Project Management Simplified

A Step-by-Step Process

Barbara Karten

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781498782593
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Project Management
• Index: Business

Are projects a problem for you? Do your projects cost too much, take too long, or are just not quite right? If so, Project Management Simplified: A Step-by-Step Process is the book for you. It applies well-defined processes for managing projects to managing change in our lives. It describes an approach modeled on a process used successfully in busi

Chapter 1

Projects

The Big Picture

Are projects a problem? Do your projects cost too much, take too long, or are just not quite right? If so, this book is for you; it is a no nonsense approach to projects—no jargon, just the facts.

Projects are all about change. They are temporary and have a defined beginning and end. They produce something unique; it may be a product, a service, or a result. Projects may be small or large, short term or long term, low risk or high risk. Planting a garden, planning a wedding, or changing jobs are all examples of projects.

Well-defined processes for managing projects have proven effective at delivering project success. This book applies these project processes to managing change in our lives. It views project management as a life skill.

Project management is for everyone; unlike other books about project management, this book focuses on the following:

• Everyday, low technology projects
• Simple, easy-to-use techniques for managing scope, schedule, budget, and quality
• Easily understood, jargon-free explanations of effective project management techniques
• Noncorporate projects
• Nonbusiness-focused project management

The book describes an approach modeled on a project process used successfully in businesses, not-for-profit organizations, schools, and other organizations. The skills and techniques are not unique to businesses and organizations; they are life skills available to everyone. This book presents a simplified version of the complete project management methodologies used in businesses. For simpler, less risky projects, the project and project team may not need all the components used in the business environment.

This is a journey, an adventure. Remember as children, we played a game called “Connect the Dots”? Once we connected all the dots, we had a picture of an animal, a basket, or a vehicle. As we progress through this book, we connect the dots necessary to complete our personal projects. This is our journey from the dreams you imagine to their realization.

The book includes a sample project in the text and a case study in the appendices that further illustrate the concepts explained in the text. This book also challenges the reader to select a project and, working along with the book, be the project manager and develop a project plan for this project. The project manager, working with the customers and funders of the project, defines the project and, based on this project definition, identifies how long it will take and how much it will cost. This begins the picture of connecting the dots.

The project manager writes this information down and builds on the initial information as he progresses through this journey. If he doesn’t write down the information as he creates and collects it, he will likely have conversations as follows:

• Do you remember what we agreed to?
• I don’t remember it that way. I think that we said… .
• We can’t take that long; we need to be finished by the end of the school year.
• I’m sure we agreed on gluten-free alternatives for our guests.
• We said we’d not spend more than $xxx.

To avoid this confusion, the project manager writes down the decisions and agreements as they happen. He documents the information in the project plan.

Once the project manager has a picture of the goal, he identifies processes, methods, tools, and templates that enable the project to reach the goal.

The project manager is really doing two separate things. He identifies the project goals and a plan to reach that goal. Maybe the goal is a thing (like a deck or pool for the yard) or a successful event (like a wedding, trip, or community event), or it might be simply a change (like moving from one place to another or changing jobs). The project is what the stakeholders do to cause the goal to happen. Broadly defined, a stakeholder is anyone positively or negatively affected by the project. We often call the goal “the product”—so we have a product of our project. Building a deck, having a successful event, or effectively changing the place of residence happens as a result of a process—and collectively these processes are our project.

Prior to project initiation, the person paying for the project (called the project sponsor) identifies the high level project and product details in the form of a project charter. This serves as a contract between the sponsor and the project manager; it is the basis for the details of the project.

This book includes information about the project core, project risks, a project toolkit, project context, and project execution.

1.1 The Project Core

Once the project manager has an agreement and sign off on high level project and product details in the project charter, he collects more information and elaborates on the initial project and product details. He talks to the project stakeholders and secures their perspective on the project and the product of the project. He needs to understand their requirements, the “features and functions” they expect, and any considerations with respect to schedule, budget, and quality. He writes down these details and secures ...