Project Management Principals & Project Approaches

Project Management Principals

Foundational guidelines that help guide strategy, decisions, problem solving, and behavior

• not strict rules are laws

Principals (6)

Adopt a holistic view, focus on value, embedd quality into processes and deliverables, be accountable leader, integrate sustainability within all project areas, build an empowered culture

Project Management Mindset 3 dimensions:

proactive, ownership, value driven

Holistic View

Helps to identify the root causes problems instead of only treating symptoms

Value can be measured

using numbers, ROI, qualitative benefits like customer satisfactions, social impact, testimonials

Quality

means project deliverable or project meets or exceeds the projects target objectives

• embedding quality at beginning of project

quality effects other performance domains

• scope - quality ensures meet req, standards, and specifications to help prevent rework, and increase stakeholder satisfactions

• schedule - it adds reviews, quality milestones, and early quality checks

• finance - helps control costs by reducing waste, defects and work

• stakeholder and resources - meet stakeholder expectations and right people/tools/resources are available

• risk - reduces chance of defects, noncompliance, and quality problems

sustainability - triple bottom line

balancing social, environmental, and economic outcomes

adaptive and agile methods

iteratives/iterations and incremental

Development approach

method used to create or evolve a product, service, or result during a project

ex: predictive, hybrid, adaptive/agile

***PM uses chooses the development approach, consults the project management team

Predictive Dev Approach

requirements are clear and stable early in project

• scope, schedule, and cost up front

• called waterfall, plan driven, traditional

• used for large projects, major investments, or regulated environments where STRONG change control is needed

• often use phase gates before they move to next phase

scope is fixed, budget and schedule are variable**

Adaptive Dev Approach

Requirements are unclear, complex, uncertain

• work is reviewed in short timeboxes so feedback can be used to adjut the work and evolve baseline

• is called change driven or agile approach

• often use short iterations

• could be iterative or incremential approaches

Budget and schedule are fixed, scope is variable**

iterative approach

work is improved through repeated cycles

incremental approach

product is delivered in small usable pieces that build on eachother

Hybrid

combines predictive and adaptive

• is useful when parts of projects are clear and others are unclear/uncertain, risky

• ex: building home, adaptive for design changes and predictive for the build

• work well when deliverables can be modularized (organized into separate pieces/modules) or handled by diff teams

• ** a project can use one main approach overall while using a diff approach for certain phases, deliverables, workstreams

Focus Areas as a Whole

the 5 PM focus areas apply to all industries and application areas, apply to all development approaches

• Focus areas are NOT project phases

  • if a project has phases the focus area actions can happen inside each phase

• are not sequential, often overlap and repeat during project

• LOE for focus area can change depending on phase, lifecycle, dev approach

Initiating Focus Area

includes the actions used to define a new project or new project phase

• ***formal authorization to start a new project or phase

• **Project manager is assigned during this initiation phase

• goal to align stakeholder expectations, purpose, scope

• during initiation, the team defines initial scope, initial financial resources, identifies stakeholders, assigns PM roles

• common artifacts are the project charter and stakeholder register

Planning Focus Area

actions used to define project scope, refine objectives, and decide how work will be completed

• may create artifacts like project management plan and product backlog (agile projects)

• not always once, can be a feedback loop, rolling wave planning or progressive elaboration

• are new info or changes are discovered, the plan may need to be updated

• **key benefit is to define course of action needed to successfully completed project or phase

Executing Focus Area

action used to complete the project work according to current plan

• involves coordinating resources, managing stakeholders, performing project activities

• goal to keep the team focused on delivering project’s expected value**

Monitoring and controlling focus area

tracks, measures, reviews, regulates project process and performance

• helps identify when changes to the plan are needed and support initiating those changes

• monitoring includes comparing actual performance to planned performance and reporting project info

• controlling includes analyzing variances, reviewing trends, evaluating options and recommending corrective action

• **key benefit to keep project on track to meet expectations

• happens through the project and runs in parallel with other focus areas

Closing Focus Area

includes actions used to formally complete or close a project, phase, or contract

• used to terminate a project early when continuing no longer makes business sense

• verifies required project work and actions from other focus areas have been completed

• key benefit to ensure project, phase, contract is closed properly and transitioned to ops

• closing confirms whether project delivered expected outcomes, outputs, benefits, and VALUE