A project inventory is a list of active projects with information that can include planned start and finish dates, the name of the project leader, project priorities, budget totals, project ID numbers and other key project characteristics. Follow these steps to build a project inventory.
2. PROJECT
“A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service”.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project management is the process and activity of planning, organizing,
motivating and controlling resources, procedures and protocols to achieve
specific goals in scientific or daily problems.
The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all the project
goals and objectives while honoring the preconceived constraints.
The primary constraints are scope, time, quality and budget. The secondary
and more ambitious challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs
and integrate them to meet pre-defined objectives.
3. PROJECT INVENTORY
A project inventory is a list of active projects with information that can
include planned start and finish dates, the name of the project leader, project
priorities, budget totals, project ID numbers and other key project
characteristics. Follow these steps to build a project inventory.
STEPS TO BUILD A PROJECT INVENTORY
The first step would have been to separate projects from non-projects.
The second step would have been to assure that the projects have clear project
titles.
The list of clear, active project titles forms the basis for a project inventory. This
project inventory example, which has been edited to six of a water district's 43
projects, points the way for building any project inventory. A list of project titles
in the second column starts the inventory. Optionally, each project can have a
unique project identification number, as shown in the column on the left.
4. Project # Project Title
W3-174
Depot Road Water Main
Replacement
W3-244
Central Street Water Main
Replacement
W1-168
Pumping Station #4
Refurbishment
H2-191-2
Computer System Hardware
Upgrade
W4-183
Westborough Water Storage
Capacity Increase
H0-165 Processes Analysis Project
The choice of project numbers is up to the user. This water district wanted its
project numbers to be more than randomly chosen numbers, so those that start
with "W" are "water" projects and those that start with "H" are internal "house"
projects. Some projects cross two or more fiscal years. The last "2" in the fourth
project number, H2-191-2, indicates that the Computer System Hardware
Upgrade is in its second year.
5. Any information that the planner sees as relevant can be added in new
columns.
Projects need a sense of time, so information like project start, project finish,
project duration and status (not started, finished, in progress, or waiting) can
provide timelines. The project's leader, its fiscal year budget and a subtitle under
the project title have also been added to the example.
6. Project # Project Title
Duration
(months)
Status FY Budget Project Leader
W3-174
Depot Road Water Main
Replacement
Replace 2.5 km of existing pipe
145d 40% $150k J. Watson
W3-244
Central Street Water Main
Replacement
Replace and upgrade 1.0 km of
existing pipe
3m 100% $75k V. Patel
W1-168
Pumping Station #4
Refurbishment
Replace pump 4A, rebuild 4b,
new electrical
4.5m 70% $140k R. Swenson
H2-191-2
Computer System Hardware
Upgrade
Terminals, network, servers
15m TBD $95k P. Rinali
W4-183
Westborough Water Storage
Capacity Increase
40,000 to 60,000 units. Now
waiting on legal.
5m On hold $67k A. Lopez
H0-165
Processes Analysis Project
Establishing project definition
and scope
6m 0% TBD TBD
7. How to use a project inventory
Making a project inventory isn't particularly difficult and it does provide
considerable information for decision making and determining project status. It
becomes relatively easy to determine tradeoffs between projects such as which
projects to keep, which to cut, which need to be redefined, and which need more
(or fewer) resources.
Project inventories find uses in project reports, management presentations, and
in fending off, or at least placing new projects from over-delegators in
perspective. Most importantly they elevate managing multiple projects to the
level of controlling fires rather than running around stamping them out.
8. Important Characteristics of Real Life Projects
Accomplish with shared resources often only available on part-time basis
Require cross-functional team work
Involve uncertainty and are subject to change during execution
Subject to specific deadlines and time and resource constraints
Project manager often lacks functional authority over team members