Effective project leadership

Jan kincaidLPDC

Agenda• What is good project leadership?

• The project team

• The project lifecycle

• Practical project planning

• Responsibility assignment matrix

• Risk, issue and change

• Stakeholder management

• Project communication

• Successful project leadership

TOPIC What is good project leadership?

On your table discuss…

• What is a project?

• Agree a short definition of a project.

Projects are unique, temporary endeavours undertaken to achieve a desired outcome. Projects bring about change

Undertaking a project is a way of achieving an objective or strategic goal. Running a project is different to day-to-day work, often referred to as Business As Usual (BAU)

What is a project?

Projects

Unique

Defined start and finish

Involve uncertainty

Have a specifically assembled team

Dynamic environment

BAU

Repetitive

On-going

Based on experience

Established resources

Stable environment

Project leadership is the process by which projects are defined, planned, monitored, controlled and delivered so that the agreed benefits are realised

Projects bring about change, and project leadership is recognised as the most efficient way of managing such change

Page 2, APM Body of Knowledge – 5th Edition, APM

What is project leadership?

Current Use• Most if not all organisations run projects• Projects vary in size, complexity and risk • In “mature” use in industries such as construction, IT and

defence• Some organisation have a clearly defined approach to

identifying, selecting, planning, running and closing projects. This is their project management methodology

• Subject matter experts (SMEs) are often asked to perform a project leader/Manager role with limited knowledge of best practice

• Many organisations yet to gain the full benefit of best practice project leadership

On your table…

Identify as many reasons as you can for projects failing.Write your reasons on the flipchart provided.

Common reasons projects fail• Lack of clear scope of work • Management of changes (scope creep) to the

project• Not defining the project success criteria and

expectations• Inadequate planning• “Meddling” by senior managers, going around the

sponsor• Lack of clarity from senior leaders• Lack of buy-in from senior leaders• Poor estimating• Insufficient allocation of resources• Poor understanding of requirements

Scope & time management

• Clarity on what is in the project… “what’s in the box?”

• What is in scope and out of scope?

• What does finished looked like?

Time

Effor

t

• The end date often feels miles away, so other priorities take over… then it’s all hands to the pump in the 11th hour!

Good project leadership

• Agree scope of work

• Break complex project into manageable deliverables

• Control time, cost and quality

• Manage risks, issues and changes

• Manage stakeholders

• Consistent approach enables comparison across projects

• Run successful projects!

TOPIC The project team

project roles

Sponsor

Project Leader

Team Members

Team Members

Team Members

Team Members

The project sponsor

Project sponsorship is an active senior leadership role, responsible for identifying the business need, problem or opportunity.

The sponsor ensures the project remains a viable proposition and that the benefits are realised, resolving any issues outside the control of the project leader

Page 12, APM Body of Knowledge – 5th Edition, APM

Every project must have a clearly identified project sponsor. The sponsor provides oversight, guidance and support to the project leader. The sponsor is the business champion behind the project.

At Keele an academic or your line manager may be your sponsor

It is common for the sponsor to be unaware of their true role and there is then a need to “manage upwards”.

The project sponsor• Ensure the project objectives and benefits are aligned with strategic objectives

• Provide clarity on the exact scope and resulting benefits of the project

• Approve of the project proposal

• Participate in regular status reviews

• Is the point of escalation for key risks and issues that fall beyond the capabilities of the project team to resolve

• Approve or reject change requests

• Support the project leader with stakeholder management. This is likely to include liaising with senior stakeholders to ensure the needs of the business have been fully considered and consensus has been reached on requirements

• Support the project leader with resource management to make sure that the project is properly supported with appropriately skilled and available people

The project leaderThe person responsible and accountable for the successful delivery of the project

The project leader leads and manages the project and project team and is responsible for ensuring the scope of work is delivered within the agreed timescale to the correct level of quality within the resource and budget constraints. 

Page 151, APM Body of Knowledge – 5th Edition, APM

The project leader…• Prepares the project proposal

• Identifies the required resources (and skills)

• Ensures the project objectives are clearly understood by all concerned

• Ensures the stated benefits are monitored through the project lifecycle

• Monitors change requests and assesses the impact of proposed changes

• Ensures risks & issues are assigned and actioned or escalated if required

• Highlights areas of slippage and takes action where required

• Provides timely reporting on project status to identified stakeholders, including the project sponsor

• Ensures project team members are clearly aware of their role and responsibilities within the project environment, including task deadlines and quality standards.

• Ensures regular progress updates are scheduled with project team members to enable monitoring of performance against the plan

• Completes project closure documentation

The project team

• works with the project leader to develop a full and detailed task list

• commits to work plans and project schedules

• provides progress reports to the project leader

• provides functional expertise

• communicates identified risks and issues to the project leader in a timely manner

• provide expertise to the project leader for the assessment of change requests

• identifies impact on current organisation and processes

• communicates openly with other team members and the project leader

• Is committed to success.

Remember that people on your project may assume they are “wearing the same hat” as they do on a day-to-day basis, when you actually want them to fulfil a specific project role that’s different to their BAU role

Remember that YOU might be “wearing multiple hats”; the hat of the project leader and the hat of a team member doing some of the actual work on the project. So put your head above your work trench and survey the wider landscape of your project on a regular basis (perhaps every Friday or once a fortnight)

Clearly define who is in the project team as opposed to having an interest in the project (a stakeholder). Ensure your regular project team meetings involve the correct participants. Perhaps establish a separate stakeholder meeting.

PRACTICAL TIPS

TOPIC Project management lifecycle

Project methodology

Time

Approval

Planning

Implementation

Closure

Implementation Starts

Closed

Pre-Project Phase Project Phase Post-Project Phase

BenefitsIdea

Project ProposalProvides

clarity on the scope

Progress Report

Prepare as part of regular

Progress Cycle

Change Request

Use if significant change is requested

Project ClosureCaptures lessons learned

Proj

ect

Doc

umen

ts

• is a high level document

• gets the idea down on paper

• is a short explanation of the need for the project, an overview of how it will be delivered, its goals and expected benefits

• ensures everyone has the same understanding of the scope

• is prepared by the project leader

• protects the project leader from scope creep.

The project proposal…

• This is when work starts on producing the project deliverables

• This phase may consist of a number of sub-phases or stages

• The focus should now be on project monitoring and control

• The project leader will be involved in:• progress tracking• issue, risk and change management• project reporting• document management• team communications• team management.

The project implementation phase

Fortnightly progress cycle

Tracking project progress

START OF CYCLE What does the project leader communicate? Planned tasks and their

deadlines Risk reviewed and

mitigation deadlines Issues and actions

deadlines

END OF CYCLE What does the project leader collect? Updates on what has

been actually achieved versus plan

Updates on actual resources and costs incurred versus forecast

Updates on progress against risks, issues, actions

Issue highlight report

Start of cycle End of cycleTeam members undertake work on deliverables

Issues, risks and actions identified, logged, assessed. Owners and deadlines defined.

Any change requests are logged, assessed and submitted for approval.

Continuous stakeholder management

• May move to the closure phase at any time, not just “at the end”. The project should be closed if the business case is no longer valid

• Completion and filing / archiving of all project documentation

• Formal handover to support organisation• Lessons learned fed back into future project briefing

phases• Completion of the project closure report

• Handover of benefits tracking to clearly identified owner…

…and onto the next project!

Project closure phase

TOPICproject planning

The nicest thing about NOT planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise and is not preceded by a period of worry and depression

Sir John Harvey Jones

Project Planning

The planning process

Project team develops high level “post-it note” plan

Estimate durations and logical sequence

Build detailed structured plan based on logical WBS

Ensure plan has buy-in of deliverable owners, including

external dependencies

Refine plan & save as baseline once approved,

Work breakdown structure

New payroll system for HR

selection of software

data preparation

training of staff

comms to employees

testing of software

Define requirementsReview market placeInvite tendersComplete evaluationSubmit recommendation Establish contract with selected vendor

DELIVERABLES

TASK

S

• Write down deliverables & key tasks onto post-it notes

• Put them in lifecycle order

• Show dependencies / relationships between them

• This provides a high level roadmap for your project

…..an example

The post-it notes technique

Once the scope is understood build a high level post-it note plan

Use this plan to define phases, deliverables and key milestones

Plan complex deliverables in further detail by identifying tasks Plan can then be entered into Microsoft Excel or Microsoft

Project Everyone should be bought into the plan At end of the planning stage the project plan should be base-

lined A regular progress cycle should be established (often weekly) Then the updated current plan should be regularly compared

to the baseline plan

Tips…

The project schedule is a tool to help the project team run the project

The plan must reflect best known information at that time

If uncertainty exists on longer term tasks (planning horizon) plan up to that point in detail, then schedule another planning session. Often useful when results of investigations or research define the next stage of a project

Every task should have an owner

Don’t lose site of the critical path

Tips…

In your group …

Develop Your High Level Project Plan

Write down your project deliverables onto post-it notes

Stick them on the paper

Put them in lifecycle order

Show dependencies / relationships between them

activity

TOPICResponsibility Assignment Matrix

A diagram or chart showing assigned responsibilities for elements of work. It is created by combining the work breakdown structure with the organisational breakdown structure

Clarity on who is doing what on a project is critical to success. Identifying the person responsible for completing each task or deliverable, along with an agreed deadline, is a fundamental part of successful project leadership

Rather than just adding a name against each task, the project team can undertake a more sophisticated solution. This involves identifying not just the person who will “do” the task, but others as well

A Responsibility Assignment Matrix provides a mechanism to identify these relationships.

RAM

Page 242, APM Body of Knowledge – 6th Edition, APM

Recommended CARS RAM

Code CARS Summary Details

C Communicate In the loop or keep informed

Individuals to be consulted or informed as part of the successful completion of the deliverable. Often the end user or client.

A Approver The buck stops here

Does this piece of work need approval? Who approves the completed deliverable to ensure it attains the appropriate level of quality? Could be more than one person.

R Responsible The primary doerThe individual who actually completes the task. This person is responsible for action / implementation of the deliverable.

S Support Work alongside the primary doer

Individuals that work on the deliverable alongside the primary doer. These people support the primary doer.

An Example CARS Matrix

Task Project Leader

Technical Lead Architect HVAC

ContractorElectrical

Contractor Client

Write project brief R S A

Build project plan R C S A

Document technical requirements A C R S S A

Complete technical drawings A S R A

Complete site survey R C C

List tasks in this column and project team along

top

activity

TOPICrisk, issue and change

A risk is something that might happen

…an uncertain event or set of circumstances that, should it occur, will have an effect on the achievement of one or more objectives

An issue is something that has happened

Risk management is the process that allows individual risk events and overall risk to be understood and managed proactively, optimising success by minimising threats and maximising opportunities

Risk and issue definitions

Risk management process

Risk identification

Risk assessment

Risk planning

Continues throughout the project

lifecycle

Brainstorming

Prompt lists / check lists (lessons learned)

Previous experience

Assumptions analysis

Identifying risk

At it’s simplest score 1 – 3 (low, medium, high) for both:

Likelihood

Impact on project

Rate the risk for proximity

How soon before the risk could happen (turn into an issue)? short, medium or long term

Risk assessment

Avoid (often significant impact on project)

Transfer (insurance)

Mitigation (reduce probability and impact of risk)

Accept

Contingency (create action plans)

If there is no clear way forward ESCALATE!

Better to escalate early than try and bury later!

Line manager is first point of escalation in many cases.

Risk planning

Risk How Likely? Impact?Total Risk

ScoreProximity So What Should We Do?

Team activity

An Issue is something that HAS happened

Risks can turn into issues, or an issue may arise

Maintain Issue Log

Identify person to resolve issue

If no clear way forward ESCALATE!

Better to escalate early than try and bury later!

Issue management

Issue process

Issue identification

Issue assessment

Solution development

Issue management

Project team must

ESCALATE critical issues beyond their control – line manager first

A change is a modification to any aspect of the project

The project scope (and business case) must be protected against change

Change is inevitable

Mechanism for allocating contingency

Protects you against scope creep!

Importance of change control

What is change control?

Change to scope, approach, timescales, costs, quality, benefits….

Change is very likely

Must have a well defined starting point…what are we changing from?

Recognise other senior managers may interfere & challenge “behind closed doors”.

“..let me assess the impact of this PROPOSED change and let you know the consequences….”

TOPICStakeholder management

o Not just internal

o Not just those directly involved in the project

o Not just senior management

Who are project stakeholders?

Project Stakeholders are people or organisations who have a vested interest in the environment, performance and / or outcome of the project

Examples of stakeholders• Sponsor

• Senior Managers

• End Users

• Customers

• Project Team

• Suppliers

• Media

• Unions

• Sub-contractors

• Vendors

• Business Partners

• External Regulatory Bodies

• Government Bodies

• Local Residents

• Pressure Groups

• Resource Managers

• Important part of the weaponry of the Project Manager

• Key to the Project Managers career

• Perceived as a soft skill

What is stakeholder management?

Stakeholder management is the systematic identification, analysis and planning of actions to communicate with, negotiate with and influence stakeholders

Stakeholder mapping

Level of Interest

Power

Low

Low

High

High

Least importantInform through emails, newsletters &

general commsMay look to increase their interest

Keep informed, show consideration

Make use of interest through involvement

Consult on areas of interestPotential supporter / goodwill

stakeholder

Keep satisfied & meet their needs

Engage & consult on areas of interest

Look to increase their interest

Key playersFocus effort on this group

Involve in governance / decision making

Engage & consult regularly

What is their perceived view of the project?

Positive, Negative or Neutral?

Use positive peers to influence negative or neutral peers

What communication methods should be used with each group?

Emails, monthly reports, weekly meetings, face-to-face updates?

Stakeholder assessment

Team activity

Level of Interest

Power

Low

Low

High

High

Least important Keep informed, show consideration

Keep satisfied & meet their needs Key players

Project reporting

Regular formal update on progress:

• Commentary on what has been achieved and forecast activities for next period

• High level schedule overview (Gantt chart or milestone table)

• Summary of progress to date and forecast progress

• Summary of outstanding or key risks and issues

• Summary of pending changes

• Summary of key decisions to date

• Identify who requires communication (stakeholders)

• Identify appropriate communications mechanisms, such as:• Progress Meeting• Project Board Meeting• Highlight Report • Monthly Email Update• Stakeholder Group Meeting• Weekly Face to Face Meeting• Fortnightly Telephones Update

• Define who is responsible, approves and receives each communication

Communications plan

• Define the audience

• Define the requirements

• Build a communications schedule

• Find the responsible team member

• Define the medium of communication

Tips…

Team activity

Stakeholder What Information do They Need? How will this be provided?

Who will provide it? How often? When does this

comms start?

TOPICSuccessful project leadership

Summary

• Planning Phase Agree scope of work Who is involved? Identify the Project Team With core team , build the high level plan Expand into a detailed plan Forecast resource and cost requirements Complete CARS for resources Undertake risk workshop Identify project stakeholders Develop communications plan

• Implementation Phase Establish progress cycle Produce regular Status Report Use Change Control Form to manage requests for changes