project management - keep it simple

Project management is essential

for many industries but many

organizations avoid applying it,

because of the complex processes

and the increased resource

demand for continuous tracking.

Most of the projects running everyday worldwide have a

short duration, small budget and limited resources that

often work for more than one project at the same time.

Project management is essential

for many industries but many

organizations avoid applying it,

because of the complex processes

and the increased resource

demand for continuous tracking.

Stressing conditions: Doing the same

job more than once by several people,

while leaving other tasks behind.

This is the begging of confusion!

THE OPTIONS YOU HAVE:

NOT TO USE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

Stressing conditions: Doing the same

job more than once by several people,

while leaving other tasks behind.

This is the begging of confusion!

More stressing conditions:

Implementing project management

in detail may also be confusing, if

applying more processes and tools

than you probably really need.

THE OPTIONS YOU HAVE:

NOT TO USE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

USE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

Stressing conditions: Doing the same

job more than once by several people,

while leaving other tasks behind.

This is the begging of confusion!

More stressing conditions:

Implementing project management

in detail may also be confusing, if

applying more processes and tools

than you probably really need.

THE OPTIONS YOU HAVE:

NOT TO USE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

USE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

Just keep it simple!

let’s get started

Here, you will find some

basic steps to start.

NOT

YET!

Here, you will find some

basic steps to start.

ps. This is just an ebook!

Keep reading books, magazines,

web sites, blogs, take a seminar…

anything that will help you improve

your knowledge and experience.

Here, you will find some

basic steps to start.

ps. This is just an ebook!

Keep reading books, magazines,

web sites, blogs, take a seminar…

anything that will help you improve

your knowledge and experience.

Here, you will find some

basic steps to start.

NOW START

Just got the job?

Congratulations!

The contract is signed, meaning

that you have agreed to deliver

the project within specific time

frame and budget (both).

Just got the job?

Congratulations!

So, what’s next?

Just got the job?

Congratulations!

The contract is signed, meaning

that you have agreed to deliver

the project within specific time

frame and budget (both).

Start working

the project of course!

Start working

the project of course! X

Start working

the project of course!

This is the first and most

common mistake that

many small companies and freelancers make.

X

Think first,

act later

preparation 1 Projects, consists of people, brought together to develop

and create a service or a product to be used by people.

It’s time for a meeting!

The first thing to do is to decide and

select the people that will work for

the project and ensure their

availability. Are they working on

something else already? Probably

yes, but do they have available time,

or do you have to release them from

what they’re doing and engage them

to the new project?

It’s time for a meeting!

The first thing to do is to decide and

select the people that will work for

the project and ensure their

availability. Are they working on

something else already? Probably

yes, but do they have available time,

or do you have to release them from

what they’re doing and engage them

to the new project?

Team selection

basic criteria

Skills

Availability

Diversity

Teamwork

Experience

preparation 1 Projects, consists of people, brought together to develop

and create a service or a product to be used by people.

Provide all information required to

your project team. They need to

know exactly what they have to do,

when and why. Get the team together

and start project planning.

Set objectives: the most important

tasks and milestone dates of the

project like the final and intermediate

deadlines and meetings with the

customer.

Save efforts and money.

planning 2

Provide all information required to

your project team. They need to

know exactly what they have to do,

when and why. Get the team together

and start project planning.

Set objectives: the most important

tasks and milestone dates of the

project like the final and intermediate

deadlines and meetings with the

customer.

Plan the scope of

the project.

Create the basic

structure (WBS) for

further planning.

Save efforts and money.

planning 2

Develop a basic plan -a graph- of the

tasks to be done. A detailed time

schedule isn’t always the solution.

Focus on the sequence of the tasks

and the person(s) that will carry out

each one.

Set small goals for everyone in the

team if possible.

Save efforts and money.

planning 2

Develop a basic plan -a graph- of the

tasks to be done. A detailed time

schedule isn’t always the solution.

Focus on the sequence of the tasks

and the person(s) that will carry out

each one.

Set small goals for everyone in the

team if possible.

Plan in detail what is

really needed, not

more and never less.

Motivate your team,

set goals.

Save efforts and money.

planning 2

Questions:

Is the plan realistic in terms of

availability, skills, experience and

work distribution?

How long will it take for each task to

be completed?

Are there any prerequisites before

the begging of any task?

How team members have to

collaborate to meet their goals?

Save efforts and money.

planning 2

Questions:

Is the plan realistic in terms of

availability, skills, experience and

work distribution?

How long will it take for each task

to be completed?

Are there any prerequisites before

the begging of any task?

How team members have to

collaborate to meet their goals?

If you can answer

the questions,

then you have set

the basic structure

of the project plan.

Save efforts and money.

planning 2

The key to planning is to make sure

that you haven’t forgotten anything

might cause changes and re-

planning in the future. Actually,

there’s always something missing

and if you don’t, the customer will.

Just accept it and get prepared;

sent the customer the project plan

for approval.

Save efforts and money.

planning 2

The key to planning is to make sure

that you haven’t forgotten anything

might cause changes and re-

planning in the future. Actually,

there’s always something missing

and if you don’t, the customer will.

Just accept it and get prepared;

sent the customer the project plan

for approval.

Changes are the

only sure thing that

you will face when

running a project.

Make your best not

to come from you

and your team!

Save efforts and money.

planning 2

Before starting to work decide how

you will track progress.

How often, daily or weekly?

You also need to know the amount of

work completed so far and what’s left

to be done.

A simple method is to focus on the

time (hours or days) planned for

each task.

Just calculate progress based on the

working hours completed and

compare against the planned.

Save efforts and money.

planning 2

Spend some time to

plan on how the

project will be

managed. How will

you measure the

progress?

The team’s

performance?

Before starting to work decide how

you will track progress.

How often, daily or weekly?

You also need to know the amount of

work completed so far and what’s left

to be done.

A simple method is to focus on the

time (hours or days) planned for

each task.

Just calculate progress based on the

working hours completed and

compare against the planned.

Save efforts and money.

planning 2

How will you receive actual data,

sending emails, completing forms?

Select a method that fits better to

your team and engage them not to

forget updating their progress.

Save efforts and money.

planning 2

How will you receive actual data,

sending emails, completing forms?

Select a method that fits better to

your team and engage them not to

forget updating their progress.

Create a simple

standardized,

communication plan.

You will find it at

least helpful.

You may also use it

for communicating

with the customer.

Save efforts and money.

planning 2

started working at last…

Keep your team connected.

A daily 15 or 30 minutes briefing to

discuss about progress, problems or

changes keeps the team close to the

big picture of the project.

Daily meetings help everyone to stay

consistent, while realizing the

importance of the process for the

project’s success.

3 executing

Keep your team connected.

A daily 15 or 30 minutes briefing to

discuss about progress, problems or

changes keeps the team close to the

big picture of the project.

Daily meetings help everyone to stay

consistent, while realizing the

importance of the process for the

project’s success.

Project management

is about people.

Listen to them and be

honest. This is the

best way to enhance

performance.

started working at last…

3 executing

You may want to use a whiteboard

easily accessible by everyone,

writing down everyday’s tasks,

notes and goals achieved!

Continuous interaction helps the

team to avoid future conflicts and

misunderstanding.

started working at last…

3 executing

You may want to use a whiteboard

easily accessible by everyone,

writing down everyday’s tasks,

notes and goals achieved!

Continuous interaction helps the

team to avoid future conflicts and

misunderstanding.

Visibility,

communication,

clarity.

started working at last…

3 executing

controlling

Control the project periodically. A

weekly progress control is great. Is

everything going as planned?

Probably not, but don’t worry! This

might happen to everyone!

Underestimated amount of work or

limited availability by a team member

may cause delays. Focus on the

variances from the initial plan and

check with your team for solutions to

get back on schedule.

4

Control the project periodically. A

weekly progress control is great. Is

everything going as planned?

Probably not, but don’t worry! This

might happen to everyone!

Underestimated amount of work or

limited availability by a team member

may cause delays. Focus on the

variances from the initial plan and

check with your team for solutions to

get back on schedule.

Set up standard

updating periods.

Compare the

results and find

solutions the

soonest you can.

controlling 4

Project controlling is a repetitive

process. Gathering actual data

during execution and comparing

actual vs. planned work is the key

factor that will help you meet your

goals.

controlling 4

closing

Closing the project requires to finish

all the last details and get the final

approval by the customer. Don’t

forget to add knowledge to your

company.

A closing meeting to discuss the

lessons learned from the project is

valuable! Share the experience

gained and improve your future

performance while creating an

historical database for reference.

5

Closing the project requires to finish

all the last details and get the final

approval by the customer. Don’t

forget to add knowledge to your

company.

A closing meeting to discuss the

lessons learned from the project is

valuable! Share the experience

gained and improve your future

performance while creating an

historical database for reference.

Never forget to

celebrate when

a project is over!

closing 5

Who is responsible?

The project manager, the

person that will manage and

coordinate efforts, should be

authorized by the company.

In small organizations,

it is related with senior

management, although

it is not always required.

What is required? project manager

role requirements

Common acceptance, knowledge

and managing skills are the some

of the most important factors to

assign the project manager’s role

to a person.

It doesn’t have to be a full time

job; a few hours per week are

enough for managing simple

projects.

What is required?

You don’t have to assign all projects to a single person; role

changing enhances responsibility and understanding among

the team members, helping to create a common organizational

culture in managing projects.

project manager

role requirements

0

project management

is team play

© COSMOS PROJECT MANAGEMENT www.cosmospm.com

prepare

plan

execute

control

close

recap keep it simple!

thanks for reading,

Denise

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© all rights reserved – Denise Fotopoulou https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisefotopoulou