Becoming a Great Project Manager

Gini Courter

Annette Marquis

TRIAD Consulting

What is a Project?

Not just any job, but a job with A beginning and end (timeline) Specified outcome (scope) Stated level of quality (performance) Budget (costs)

Project Examples

NOT PROJECTS Processing payroll Delivering training Hiring staff Student discipline Lunch

PROJECTS Moving offices Developing a new

employee training curriculum

Preparing for accreditation or certification

Developing an intranet

What Skills Do You Need?

Organization Attention to detail Ability to set and enforce boundaries Precise communication Negotiation Leadership

What Tasks Will You Do?

Defining and planning the project Entering task, resource and cost information Optimizing the plan Communicating with stakeholders Tracking and managing the project Completing the project Post-project wrap-up, evaluation

Project Lifecycle

Problem Identification

Definition

Design

Development

Implementation

Evaluation

Problem Identification

Deliverable: Initial proposal Define the problem you’re trying to solve

High-level overview Who, what, when, where, why

Identify stakeholders Project owner(s) Project leader(s) Project resources

Methods: Interviews

Definition

Deliverables: Requirements document, high-level project plan Project Overview

Project Scope Define the project with text and diagrams

Timeline, required resources Estimated cost High-level success metrics

Other deliverables: funding request Methods: Interviews, research, estimation

Design

Deliverable: Low-level solution design Details for each component

Define the parts with text and diagrams Timelines and required resources Specific costs Low-level success metrics and testing plan

Other deliverables: funding request Methods: Research, estimation, planning

Development

Deliverable: Complete, tested solution Build each part according to design Test each part separately Test all parts together

Other deliverables: status reports, implementation plan

Methods: based on project type (manufacturing, software coding, graphic design)

Implementation

Deliverable: Solution “up and running” Phased rollout v. Complete rollout Documentation Training

Methods: based on project type

Evaluation

Deliverable: Project Evaluation Lessons learned for future projects Recommendations for later phases of this project

Methods: Evaluation sessions Project team Stakeholders

What Software Will You Use?

Word Create proposals, reports, and documentation

Outlook Communicate about project dates and tasks

Excel Create task lists and Gantt charts

Project Tasks, charts, project management, reports Project Map – best practices for management

Using Word for Projects

Download over 200 project templates at www.microsoft.com/office

Examples: Engineering project plan Project Bid Outline of proposed project Proposal for NFP fundraising campaign

You’ll also find project-related PowerPoint templates

Using Outlook for Projects

Tasks Set up a separate task folder. Create all project tasks. Note dependencies. Create a timeline view to see task sequence. Schedule tasks at approximate times. Create task

timeline view to display tasks. Email

Create an email folder for project. Set team expectations about subjects Use Rules to store and manage project email.

Using Excel for Projects

Enter high-level tasks in Excel to: Create Gantt charts Create variance reports (over/under hours,

budget) Copy/paste from Excel to Project

Moving to Project Professional

Move to Project Professional for: Projects with complex dependencies Projects with more resources than you can

comfortably handle in Outlook Projects with tasks and subtasks that are

completed by different groups that don’t communicate

Projects with intense tracking and reporting requirements

Using Microsoft Project

Best selling project management tool Communicates using Outlook or Project

Server Supports most phases of project lifecycle Handles task dependency Enterprise tool – can manage resources

used on multiple projects

Getting Ready

Set file properties Establish working times Set project properties

File Properties

1. Choose File Properties

2. Enter Title, Author, Manager

3. Click OK

Working Times

1. Choose Tools Change Working Time.

2. Select the Standard calendar

3. Click Options to change the hours per day.

Setting Hours Per Day

Hours per day used to convert days to hours

Must agree with Calendar

Project Properties

1. Choose Project Project Information to open the Project Information dialog box.

2. Set task scheduling method, priority, and calendar.

3. Click OK.

Planning Project Activities

Tasks: List all tasks, or plan higher level now and lower

levels later List in order if possible

Resources: People and materials

Costs: for all resources

Parts of a Task

Task name/description

Task duration or work

Task notes

Enter Tasks

Enter tasks in the Gantt Chart or the Task Information dialog box Double click the

task to open the dialog box

Enter in order when possible

Inserting and Deleting Tasks

To insert a task: Right click where you want to insert the task Choose New Task from shortcut menu

To delete a task: Select the task Right click and choose Delete OR press the

Delete key on your keyboard

Entering Time

Enter either Duration or Work Project is designed to enter Duration Work is often a better measure

Duration and Work

Work/Units = Duration

32 hours of painting/4 painters = 8 hours

32 hours of painting/2 painters = 16 hours

Duration

Work Units

Inserting a Column

1. Click in column to left of new column

2. Choose Insert Column from menu

3. Select column (Work)

4. Click OK

Enter Duration or Work

Click in the column and enter a number: h for hours d for days m for minutes w for weeks mo for months

Enter duration or work, not both Don’t worry about time between tasks

Milestones

1. Enter the milestone as a task.

2. Set the task Duration to zero (0) OR mark the task as a milestone on the Advanced tab of the Task Information dialog box.

Outlining Tasks

Use the Promote and Demote buttons to arrange tasks and subtasks

Types of Task Relationships

Finish-to-Start: (the default): task A must be finished before task B can start.

Start-to-Start: task A must start before task B can start.

Finish-to-Finish: task A must finish before task B finishes.

Start-to-Finish: task A must be started before task B can be completed.

Setting Relationships

1. Select the first task

2. Hold Ctrl or Shift and select the next task(s)

3. Click the Link Tasks button to link tasks.

4. Click Unlink Tasks to remove links.

Adding Lag

1. Double-click the link line in the Gantt Chart

2. Set lag in the Task Dependency dialog box

Adding Resources to a Project

1. Choose View Resource Sheet or click the Resource Sheet button to open the project resource sheet

2. For each resource, enter name type initials maximum units rates calendar

Assigning Resources to Tasks

1. Open the Gantt Chart

2. Select one or more tasks

3. Click the Assign Resources button to open the Assign Resources dialog box

Assigning Resources to Tasks

4. Select resources

5. Set % of use

6. Click Assign

Printing a Chart

1. Use the View menu to display the view. 2. Choose the data you want to display by

selecting a table (View Table). 3. Adjust the columns and position the

timeline. 4. Choose File Print to open the Print dialog

box.

Summary

The Office applications are good tools for specific project management activities

Lots of great templates on microsoft.com Use Project Professional when your project

management needs are more than Office will support