Transcript Project Management At AIAA

Project Management
Tools
A Loose Guideline on how to use
shovels and rakes at AIAA
A presentation for New Hires
October 6, 1999
Employee Understanding
Employees should have or be willing to gain an understanding of:
 Analyzing Project Environments and Organization
Structures
 Project Life Cycle Characteristics
 Role of Teams and their Leaders at different points in the
Life Cycle
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A Matrix Organization
We are a matrix organization but without the fear of
project termination!
 There are functional process teams
 Employees are “on loan” from the process teams
to the project teams
 Therefore the project teams are interdisciplinary
 There is constant communication with the project
team
 There is constant communication with the
process team
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AIAA STAFF ORGANIZATION
Process Teams
Project Teams
Pr oject Manager
ExecutiveDirector
BusinessDevelopment
Member Activities
Customer Service
Pr oduct Development
Pr oduction
Enterprise
Pr oject A
Pr oject B
Interdisciplinary Team
Pr oject C
Pr oject D
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Leadership &
Communications
Different means of communication may
be needed - A lot of our projects involve
personnel from different processes and
from outside companies
 Communication of all necessary
information to project lead and project
team members is ESSENTIAL.
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Communication & Leadership
80%
80%
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The Triple Constraint
The primary focus of job activities should revolve around the
triple constraint. At all times, the employee must have a feel for
the three most important factors in managing a project.
Cost - What are budget implications of activity
 Time - What are schedule implications of activity
 Performance - What are specifications of activity
You should continually:
 ask yourself questions relating to the triple constraint
 ask your team questions relating to the triple constraint
 be prepared to answer questions relating to the triple constraint
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The Project Life Cycle
All of these factors, revolve around a project
Selection
 Planning
 Implementation
 Control
 Evaluation
 Termination
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Selection - List project Goals
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Define the product or project
Understand the requirements
Determine the objectives
Evaluate risks and returns
Is this an opportunity that can be seized
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The Logic of Planning
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Environmental Analysis
Set Objectives
List Alternative Strategies
List Threats and Opportunities
List Planning Assumptions
Prepare Forecasts
Select Strategy
Prepare Action Programs
Monitor and Control
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Planning - Scheduling
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Create rough draft schedule.
 Remember all project team members’
input is valuable
 Are the necessary resources
available? - Staff, facilities, vendors,
temps, materials?
 Finalize integrated schedule
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Planning: Budgeting
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Direct costs
 consultants
 travel, printing
 meeting expenses
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Solomon
Budget
System
Indirect costs
 staff salaries
 burden
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Planning: Finalize
 Develop
– MS Project plan
– Summary business plan
– Integrated written plan starting from
Waterfall letter
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Planning: Essential
Ingredients
 All
tasks
– Time phased (beginning & end)
 Relationship
between tasks
– Integrated plan
 People
assigned to each task
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Implementation
 Based
on the project plan - Follow
the plan and do what you have
set out to do.
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Controlling
Know the status of the project as it goes
through the cycle
 Keep the project on track
 Establishing evaluation criteria
 Creating feedback loop
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Evaluation:
The Progress/Status report
Milestones - are they being met?
 Does staff need additional help?
 Are vendors on schedule?
 Are volunteers on schedule?
 Is cost in line with original budget?
 Are project objectives still valid?
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Evaluation: Update
Corrective Action – feedback loop to take
action within the project
 Update schedule – This should be an
ongoing task.
 Resource allocation – Are other
resources necessary?
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Evaluation: Update
Review budget & communicate impact –
there will be variances between actuals
and the plan
 Update overall plan – When parts or
pieces change the integrated plan must
also change.
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Termination - Closeout
Assessment of project – Note ways in
which the project could have gone
smoother.
 Lessons learned – Document those
problems or stumbling points so they
are not repeated and feed them back
into the next cycle.
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Termination - Closeout
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Make recommendations: establish a
feedback loop for all future projects
similar or dissimilar.
Selection/Planning
Termination
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The Power of Project
Management
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Assured project communication, leadership
and control
Integrated project planning and activity
Dynamic project implementation
S•P•I•C•E•T
the model for effective project management
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Current PM at AIAA
some key issues to consider
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Projects generally lack a single project
manager (shared leadership)
Most project monitoring is done to correct
problems that have already occurred
Many projects are planned once and
repeated
Action / project plans are often generated
separately by contributing processes / team
members
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Some Final Words on Project
Management
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There is no Cookie Cutter Approach --the
actual tools you use are less critical than
applying the philosophy of PM
Replication = Success
 Shared Leadership - depends on personal
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commitment to integrated planning and
implementation
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How is all of this Managed and How
Can I Find Out More Detail
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We Use Microsoft Project (MS Project) Software
HR will loan you an easy to read book on the
fundamentals of project management
– Managing Projects in Organizations by J.
Davidson Frame
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THE
END