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Project Management Tools

November 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Just like any other profession, Project Managers have tools of the trade.  Here are some suggestions and ideas of what to put in your ‘toolbox’ and how these tools can be applied:

Project Planning Tools

Creating the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), a hierarchical representation of the breakdown of project deliverables, is the core item in project planning.  Tools that can be used to develop the WBS include:

  • Spreadsheet software
  • Gantt Chart software
  • Mind Mapping Software (this one is a favourite of mine for this purpose, particularly if you can then export your results to a Gantt chart format)
  • Flow chart software
  • Presentation software

Project task planning and tracking

This one really depends on skill and expertise of the Project Manager with various software tools, however the recommended tools for this one are:

  • Gantt chart software (highly recommended, however the Project Manager really needs to have some proficiency with this – but then again – there’s really only one way to learn!)
  • Spreadsheet software (if you don’t know or don’t have time to learn about Gantt chart software)

Project Documents

Documents such as the project charter, project mandate, project brief or project initiation document are best presented in the standard text based document type format.  So the recommended tool here would be:

  • Word processing software

Project Reporting

Project progress reporting is really important but you really need to think through how you present this one.  Given that you will need to regenerate a similar document many times over the course of the project.  Tools that can be used to develop the progress report include:

  • Spreadsheet software
  • Word processing software

Issue/Risk/Deliverable Management

This area is about logs – issue logs, risk logs, quality/deliverable logs.  Suggested tools for this area include:

  • Spreadsheet software
  • Database software
  • Specific software for issue management

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Getting signoff

March 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Getting sign off from a customer during a project can be a frustrating experience.  It can hold up the work on the project, pushing out your timeline and impede your project cashflow where payments are dependent on getting acceptance.  All of this is not good for project management success!

The issues that you may come across in getting a document or a deliverable signed off include:

  • Insufficient time allowed in the plan for review of the deliverable item
  • Insufficient support given to customers in the handover of a deliverable
  • Insufficient project management around this crucial period

I’ll talk about each of these briefly in this post.

Insufficient time allowed

It’s hard to stay in front when you didn’t have enough time allowed in the first place.  So consider the review periods that will be required, both internal to your organisation and at the customer end.  The more reviews and the more people involved in getting sign off, the greater the time period that needs to be allowed for.  It can be really tempting when planning a project to reduce these periods so try as hard as you can to resist calls from above to cut down the review times.

Insufficient support given to customer at the time of handover of the deliverable

Think about what you are handing over to the customer and ensure that you give clear instructions on what you need from them.  Be clear about what it is you expect them to do with the deliverable, be clear that you are expecting approval or proposed amendments (or whatever is relevant), be clear about the format you wish to receive feedback in and be clear about the timeframe you expect to have a response by.   Consider also that your customers may need help with their review of the deliverable and provide the necessary assistance.  For example at the handover of a piece of software for User Acceptance Testing you may need to provide a training session or demonstration, along with necessary testing plan and/or scripts and instructions on how and where to log issues with the software.

Insufficient project management

This is not the time to leave people to their own devices.  You should keep in regular contact with your customer and facilitate the approval of the deliverable by pushing them along in performing their actions as well as solving any issues that may impede them from undertaking their review or providing their approval.

Projects can really blow out around approval times, so to maximise your chances of project management success make sure you allow enough review and signoff time, provide support and manage the process.

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Project Management Success – Quick Fire Strategies

February 5, 2010 By

Managing projects can be a difficult job and sure isn’t for the faint hearted!  All projects have challenges to overcome, in fact the complexity our projects, time and budget constraints in our high paced work environments mean that ‘putting out fires’ is an everyday part of managing projects.  But take heart, there are strategies that can help you to deal with challenges, issues, risks and problems and find Project Management success!

Here’s a few quick-fire strategies to get you moving straight away – strategies that take just a moment to employ, but can really make a difference in you everyday project world:

1.  Get Amongst It – Know your project inside and out, really understand what it’s about, talk to each member of your team and understand what they are doing, where they are at, what problems they are facing.  Really get amongst it.  Managing from afar just doesn’t work.

2.  Believe that you can – Ever heard that saying ‘whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re probably right’?  Well project management is a bit like that.  Often we are given projects where the resources, time, scope and budget just don’t point to success even at the get-go, however, we need to keep believing that we can do it.  We can deliver it.  We will find a way.  This belief not only focuses our mind on solving problems and taking actions but it sends a message to the whole team.

3.  Get on top of issues – No, they just don’t tend to go away by themselves, do they?  If you or another team member have identified an issue – solve it.  Nip it in the bud.  Solve it now, while it’s still small.  Come up with the options, communicate with the team and with the stakeholders.  Some issues are just carried all the way through the project like a grumbling under the surface until the project has to grind to a halt.  If you know something is going to cause a problem, get on top of it.

4.  Make deadline – all projects have key dates where deliverables are due to customers.  Isn’t it amazing what a flurry of activity can occur in the week or so when the next deliverable is due.  Funny what deadlines can do, isn’t it?  Having goals that are bound by a date really focus people’s time and energy, so set internal deadlines for the next piece of work with your team and get focused.

5.  Prioritize – Prioritize your time and energy into doing things that matter, things that are directly related to the completion of key project deliverables or the solving of project issues.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the small stuff that we lose sight of what’s important.  Project Management success, particularly where you have multiple projects to manage, is dependent upon your ability to determine what is important – and what isn’t.

6.  Communicate – talk to the team, talk to the customer, tell people what’s going on.  If there’s a problem, if there’s a success, whatever, just communicate.  Being visible as a leader and manager is important and ensures both your team and your stakeholders are confident that you are on top of things.

So there are a few strategies for you to employ, that can help you to achieve Project Managment Success.  Good luck!

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