Projectmanagement  in  a  consultancy  environment  

Gerard  Martens  

Subject  

! Projectmanagement  in  a  consultancy  environment  ¡  seems  obvious  ¡  but  is  not!  

!   NOT:  projectmanagement  methods  (like  PRINCE2):  in  complex  situaGons  

¡  OrganisaGon  ¡  Stages  

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What  is  a  project  

!   Advice  !   Study  !   EvaluaGon  !   Managing  a  proces  !   Concept  development  !   SimulaGon  studies  !   …  

In general client wants: •  to answer specific questions •  achieve well-defined goal

Academic  environment  

Different  kinds  of  studies  !   Research  project  !   Knowledge  development  !   ExploraGon    →  develop  a  lot  of  skills    !   (PhD  )  Students  are  able  to  assist  in  commercial  projects  with  these  skills  

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Risk???

Experience  

! GeSng  the  right  product  !   In  Gme  !   At  the  right  expense  

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Risk? Yes!

Project    

!   Offer  ¡  Plan,  approach  

•  Goals/quesGons/hypotheses  •  Methods  •  Stages  •  Results  

¡  Time  schedule  

!   No  big  difference  with  your  approach?  ¡  Costs!  

!   Time=money  !   Projectmanagement  =  Gme  management:    

¡  Time  schedule  and  ¡  Hours  spent  

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Risks  

!   Curiosity  is  a  good  academic  quality  and  essenGal  for  a  consultant,  but  

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Risks  

!   Curiosity  generates  bright  ideas,  new  quesGons    But  also:    

¡  DistracGon  from  original  quesGons:  wrong  focus  ¡  ‘Repair’:  Extra  hours  ¡  Delay  

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Risks  

!   Experience  in  evaluaGon  study  ¡  Extensive  plan,  based  on  hypotheses  ¡  Well-­‐defined  output:  tables,  graphs,  staGsGcal  tests  ¡  A  lot  of  data  with  a  lot  of  possibiliGes  ¡  a  PhD  student  was  hired  for  dataprocessing  ¡  Invented  his  own  graphs  and  tables  (He  thought  that..)  ¡  Result  

•  Delay:  meeGng  to  discuss  results  was  cancelled  •  Costs:  discussions  with  client  and  student  •  Extra  Gme  to  be  spent  by  student:  at  his  own  costs!  

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Risks  

!   UnderesGmaGon  of  effort  ¡  Your  risk?  

•  Extra  hours  •  Night  work  

¡  Risk  consultancy/client  •  Delay    

!   Unclear  assignment  ¡  Do  you  know  what  to  do?  

!   Problems  ¡  Data  ¡  Unexpected  results  ¡  ‘Useless’  results  ¡  Computer  crash  ¡  ….  

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Risks  and  risk  management  

!   Simple  measures:  ¡  SGck  to  the  plan!  ¡  Regular  check!  

•  Progress  •  Hours  spent  

¡  CommunicaGon  •  Ideas  are  sGll  welcome,  but  

!   Propose  a  change  of  plan  !   With  moGvaGon  and  !   Consequences  in  Gme  and  money  !   The  consultancy  and  client  decide  

•  Contact  the  consultancy  in  Gme:  !   Don’t  be  afraid  to  ask  quesGons  !   Possible  delays  and    !   Problems  !   Your  control  measures  

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Ques=ons?  

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