Slides from a Project Management workshop for the RAILS library consortium October 27th, 2016. Focus on Project Planning fundamentals for library Project Managers.
19. urpose Replace the Carpet in the
Children’s room by November
30th with minimal disruption
to staff and patrons.
Maintain all Children’s
Department Services
Relocate Programming planned
between November 25th and 30th
Alternate Space for programs with:
ADA accessibility
Room for program requirements
Low/no cost
Move collection to alternate
spaces within the library
Space must be accessible to staff
New Books and media must be
accessible to patrons
Relocation must be done by
November 25th
46. lan
Stakeholder Register
Communication Plan
Statement of Goals and
Objectives
List of Requirements
Scope Statement
Project Schedule
Project Timeline
Project Constraints
Risk Assessment
Quality Assurance Plan
Resource Management
Plan
Procurement Plan
Change Management
Plan
Budgeting and Expense
Documentation
56. *MP
• Project Management Professional Certification through the
Project Management Institute, International CAPM Another
alternative
• Information at http://pmi.org
• Coursera Project Management Classes
• Lynda.com Courses
• University Programs and Certifications (Colorado State -
http://www.online.colostate.edu/certificates/project-
management-online/)
Good morning!
Today we’re going to dive right in to some of the basic concepts involved in Project Management.
Teaching a group all of PM in one morning would be like asking someone to teach people all of cataloging in 2 hours…
So today we’re going to focus on just the initial steps to the Planning process
We’re going to go quickly, so rest assured that everything I talk about today will be online later on Slideshare… eclasper1 Including
This presentation was brought to you by the letter P
Many of the basics you need to remember for starting out your projects are P words
What is a project?
What makes a project a success?
ALL THREE
This does not mean you can’t adjust your plan…
Every project has Project Constraints that have to be considered in order to reach project success
Usually three “Triple Constraint” – here expanded to include Scope – quality and completeness
The trick is to figure out which of these three is the Driving Constraint – the one that is set in stone (Hint - not always $)
Now that we have an idea of what I’m talking about with projects,
What kinds of things constitute projects in libraries? Things you have tackled?
What makes projects hard to do in a library setting?
Caveats about PM literature when working in a library environment:
Not profit driven, so equations sometimes not as meaningful
Substitute “Profit” with “Value to Patrons” (subjective!!)
Measurement harder
Non-profit PM is notoriously harder (funding, regulations, etc)
All of these considerations need to be handled by the PM
Are you a Project Manager?
What makes a good project manager? List traits and skills
Command authority
“Quick Sifting” abilities - prioritizing
Goal/outcomes oriented
Communication skills
Detail oriented
Motivator
Change Positive
Delegation
Big Picture translated to Little for getting things done
Documentation
Adherence to plans
Logic
Organization
Empathy
Analytical
Creative
Problem Solver
Problem Anticipator
Resourcefulness
Circle the traits that make a good reference librarian
Who should be assigned as a PM?
Choose the right PM and give them authority
Focus for today: PLANNING
The most important stage in the PM process IMHO
Get the plan in place, and FOLLOW IT
Plans should include plans to change it
Advocate for a formal process with written documentation
What happens without a solid plan for your project?
RISK
Project Lifecycle Phases
Concentrating on the Planning part makes the rest easier and sets up for success
Not linear, though. Lots of overlap
Things to notice:
Planning represents the most amount of work FOR THE PM
Does not end when the Execution starts
Shifts into closing processes near end
Planning begins in initiation
So where do we start
DO NOT JUST START DOING THINGS OR ASSIGNING STUFF
I tend to begin by etting as much info as I can about the project and then locking myself in my office
What does good project planning entail? – this and more, but these are the bare bones basics
IN THIS ORDER
Know what you need done
Know what needs to be done to get there
Know what you need to have on hand to do this
Know how this will lay out in terms of getting it all done
Common mistakes:
Starting with resources
Starting with Schedule
Always begin with the Project Definition! >>>>>
Always begin with your PURPOSE
Do not take this for granted – it is the basis for EVERYTHING
This is where we begin any project – define what we need to do
Mission = Purpose – Can be a one line statement
Goals – Outcome we want to strive for, longer term, broader ideas of what should be accomplished. Can be realized in many ways
Objectives – Specific ways to meet the stated goals. Deliverables, measureable outcomes
Goals – Outcome we want to strive for, longer term, broader ideas of what should be accomplished. Can be realized in many ways
Objectives – Specific ways to meet the stated goals. Deliverables, measureable outcomes
Here is a tiny slice of what that might look like. Many more Goals, Objectives, requirements in the real situation…
Goals are the main things you NEED to happen
Objectives are the way you plan to reach the goals
SMART – Specific Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, Time Bound
Requirements are the things that must be done to realize the objectives
Get more and more specific
These are later broken into tasks – which can then be assigned resources…
Activity – Defining Purpose
Select a sample project
Small groups of 4/5
WORKSHEET
State the purpose of the project. One sentence.
Define One GOAL for your project
Define 2 OBJECTIVES for that goal
Just a few rough ideas for your Req’s
Discuss what the groups came up with - this is the basis of your project
Once you have this, it can be written into a document for the approval of the boss… approval of this document gives the PM AUTHORITY to get these things done.
BREAK
Once you have that initial project charter approved, you now have permission and authority to DO IT.
But there’s a lot more to be planned.
The rest of the planning revolves around 3 P’s: People, Product, and Process
You have a well defined purpose. The other 3 Ps always serve the Purpose, and must each be accounted for carefully.
We’re a people based business
Questions to ask
Use the example project to discuss this
List the stakeholders up front for discussion
For everyone, managing expectations is the real underlying factor
Everyone involved has expectations of how a project will impact them, and the PM needs to make sure that these expectations are reasonable, correct, and addressed
Deliver on expectations
Ways to do this
Activity –
Brainstorm a Stakeholder List for our sample project
Convert into a RACI Matrix up front with a few things that we know will need to be done
Add Involvement and impact levels – involved/impacted, positive/negative, degree, considerations
Use these to develop Communication Charts – Who, What info, what format, how often, etc. EXPECTATIONS
Templates online
Communication is complicated
Do the yarn thing – communication within a project team.
Extend to the “public” in the rest of the room lol
This is why you need a communication plan
Communication plan – defines who gets info, how it’s delivered, level of detail, frequency, communication milestones, tool used
ALL ABOUT MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
Moving on to thinking about the product – We’ve already started this!!
Fleshing out the Requirements to include some definition of what Deliverables will be included
With the basic idea approved, you can take some time to define clearly what will need to be in place for the COMPLETED PRODUCT to be acceptable.
Requirements are based on what is necessary for the Goals and Objectives to be Reached
Deliverables are the concrete things you end up with at the end of a project. Take time to define these carefully – what is necessary for a deliverable to be accepted as complete? What are the minimums for accepting a deliverable?
Use these to maintain expectations with vendors, sponsors, stakeholders
Checklists good for product acceptance of simple stuff
Traceability matrix takes it further, and relates requirements to specific goals and objectives, showing interconnections – helps prioritize
Moving from the WHO of People and the WHAT or Product to the HOW of process
Many people in libraries skip right to this part… NO!
Activities Register – What tasks need to be done to get to these requirements
Write them all down!
For our sample project – what’s going to be on the activities register? Call them out!!
Have people write them on the reverse of their handout
Do some on post its
This is your scope of work
Activities defined as necessary to fulfill the requirements
No “While we’re at it”
No “Wouldn’t it be even better if”
No “above and beyond”
A word about scope creep
This will kill your project, increasing budget, time, etc.
Find ways to handle “creep” requests diplomatically
Account for ways to add activities without adding creep
Always refer back to requirements. If it’s not required to reach a goal, don’t do it.
Put the activities in order. Can you do this with your list?
What things need to be sequenced?
Put some post its in sequence to show
WBS gives sequence & divides into work packages
Adding time and resources to the sequence gives you
What does a Gantt chart do for you?
Takes a sequence of activities
Gives them a temporal element
Establishes dependencies
Allows assignment of resources
Estimation tool that allows you to???
Your roadmap for getting the project done with success
Don’t forget the contingency plans! How to make failures into opportunities
How are you going to address these kinds of things
Ask yourself about the potential risks you may face and how you’ll deal with them
Identify areas prone to risk, and you can plan for it
The plan is the key – then move ahead
Have a well defined process in place to avoid creep