Top Project Management Tips for the Office Professional

1. Top Project Management Tips for the Office Professional With Paul Richardson

2. Purpose • “To understand some of the common pitfalls of Project Management, identify some Hints and Tips as to how to be more ‘project focussed’ and introduce some simple tools to overcome those pitfalls”

3. What is a Project? • Specific purpose • Specified start AND finish • Involves a set of Inter -related tasks • Involves a number of different resources • Time • Money • People • Equipment

4. Common Pitfalls • Changing goalposts • Poor communication • Unrealistic timelines • Poorly defined objectives • Insufficient resources • No formal structure • Lack of buy-in/commitment • Project v day job prioritisation • Unforeseen problems • The wrong project • Poor planning

5. The 7 P’s for Project Success • Process • Purpose • Parameters • People • Plan • Priority • Problems

6. SCOPING THE PROJECT EVALUATING THE PROJECT HANDOVER AND CLOSE STAGE CONCEPT STAGE DEFINITION STAGE IMPLEMENTATION STAGE PLANNING THE PROJECT IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN Process • Split Projects into manageable Phases - Have a Lifecycle • Keep it Simple • Use Consistent Language • Have a ‘fast track’ abridgedversion for smaller projects

7. Understand ‘WHY’ the project is being undertaken Clearly outline the end result i.e. ‘WHAT’ are you trying to achieve Benefits Financial / non Financial Business End user Project team Document and get it signed off and keep checking against it! Have a Business Case R easons O ptions B enefits S uccess criteria C osts A ssumptions R isks D eliverables S takeholders Purpose

8. Parameters • Identify and understand the Key Driver • List the following • What products/work is Included • What products/work is NOT Included • Re-negotiate each corner every time achange is proposed • Fast - cheap - good: you can’t have all 3!

9. Define PROJECT roles Sponsor Project Manager Team Member Get agreement from team members fulfilling the roles Conduct Stakeholder Analysis Manage Expectations (Key Players) Keep Satisfied High Power Minimal Effort Keep Informed Low Interest Low High People

10. Have a documented plan KISS – Use a format that is easily understood Keep it real – however unpleasant it may read Keep it up to date Keep old versions Always have a plan ‘B’ Don’t Forget to Plan the following: FOCUS ON OUTPUTS Timescales Costs Quality Resources Risks Communication Exit strategy Planning

11. Identify ‘What’ needs to be done Create the order in which the work needs to be done Identify the time/ inter project Constraints Establish When it needs to/can be done Identify who is going to complete the tasks Identify the CRITICAL PATH! "All project managers face problems on Monday mornings - GOOD project managers are working on next Monday's problems." Priority

12. Identify ‘What could Go Wrong’ AND ‘What could go Right’ How Bad is it (Impact) What are the Chances of it happening? (Probability) Prioritise (R A G) How should we respond to it? Treat Terminate Transfer Tolerate PROBABILITY - IMPACTMATRIX 3 HIGH 2 PROBABILITY MEDIUM 1 LOW 2 1 3 MEDIUM LOW HIGH IMPACT Problems

13. Process Purpose Parameters People Plan Priority Problems Summary