It might seem daunting when you realize that, as a project manager, you’re responsible for such a tremendous balancing act throughout the life of the project. However, this responsibility can be broken down into the following four key stages:
Initiating and planning the project
Executing the project
Monitoring and controlling the project
Closing the project
Most of the chapters in this book are structured with these four stages in mind. For each stage, you use Project 2010 in specific ways. Standard project management practices are also related to planning, executing, controlling, and closing the project. Throughout this book, the Project 2010 procedures as well as the project management practices are described in the context of the relevant project stage.
The following sections detail the key elements of each of the four project management stages.
You’re ready to begin the planning stage after an authoritative stakeholder, such as an executive or customer, decides to initiate this project with you as the project manager. The outcome of this planning stage will be a workable project plan and a team ready to start working on the project. When planning the project, do the following:
Look at the big picture. Before you get too far into the nuts and bolts of planning, you need a comprehensive vision of where you’re going with your project. You shape this vision by first identifying the project goals and objectives. This practice helps you set the scope of the project. You learn the expectations, limitations, and assumptions for this project, and they all go into the mix. You also identify possible risks and contingency plans for the project. Much of the information you need can come from the project proposal or other such preliminary document that might have helped bring this project into existence.
Identify the project’s milestones, deliverables, and tasks. Subdivide the project into its component tasks and then organize and sequence the tasks to accurately reflect the project scope.
Develop and refine the project schedule. To turn the task list into a workable project schedule, specify task durations and relate tasks to each other. You can create task dependencies—that is, a model of how the start of one task depends on the completion of another task, for example. If you have any specific dates for deliverables, you can enter them as deadlines or, if really necessary, task constraints. With this plan, you can accurately forecast the scope, schedule, and budget for the project. You can also determine which resources are needed, how many, and at what time.
Identify skills, equipment, materials, supplies, and services needed. After the tasks are identified, you can determine the skills, equipment, and materials needed to carry out the work for those tasks. You obtain the needed human, equipment, and material resources and assign them to the appropriate tasks. You also factor in supplies, services, and other cost items that will be incurred and assign those cost resources to tasks as well. You can now calculate when the project can be completed and how much it will cost. If it looks like you’re exceeding the allowable deadline or budget, you can make the necessary adjustments.
Note
Some project managers refer to the “project plan” as the text-based document in which the broad goals and methodologies of the project are defined. Throughout this book, however, we refer to the Project 2010 file as the project plan. Although some refer to this file as the project schedule, more goes on in this file than the schedule. For example, it can include resource definitions, cost information, reports, and attached documents.
The second project management stage is execution. At this point, you have your project plan in hand. The tasks are scheduled and the resources are identified. Everyone’s at the starting gate waiting for you to say “Go!”
You give the word, and the project moves from planning to the execution and controlling stage. In the course of executing the project, you communicate project information. You need to communicate task assignments to the team members and get their feedback. You also need to communicate requirements, budget, and progress to upper management, customers, and other stakeholders.
At the same time that your project team is executing the tasks, you’re continually monitoring all task activities and comparing the plan to actual progress, making sure that the project stays within the prescribed deadline and budget while the scope of the project is being completed as outlined in the project goals. As part of these efforts, you’re controlling the project—making the adjustments necessary to keep the project on the right track. To monitor and control the project, you do the following:
Save a baseline plan for comparison. To maintain reliable tracking information, you keep a copy of certain project plan information so that you can compare original plan information to actual progress as the project moves along.
Monitor the resources as they carry out their assigned tasks. As the project manager, you keep an eye on the progress resources make in completing their tasks.
Track task progress. You can track progress in terms of percentage complete, how long a task takes from beginning to end, or how many hours a resource spends on a task. As you collect this information, you can see whether tasks and milestones will finish on time. You can also gather information about costs of resources, tasks, and the project as a whole.
Analyze project information. Analyze the information you’re gathering and use this analysis to solve problems and make decisions. Often, you need to decide how to recover a slipped schedule or readjust for a budget overrun. Sometimes, you’re in the happy position of deciding what to do with extra time or money.
Report. Throughout the execution of the project, you must constantly report various levels of information to your team members and other stakeholders. You need to keep upper management, customers, and other stakeholders informed of any potential problems, new decisions, corrective actions, and your overall progress.
In the final stage of the project, you have successfully fulfilled the goals of the project, and it’s now complete. Before you move on to the next project, you want to capture the knowledge you gained from this one. When closing the project, you do the following:
Identify lessons learned. Work with your project team and conduct a “postmortem” review meeting to learn what went well and what could be improved. You can therefore articulate problems to avoid in future projects and also capture details of efficiencies gained that should be replicated in future projects.
Create a project template. Save the project plan along with tasks, duration metrics, task relationships, resource skills, and the like so that the next time you or one of your colleagues manages a similar project, your wheel will not need to be reinvented.