Project & Product Management - Lecture 3

Project Management

Application of skills, knowledge, tools, and techniques to a project's activities in order to meet the project requirements

Project

Temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result

Project manager

person assigned to lead the team tasked with achieving the project's objectives

Project portfolio

all the current projects within a company - usually diverse, including small, medium, and large projects

Project program

different projects that are coordinated with each other to achieve synergies

Common project attributes

1. time frame

2. purpose

3. ownership

4. resources

5. roles

6. risks & assumptions

7. interdependent tasks

8. organizational change

Time frame

- projects have defined beginning & end

- can be based on specific dates

- contingent upon another event

- must end when promised work is complete

Purpose

- clear goal/deliverable

- must be unique

- goal defines value of the project

Ownership

- projects have stakeholders with vested interests in whether the project succeeds or fails

- sponsor: INTERNAL person for whom the project is being developed

- client: EXTERNAL customer for whom the project is being developed

Resources

- time

- money

- people

- equipment

- facilities

- technology

resources are finite and must be managed to realize the intended organizational value

Roles

technical skills and non technical skills.

common roles:

- project manager/leader

- project sponsor

- subject matter expert

- technical expert

Risks & Assumptions

all projects include risks that must be managed

- internal risks: arise from the way work is estimated, managed, and who is working on the project

- external risks: arise from dependencies on other contractors, project teams, and/or suppliers

all forecasts and planning involve making assumptions

assumptions create risk because they may not accurately represent the situation

Interdependent Tasks

tasks that are related to and rely upon each other. some can occur in parallel

others must be completed sequentially

Organizational Change

new products, services and processes created by IT projects are planned organizational change. change must be understood and managed because a project can alter how people do their work and how they relate to each other. there are almost always significant unintended and expected changes.

Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)

summarizes and explains generally accepted principles and practices of project management

Project Lifecycle

1. Initiating

2. Planning

3. Executing

4. Controlling & Monitoring

5. Closing

Initiating

- defines and authorizes the project

- develop project charter

- identify stakeholders

Planning

- shapes the outcome/goals for the project

- define scope

- estimate costs/determine budget

- identify risks

Executing

- carry out project plans

- develop team

- manage team

Controlling & Monitoring

- assess actual project outcomes to planned targets & make corrective actions when necessary

- monitor and control project work

- validate and control scope

- quality control

- monitor risks

Closing

- obtain formal acceptance of the product/service by stakeholders & taper out project activities in planned, organized fashion

- conduct "postmortem" review to to determine if goals were achieved

- document "best practices" and "lessons learned"

IT Projects

The world needs good project managers and project team members who understand what it takes for a project to be successful

Main reason IT projects fail

1. people

2. processes

3. technology

4. organization

People

- lack of top management support

- ineffective user involvement

- lack of skills

- lack of experience

- poor communication

- poorly defined roles and responsibilities

- lack of accountability

- unrealistic expectation

- conflicting stakeholders goals

Processes

- poorly defined goals and objectives

- poor planning

- lack of controls

- poorly defined requirements

- changing requirements

- inadequate testing

- ignoring project management processes

- poor execution

Technology

obsolescence, unproven, incompatible

Organization

- unclear or poor MOV

- lack of direction from company

- changing priorities

- lack of funding

- organizational politics

- lack of oversight

- poor change management

Increasing your likelihood of success

- value-driven approach

- socio-technical approach

- project management approach

- knowledge management approach

Product Management

guides every step of a product's lifecycle - from development to positioning and pricing - by focusing on the product and its customers first and foremost

Product managers

advocate for customers within the organization and make sure the voice of the market is heard and heeded.

Holistic Product

- functionality

- user experience

- technology

- monetization

- customer acquisition

- offline experiences

Continuous Discovery

figuring out product to be built

purpose of discovery: separate good ideas from bad ideas

Purpose of Discovery

separate good ideas from bad ideas

Key Discovery Questions

1. Value: Will customers buy this?

2. Usability: Can user figure out how to use this?

3. Feasibility: can our engineers build this?

4. Business Viability: Can rest of organization support this?

Prototypes

use prototypes to quickly and inexpensively run quick experiments

Continuous Delivery

bringing product to market

Product Vision

long term (2-5 years into future) product objective that delivers on company's mission

Product Vision ≠ Product Roadmap

Product Vision: persuade & inspire, emotional, describes how you will improve customers lives

Product Roadmap: features and functions of the final product (what your product will "look like") and the timeline for delivering these features

Product Roadmap

features and functions of the final product (what your product will "look like") and the timeline for delivering these features. focuses on the WHY - focus on the problem, not the solution.

Problem with Product Roadmaps:

usually takes many iterations to get marketable product (get stuck on a road without alternative routes - waterfall approach)

Problem with Product Roadmaps Pt2

Reasons for many iterations:

- customers dont find value (they won't buy it)

- usability problems (cant use it)

- feasibility issues (cant make it)

- business viability challenges (misfit for your company)

Roadmaps focus on time to market

Product managers focus on time to money

The Product Team

Product Manager

Designer

Engineers (Developers)

Product Manager is NOT a Project Manager

collaborates with designers & developers

does not "manage" them

Product Manager Responsibilities

1. product discovery: make sure products are worth building

2. know customers

3. analyze and interpret data

4. know the organization

5. know the market & industry

6. work closely with customer, sales, marketing, logistics, executives

Product Designer Responsibilities

1. product discovery - collaborate with product owner

2. UX design

3. prototyping

4. user testing

5. interaction & visual design

Good product designers are constantly testing their ideas with real users and customers. They don't just test when a prototype or idea is ready; they build testing into their weekly cadence.

True

Engineer/Developer Responsibilities

build the product - product manager do not tell them HOW to build something. product manager and designer share their insights and ideas with developers.

Product Manager and Designer Relationship

- work together in same room

- PM includes designer from inception of every idea

- PM includes designer in as many customer interactions as possible

- PM gives designer maximum leeway to solve design challenges

- PM encourages designer to iterate early & often

Product manager, product designer, and engineers work together to solve customer problems in ways customers love that also work for your business

True

Successful Product Teams

- tackle risks up front

- define & design products collaboratively

- focus on solving problems, not features