Presentation benefitsprojectmanagement09072014

Benefits ofProject Management

Lauro Canonica

9th July 2014

Table of Contents

1. Why do projects fail?

2. Project managers versus project administrators

3. A real case example

4. Why is project management underestimated?

5. How can we convince people?

6. Conclusions

7. Questions and answers

7/9/2014 Benefits of Project Management 2

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6. Conclusions



Project Success Rates(Standish Chaos Report 2009)

Challenged: Delivered late

or/and overbudget44%

Failed: Canceled prior to

completion24%

Successful:Delivered on time

and on budget32%


Why do projects fail?Lack of User Input 12.8%

Incomplete Requirements & Specifications 12.3%

Changing Requirements & Specifications 11.8%

Lack of Executive Support 7.5%

Lack of Resources 6.4%

Unrealistic Expectations 5.9%

Unclear Objectives 5.3%

Unrealistic Time Frames 4.3%

New Technology 3.7%

Technology Incompetence 7.0%


Project Management Issuesversus Technical Issues

Project management issues 89.3%

Technical issues 10.7%


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6. Conclusions



Project Manager’s View(PMBOK standard)

Project Management

Processes

Initiation

Planning

Execution

Monitoring and

Controlling

Closing


Project Administrator’s View

Project Management

Processes

Initiation

Planning

Execution

Monitoring and

Controlling

Closing


Which tasks are not done by a projectadministrator?

• Initiation: Analysis of the situation, goal definition, stakeholder management, requirements gathering.

• Planning:Scope definition, team building, resources selection, preparation of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

• Executing:Direct execution, manage team, perform quality assurance.

• Control: measureproject variables, identify corrective actions, manage change requests, manage customer expectations.

• Closing:Finalize all activities, share the lessons learned.


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6. Conclusions



A real case, the setup

• Creation of a new web site with a content management system (CMS)

• Plan: 300’000 CHF, 3 months

• Team:- Customer representative- Team leader- 4 developers- No project manager (to save on costs)


A real case, the result

• Partial success: - product delivered- over budget: 500’000 CHF (+200’000 CHF)- late: 5 months (+2 months)- customer and developers frustrated


A real case, what happened (1)

• Missing analysis of the situation- Technology discontinued

• Incomplete goal definition- new goals were added during development

• Missing stakeholder management- Unexpected team changes- Missing information

• Missing proper requirements gathering- Only high level documentation- Requirements per email- loss of information


A real case, what happened (2)

• Missing scope definition- Continuous changes- Developer and customer frustrated- Loss in trust

• Missing change management- Disagreements (bug, change or planned?)

• Missing management of customer expectations- The system is too slow

• Missing “lessons learned”- documentation- sharing of experiences


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6. Conclusions



Top reasons why Project Management is underestimated

• The project is too small and easy!Don't check only technical complexity. The project situation and the environment can be very complex.

• A project manager is too expensive!A failed project is more expensive.

• Our team leader is a software guru who can take care of the project!Project management requires many soft skills.

• A project manager wastes everybody's time with meetings and documentation!A qualified and experienced project manager reduces the amount of meetings and useless documentation.

• We want to start immediately, we have no time for management!Did you ever hear the joke: Sorry I'm too busy to be efficient?


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6. Conclusions



How do we promote Project Management?

• Present the results of the Standish Chaos Report.

• Request that all projects are managed bycertified project managers.

• Show a quick comparison of project costs asshown in the next slide.


Project cost example

• Plan A: 1 Project manager at 50%, 4 developers 100% for 5 months (1000 CHF per day)

Cost: 100 days*(500 + 4*1000)CHF = 450’000 CHF

• Plan B:4 developers 100% for 5 months. (Risk of 2 months delay)

Cost: 100 days*(4*1000)CHF = 400’000 (no delay)Cost: 140 days*(4*1000)CHF = 560’000 (2 months delay)


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6. Conclusions



Conclusions

Advantages of Project Management:

• Reduces costs and risks.

• Makes sure that what is developed is what the customer needs.

• Increases the happiness of customers, developers and users.


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6. Conclusions



Questions and Answers


Business

Presentation benefitsprojectmanagement09072014