5H. Project Management

5H1. A project is a temporary endeavor that produces a unique deliverable. Projects can be used to create deliverables for internal or external customers. When they create deliverables for external customers, they are part of the operating process.
- 5H1i. If a deliverable needs to be produced on an ongoing basis, it is more efficient to set it up as a business process.
5H2. Projects require a sponsor, project leader, and a project team.
5H3. A project sponsor is a leader who oversees an individual project.
- 5H3i. Project sponsors usually sit on a high-level steering council.
- 5H3ii. The project sponsor is accountable to the PSC for the goal that must be achieved. The deliverable to be produced by the project team is a component of that deliverable.
- 5H3iii. The project sponsor is accountable for the success of the project leader.
- 5H3iv. Reasons for assigning project sponsors include:
  - 5H3iva. The sponsor provides direction for the project leader and project team.
  - 5H3ivb. The sponsor ensures that funding is available and resolves organizational issues that the team cannot resolve on their own.
5H4. The project leader is the team leader for the project team.
- 5H4i. The project leader represents the team’s interests to the project sponsor and the organization as a whole.
- 5H4ii. The project leader negotiates the deliverables the project team will produce. The team must agree to the commitments made by the project leader.
- 5H4iii. The project leader facilitates the project management and team development processes so that the team can produce the agreed upon deliverables for the project customer.
5H5. Project team members are individuals with specific knowledge, skills, and expertise needed to produce the deliverables required for the project.
- 5H5i. Project team members can be recruited from anywhere within the organization.
5H6. All projects should use a standardized collaborative project management methodology.
- 5H6i. The characteristics of a standard method include:
  - 5H6ia. A team-based approach, which creates understanding, ownership, and buy-in by team members.
  - 5H6ib. A collaborative process and standard tools for starting up and planning the the project. The project leader acts as the facilitator for the process.
  - 5H6ic. A method which clearly and proactively defines accountability before the Creation phase begins.
  - 5H6id. A process to manage the project during the Creation and Adoption phases by the project team, with the leader acting as a facilitator.
  - 5H6ie. Is scalable, so it can be used for small and large projects.
5H7. The tools a project leader uses to startup a project include:
- 5H7i. Solution Clarification Questionnaire: used to get clarity from the customer about what the scope of the project will be, who the stakeholders are and what the resource constraints exist.
  - 5H7ia. Scope should not be accepted without verifying that it will be possible to produce the deliverable being committed to (during the planning phase)
  - 5H7ib. Solution clarification should include identifying boundaries: what is included and not included in the project.
- 5H7iii. Stakeholder Mapping Tool: identifies who will be affected or who will affect the solution the team is creating and the project itself.
- 5H7iv. Team Formation tool: identifies the resources needed to produce the deliverable and ensure it is adopted.
- 5H7v. Plan for Planning tool: used to create a map to help lead the team through the planning process.
- 5H7vi. Commitments to scope, schedule or budget are not made based on the information gathered during Startup. Startup is used to inform the planning phase of the process.
5H8. The tools a project team uses to plan the project include:
- 5H8i. Subproject Interdependency Map: shows the final interim deliverable (final output) from each subproject and the interdependencies between those final outputs.
- 5H8ii. Stakeholder Liaisons Map: identify a single liaison to each stakeholder group of the project.
- 5H8iii. Team Member Relationship Map: Helps each team member clearly visualize their relationships connected to the project.
- 5H8iv. Solution Breakdown Tree: identifies all the deliverables (interim and final) that must be produced in order to create the solution and get it adopted.
- 5H8v. Team Structure Map: a visual representation of how the project is structured.
- 5H8vi. Technical Risk Assessment: assessment that deals with the potential technical problems that could get in the way of creating the solution.
- 5H8vii. Technical Risk Countermeasures: identifies the countermeasures that will allow the team to reduce the overall risk rating of the solution.
- 5H8viii. Technical Process Map: a visual map of how the work will happen in the project.
- 5H8ix. Interim Deliverable Quality Criteria: guides an internal supplier and customer through the negotiation process to come to agreement on what will and will not be produced for an interim deliverable.
- 5H8x. Adoption Force Field Analysis: assessment of the adoption risks for the solution.
- 5H8xi. Communication Plan: plan for how, when and with whom the team will communicate to about the solution in order to further adoption.
- 5H8xii. Schedule Contingency Estimate: an estimate of how much additional time should be added to the schedule to address unknown things that happen during the Creation and Adoption phases.
- 5H8xiii. Deliverable Schedule Map: shows when each deliverable is expected to be delivered to the next internal customer and when the whole solution is to be delivered to the project customer and adopted by stakeholders.
- 5H8xiv. Outside Cost Estimate: an estimate of how much money will go to vendors outside the organization and required contingency related to money for the project.
- 5H8xv. Team Accountability Portfolio: a summary of what the team is committing to and covers individual and team accountability.
5H9. Once the project plan is complete and the scope definition verified, the plan should be signed off by the team, sponsor, customer, resource managers, and any other key stakeholders. The plan then becomes an accountability contract.
5H10. The project team must also track the progress of the project during the Creation and Adoption phases.
- 5H10i. Project status reports must be standardized and reviewed by the project sponsor on a regular basis.
- 5H10ii. Project summary reports must be submitted to the appropriate Steering Council so they can make the following decisions about the project: continuing or not continuing funding for the project, change requests, “go/no go” decisions.

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