Author: Linky

Linky

7 Steps to Becoming a Better Project Manager

When you become a full-time project manager, you are always looking for ways that will help you be more successful. The purpose of this article is to give you 7 steps towards a successful outcome for your projects.  The 7 Steps will be presented in two parts. Some factors will influence your success: like the power you are granted as a project manager, the responsibilities you are given and the type of organization you are in.

1.      Conduct a project discovery session

Have a discussion where the idea of the project is discussed. It may involve some formal planning with a Business Case, estimates and Benefit Management. At some organizations, this session is part of pre-sales or Deal Phase and the result may be a proposal to a customer. Once this proposal is accepted, the project receives the go-ahead to start. At this time the project manager is usually assigned. Make sure that you familiarize yourself with all the documents from this phase as well as any lessons learnt from previous projects.

2.      Document Stakeholder expectations

It is important to capture all stakeholder needs early on and to define the meaning of success for everyone. Small projects may collect the expectations through personal interviews or by email. Larger projects, with stakeholders potentially numbering in the thousands, may employ sampling strategies and extensive consultation.

Once such Stakeholder Management tool is called “Conditions of Satisfaction” which is a way of ensuring that the customer’s (stakeholder) expectations are identified, agreed and that action plans are defined and allocated to responsible persons to implement.

It is also vital to articulate an understanding of the core benefits of the projects implementation. Understanding stakeholder expectations and key benefits will influence how the project will proceed, and will provide input into the Communication Plan. Having well-documented expectations and clearly defined benefits will pay dividends when project success metrics are being created and when key decisions must be made.

3.      Put project governance in place

Document the governance and routines for the project as well as expectations for the team.  How will your project be managed? How and where will status reports and project documents be stored, and what will they look like? What is the team’s appetite for risk? How often will you meet as a project team? Have you worked together before?

Once established, the Project Governance and all key project components should be covered in a formal initiation meeting, also called a Kick-off meeting, to certify that everyone is on the same page.  When you conduct projects for external customers, it is important to have an internal kick-off meeting with the project team first to ensure alignment, before you start engaging with the customer.

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Linky

Is Project Management A Profession?

This debate whether project management is a profession or not, has heated up again in the past year. I wanted to have a closer look at what it means to receive acknowledgement as a profession and if I think we will ever arrive there.

According to Wikipedia, the formation of a profession is as follows:
“A profession arises when any trade or occupation transforms itself through the development of formal qualifications based upon education, apprenticeship, and examinations, the emergence of regulatory bodies with powers to admit and discipline members, and some degree of monopoly rights.

Even though there are many other descriptions and traits associated with an occupation actually becoming a profession, but this is clear and easily lends itself to a step approach when trying to define how far Project Management has progressed towards becoming a true profession.

Project Management can be described as relatively static with respect to its education, apprenticeship and examinations. Right, wrong or otherwise, the adoption of the Project Management Institute’s Code of Ethics, education requirements and examinations based on their Project Management Body of Knowledge has become the de-facto standard for education, apprenticeship and examination.

Project Management is clearly not dependent on any particular type of hardware/software application or platform. Project Management methodology can also be applied across multiple industries.

Again, using the Wikipedia definition of a profession, the following is the classical manner in which an occupation becomes a profession:
1. It became a full-time occupation;
2. The first training school was established;
3. The first university school was established;
4. The first local association was established;
5. The first national association was established;
6. The codes of professional ethics were introduced;
7. State licensing laws were established.

Source: Perks, R.W.(1993): Accounting and Society. Chapman & Hall (London)

Obviously, if we accept PMBOK as the Body of Knowledge, and PMI as the local and national association and accept and embrace their Code of Ethics, Project Management has satisfied the first 6 steps to becoming a true profession. The final step, State Licensing laws being established, remains to be enacted. Since we are in fact global though, that requirement may not be possible, or at least may be unrealistic in many cases.

Does that preclude Project Management from being a true profession? I think not, especially due to the fact that there are other accepted professions that do not have licensing requirements.  If in fact there are other, better qualified, organizations than PMI that would better represent our interests as a profession, then that organization should be identified, promoted and voted on by the members of the profession.

Like many other Project Management Professionals, I also believe that the Project Management occupation has satisfied the definition of a profession and has matured to a level that we should move forward as a truly professional organization.

For more Project Management training, software and product resources, don’t forget to visit our Resource page here.

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Linky

6 Winning Practices for Effective Programme Management

Today we will look at managing a programme and which recommended practices you want to consider when managing a programme.

If we look at a simple definition of a Programme, it is that a Programme is a group of projects, which are grouped together because they contribute to the same objectives in the business strategy.

Here are 6 recommendations for managing a programme:

1. Review the Strategy

When kicking off your programme, the first step is to review your business case and agree on the objectives that your programme is responsible for delivering. This is important, as the objectives are what you use to peg your projects to. If you end up creating new projects that don’t contribute your specified objectives, then they should be excluded from your programme!

2. Line up management support

It is of utmost importance to gain the support of your executive team through the Business Case. This will help you to identify the benefits and costs of running the programme, the risks you foresee and what it is that you need to make it a success. It will also help you get the funding you require, as your Business Case will justify the funding needed, by stating the benefits to be realized.

3. Start carefully

Now that you have the funding and support from management, you’re ready to kick-off. Before launching into scoping your projects—instead define your overall programme of work in depth first. Create a Program Charter setting out your vision, objectives, roadmap and deliverables. Then set up a Program Office and appoint the key members of your administration team.

4. Project selection is critical

You’re now ready to define your projects and other related work. Scope out each project carefully and make sure that the benefits delivered from all of your projects combined, deliver the goals stated in your Business Case. Selecting the right projects to deliver the right benefits is critical. Make sure you categorize, evaluate, select and prioritize your projects carefully.

5. It’s all down to execution

Now kick off your projects in a logical order. Spread your programme resources (people, time and money) evenly so you don’t have resource constraints. Never schedule critical projects to take place at the end. To retain the buy-in of your Sponsor, make sure your projects deliver value early.

6. Control chaos

After your projects kick off, changes in the business often cause a level of chaos. Your projects change in scope, their budgets get constrained and resource shortages start occurring. How you react to these changes will determine your level of success as a Program Manager.

When this happens, step back and re-assess your programme. Outside influences are often the cause and these are things that you alone can fix. Only in exceptional circumstances should you dive into the depths of the program itself and work alongside project managers and teams at the micro level. A good Program Manager will instead step back and make macro level changes to influence the success of the programme.

For more project related resources like training, software and products, please visit the Resources page.

Linky

Clash Between the Titans: PRINCE2 vs Project Management Professionals

This post was sourced from an article that was published in “The Project Manager” magazine, authored by Dr Christopher Worsley.

The clash referred to here is between the institutions or training companies providing PRINCE2™ courses and who are promoting method accreditation versus training organisations offering courses that promote professional project management.

It has taken time and much research, some funded by the national and international project management associations, to develop a consistent view about what makes a good project manager.

There remains work to be done, but consensus is growing about their attributes, and for a professional curriculum and valid assessment criteria to be created.

Where is the problem?

The problem is the difference between education and training.

Not sure what the difference is? Simply check your reaction to your child coming home and saying he/she had sex training rather than sex education at school today!

Institutions who offer PRINCE2™ would claim that some 50 000 individuals sit the PRINCE2™ tests every year, while the institutions who offer PMP certification educations would be hard-pressed to find 5 000 taking advanced project management qualifications worldwide.

We need to worry that the personal development budget for future project managers is being consumed by training programmes, when this money could be better spent in educating them in project management.

Senior executives want people skilled at running projects. People skilled at running projects are distinguished by their attitudes, their skills, the responsibilities they intuitively accept, and the tasks and procedures they follow.

It is a well-researched finding that the best predictor of project performance is level of previous project experience. None of these are the outcomes from the typical five-day accreditation training course, including two days of tests.

What project management education does, is develop judgement and attitudes. It focuses on disciplines, not procedures, and forces focus on the factors that lead to success in projects.

There is a place for procedures. They are the distilled wisdom from hundreds of man years of others’ experience, but they are not rules, they are guidance; something that someone – whose only exposure to project management is a method course and anecdotal experiences, shaped by that method – rarely grasps.

How to resolve the clash?

The first and most important thing is to make the case for developing project management expertise, rather than project method expertise.

The major project management organisations, such as the APM, the International Association of Project Managers (IAPM) and the Project Management Institute (PMI), must make their cases much clearer and deliver to the marketplace clear guidelines about what good project management education should look like.

Both the APM and the PMI have long-standing entry-level knowledge programmes that are preferable starting points for project management education, but they suffer from many of the same faults as the method accreditation courses, with a public image that attaining these underwrites some sort of professional status in project management when they patently do not.

And project managers who value their contribution to their organisation and to their country should demand loud and clear that they are professionals and expect professional status with all that comes with it: recognition, responsibility and qualifications.

Dr Christopher and Louise Worsley are Managing Directors of PiCubed, Delivering Change through Projects, Portfolios and Programmes, a South African centre for excellence in project management. It is a sister company to CITI – a highly respected project management education and consultancy business in the UK.

Linky

ISO is all about International Standardisation

International standardisation through ISO provides a reference framework, or a common technological language, between suppliers and their customers, which facilitates trade and the transfer of technology.  Industry-wide standardisation helps to remove barriers to trade and is available to all.

ISO for international standardizationISO standards operate throughout the world in over 170 countries, in industrialised, developing and in transition, regions.  ISO’s portfolio of standards provides business, government and society with practical tools for all three dimensions of sustainable and business growth development: economic, environmental and social.

We are all aware that there is a shift in how the world trades.  It is also apparent that this shift in global trade is opening new doors to developing countries.  What will also help greatly is the ability for all countries, all governments, and all suppliers irrespective of size, location or industry sector to compete on a level playing field.

ISO and developing countries

ISO specialist companies, such as IMSM, work with clients in developing countries, to assist them in putting in place a standardisation infrastructure to enable their products to meet requirements on an international level.  In 5 simple steps your business can trade to all internationally.

ISO standards are the same throughout the world thus creating a level playing field for all nations.  Emerging nations, with limited resources and fledging infrastructure, can benefit from the reservoir of knowledge that ISO represents.  ISO standards are a powerful business tool organisations can utilise.

In coming years, developing countries will face intense competition and the choice of options available to businesses will be daunting.  IMSM believe in offering all businesses, large or small, start up or established, the opportunity and support to become ISO certified.

International buyers are unlikely to relax their purchasing standards; therefore sourcing the right product at the right price is truly international.  To aid this international trade route, the more companies adopting ISO standards, as a building block to delivering a quality product and service, the more countries, like Kenya, as a nation can compete in every market.

ISO for all

ISO Standards can provide producers who are trying to enter into business with major buyers and retailers, with invaluable tools to help make them stronger contenders.  When trading with global buyers, on top of national and regional standards and technical regulations, a business now needs to comply with the internationally recognised standards that are, for the most part, imposed on them by larger companies within the supply chain.

Why ISO?

ISO Standards are considered to be one of the ways of promoting social development and environmental sustainability in global value chains.

ISO Standards can help SMEs as they are generally established to guarantee the quality and safety of the products but also often ensure satisfactory working conditions in the factories. This is seen as a positive development, encouraging SMEs to implement sustainable and corporate socially responsible (CSR) policies in the workplace.

ISO standards provide solutions and achieve benefits for almost all sectors of activity.

ISO standards make a positive contribution to the world we live in; helping to facilitate fair trade, spread knowledge, disseminate innovative advances in technology, and share good management and conformity assessment practices.

For more information about ISO standards and certification, contact IMSM, the leading consultants delivering on the implementation of ISO standards.

Linky

The Benefits of ISO Standards for your Business

This article is part of the series about ISO standards and ISO Certification and what that means for your business. The purpose here is to explain the benefits of ISO standards and why companies would implement it.
ISO Benefits

Development of an ISO Standard

Development of ISO standards is thorough, consistent and harbours the specialist knowledge of experts from each industry across the globe.  This ensures credible and consistent frameworks for businesses to adhere to.

The development of ISO standards is continual, with meetings taking place daily across the world.  A technical committee is made up of experts, who discuss and debate until a consensus is reached.  The first draft of the standard is put to public review and voting takes place.  Feedback is considered and the standard is redrafted if voting does not go in favour of the original draft.  The process is repeated until a consensus is reached and the ISO standard is published.

ISO makes the world a better place

Consider what the world would be like without ISO standards.  ISO standards make a considerable and positive contribution daily, to the lives of people across the world.  Standards integrate a set of characteristics to a product or service in order to meet the expectations of the consumer.

The role of the ISO often goes unnoticed when a commodity meets the approval of the end user.  However when standards are absent and a product/service does not meet with consumer expectations, be it poor quality or not working, it is very rarely overlooked.  Together with ensuring quality, environmental friendliness and reliability, ISO standards guarantee the safety of products and services.

The ISO standards work to enhance many aspects of business, such as;

o   Improving the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services to be more efficient, safer and cleaner

o   Facilitating trade between countries and develop and fairer trade system

o   Providing governments with a technical base for health, safety and environmental legislation

o   Sharing technological advances and good management practice

o   Circulating innovation

o   Safeguarding consumers and users of products and services

o   Providing solutions to common problems, in turn helping to make life easier

10 Benefits of ISO Standards

The ISO standards provide a host of benefits to the economy, technology and society as a whole.

1.       ISO enables businesses to complete on markets around the world, due to the widespread adoption of the standards, products and services are developed according to the specifications meaning they will have international acceptance.

2.       For innovators of new technologies, ISO standards help to speed up the distribution of innovations and their development into products.  Customers can enjoy a broad choice of offers as well as benefiting from the effects of competition among suppliers.

3.       Conformity of products and services to ISO standards provides assurance about their quality, safety and reliability for consumers.

4.       ISO provide the technological and scientific bases underpinning health, safety and environmental legislation to aid governments.

5.       ISO creates “a level playing field” for all competitors, helping trade officials and the existence of divergent national or regional standards can create technical barriers to trade.  ISO are the technical means by which political trade agreements can be put into practice.

6.       By defining the characteristics that products and services will be expected to meet on export markets, ISO gives developing countries a basis for making the right decisions when investing their scarce resources.

7.       On an environmental level, ISO standards can help to preserve the air, water, soil quality, gas emissions, radiation and environmental aspects of products.

8.       ISO contributes to the quality of life in general by ensuring that the transport, machinery and tools we use are safe.

9.       The ISO facilitation process is essentially conformity assessment – checking that the products, materials, services, systems, processes or people measure up to the specifications of a relevant standard.

10.   ISO guides and standards for conformity assessment represent an international consensus on best practice.

For more information about ISO standards and certification, contact IMSM, the leading consultants delivering on the implementation of ISO standards.

Linky

Understanding ISO Certification

Following the article: “Understanding the value of ISO for your business“, this article will explain ISO Certification.  ISO Certification indicates that a recognised independent registrar has examined a company’s quality system and found them to be compliant with ISO standards.
ISO Certification
The process of developing and implementing a good, solid, quality management system that is also compliant is time consuming and expensive.  So, does ISO hold enough value to justify these efforts?

The ISO certification process serves as a vehicle for improving all major interrelated systems that affect product quality, customer service and company performance.  Therefore a company-wide effort is necessary to implement the process, which drives value through every level of a business.  Company culture is at the heart of any business, and industry experts have cited that the most important component to ISO improvements should be attitudes within the company.

ISO Implementation

To get the most out of ISO implementation, training and awareness programmes work by way of getting employees involved.  It is important that all levels of management buy in to the ISO process and be actively involved to derive maximum benefit.

The employees will be working with quality management systems on a daily basis and need to understand the effect it will have on their jobs.  With significant input during the development of the procedures, the ISO certification process becomes much more meaningful to them, increasing the likelihood that they will embrace the process.

Value from within a business is fine and this value and pride in a business will naturally reach your customer base.  As a measurement of value with any business, an ISO helps you to deliver, which is what your customer requires.

Successful implementation takes place when the ISO standards are developed to fit the company and not the other way around.  IMSM works with clients to create a tailored implementation so that it can be worked in to the company culture without disrupting what is already in place, cohering employees to ensure that there is no resistance or the “way we have always done it” attitude.

ISO as a Step in the Quality Management Process

The value of ISO is very dependant on the company involved and how they view the ISO certification.  If a company regards the certification as just a goal, once certified much of the work and improvements that went in to the achievement cease to continue.  The companies that derive value from ISO see it as a step in the quality management process.  The process often drives a “cultural change” that spurs them to look for ways to build on their new quality management system.

Such a cultural change within a business has a positive effect on numerous elements of productivity such as, the approach to product development and manufacturing, communication with vendors, and relations with customers and employees.  As a result, the company will experience positive returns such as improved production, customer satisfaction and loyalty and employee enthusiasm and commitment.  This payback will far exceed the original investment in ISO certification, and deliver to you far more layers of value and satisfaction than first thought.

 

Certification can be obtained from a company such as IMSM who only work with Assessors that have been successfully trained to the highest standard by an approved training body, who have a wealth of experience, to guarantee that their clients will receive first class consultation throughout their ISO journey.

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Linky

ISO: Understanding the Value of ISO for your Business

Definition of ISO

ISO, the acronym for the International Organization for Standardization, is an international standard setting body composed of representative from various standards organisations.

Source: Wikipedia

Understanding ISO
Before you can understand the value of an ISO, you really need to know what ISO is.  ISO standards specify the requirements for operating procedures and systems, together with conformity practices and assessment. ISO standards operate in 176 countries across the world; they speak to business and trade on an international level.

The question of value is always with the purchaser.  Each business will have their individual and specific reasons as to why they require an ISO.  As with the majority of business decisions it will be taken in relation to increasing revenue, profit, growth or market status.

ISO Certification

ISO certification may be a daunting prospect for any business to take on, however once in place, the standards can improve faltering business processes.   Common motivators include:

  • Improving business processes resulting in more accurate work and reduced costs,
  • Saving your business money
  • Reducing your carbon footprint
  • Helping to deliver your company aims and aspirations
  • Using the certification to differentiate from competitors thus providing a competitive edge.
  • Certain business sectors require, as a prerequisite, ISO certification, as they will only do business with ISO certified companies.

The external auditing process also delivers to any supply chain the reassurance that all processes and procedures are thoroughly and regularly reviewed.  The certificate alone will not improve processes, but implemented correctly, the standards add real value.

Value of ISO

Value is initially derived from a clear understanding of what standard is most appropriate to a business and also the supply chain they operate within.  It is important to understand which standards are needed for your business to deliver on business goals.  It is important to know that the Assessors you will be working with meet the required levels of expertise for the standard in order to trust their guidance.  There is no substitute for experience and knowledge.

However experience comes from working in the field, being able to put theory in to practice and have the experience first hand of how solutions work.  Real value of an ISO is not found in a text book exercise, but part of the continual improvement model –

PLAN – DO – CHECK – ACT

For more information about ISO standards and what it can mean for your business, contact IMSM who is worldwide industry leading consultants delivering on the implementation of ISO standards.

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Linky

Project Management Announcement: PMI Launches AGILE Certification

Agile is a topic of growing importance within the project management industry, and more project managers are embracing Agile as a technique for managing their successful projects including PMI who is launching an Agile Certification.

Growing Demand For Application Of Agile Practices

A recent statistic which emerged from PMI’s latest Pulse survey is that standardized project management practices result in better project performance. Many project managers who use Agile techniques for managing projects have seen the value of quicker delivery of projects to clients.

PMI research has revealed that 68% of organizations using Agile practices would find value in an Agile certification for project management practitioners. In addition, 63% of hiring managers would encourage their project managers to pursue an Agile certification.

Organisations have reported that the use of the Agile techniques have resulted in the following:

  • Early and continuous customer feedback – because the customer is continuously involved during development, resulting in an end-product to their satisfaction.
  • High visibility and influence over the project highlights problems earlier in the project.
  • Early measurable return on investment – allowing for reporting on defined deliverables early during the process.

Who Should Obtain PMI Agile Certification?

All PM Practitioners currently applying Agile practices in their projects or organizations who are adopting the Agile approach to project management are all excellent candidates for the PMI Agile Certification. Earning the Agile Certification could:

  • Demonstrate their level of professionalism in Agile practices to employers
  • Increase professional versatility in both project management tools and techniques
  • Show their project management leadership capacity by holding a more credible certification than training-only or exam-only based training

PMI serves the project management profession by providing practitioners with a toolbox of selected tools and techniques—and Agile is one of those tools. For example, those who have the PMP® and are working in an organization that is using Agile techniques, the Agile Certification provides an applicable knowledge base of Agile principles and concepts.

Important Dates For Agile Certification Launch

  • May 2011 – Candidates for the Agile certification will be able to submit an application for the pilot.
  • August 2011 – Pilot testing is scheduled to begin.

If you have questions that cannot be answered by the information on PMI.org/Agile, please contact PMI Customer Care based in your region:

North America/Latin America at customercare@pmi.org

EMEA +31-320-239-539 or customercare.emea@pmi.org

AP+65 6496 5501 or customercare.asiapac@pmi.org

Linky

Understanding PRINCE2 and How to Implement

Today is the second article in the 2-part series for project managers to understand PRINCE2 and how it can be implemented. Now that you know that PRINCE2 is a process-based approach to project management, you may be interested in the history of PRINCE2.

What is the history of PRINCE?

PRINCE stands for Projects in Controlled Environments. It is a project management method covering the organisation, management and control of projects. The Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), now part of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), first developed PRINCE in 1989. The intention was to produce a UK Government standard for IT project management.

Since its introduction, PRINCE has become widely used in both the public and private sectors and is now the UK’s de facto standard for project management. Although originally developed for the needs of IT projects, PRINCE has also been used on many non-IT projects. The latest version of the method, PRINCE2, is designed to incorporate the requirements of existing users and to enhance the method towards a completely generic, best practice approach.

How is PRINCE2 implemented?

The most important prerequisite to implementing PRINCE2 is awareness and buy-in at the most senior level of the organisation. Once this has been achieved, project staff (from sponsors right through to team members) can be trained to a level of competence appropriate to their individual roles. This training also provides staff with the skills necessary to oversee the PRINCE2 implementation, though often it is recommend to use an external consultancy. This can inject in-depth knowledge not just of PRINCE2, but of the ways in which both the method and the organisation’s existing business processes must be married together to create an environment in which PRINCE2 can deliver maximum benefit.

PRINCE2 training

There are different levels of training available for PRINCE2.

Overview: Aimed at managers new to formal project management methods, plus senior managers and executives considering the introduction of PRINCE2 into their organisations.

Foundation: For those who will be involved in projects, but not necessarily in a leading role, such as project support staff.

Practitioner: For anyone requiring an in-depth understanding of PRINCE2, particularly current or aspiring project managers.

Both Foundation and Practitioner training lead to optional examinations that will provide successful delegates with an internationally recognised qualification.

Visit the AFA PRINCE2 Training for more details if you’re interested. Also visit the Resources page for more training providers in the project management space.

Remember to subscribe to my RSS feed for future project management articles that will help you become the best project manager that you can be.

Linky

Understanding PRINCE2 in the Project Management Context

Any project manager will come across many different project management methodologies and frameworks during their careers. Today I want to write about one such method, Prince 2 to help you understand it better in the project management context of achieving all of the project goals and objectives while adhering to classic project constraints – usually scope, quality, time and budget.

What is PRINCE2?

PRINCE2 is a process-based approach to project management providing an easily tailored and scale-able method for the management of all types of projects. Each process is defined with its key inputs and outputs together with the specific objectives to be achieved and activities to be carried out.

The method describes how a project is divided into manageable stages enabling efficient control of resources and regular progress monitoring. The various roles and responsibilities for managing a project are fully described and are adaptable to suit the project’s size and complexity and the skills of the organisation.

Project planning using PRINCE2 is product-based which means the project plans are focused on delivering results and are not simply about planning when the various activities on the project will be done. Driving any PRINCE2 project is the business case, which describes the organisation’s justification, commitment and rationale for the deliverables or outcome. The business case is reviewed regularly during the project so as to ensure the business objectives, which often change during the life-cycle of the project, are still being met.

Why usePRINCE2?

PRINCE2 provides organisations with a standard approach to the management of projects. The method embodies proven and established best practice. It is generic, non-proprietary and widely recognised. PRINCE2 also offers benefits to the organisation as a whole. These are achieved through the controllable use of resources and the ability to manage business and project risk more effectively.

PRINCE2 enables projects to have:

  • a controlled and organised start, middle and end
  • regular reviews of progress against plan and against the Business Case
  • flexible decision points
  • automatic management control of any deviations from the plan
  • involvement of management and stakeholders at the right time and place during the project the necessary controls and breakpoints to work successfully within any required contractual framework
  • a common language across all interested parties thereby ensuring effective communication channels between the project team, project management and the rest of the organisation

Please comment about your experience with Prince2 or any other methodology that is worth sharing.

Remember to subscribe to my RSS for the next article on Prince2.

Linky

5 Tips For Better Project Reporting

Every good project manager knows that communications management is an essential part of effective project management. Project reporting is about providing progress feedback to the project stakeholders.  This post will provide 5 tips for reporting on projects to ensure you are efficient in how you provide the necessary feedback about your project.
Project reporting

1.    Project status: Create a weekly Project Status Report to show your actual vs. planned effort, percent complete and actual vs. forecast spend. Specify the number of open risks, changes and issues, and state whether action by your Sponsor is required to resolve them. Also show the forecast amount of time, effort and money required to finish the project. Always try and forecast as accurately as possible. Never forecast optimistically, always conservatively.

2.    Task completion: You need to regularly show your Sponsor your progress against the tasks listed on your schedule. Create a summarized view of your project plan and update it to reflect the percent complete for every task. Then append this summary view to your Project Status Report. This way, your Sponsor can drill down to see further information about each task, if they want to.

By offering your Project Sponsor both summary and detailed information weekly makes them feel like your project is an “open book”. They will have all of the information about your project and you will get more buy-in from your Sponsor and more support when it’s needed.

3.    Milestones: You need to add Milestones to your project plan to show when the major project deliverables will be produced. You then need to report on the progress of each milestone to your Sponsor. Show the percent complete of each milestone, and again, forecast the completion dates.

Here’s another tip: You will get more out of your team if you motivate them to complete milestones, as opposed to tasks. That’s because people are usually proud of the things that they have achieved in life (i.e. milestones), as opposed to the things they have done to achieve them (i.e. the tasks).

4.    Getting help: Project Sponsors don’t always want to hear “we’re on track and under budget” in their project reports. They just want to hear the truth. So if you’re behind schedule and you need help to get back on track, then tell your Sponsor about it in your project reports.

State exactly what you need from them. Show them that you’re doing the best you can and that you’re the best person for the job, but that you still need their help to deliver the project. If you need more time, money or resources, then ask for it. Don’t be afraid. And remember, the best time to ask for help is before you really need it. This gives you contingency, because it always takes time for help to arrive.

5.    One version of the truth: Your project reports need to depict “one version of the truth” to your team. Keep them 100% accurate and be as open as possible about real issues that are affecting your team. Remember that if you communicate an issue to your Sponsor, then it becomes their issue to fix as well. Reporting issues is a great way to share the responsibility for fixing them.

The Project Status Report becomes the window to the world to share what is going on with the project on the inside. It also validates your position as project manager that you are actively managing and controlling the project activities to successful completion.

Please leave a comment and share any other useful tips for project reporting. Also subscribe to the RSS feed or to the Blog (to the right) for future project management articles.