Where do I begin?!
Structuring the Project? That sounds good!
• YOU plus
• Planning
• Teamwork
• Responsiveness
• Creativity
• Flexibility
• Communication
The Best Start-Off
The Project Life Cycle
• Business details
• Full specifications
• Development
• Testing
• Implementation plans
The Usual Project Life Cycle
• Sleepless nights
• Not sure what to do
• Problems and issues
• Not enough help
• More sleepless nights
Know your Allies
• Know who is affected.
• Know who is supportive.
• Know who isn’t supportive.
• Start to “win over” resistance.
• Build Brownie points.
Define the Project
• Ask the business “What are you trying the achieve?
• Don’t assume you know what they mean – they may not know what they mean themselves.
• Make sure your understanding is correct by reconfirming with the business.
The Budget
• Little extras add up
• Keep an eye on it
Be Aware of Project Constraints
• Budget
• Expertise
• Politics
• Third Party Suppliers
• Communication & Relationships
Drill-Down Methods
• Start with the Objectives and work down
• Keep walking through it, so you know you understand each part.
• Delegate – you don’t need to know the technical details inside and out.
Have a Plan, but be flexible
• To fail to plan is to plan to fail
• Keep in mind possible “Plan B”
• Better to deliver something than nothing
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Example Tools
• Don’t spend more time on the plan than the project
• Gantt Charts
• MSProject
Gantt Chart
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Identifying Milestones
• Are there any points that I can easily monitor progress by?
• These are the points to take another look at budgets.
Keep Communicating!
• Communicate as much as possible.
• Communicate what you need to.