Project Management Base CampGrab some refreshments, take a seat, name on both sides of

your name plate, meet your neighbors!

Kevin R. ThomasManager, Training & Developmentx3542Kevin.R.Thomas@williams.edu

What Do You Mean by Base Camp?

• In 2 hours we can’t climb the mountain, but we can get oriented to the peaks around us.

Program Outline

• Planning– Project mission – Goals– Stakeholder analysis and communication

• Implementation– Milestones – The Planning Fallacy– Work breakdown and dependencies– Project team meetings

• Completion– After Action Review– Celebration

Let’s Begin at the Ending

• Think of a project you were involved in.

• Complete the worksheet.• What did you learn?

Definitions

• Project:a temporary group activity designed to produce a unique product, service or result.

• Project Management: the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects effectively and efficiently.

Planning

• Project Charter– Mission– Goals– Stakeholder Analysis– Others

Project Charter

a statement of the scope, objectives, and participants in a project. It provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the project objectives, identifies the main stakeholders, and defines the authority of the project manager.

Project Mission

• Describes why the project is being undertaken, and the benefits it hopes to achieve.

"If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else." - Yogi Berra

Example

• By developing a robust program of HR Analytics, we can:– Fulfill our role as strategic partners to Harvard Library

Leadership by identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats with regard to the development of the Harvard Library workforce.

– Prioritize and customize HR Programs and services to maximize their value to the organization.

– Make powerful impact statements about the nature, volume, and value of our work.

Your Turn!

• Write a mission statement for your project.• Pair up and share your statement with your

partner.• Get feedback on your mission statement from

your partner (strengths, opportunities for improvement)

Project Goals

• Goals are the concrete accomplishments that will fulfill the project’s mission.

Project Goal Example

• "upgrade the helpdesk telephone system by December 31 to achieve average client wait times of no more than two minutes"

Your Turn!

• Write one of the goals for your project. Make sure it meets all of the SMART criteria.

• Pair up with someone else, and share the goal you’ve written.

• Get feedback from your partner.

Project Stakeholders

• Stakeholder: anyone that has an interest in or will be impacted by the project.

• Stakeholders have various degrees of power and influence, attitudes towards the project, hopes and fears, strengths and limitations, etc.

• Communication is the key to stakeholder management

Your Turn

• Complete the stakeholder analysis worksheet.• What did you learn? How will you

communicate with this stakeholder based on your analysis?

Other Planning Elements to Consider

• Take a look at the rest of the definitions. • Complete Project Charters often describe all

of these elements.

Implementation

• Milestones• Planning Fallacy• Work breakdown and task dependencies• Team meetings• Managing people

Milestones

• Mark the completion of key phases of the project.

• Aid in gauging the timeliness of project completion.

• Create an occasion for mini-celebrations

Example

PACK

PATCH&

PAINT

MOVE10/26

STYLE

OPEN HOUSE

11/3

ExamplePACK

PATCH&

PAINT

MOVE10/26

STYLEOPEN

HOUSE11/3

TODAY:Buy

Boxes and

Painting Materials

Your Turn!

• What are the key milestones of your project, and the deadlines associated with them?

Beware the Planning Fallacy

• The first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was scheduled to take two years to complete...

• Five years later they had only reached the word “ant.”

• Psych. research has shown we systematically underestimate how long it will take to achieve goals.

Addressing the Planning Fallacy

• Others are more accurate at predicting than we are ourselves, so ask a colleague for a time estimate.

• Or:– Make a prediction now, later see how accurate it

was.– In the future, multiply your time estimate by your

personal planning fallacy multiple.

Work Breakdown and Dependencies

• Work Breakdown Structure• Dependencies: tasks that cannot be started

until other tasks are complete.• Track the task, dependencies, who is assigned,

due date, and current status.

Project Team Meetings

• With some regularity (daily, weekly, monthly), all team members gather to talk about:– What they have done since the last meeting– What obstacles they may have encountered– What they plan to do by the next meeting

• Choose someone to take notes and review action commitments at the end of the meeting.

When They Don’t Do What They’re Supposed To …

• People are complicated.• All projects mean change.• “Yes” does not always mean “Yes”.

Your Turn

• Think of a time (present or past) when someone didn’t do something they were supposed to do.

• Complete the worksheet.• If you answered “Don’t Know”, how could you

find out?• If you answered “Yes”, what could you do to

influence this factor?

Task Completion

• Post Project Review• Celebration

Post Project Review

• Why would this be important?• Meet with project team, discuss and record:– What went well– What you might have done differently

• Write up into a report for project sponsor

Celebration• Keep the team motivated and looking forward to completion• Leave people with a positive feeling about being on your project

team• Plan and budget your celebration like any other part of the project.• Ideally, go to your celebration right after your post project review.

Conclusion• Project Manager is:

– Cheerleader– Team Builder– Nudge– Politician– Time and Resource Engineer– Troubleshooter

• Every project you manage is an opportunity for you to develop and communicate values:– Accountability– Cooperation– Communication– Resilience

Thank You!

• Program evaluation link will be emailed to you today.

Kevin R. ThomasManager, Training & Development

x3542kevin.r.thomas@williams.edu