11

Project Planning & Estimating –Are we there yet?

Deb SmithMayo Clinic, Enterprise Portfolio Management Office (EPMO)

2

Introduction• Education

• MS in Project Mgmt from SMU of MN October 2006

• Undergrad in Electrical & Computer Engineering from University of Michigan

• Employment/Experience

• Mayo Clinic Enterprise Portfolio Management Office, Sr. Project Consultant

• Adjunct Professor Saint Mary’s University MS Project Mgmt since 2006

• Project/Portfolio Manager 8 yrs (Mayo)

• IT Project Manager 15 yrs (IBM & Mayo)

• PMI Certified PMP 25 February 2002

3

Discussion Overview

• Project Life Cycle

• Estimating Projects

• What Makes Projects Different

• “Adjust the use and rigor”

• Questions and Comments

4

What is a project?• Organized set of work efforts.

• Progressively elaborated

• Limited by time and resources

• Have a defined beginning and ending

Project – “a temporary endeavor undertaken tocreate a unique product, service, or result.” PMBOK® Guide

Project – “a temporary endeavor undertaken tocreate a unique product, service, or result.” PMBOK® Guide

5

What is a Project?• It is a temporary endeavor with specific start and end

dates that can answer “yes” to one or more of the following questions:

• Does the activity require independent approval? • Does the activity require specific funding and have separate

budget? (e.g. Capital and/or operational expenses)• Is there a specific team focused on this activity outside of

normal operations?• Can this activity be implemented independently of other

activities?• Does this activity require more than 20 person hours? (this

may be of IT Infrastructure and/or combined resource effort - still working this out)

Mayo Enterprise Standard

6

Project Life Cycle Stages/Process Groups• Initiating — when a project is proposed, planned at a

high level, and key participants commit to it in broad terms

• Planning — starts after the initial commitment, includes detailed planning, and ends when all stakeholders accept the entire detailed plan

• Executing — includes authorizing, executing, monitoring, and controlling work until the customer accepts the project deliverables

• Closing — all activities after customer acceptance to ensure project is completed, lessons are learned, resources are reassigned, and contributions are recognized.

Mo

nit

or

and

Co

ntr

ol

Planning

7

Project Life Cycle Stages

Project Manager

8

Start Developing the Project Plan

Who, What, When, Where, & HowWho, What, When, Where, & How

Questions DocumentationWhat is to be done? Scope definition document

Why should we do it? Business case or rationale

How should we do it? Strategy & Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

In what sequence? Network Diagram

Where should work be done? Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS)

When should work be done? Schedule Plan

Who should do the work? Resource Utilization Plan

How much will it cost? Cost Plan or Budget Plan

How do we judge process? Milestone Plan or Earned Value (EV) Plan

9

Mayo Enterprise Standard

10

Project Management

1111

Estimating Projects

12

How to Estimate• Have the right people make the estimate

• Use history and experience as guide

• The smaller the unit of work being estimated the better the estimate

• Bottom-up approach best – most costly

• Effort-based activities may be compressed by adding staff • The “mythical man month”

• Some people tend to estimate optimistically. Keep in mind:• Actual productive time (~ 80%)• Learning curves/Rework• Competing priorities and dependencies not available on time

(Document the assumptions and approach) • Emergencies/illness/Vacation

• Do not pad the numbers

13

10 Tips for Increasing Estimating Accuracy

1. Create and use planning documents2. Identify assumptions and constraints 3. Simplify 4. Prioritize deliverables5. Use complexity factor 6. Manage “iron triangle” 7. Track actuals8. Modify plans/forecasting9. Use lessons learned10.Use more than one method to arrive at an

estimate

COST

Quality

TIMESCOPE

14

Ensure success of each team member• Consider partial time allocation

• Determine collision or collaboration points

• Develop efficient ways to organize and perform the work

1515

What Makes Projects Different?

16

What Makes Projects Different?

• Projects vs. operations

• Large or Small

• Complex or Simple

• Process Improvement or Product Development

• Waterfall or Iterative Approach

17

Projects vs. OperationsQ: When is maintenance a project?

A: When it is a temporary endeavor that delivers a unique product, service, or result.

18

Size and Complexity

19

Product or Process Improvement

20

Waterfall vs. Iterative

Plan Driven Adaptive

21

Agile Project Management• Organize the project into short iterations

• Only plan in detail for nearby tasks.

• PM emphasis is moved from planning to execution

2222

Adjust the Use and Rigor

23

Project Mgmt Plan - How

• Scope Mgmt Plan

• Schedule Mgmt Plan

• Cost Mgmt Plan

• Quality Mgmt Plan

• Staffing/Resource Mgmt Plan

• Communication Mgmt Plan

• Risk Mgmt Plan

24

How much is too much?• What is your ratio of documentation to

deliverables?

• What is the percentage of time spent on planning vs. execution?

• How many different groups/organizations must be coordinated?

• Has this been done before?

• Are there critical resource constraints?

• What documentation do you need to get funding?

25

Minimum Required Formal Documents• Project Charter

• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

• Communication Plan

• Risk Identification and Owners

• Status Report

26

27

Plan the work!

Work the plan!

NET: Failing to plan is planning to fail

28

Questions, Comments, Suggestions