Project Management 101

People + Process + Product

To Lead a Successful Project

20% Tools/Techniques

+ 80% People Skills

To Lead a Successful Change Effort

Case for Action

+ Vision

+ Planmust be greater than our

Resistance to Change

• Advocate/Sponsor

• Stakeholders

• Project Manager

• Project Team

The People

+ The Process

Project Phases

1. Initiation

2. Planning

3. Implementation

4. Evaluation

Phase 1. INITIATION

• What are we trying to accomplish?

• Is it of value to the organization?

• Is it do-able?

Deliverables: Project Charter

Approval to Proceed

Project Charter• Problem Statement• Vision Statement• Desired Outcomes• Major Deliverables• Assumptions• Stakeholders &

Customers

Strategic & Resource Assessments

• What’s the value?

• What’s the do-ability?

Assessment Grid High

VALUE

Low

Low High

DO-ABILITY

Phase 2. PLANNING• Study options & identify best

practices

• Select strategies

• Identify specific tasks and sequenced timelines

Deliverable: Project Plan

Study the Options• Conduct site visits• Read the literature• Study customer

behavior• Talk with colleagues• Talk with customers• Survey

AND Synthesize

Select Strategies & Develop a Project Plan

• Desired Outcomes• Statement of Work incl. Scope• Work Breakdown (specific tasks)• Schedule• Budget: Capital & Operating• Evaluation Methods• Risk Assessment• Communications Plan• Transition Plan

Phase 3. IMPLEMENTATION

• Testing

• Roll-Out

Deliverables:

specific products identified in Project Charter

Phase 4. EVALUATION• Assess how well the desired (and

measurable) outcomes were met• Identify lessons learned through a

team debrief… and celebrate!

Deliverables: Final reports & documentationAssessment of measurable results at least 6 mos. after implementation

Designing a Project Plan

• Desired Outcomes• Scope of Work & Specific Tasks• Schedule• Budget: Capital & Operating• Evaluation Methods• Risk Assessment• Communications Plan• Transition Plan

Scope of WorkWhat We’ll Do

What We Won’t

Specific TasksWho will do What

Scheduling & CoordinationTime Management

Budgeting:Hard & Soft Costs

Evaluation Methods

Risk Assessment1. Identify Risks

• Technical, quality or performance

• Project management• Organizational• External

2. Analyze Risks

• Compare probability with possible impact

• Choose to avoid, mitigate, transfer, or accept the risk

Communications

Integration• Making trade-offs among competing

demands scope time

cost

• Integration to standard operations

+ The Product(s)Learning Commons Major Deliverables

• Redesign of LRC service and resource delivery• Marketing plan• Tools to measure impact of the work of the LRCs on student

success, tied to accreditation standards• Redesign and/or realignment of existing physical spaces and

proposal for new spaces• Staff training and development plan• Recommended staffing levels and realignments across the LRC

division

Projects = ChangeComponents of a successful

change effort

Cycle of changeLevels of resistance

1. I don’t get it

2. I don’t like it

3. I don’t like/trust you

Project Management• Strategic

• Change

• Communications

• Process + People + Product

BibliographyBibliographyThe Guide To Project Management Body of Knowledge

Project Management Institute, 2008 (4th edition)

The Project Management Institute, www.pmi.org

“Why Good Projects Fail Anyway” Harvard Business Review, Sept. 2003 Nadim F. Matta and Ronald N. Ashkenas

“A Survival Guide for Leaders” Harvard Business Review, June 2002 Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky

JobShift: How to Prosper in a Workplace without Jobs William Bridges, Perseus Books Group, 1995

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