptions Constraints

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:

Date: File Name: ProjScope.doc

Page x of y



Stakeholder analysis Use this template to identify areas, groups or individuals who may participate in, or are affected by the project. Include everyone who has a vested interest. A useful question to ask is ‘What will make this project a success for you?’

Name Work area Stakeholder type (client, end-user)

Impact on/by project, requirements, success criteria

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:

Date: File Name: SA.doc

Page x of y



Roles and responsibilities It is important to identify who the major players are on the project. List the major project roles, responsibilities and the actual people involved. Add in any additional roles as required.

Role Name/s Responsibilities

Project client/owner The person who requires the project to be undertaken.

Project sponsor/project director/project board Senior management of the project – accountable for the success of the project. Has the authority to commit resources.

Project manager Person responsible for running the project on a day-to-day basis within defined authorities for cost and schedule as agreed with the project sponsor/board.

Manager of the project manager The operational/line manager who the project manager reports to on a day-to-day basis.

Project team members Staff who will be working on the project.

Steering committee/working party To provide advice and recommendations

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:

Date: File Name: R&R.doc

Page x of y



Project snapshot The project snapshot summarises the purpose, deliverables, stakeholders, resources, risks, interdependencies and success criteria of the project.

Project snapshot

Name of project:

Project purpose: What are the goals/objectives of this project? Why are we undertaking it? What is the problem/opportunity?

Deliverables with timeframes (what, when)

Stakeholders (who is the sponsor, project manager, customers, other key groups who can impact, or be impacted by, this project)

Resources (cash flow, people, equipment, facilities, software, etc.)

Risks (resource limitations, deadlines, budget, technology, other constraints, etc.)

Interdependencies (with other projects, groups, system interfaces, etc.)

Success criteria (how we know we are successful)



1.2 – Planning

Workgroup planning template

Project title

Project aim

Goal 1

Objective 1.1

Action Action 1.1.1

Action 1.1.2

Action 1.1.3

Timeframe

Human resources

Physical resources

Financial resources

Subtotal =

Performance indicators

Action 1.1.1

Action 1.1.2

Action 1.1.3

Objective 1.2

Action Action 1.2.1

Goal 2



Work breakdown structure A work breakdown structure (WBS) in project management is a tool used to define and group the project’s discrete work elements (or tasks) in a way that helps organise and define the total work scope of the project. The WBS is a dynamic tool and can be revised and updated as needed by the project manager.

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Task 1

Sub-task 1.1

Work item 1.1.1

Work item 1.1.2

Work item 1.1.3

Sub-task 1.2

Work item 1.2.1

Work item 1.2.2

Work item 1.2.3

Task 2

Sub-task 2.1

Work item 2.1.1

Work item 2.1.2

Work item 2.1.3

Sub-task 2.2

Work item 2.2.1

Work item 2.2.2

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:

Date: File Name: Page x of y


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management


Gantt chart To use a Gantt chart, list the activities and tasks in column A, select an appropriate time interval (days, weeks or months), allocate the dates to columns B onwards and plot the expected time duration (total time from start to completion) under the appropriate column by selecting shading from the cells. When you wish to provide a status report, simply colour or shade in black those items that are completed or estimate the percentage complete. This will give you an immediate visual representation as to whether or not you are on schedule. You can add extra columns for assignment of responsibilities, etc.

For small projects, a Gantt chart can be created as a spreadsheet.

Activity/task 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Legend If there are many tasks or stages in your project, you can identify them with a key or legend.

Task 1 Task 5

Task 2 Task 6

Task 3 Task 7

Task 4 Task 8

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:

Date: File Name: Gantt.doc

Page x of y



Activities schedule The activities schedule is a tool used to monitor individual activities against the project plan. Information recorded on the schedule can be used when providing project status updates to stakeholders.

Phas

es &

act

iviti

es

Resp

onsi

bilit

y

Reso

urce

s

Effo

rt (h

rs)

Star

ted

Dea

dlin

e

Actu

ally

com

plet

ed

Com

men

t/st

atus

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:




Resources and budget The project budget is a prediction of the costs associated with a particular project. These costs include labour, materials, and other resources required to complete the project.

Project Name:

Income Inc. GST Ex. GST

Total income

Expense Inc. GST Ex. GST

Subtotal

Contingency (+10%)

TOTAL

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:




Risk register This template is used to record identified risks associated with your project, analyse the impact and determine resultant action to be taken.

Risk Likelihood (H/M/L)

Impact (H/M/L)

Risk response (contingency strategies)

Responsible

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:


Page x of y



Risk assessment form Identified risks are logged on a risk form and a copy is forwarded to the project manager.

Project details

Project Name Project name to which the risk relates.

Project Manager: Name of the project manager responsible for mitigating the risk.

Risk details

Risk ID: Number allocated to this risk.

Raised by: Name of person who has raised the risk.

Date raised: Date of completion of this form.

Description of risk: Briefly describe the identified risk and its possible impact on the project (e.g. scope, resources, deliverables, timelines and/or budgets).

Likelihood of risk: Describe and rank the likelihood of the risk occurring (i.e. low, medium or high).

Impact of risk: Describe and rank the impact on the project if the risk occurs (i.e. low, medium or high).

Risk mitigation

Preventative actions recommended: Briefly describe any action that should be taken to prevent the risk from occurring.

Contingency actions recommended: Briefly describe any action that should be taken, should the risk occur, to minimise its impact on the project.

Approval details

Supporting documentation: Details of any supporting documentation used to substantiate this risk.

Signature: ___________________________________ Date: ___/___/____

PLEASE FORWARD THIS FORM TO THE PROJECT MANAGER



Communication plan

What Who Purpose When/Frequency Type/Methods

Initiation meeting All stakeholders Gather information for initiation plan

FIRST

Before project start date.

Meeting

Distribute project initiation plan

All stakeholders Distribute plan to alert stakeholders of project scope and to gain buy in.

Before kick-off meeting. Before project start date.

Project snapshot distributed via hardcopy or electronically. May be posted on project website.

Project kick-off All stakeholders Communicate plans and stakeholder roles/ responsibilities. Encourage communication among stakeholders.

At or near project start date. Meeting

Status reports All stakeholders and project office

Update stakeholders on progress of the project.

Regularly scheduled.

Weekly is recommended for small-medium projects.

Distribute status report electronically and post via website.

Team meetings Entire project team.

Individual meetings for sub-teams as appropriate.

To review detailed plans (tasks, assignments, and action items).

Regularly scheduled.

Weekly is recommended for entire team. Weekly or bi-weekly for sub-teams as needed.

Meeting: detailed plan.

Sponsor meetings Sponsor/s and Project Manager

Update sponsor/s on status and discuss critical issues.

Seek approval for changes to project plan.

Regularly scheduled Recommended biweekly or monthly and also as needed when issues cannot be resolved or changes need to be made to project plan.

Meeting

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:

Date: File Name:

Page: x of y



Project plan The project plan is the basis for monitoring and controlling the project. All project information is consolidated to date, forming the basis for monitoring and controlling once implementation of the project commences.

Project title:

Project purpose From project proposal – update if required.

Background and strategic context From project proposal – update if required.

Other related projects From project proposal – update if required.

Project objective From project proposal – update if required.

Scope including key deliverables From project proposal – update if required.

In scope

Out of scope

Assumptions

Constraints

Deliverables

Governance From project proposal – update if required. Attach a project organisation chart and additional information on responsibilities if required.

Project client/owner From project proposal.

Project sponsor

Project Manager



Manager of the project manager

Project team members

Key stakeholders From project proposal – update if required. Include a more detailed stakeholder analysis in the Appendices if required.

Schedule Using the information you generated in the work breakdown structure, update the schedule. Include a Gantt chart or additional planning information in the Appendices.

Item Milestone date Responsibility

Resource and cost plan Resource planning is where you determine what resources (people, equipment and materials) and what quantities of each should be used to perform activities. Once the resources have been determined, estimate the project costs. Include a more detailed resource and cost plan in the appendices if required.

Deliverable/milestone/phase Resource Cost



Project risk assessment From project proposal – update if required. Include a more detailed risk management plan in the appendices.

Risk Level (high/medium/low)

Management strategy

Quality management plan Include a high level quality management plan here. Include a more detailed quality management plan in the appendices if required.

Item from WBS Agreed quality standard Recovery procedure

Communications and reporting Include a high level communications plan here. Include a more detailed communications management plan in the appendices if required.

Stakeholder Information required When required Format



Controls Outline how you are going to track, monitor and report on the project. For example:

● status reports

● exception reports

● issues/risk log

● variance requests.

Appendices List the appendices that are attached to your project plan, for example:

● stakeholder needs analysis

● work breakdown structure

● Gantt chart

● activities schedule

● budget/cash flow

● human resource planning schedule

● roles and responsibilities

● procurement schedule

● combined resources and cost schedule

● risk management plan

● quality management plan

● communications management plan.

Future related projects

Project approvals Add any signatures that are required for approval to proceed to the next phase.

Project Manager Project Sponsor

Project Client/Owner Other



1.3 – Implementing Change requests This form is used to assist with recording and management of changes in scope, time, quality or budget. The change management procedure must be negotiated with the key stakeholders prior to the sign-off of the project plan.

Change request – Project

Issued by

Item affected

Nature of change requested

Reason for change

Impact on scope

Impact on budget

Impact on schedule

Change authorised: Yes/No Adj. completion Date:

Adj. final budget: $

Signed:

Project Manager

Signed

Sponsor

Signed

Client

Signed

Date Date Date Date

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:




Issues log In this template all issues are treated as risks. They should be recorded when they arise, assigned a number and responsibility, a recovery strategy or alternate path agreed, acted upon and recorded when closed.

Item Strategy Date logged Date resolved

Signed:

Project Manager

Signed:

Sponsor

Signed:

Client

Signed:

Date: Date: Date: Date:

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:


Page x of y



1.4 – Monitoring Status update This is one example of a status report. The preferred format should be negotiated with the project sponsor.

Status report – Project

Item Work completed

to-date

Milestone date

Revised/ actual date

Budgeted cost

Revised/ actual cost

Responsible

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:




1.5 – Closing Handover report This template summarises the project as delivered and any agreed changes to baseline scope, quality, costs and schedule.

Handover report

Initial overall objectives

Agreed changes to objectives

Final agreed deliverables

Item Budgeted cost Final cost

Schedule date

Final date

Total

Issues summary

Item Strategy Date logged Date resolved

Documents attached

No. Title

________________________ Project Manager

_________________________ Project Sponsor

_________________________ Project Client

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:




Post-project review meeting This template provides a proposed post-project review meeting agenda, detailing items to be discussed when reviewing the overall project.

Post-Project Review Meeting – Agenda

Topic Speaker Time

Brief overview of project: Purpose of project, major accomplishments, comments.

Project Manager

5 mins

Review by team: Goals, objectives, deliverables, schedule, budget, and success criteria (were they met, partially met, or missed?).

All 10 mins

What worked/what could have gone better? Some areas to consider:

● project planning ● project management ● project scheduling and tracking ● project estimating ● communication (with team, other groups/

stakeholders, sponsor) ● risk management ● vendor management ● issues management ● stakeholder management ● resourcing ● users ● development approach:

○ methodology ○ analysis and design ○ development ○ testing ○ implementation

● training, documentation ● technology ● overall approach to project (i.e. vendor package,

staged implementation, etc.) ● production and operation support.

All 20 mins

Lessons learned All 10 mins

Next steps All 5 mins



Post-project review report This template can be used to guide you through the process of conducting a post-project review. This template can be used to document the key learnings in terms of what worked well and what could have been improved.

Post-Project Review Report

Name of project:

Date and location of meeting:

Names of attendees:

1. Overview by Project Manager: Brief summary of highlights and achievements, etc.

2. Review by team of goals, objectives/deliverables and schedule as outlined in project plan Cut and paste from project plan.

Met Missed Partially met

Comments

Project goal

Objectives/deliverables

Success criteria

Schedule

Budget



3. What worked well; what could have gone better?

Worked well Could have gone better

4. Lessons learned

5. Next steps / improvement plans



Project completion A project completion report is normally distributed to all stakeholders as a means of encapsulating everything that has occurred during the project and describing anything that could be done better. This template is a useful format for a small to medium project.

Project Completion Report

Project title:

Project overview:

Project objective:

Agreed changes to project objective

Project outcomes

Deliverable/ milestone

(from Project Plan)

Budgeted cost Final cost Scheduled date

Final completion

date

Issues and risk summary: Summarise here the issues/risks that arose during the life cycle of the project and what action was taken to resolve them.

Lessons learned: For each project milestone or phase, identify what worked, what didn’t work and ways to improve the process the next time.

Milestone/phase What worked What didn’t work Ways to improve

Recommended improvements: Outline how you will apply the key lessons learned to future projects.

Project Sponsor:


Project Manager:




Appendix 3 – Max Lionel Realty Privacy Policy

Max Lionel Realty is committed to protecting your privacy. It is bound by the Australian privacy principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 and all other applicable legislation governing privacy.

Where appropriate, Max Lionel Realty will handle personal information relying on the related bodies corporate exemption and the employee records exemption in the Privacy Act. Our respect for our customers’ privacy is paramount. We have policies and procedures to ensure that all personal information is handled in accordance with Australian privacy principles.

This privacy policy sets out our policies on the management of personal information – that is, how we collect personal information, the purposes for which we use this information, and to whom this information is disclosed.

1. What is personal information? Personal information is information that could identify you. Examples of personal information include your name, address, telephone number and email address, or more complex information like a resume.

2. How does Max Lionel Realty collect and use your personal information? Some of the ways in which Max Lionel Realty collects personal information is when you send a job application to us or when you email us. These uses are discussed below.

3. What happens if you don’t provide personal information? Generally, you have no obligation to provide any personal information to us. However, if you choose to withhold personal information, we are unlikely to be able to respond to your application or query.

4. To whom do we disclose personal information? We engage third-party service providers (including related companies of Max Lionel Realty which may be located outside Australia) to perform functions for Max Lionel Realty. Such functions include mailing, delivery of purchases, credit card payment authorisation, trend analysis, external audits, market research, promotions and the provision of statistical sales information to industry bodies.

For our service providers to perform these function, in some circumstances it may be necessary for us to disclose your personal information to those suppliers. Where disclosures take place, we work with these third parties to ensure that all personal information we provide to them is kept secure, is only used to perform the task for which we have engaged them and is handled by them in accordance with the Australian privacy principles.

5. How do we protect personal information? At all times, we take great care to ensure your personal information is protected from unauthorised access, use, disclosure or alteration. We endeavour to ensure that our employees are aware of, and comply with, their obligations in relation to the handling of personal information.



Only properly authorised employees are permitted to see or use personal information held by Max Lionel Realty and, even then, only to the extent that is relevant to their roles and responsibilities.

Your personal information will not be sold to any other organisation for that organisations’ unrelated independent use. Further, we will not share your personal information with any organisations, other than those engaged by us to assist us in the provision of our products and services (as described above).

6. What about information you provide in job applications? If you submit a job application to Max Lionel Realty, we will use the information provided by you to assess your application. In certain circumstances, Max Lionel Realty may disclose the information contained in your application to contracted service providers for purposes such as screening, aptitude testing, medical testing and human resources management activities.

As part of the application process, in certain circumstances, you may be required to complete a pre-employment health questionnaire. You may also be asked to undergo a pre-employment medical assessment. In that case, you will be asked to give specific consent to Max Lionel Realty to disclose your questionnaire to its service providers for the purposes of arranging the medical assessment and for the relevant service providers to disclose the results of the assessment to Max Lionel Realty.

If you refuse to provide any of the information requested by Max Lionel Realty, or to consent to the disclosure of the results of your medical assessment to Max Lionel Realty, we may be unable to consider your application.

7. Is the personal information we hold accurate? We endeavour to maintain your personal information as accurately as reasonably possible. However, we rely on the accuracy of personal information as provided to us, both directly and indirectly. We encourage you to contact us if the personal information we hold about you is incorrect or to notify us of a change in your personal information.

8. How can you access or correct the personal information we hold about you? Wherever possible and appropriate, we will let you see the personal information we hold about you and correct if it is wrong. If we do not allow you access to any part of the personal information we hold about you, we will tell you why.

9. Max Lionel Realty’s internet policy Max Lionel Realty generally only collects personal information from its website when it is provided voluntarily by you, for example, when you send us an electronic message with a query about Max Lionel Realty or its products. We will generally use your information to respond to your query, to provide and market our services to your or as otherwise allowed or required by law.

For the same purposes, Max Lionel Realty may share your information with other members of the Max Lionel Realty group (including those who are located outside Australia) and their respective service providers, agents and contractors. If we do this, we require these parties to protect your information in the same way we do.



When you visit this website or download information from it, our internet service provider (ISP) makes a record of your visit and records the following information:

● your internet address

● your domain name, if applicable

● date and time of your visit to the website.

Our ISP also collects information such as the pages our users access, the documents they download, links from other sites they follow to reach our website, and the type of browser they use. However, this information is anonymous and is only used to statistical and website development purposes.

We use a variety of physical and electronic security measures, including restricting physical access to our offices, firewalls and secure databases to keep personal information secure from unauthorised use, loss or disclosure. However, you should keep in mind that the internet is not a secure environment. If you use the internet to send us any information, including your email address, it is sent at your own risk.

You have a right of access to personal information we hold about you in certain circumstances. If we deny your request for access we will tell you why.

10. Use of cookies A cookie is a small message given to your web browser by our web server. The browser stores the message in a text file, and the message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

Max Lionel Realty makes limited use of cookies on this website. Cookies are used to measure usage sessions accurately, to gain a clear picture of which areas of the website attract traffic and to improve the functionality of our website.

When cookies are used on this website, they are used to store information relating to your visit such as a unique identifier, or a value to indicate whether you have seen a webpage. We use session (not permanent) cookies. They are used to distinguish your internet browser from the thousands of other browsers. This website will not store personal information such as email addresses or other details in a cookie.

Most internet browsers are set up to accept cookies. If you do not wish to receive cookies, you may be able to change the settings of your browser to refuse all cookies or to notify you each time a cookie is sent to your computer, giving you the choice whether to accept it or not.



Appendix 4 – Project initiation document

XYZ Inc.

Project Initiation Document

Enter name of Institution and Project here



Document Control

File name Project Initiation Document.docx

Original author/s Mr Smith

Current revision author/s

Version Date Author/s Notes on revisions

1 June 2013

Mr Smith Initial release



Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................... 157

Project objectives ........................................................................................................... 158

Goals and objectives ............................................................................................... 158

Scope .............................................................................................................................. 159

3.1 Organisational scope .................................................................................... 159

3.2 Logical scope................................................................................................. 159

3.3 Temporal scope/phasing ............................................................................. 159

3.4 Related projects ............................................................................................ 160

3.5 Out of scope .................................................................................................. 160

Risks, Constraints and Assumptions ............................................................................ 161

4.1 Risk management approach ........................................................................ 161

4.2 Risks .............................................................................................................. 161

4.4 Assumptions .................................................................................................. 161

Project Organisation ....................................................................................................... 162

5.1 Project structure ........................................................................................... 162

5.2 Roles and responsibilities ............................................................................ 162

Project Control ................................................................................................................ 163

6.1 Issue control .................................................................................................. 163

6.2 Change control .............................................................................................. 163

6.3 Quality assurance ......................................................................................... 163

6.5 Information management ............................................................................ 163

Reporting ........................................................................................................................ 165

7.1 Reporting within the project team ............................................................... 165

7.2 Management reporting ................................................................................. 165

Stakeholders .................................................................................................................. 166

8.1 Identification and analysis ........................................................................... 166

8.2 Communication ............................................................................................. 166

Planning .......................................................................................................................... 167

9.1 Approach ....................................................................................................... 167

9.2 Milestone plan .............................................................................................. 167



Introduction Give some information on the Institution and the context of/background to the Project.

● How big is it going to be and what areas will it cover?

● What approach will be taken?



Project objectives

Goals and objectives

An explanation of context of goals and objectives including some detail on how they were arrived at and who was involved (can append any detailed information if required). Objectives give detailed support to the goals. An example is shown.

Goals Objectives

The system will improve job satisfaction levels within the Institution

● It will be a tool to help staff do the job they are paid for, not an added source of frustration.

● It will ease the administrative burden by allowing users to work efficiently and effectively thus freeing time for those activities which add greater value.

● Staff will have readily accessible the day-to-day information they need to do their job.

● It will provide greater transparency for decision makers at all levels.

Critical success factors

How will you judge whether the objectives of the project have been met? Try to think of measurable improvements associated with each of the objectives. Even an apparently vague goal such as ‘improve job satisfaction’ can have tangible and measurable objectives if you are sufficiently specific about them. If you are not specific about objectives you may find it hard to assess the value of the project.



Scope

3.1 Organisational scope

Sets out how the organisation is going to approach the project including details on any intention to secure the services of a supplier/partner.

Broad explanation of how project will incorporate requirements of the various stakeholders within the organisation. Also, any available details on to what extent, if any the organisation may be required to give access to external parties.

3.2 Logical scope

Gives a high level overview when purchasing a system of the areas or processes covered by the project as well as any interfacing and infrastructure details – when purchasing a system it can be useful to finalise this as part of your invitation to tender. An example would be key Student Administration processes within a project scope – as detailed below.

3.2.1 Student administration ● Applications and Admissions

● Academic Program Administration (taught and research activities)

● Student Enrolment

● Research Students

● Student Assessment, Examinations and Progression

● Timetabling

● Graduation, Leavers and Alumni

● Reporting to External Bodies

● Management Information Production

● Student and Community Information.

3.3 Temporal scope/phasing

This should give an overview of the time constraints and milestones, including start and end dates where these are known. It will be helpful to break the project down into phases and identify what is in scope for each phase (even if you can’t yet set timescales for all phases). You may need to think about:

● processes

● software applications

● hardware

● locations

● users

● infrastructure

● interfaces

● testing.



Phase 1 Phase Title

Scope:

Dates/duration:

Deliverables:

Users/locations:

Phase 2 Phase Title

Scope:

Dates/duration:

Deliverables:

Users/locations:

3.4 Related projects

List any related projects (if any) with details of expected completion dates and any potential for overlap of requirements for support resource – as this could have ‘knock-on’ effects regarding timescales, etc. Also flag any other potential impacts and identify, where possible, any requirement for output from the other projects.

Projects Expected Completion

Workflow mapping: a team is mapping the current processes relating to student administration. There is a potential conflict with the system selection project as some members of the workflow team will be required to contribute their process knowledge to the system selection project.

April 2011

3.5 Out of scope

If any potentially related areas have been defined as out of scope it is worth making this explicit, e.g. you are implementing a system to undertake course timetabling but not exam timetabling or you are implementing a personnel system that does not include payroll.



Risks, Constraints and Assumptions

4.1 Risk management approach

A description of the approach you are taking can be included here, including responsibilities for recording risks and implementing appropriate risk management strategies, as well as communicating such information to the Project Steering Board.

4.2 Risks

In terms of recording identified risks, actions to be taken and early warning signs we recommend that you use the JISC infoNet Risk Assessment template. This is because you will need to review and update the risk management document throughout the course of the project. You may, however, wish to summarise the main risks here or paste in details from the risk template to give an overview of the risks perceived at the start of the project.

4.3 Constraints

This section summarises any constraints that affect the scope of your project or how you carry out the project, e.g. project staff are only available during summer vacation, new system must interface with another system, requirements of external bodies affect the extent to which you can alter a process, etc.

4.4 Assumptions

This is a list of assumptions on which the initial project framework and plan are based. The JISC infoNet Project Management infoKit discusses the sort of assumptions that can cause issues if not clarified initially. Examples may relate to many areas including: provision of infrastructure, IT support, resource availability, communication, training, staff development, working arrangements (and flexibility) and user expertise. Take particular care in defining what is expected of people outside the project team.

Project Assumption



Project Organisation

5.1 Project structure

It may be helpful to show the project structure as a diagram (see example below).

5.2 Roles and responsibilities

Direct resource requirements for the project should be detailed here. This should indicate the numbers and types of staff and their estimated commitment to the project. We recommend using the JISC infoNet Roles and Responsibilities template to record the detail of roles and responsibilities as this may need regular updating during the course of the project. This document could be pasted in or appended to the Project Initiation Document.

Project role Number of people

Days per week

Total days for the project



Project Control How will the project be monitored and controlled on a day-to-day basis? How will it be evaluated? What methods will be used to facilitate effective team working?

6.1 Issue control

This section should define how the project team is going to deal with issues. Project issues must be identified, prioritised and dealt with swiftly to ensure that dependent activities are not affected. An issues log is an ideal way of keeping a record of issues as they arise and also recording how they are resolved. The JISC infoNet Project Management infoKit provides a template Project Controls Database that contains an issue log.

6.2 Change control

The change control section documents what happens when someone proposes a modification to the planned output of the project. Each change request should be documented (including initiator, reasons and a description of the change required) and evaluated in terms of its impact. The appropriate actions required to resolve the requested change can then be determined. Change requests can then be dealt with by the Project Steering Board, or other agreed person/group supporting the project. The JISC infoNet Project Management infoKit provides a template Change Request form and template Project Controls Database that contains a change control log

6.3 Quality assurance

What Quality Assurance measures are planned? Who will evaluate quality and when? Will an external assessor be appointed? How will deliverables be tested and formally signed off? Is there an agreed User Acceptance Testing mechanism?

6.4 Financial control

Outline responsibilities for the control of expenditure and budgets. You may wish to attach the project budget as an appendix to this document but you will need to consider the confidentiality of such information especially where you are working with third parties.

6.5 Information management

How is relevant project information to be held? There are issues here re quality and availability of information – it may be useful to put in place a central repository or project library of relevant information and initiate a culture of sharing information throughout the



project. The importance of information management should not be underestimated – it can be a critical contributory factor to successful achievement of project goals.



Reporting

7.1 Reporting within the project team

This section should define how and when the project team members report progress.

7.2 Management reporting

This section should define how and when the project manager reports to the sponsor and/or steering board.



Stakeholders

8.1 Identification and analysis

It is useful at this stage not only to identify your key stakeholders, but to undertake some analysis of what their perceptions of your project are likely to be. This will help to show that you are aware of their views and will help you focus communications. We recommend that you use the JISC infoNet Stakeholder Analysis template for this purpose as the document may need regular updating. You may wish to summarise the key stakeholders here or append your analysis.

8.2 Communication

Appropriate two-way communication with stakeholders is crucial to the success of the project. This matrix gives examples of how you may start to think about the interested parties and the suggested communication channels to be used for each group.

Stakeholders Expected Communications

Frequency Media

Project Steering Board

Status reporting In line with project milestones

Generally, formal reports to be followed up by face-to-face contact where appropriate Issues reporting Dependent on

timing and priority

Project team Documentation and standards

In line with plan Central repository, managed by project administration

Project knowledge Ad hoc, as necessary

Group email

Internal communications

Team meetings

Admin User Representatives

Informal communication of progress

In line with plan Group email, from project office

Discussion of issues Ad hoc, on demand

Formal reports plus informal communication with project team

Respond to issues raised



Planning

9.1 Approach

This section should outline your approach to project planning. JISC infoNet advocates the ‘Sliding Planning Window’ approach as described in the Project Management infoKit.

9.2 Milestone plan

Insert a copy of the initial outline plan or summarise the key milestones and dates.



Appendix 5 – Communications management plan

Stakeholder What information? Why? When? How? (format/medium) Who is responsible?

Project Sponsor: Version: 1 Project Client:

Project Manager:

Date: File Name: Page: x of y
