Category: project management

The creation of an accurate project plan, no matter what type of project you are working on, is something that should not be underestimated.

Every good project manager knows that no successful project can exist without a robust plan behind it.

Starting a project without a project plan that has been thoroughly considered in all aspects is like going on a trip without a map: maybe you will also reach your destination, but the waste of time (and money) will be inevitable.

A project without a well drafted and structured plan can, in fact, lead to problems of scope creep, budget and missed deadlines.

You should therefore work closely with your team and build a good project plan before you start the work itself. You will need to set expectations and decide how to achieve them, and this is the method that will guide us to success.

How to write a project plan in 5 steps

What we want to achieve with these articles is a path to follow, an approach thanks to which you can understand and follow simple and systematic guidelines that will help you in your work.

That’s why we have tried to summarize the steps of writing a project plan in 5 steps. Let’s have a look at them:

1) Define the project

Whatever is the project you are going to work on, the beginning is always the same: define what you want to achieve.

However, doing so does not simply mean writing general concepts such as: “I want to open a new pizzeria”, there are six key elements to be taken into account when defining the project:

• Objectives: what are you trying to accomplish with the project? Here we consider both external elements – profits, market share, customer satisfaction – and internal elements – infrastructure improvement, process optimization, employee retention. The extra tip, is to use the SMART guidelines at this step.
• Scope: regardless of how carefully you plan, the project will almost certainly be subject to changes that need to be addressed. Instead of trying to identify everything within the scope of the project, it might be easier to identify what is definitely out of reach. This is also a good opportunity to determine who will be responsible for approving/denying any changes to the scope.
• Success standards: What will determine the outcome or failure of this project? In this step, you must consider the objectives. Common standards are the projects delivered on time and within the project budget, the end product that meets a certain level of quality and the solution of a specific business problem.
• Final products: Here we list the essential results of the project in as much detail as possible.
• Requirements: Determine what you need – resources, staff, budget, time – to achieve the project objectives and produce positive results.
• Program: Use a work breakdown structure to determine what needs to be delivered and when, then use it to determine the basic schedule, project milestones and deadlines.

2) Identify risks, preconditions and constraints

Identifying potential risks, dangers and setbacks before they occur can help the project manager navigate through “rough waters” when they inevitably occur.

At this stage, designating a team member to be responsible for risk management can be key.

Depending on the size of the project, this individual may be either the project manager or another team member.

The important factor is that someone must clearly be responsible for monitoring all risks that have been identified.

In this case, the help and support of project management software can make risk management easier and more manageable.

3) Planning people for the project

This step is another key one in the project plan, in fact, the management of the project is largely the management of the people who work there.

Planning the project means identifying and documenting the following:

• Client: who will receive the final product? Is it an internal or external customer?
• Stakeholders or interested parties: these are the people or groups interested in the successful completion of the project.
• Roles and responsibilities: determine the organizational hierarchy for the project. Who gets the last word on decisions? Who is accountable for communication with the client? Who oversees the budget? Who is responsible for the actual work?

4) List project resources

In the first step, a series of high level requirements needed to successfully complete the project were identified, after which the human resources needed to perform and manage the work were identified.

Now it is time to focus on the specific resources needed to get to work:

• Technology (computers, software, mobile devices)
• Salary
• Materials
• Ecc.

In short, you need to list all the resources you need in detail, along with their costs.

5) Set up a communication plan for the project

By now you will have a clearly defined project with a program, budget and resources. So it’s time to get to work, right? Wrong! Actually one very important step is still missing: a communication plan.

Poor communication is one of the main reasons for a project’s failure.

This is because everything that has been seen before – meeting deadlines, sticking to the budget, etc.. – depends on team members communicating with each other, the project manager, stakeholders and clients.

A good project communication plan should include:

• Communication goals: what is the goal of a certain message?
• Audience group: who should be included in communications? For example, it may not be necessary to include the organization’s director in regular project updates, but they should be consulted at all times if the project exceeds their budget.
• Key communication content: When communicating with the project team and/or stakeholders, what information should be included each time?
• Communication method and frequency: how will communications be delivered and how often? Via e-mail or another collaboration tool? Determine this information at the beginning of the project and remain consistent with it.

How to create accurate project plans: Bottom line

Ultimately, if a project manager notices that their projects are prone to lose control, exceed budget, miss deadlines, or fail to deliver a final product successfully, it is very likely that the poor planning is at least partially – if not totally – responsible.

Clearly defining the project, identifying risks, assembling the team, gathering resources and drawing up a communication plan following our suggestions will therefore make a big difference.

An update report on the status of the project is a core part of every successful communication strategy and project management to update the team and all stakeholders.

Many project managers are likely to use certain project management models or programs or software to manage projects who generate the reports directly.

Whatever format is used, compliance with a regular and formalized process is essential and saves time and costly data errors.

In addition, by being consistent in the reporting process, it keeps everyone aware of the information they can expect on a regular basis.

As a project manager, you need to create regular status updates to inform stakeholders about the progress of the project. We will see how in this article.

How to create effective status updates

Reporting on project status updates is a way to keep track of and manage the project, as well as distributing this data to those parties who need it.

It is a vital communication tool and can provide a documented project history, which consequently simplifies the planning of future work.

Some other objectives of status updates include:

• Improve communications within the organization
• Simplify communication process
• Keeping stakeholders informed
• Provide key messages to the intended target audience
• Improve organizational team support

Whether the status update is sent face-to-face during a meeting or by e-mail, it is always a good idea to know the best practices in this area:

1. Communicate: status update reports are part of the communication plan. These should not be used to communicate everything about the project, but should be used to provide the right data to the appropriate party at the right time.

2. Consistency: use the same format, distribution cycle and method, without getting things confused.

3. Set metrics: when planning the project, You need to have this method figured out clearly about how to measure your progress and then follow it while reporting project status updates.

4. Simplify: the report must be effective, so it must not be filled with unnecessary details in order not to confuse stakeholders.

5. Verify: the audience does not want opinions or unsupported facts, so it is only necessary to report objective data and talk about what is of interest to stakeholders.

What to include in a project status update

Here are some of the things you will need to include in a project status update.

1. General project information

First of all, the foundations will have to be established: what is the name of the project? Who is the project manager? What is the number of resources? All this information is essential to keep track of the project throughout its lifecycle. Do not assume that all stakeholders are familiar with this information.

2. General status information

Here you will include what the general status of the project is, if it is – generally speaking – in line with the program or if it is going off track. The traffic light method, for example, uses red, yellow, and green color coding to indicate the status of the entire project:

Green = On track

Yellow = Struggling

Red = Requires immediate attention

3. Milestones review

Milestones are the main phases of a project. These are a good way to break the larger project into smaller, more manageable parts. In a project status update you should present where you are in relation to those milestones.

4. Project milestone outline

Include a brief overview of the expected completion date and costs of the project – at the current time.

5. Problems and risks

Also be sure to include the activities that are having problems and how they might impact on the deadline and costs, what you are planning to do to solve these problems and what the results will be once they will be solved.

6. Project metrics

It is vital to back up the report with tangible figures to objectively demonstrate the statements you are making. These status reporting metrics, as mentioned above, must be agreed upon during the project planning phase. It is impossible to know if the project is successful without measuring its effectiveness with data that can be compared over time. These metrics are a way to show whether you are on the right track and to assess what, if any, may require attention.

Status Updates: Last tips

Be concise and organized

Planning project status update meetings in advance will be very helpful to get a successful meeting. Any discussion must be relevant to the topic and any other problems or questions that may arise must be brought up at another time – unless there is an urgent reason not to do so.

Manage questions and concerns

Questions and doubts are legitimate and do not represent a challenge to the authority and role of the project manager. Therefore, a defensive response is not just a waste of time, but is inappropriate and jeopardizes the professional position of a project coordinator. It is important to listen openly and respond to questions and concerns, even if they have been addressed before. No question is “stupid” or nonsensical.

Admit when you don’t have all the answers

If you don’t know something, you must say it. You can’t have all the answers – unless it comes from poor preparation. But it is the job of a project manager to know HOW to get the answers. So, you need to have a process to follow and offer a deadline for a thorough answer.

Little time spent on small talk and chatting to get to know each other

In general, during a meeting dedicated to project status updates, the focus of the meeting is clear and, as mentioned above, any discussion outside of this issue should be addressed in another setting. However, if, for example, there are new people in the group, it is important to introduce them, so a few precious minutes can be invested at the beginning of the meeting for this kind of informal talk.

Status Updates: Conclusions

Ultimately, we can say that reports on project status updates are a key part of project management.

In most cases, therefore, it is important to have a method that saves valuable time and makes reports easier to build and more accurate to present, providing the right data at the right time to the right people.

The tips and best practices detailed in this article will certainly help you when preparing a project status update report.

What do you do when you have an important decision to make? Draw up a list of pros and cons? Flip a coin? Do you postpone hoping someone else will end up making the decision for you?

Certainly there are many ways to make choices, for example we have already discussed collaborative decision-making process, but when it comes to taking into account objectively all the important factors that are part of the decision, there is a method that prevails above all else: the decision matrix.

Many people are intimidated when it comes to applying the decision matrix. However, I can assure you that, once you understand the mechanisms and fundamentals, its use is actually simpler than you imagine.

When should you use a decision matrix (and when not to)?

A decision matrix can help not only to make complex decisions, but also to prioritize activities, solve problems and build reasoning to defend a decision already made.

We had already spoken about the criteria for prioritizing projects,  but here we will talk about an ideal decision-making tool if we are discussing between some comparable solutions that each have multiple quantitative criteria.

The decision matrix process is best used when deciding something that is not related to an emotion, because it is a rational tool.

It is therefore preferable to use a decision matrix when it is necessary to evaluate a situation from a logical point of view and to have sufficient comparable variables to make a weighted analysis.

The matrix can be used alone, but also in combination with other decision-making tools and techniques.

What exactly is a decision matrix?

A decision matrix is a chart that helps to show a clear winner among the different options.

To create the matrix, you need to determine which criteria are important in making the final decision and then assign a weight or value to each criterion.

This allows you to prioritize factors that matter most and, as a result, to identify mathematically which of the options is the best one.

Let’s see in detail what are the key steps to use a decision matrix in the best possible way.

How to create a decision matrix: 1) Clarify the problem

The first step is to insert the decision to be made or question in the decision box. This statement must be specific and clear for everyone.

Let’s have a practical example and imagine, for example, that you have to make the choice between reconditioning an old machine or buying a new one. Formulate the correct question and put it in the decision box!

How to create a decision matrix: 2) Assess decision factors

In this step you will need to make a brainstorming about the selection criteria for the decision to be taken.

In short, the question must be answered: what are the factors that will help to make the right decision? Or, what are the critical success factors that need to be met?

In the example chosen in the previous step, the factors that would have a great impact on the decision are:

• How quickly can we get a return on our original investment? Obviously, the quicker, the better!
• Cash flow – How will each option affect cash flow at the bank?
• Timing – how much time “is lost” in each scenario?

How to create a decision matrix: 3) Add options

Now it is time to compare the different options available. These are, in other words, the solutions to the problems.

In our example we have two options:

• Revise the old car
• Buy a new car

How to create a decision matrix: 4) Give a weight to each decision factor

It is evident that in any decision, some factors will be more important than others, and for this reason, you need to create a pondered score.

Each individual decision factor is then given a score from 1 to 5 (1 is the minimum importance, 5 is the maximum).

It is absolutely important to try not to give each decision factor the same weight, otherwise the whole analysis cannot be carried out.

If you have difficulty in finding different scores, one solution is to extend the scale from 1 to 10, in order to assess each factor even more thoroughly.

How to create a decision matrix: 5) Add scores for each option

The same process that was done previously is now being done in regard to each option.

Again, you score from 1 to 5 and, if that is not enough, you can use a scale from 1 to 10.

How to create a decision matrix: 6) Choose the highest score

Once the scores have been established based on all factors and for each of the available options, the next step is to select the highest score as the winner.

Decision matrix: Conclusions

Last but not least, the decision matrix makes it possible to measure options against what is important and, above all, to do so objectively and pragmatically.

This process eliminates the complexity of analysis and decisions are much easier to make when simplifying things.

In other words, the decision matrix allows you to focus on what really matters.

It is also important to keep in mind that a decision matrix is not the only decision-making tool available. For example, sometimes even a simple list of pros and cons will work.

However, for a decision where you have more options and different characteristics to consider, a decision matrix can clarify (objectively and mathematically) the best choice.

This approach can be used not only in project management, but also in everyday life to make informed decisions, while avoiding the typical prejudices and complications in which almost all of us are guilty of falling from time to time.

Ethics for a project manager is a very modern topic and highly relevant to their career, although talking about ethics may seem to be something much more relevant to an ancient branch of philosophy.

Ethics covers, in fact, many aspects of the PM’s work: it is not sufficient to know the technical methodologies, but it is necessary to know how to apply them in an appropriate way to the difficult dilemmas of the real world.

What makes this particularly difficult is that, unlike processes and methods, there are no rigid and fast rules on what is right and wrong.

People, politics and moral questions are often chaotic and confusing, so guidance is needed.

And that’s the role of a project manager’s code of ethics and professional conduct.

What is ethics?

Simply put, ethics can be summed up as follows: making the right choices.

However, it is not always easy to know what the right thing to do is; sometimes you have to face tough moral dilemmas, where there is no single good choice between a lot of bad options and, often, there are only nuances of compromise.

Many people find it difficult to accept ethical ambiguity because it forces them to take responsibility for their choices and actions, rather than following convenient and settled rules and customs.

That’s why a code of ethics can provide the principles that can help to make choices in a consistent way.

By consistent we mean consistency with oneself, with the prevailing norms in culture, society, organization and professional community.

So…

Ethics is about giving a picture to assess what may be right or wrong in a specific scenario.

What are the ethical dilemmas that a project manager faces?

The main ethical challenges a Project Manager will face in their career include:

• Building a “good” professional career.
• Properly assert their rights and at the same time defend those of the people around them.
• Meet their responsibilities with fairness and respect towards all parties concerned.
• Determine what is right and wrong, especially when it is necessary to balance different interests.
• Operate with honesty and integrity, especially where your interests may conflict with those of other stakeholders.

Why should a Project Manager act ethically?

At first glance, one could “earn” more by acting out of self-interest. However, this advantage resulting from unethical conduct is likely to be short-lived.

The benefits of good ethical conduct are long-term.

This will help you build a lasting and sustainable career because many of the opportunities you gain (or lose) depend on your reputation.

Here are three main benefits of following a code of ethics:

1. Ethics as moral map: A project manager will face many choices in their career that they will not be able to determine from a purely technical point of view. A code of ethics will therefore provide a consistent basis for making these choices.

2. Ethics as a tool for thinking: It is often difficult to judge who is right in a discussion when both sides can support their point of view with sound technical arguments. Both positions might equally lead to acceptable results, but sometimes the difference lies in the domain of ethics rather than reason. Here ethics will help to isolate the core of choice.

3. Ethics as source of professional benefit: The project manager needs team members, and the organization in general, to trust them and their work. So behaving ethically – as well as credibly – helps to build this indispensable professional trust.

The 8 elements of professional ethics

As project manager there are in particular 8 elements of professional ethics to be taken into account:

1. Integrity

Integrity can be summarized in these simple concepts:

• Doing what’s right, not what’s easy.
• Honoring commitments and promises given.
• Being the person you say you are.

2. Respect

When you treat team members and other people with respect, ethical behavior becomes much easier – almost automated. Difficulties arise when an action that respects one person or group will necessarily make another person feel less respected.

3. Discretion

Always related to respect, but in particular with regard to privacy, the feelings of others and confidential information and intellectual property of the organization.

4. Responsibility

Everybody makes mistakes, even the project manager. There is no problem with that if the person who made the mistake also takes responsibility and learns the lesson.

5. Honesty

Of course, we should not repeat that, as professionals, we must act honestly, but unfortunately episodes of dishonesty, even serious ones, are not so rare.

6. Openness

Openness goes hand in hand with honesty, but one thing is not lying, another is telling the whole truth. A good project manager requires transparency and complete openness with stakeholders if you want to make solid choices and that everyone has all the information available. If it is not an informed decision, it is not a sound decision.

7. Equity

When you sense something unfair, it is natural to experience feelings ranging from mild irritation to real anger. Therefore, the project manager should take an impartial position in any decision-making process and treat all people with equal respect.

8. Generosity

This does not necessarily mean physical generosity with gifts, rather it is generosity of spirit.

It is important to be aware that professional codes of conduct inevitably incorporate ethical standards that derive from the prevailing culture within which the organization that created them is located.

And each culture has its own set of ethical and moral standards.

While people are essentially the same all over the world, our cultural backgrounds differ dramatically, through influences such as history, geography, religion and politics.

That is why the project manager who is faced with an international team must also take this into account.

Looking at the last condition, we can still conclude that the code of ethics for a project manager is a valuable tool that defines a guideline in deciding what should and should not be done in every situation.

How does a project originate? How can you tell what it should achieve? How can you tell what approach is required? How can you tell if it will be successful or not?

Before the work can begin, there must be a common understanding of the project: purpose, objectives, scope, sponsorship, funding and mission. Without such understanding, the project should never be accepted by a reputable Project Manager.

The project, particularly its purpose, must therefore be clearly defined before the project manager accepts personal responsibility for its success. The first step, after accepting the mandate, should then be to share the project’s purpose with the Project Team and with all stakeholders.

Project Purpose: Why does the project exist?

A project’s purpose explains the reason for its existence, the meaning of what is done, the ambition or dream pursued by the project or the direction it takes and maintains.

The definition of this is essential at three levels: for the project and for all stakeholders.

The scope is to ensure that all actions taken follow this guideline, it is therefore a strategic decision-making tool and a lever of innovation that allows the ambition behind the project to be kept in mind at all times.

For stakeholders, the purpose is first and foremost a driver of motivation and consistency over time.

At a time when the search for the meaning of their work is strongly present, purpose allows team members, for example, to know what they are involved in and give them a good reason to get up every morning.

For an investor, it is also particularly important to ensure a coherent development that not only serves his or her own personal interests.

So, how do you define a project’s purpose?

The following steps can help to effectively define a project scope:

Identify project needs

When you can clearly identify the needs of a project, you are more likely to set a sound point of reference from the outset.

Understanding the “what and why” of a project will allow you to set specific objectives and also establishes the basics for which activities should be followed and how they should be carried out.

Confirm project objectives

The baseline of the project scope should be that the objectives are those that follow a SMART guideline, that is, they must be specific, measurable and achievable.

In addition, they should also be realistic and completed within a given time period and within the deadlines.

Project scope description

The project manager must be clear about the features and operation required for the product or service that will be the result of the project.

In other words, it must be clear what certain qualities will necessarily be required for the project to be considered successful.

Expectations and approval

Successful projects are those that factor in end-user satisfaction. If these are satisfied, the customer will accept the product, service or process derived from the project.

The end users may be customers outside the organization, but in some cases, also the team or other internal departments.

Ultimately, the scope of the project is what should be in tune with the best results to anyone who can be your end users.

Identify constraints

There are always blocks or obstacles in the project that come into play on the way to the finish line.

The awareness of the possible limitations can contribute to minimize the problems that could delay or limit the ability to achieve the result of the project.

These limitations can be caused by dynamic environmental conditions (internal and external), technological problems and/or lack of resources.

Communicating such problems to your team in a timely manner and taking steps to overcome these obstacles will reduce delays in project completion and keep expenses within budget.

Whether based on hypothesis or uncertainty, the analysis of their impact along the time sequence of projects further reduces the risk of failure.

Identify necessary changes

It is always best to avoid re-elaborating the scope of the project, as it means investing more time, money and resources. However, sometimes these changes are unavoidable and necessary.

In such cases, it is important to limit the changes as much as possible, involving all stakeholders and thus minimizing disagreements on new solutions.

A sound project management, not only as a result of adjustments, but generally, it takes into account the following considerations:

• An agreement regarding the acceptable level of quality of the project output.
• A budget for the costs that should be sustained (and not exceeded) to deliver the project.
• An acceptable time frame during which the project should be completed.

The three aspects are all interconnected and as such are indicated at the beginning of the project and are monitored throughout the project life cycle.

Every time one of the three elements is affected, it inevitably impacts the other two.

For this reason, these three fundamental aspects of the project should be defined at the beginning and, ideally, no longer be “touched”.

Define and describe a project purpose: Conclusions

Ultimately, the project scope is a bit like the top of the mountain that is observed at the beginning of an alpine expedition.

If everyone identifies and is motivated by the idea of reaching the peak, then it will be possible to make everyone move in the same direction.

You may not know exactly how to climb the mountain in detail or you will have to choose alternative routes along the way, but the whole team will have a good image of the summit and will be determined to reach it, whatever it takes.

This allows the expedition (the project) to remain consistent over time, the team (parties involved) to remain motivated and the leader (the rope leader) able to take a regular step back to ensure that the expedition is consistent with the original purpose.

Project management metrics are fundamental to implementing sustainable project management practices and processes in any organization.

The key is to keep them simple and relevant to the organization.

Project management metrics are also central for improving the way projects are managed and delivered, as well as showing improvements over time in project management maturity.

Project management metrics help to:

• Measure and understand the maturity of the organization
• Manage projects and resources more effectively
• Show performance improvement over time

 

All metrics should be:

• Simple and logic for the organization
• Clearly, correctly and unambiguously measurable
• Supported by real data

 

There are some key requirements and guidelines for the consistent implementation and measurement of the project management metrics and these are:

• Repeatable and sustainable project management processes
• Process compliance monitoring
• Data collection through the use of a project management tool
• Timely and unambiguous communication of the baseline and any subsequent changes in metrics or the data collection process
• Not having too many metrics, especially if they are similar

 

The implementation of the project management metrics will have to address some challenges that need to be managed with appropriate processes and controls:

• As compliance improves, figures may not change or show improvement initially
• If the metric definition or measurement process is changed, data from previous years should be recalculated.
• If the base data changes, the metrics also change and must be recalculated.

6 relevant metrics for project management

Several project management metrics can be defined according to the objective and complexity of a project.

However, the following six metrics generally encompass the most important measures:

 

• Productivity: this metric allows project managers to measure the use of a project’s resources. Compare the total effort with the planned effort, which has a direct impact on profits. Delays in timing, staff or supplier under-performance and unavoidable circumstances can affect productivity metrics.

 

• Project scope: the project scope is usually defined directly, but changes and additions can shift even the efforts of the best project manager. You need to keep track of change requests to control them and keep the project on time and within budget.

 

• Quality and customer satisfaction: quality assurance is a real customer-oriented metric. Ensuring low defects throughout the project, as well as acceptable quality in the end, should be one of the goals of every job. Early detection of defects can also help prevent the failure of the whole project. Don’t forget that customer satisfaction in a project is always essential.

 

• Employee satisfaction: just as the end customer must be satisfied, so must the employees and team members working on the project. The morale of employees is directly related to the success of the project. Research has shown that a satisfied employee works better and more efficiently. High employee turnover costs, ranging from 50% to 200% of an employee’s salary, should also be sufficient reason to care about people working directly on a project. Here you can find good suggestions on how to motivate the project team.

 

• Cost: cost analysis and management is often vital to the success of a project. Cost management is related to other variables, such as quality, scope and productivity, so if it varies above or below projections, the project may be affected. Typically, costs are closely observed throughout the project, so if costs increase unexpectedly, variables such as scope or time are adjusted and the project can still achieve its objectives.

 

• Gross margin: Normally, the final objective of a project is to contribute to the organization by increasing its profits. The gross margin is the difference between the total income generated and the total costs spent on the project. A project should have a target gross margin established in the planning phases of the project and should be measured throughout the project life cycle. Project managers who reach or even exceed the target gross margins are often extremely valuable.

Monitoring these six project management metrics can help project managers gain greater control and, consequently, a better chance of success.

Over time, organizations can obtain information about which methods are successful and which require more precise fine-tuning in their specific case.

Project metrics implementation

Once the metrics have been clearly established to meet an organization’s needs, it’s time to start implementing them.

The first step is to communicate with all stakeholders to help them understand the process, its significance and how metrics can help improve projects.

Providing clear examples and creating a metrics plan with guidelines that everyone understands can help clarify ideas and prevent delayed information.

So, once all these steps are taken and everyone is on the same page, you can start implementing the plan.

Throughout the process, it is also crucial to correct the plan when identifying unusable metrics.

Finally, implementing project management metrics can build historical data to help improve future planning and allow for comparisons.

As you accumulate project metrics in your organization’s portfolio, you are building a valuable database of internal benchmarking data.

These metrics can be compared with other projects in the same organization to see where process improvements can be made or compliance requirements can be introduced.

In addition, you can also compare the metrics with reference data from other companies in the same market.

The final challenge is to ensure that the project status includes metrics that prove the value of project management.

And as Peter Drucker said half a century ago: “If you can measure it, you can improve it”.

Receiving feedback in an effective way as a project manager is as important as being able to give them.

Feedback is a key part of any manager’s skills and contributes enormously to the success of a project.

Without feedback everything remains limited to the “feelings” of the team and the PM himself. Surely a careful reading of the data can be of great help, but what is really happening outside the fence is a whole different story.

So let’s try to see what are the feedback that a good Project Manager absolutely must be able to get and how to get them.

The benefits of feedback

For starters, providing feedback, if done regularly, keeps everyone on track and this is convenient for anyone involved in the project.

A communication that is clear  and honest among the team helps employees prevent serious mistakes. Here a good project software with a team chat can be of great help.

Feedback saves time that would have been used to correct someone’s work or the regrets of another who has done theirs wrong.

Also, feedback helps to build better relationships between the project manager and the team and between team members.

It is obvious that feedback often involves criticism – something most people don’t feel comfortable with – but if given in the right way, it can help them evolve personally and professionally.

It should be seen as advice, not judgement. The project manager should believe in the members of his team and use the feedback as a tool to help them achieve the project goal first.

The constructive feedback can then serve as a tool to motivate employees and improve their performance. It is about active listening, seeing what everyone can change to improve their attention and results and bringing people together while creating a healthier communication flow.

The ideal situation would be to create a pleasant working environment where everyone is open to criticism and even to ask for feedback on their own.

What are the most important feedback in a project

There are five topics in particular that are the most important when speaking about feedback in a project:

• Do we have a structured approach to the project?

Getting feedback regarding the quality of the project approach is key to achieving properly structured, aligned and productive teamwork. When working on client engagements, it is also advisable to get regular feedback from stakeholders and identify potential communication bottlenecks.

Here are 3 typical elements on which you can get information quite easily:

• Clarity of the project scope (what concerns the project and what does not)
• Definition and communication of key project milestones
• Transparency on project progress monitoring and status updates

2)Are we able to make decisions?

Many initiatives are hindered by poor decision-making. Being able to structure and organize the decision-making process is in fact one of the key skills of a successful project manager. If you want to be sure that the decision-making process runs smoothly, you need to control and receive feedback from:

• Stakeholders and decision-makers
• Project meetings
• Team members

3) Will we delivering the next milestone on time?

Most projects follow a top-down approach with an indirect communication flow. When the project manager asks for updates about the progress of activities, having intermediaries strengthen project information on the front line generates loss of information. Therefore, it is important to ask the team directly if:

• will provide the desired results with high quality standards on time
• possesses all the necessary skills and abilities to achieve its objectives
• is making continuous progress or is experiencing hiccups.

4) Are we good at implementing the decisions we make?

The follow-up of decisions taken is often a project shortcoming. Making sure that no false promises are made in the process is the key to meeting expectations. Therefore, on a regular basis, it is important to ask if:

• Key decisions are duly documented and communicated (e.g. through the minutes of meetings).
• Project decisions always have a high priority
• Implementation risks are correctly identified and associated with mitigation actions.

5) Do we have a clear understanding of the project?

Last but not least is having a clear understanding of the project. The project manager has to ensure that the vision is clear, shared and supported by all stakeholders and therefore has to ask for feedback by asking these questions:

• Does everyone understand the short and long term objectives of the project?
• Are the expected results of the project clear?
• Is it clear to each team member how the team should achieve the desired project targets?

How does the feedback request process work?

Having examined what topics absolutely need regular feedback during a project, let’s now see how an efficient feedback request process works.

1. Set feedback objectives

As in all things, you have to decide what the goal is.

A good feedback will help to avoid repeating the same sub-optimal or destructive patterns that hinder a project instead of pushing it forward.

One of the goals not to forget is also to receive feedback with an open mind and a positive and accepting attitude.

2. Identify the right people to ask for feedback from

Asking for feedback from every single person you interact with is not productive and can lead to wrong messages.

Not everyone can provide the specific type of feedback you are looking for.

Feedback with multiple perspectives can lead to a thorough perspective on the path to follow, but this does not mean asking everyone indiscriminately.

As a project manager, feedback can come from colleagues, team members, management and clients.

Depending on the question, it is therefore important to limit the request for feedback to those directly involved.

3. Prepare questions

The questions you wish to ask in order to receive feedback should be formulated according to the objectives.

If the goal is to improve relations with team members, for example, questions should be asked that specifically relate to the current working climate and interactions.

If the goal is to improve time management, questions will need to be asked in this regard.

In particular, a series of open questions will help to achieve the relevant atmosphere.

4. Getting feedback the right way

When the time comes to ask for feedback, you have to be willing to accept the answers with an open mind.

If you are defensive or negatively influenced by comments from others, you will be much less likely to receive honest answers in the future.

5. Make a commitment and keep it

The biggest waste of time is getting feedback and doing nothing about it.

Not all feedback will be usable, but most likely you will notice a recurring theme that should serve as an indicator of what specific things need to be improved in the future.

It is important to take action on these things, make the necessary changes and, once done, come back to those who provided the feedback and show the implementation and improvement.

This will send the message that the contribution has been appreciated and will encourage people to continue to contribute honestly and openly in the future.

Everyone knows that individual decision making is faster and easier than team decision making, right?

Yeah, as long as the decision maker is fully informed about all the details of a decision and is impartial, the process is certainly faster.

However, if the decision maker is not omniscient and impartial – and this applies to most cases – then the involvement of more stakeholders and specialists undoubtedly leads to better results.

“Collaboration” thus becomes the keyword, even in the decision-making process, and collaborative decision-making, not surprisingly, is at the heart of the world’s most successful teams.

What really is collaborative decision-making

Collaborative decision-making happens when a team of individuals comes to a consensus.

This consensus should be reached on the best possible solution, based on a series of proposals.

Not only does this approach promote a team working atmosphere, but everyone involved is more committed to the successful implementation of the solution.

Below are some steps to make the decision-making process collaborative.

How to make the decision-making process collaborative: Choosing a facilitator

Most initiatives require a facilitator to ensure that the objectives are achieved. Collaborative decision-making is no different.

Without committed leadership the process is at risk of failure.

This facilitator will have the task of managing aspects such as:

• Ottenere il buy-in e l’impegno delle principali parti interessate
• Creare definizioni di successo e fallimento per l’iniziativa
• Allineare l’iniziativa con altri obiettivi
• Favorire il lavoro di squadra ed il dialogo costruttivo durante l’intero processo

Il facilitatore garantirà inoltre che il gruppo rimanga concentrato sul problema in questione e lo guiderà attraverso il processo di identificazione e selezione della soluzione.

How to make the decision-making process collaborative: Identify and understand the problem

Without a clear identification of the problem at hand, the whole decision-making process may fail and this may lead to team discouragement and confusion.

The first step towards success is therefore to ensure that each member can articulate the problem clearly.

 

Then, the next step is to list the unknowns surrounding the problem and to track what information has yet to be discovered.

It is also vital to involve the people directly concerned by the problem.

This advice may seem obvious, but if you look at how the most bureaucratic decisions are made, it is not what happens in reality.

However, people who are affected by a decision are generally more connected to the topic than the experts themselves; therefore, they can offer a variety of experiences and valuable information, interpretations and perspectives on the topic.

How to make the decision-making process collaborative: Develop a positive dialogue and discover alternative solutions

Instead of lingering over the negative impacts of the current problem, the team should focus on finding a solution.

It is easy to be overwhelmed with pessimism when attention is completely focused on the negative aspects.

The team should then focus on the details that can be changed and each team member should be free to provide their most original ideas without being judged.

Sometimes the best solution may not be found by the most obvious source or the most renowned experts.

How to make the decision-making process collaborative: Collect data

Once potential solutions are collected, data must be obtained to support them.

The project team should assess and analyse the value of the data collected against the ability to support the predefined successful measures without getting lost in other details of little importance for the specific situation.

How to make the decision-making process collaborative: Consider alternative solutions and make a selection

Now the team is finally ready to choose the best solution to the problem.

The facilitator can help team members to structure their thoughts on each proposed solution using specific tools, such as the decision matrix.

Clearly, there is a chance that an immediate consensus may not be reached and in that case it may be useful to complete the process with other types of tools, such as a cost-benefit analysis.

This will help the team to select the solution that best fits the business objectives.

How to make the decision-making process collaborative: Draw up an implementation plan for the chosen solution

The selection of a solution does not mean that the work is completed. Without implementing the proposed solution correctly, the problem will remain unsolved.

An effective implementation plan takes the final goal into account and focuses on creating steps and activities that will set the solution in motion.

The team should not be frightened if unexpected barriers or obstacles are discovered; this is a common event in the implementation phase.

As with the rest, any problems can be addressed by applying the same collaborative decision-making process.

 

Organizations of all sorts and sizes will benefit from a collaborative approach to decision-making.

In today’s competitive marketplace, teams must address problem solving in new ways and avoid the dangers and threats that uncertainty, disagreement and confusion can create.

Facilitated and collaborative methodology of a team-led decision making is the shortest path to lasting problem solving and to maintaining or fostering a strong teamwork culture.

Ultimately, pursuing a more collaborative approach is likely to increase the effectiveness of any important decision making process.

Increasing collaboration begins with identifying colleagues who are more likely to provide useful input and then listening sincerely to these ideas before making a final decision.

More importantly, in a collaborative decision making process most decisions are of much better quality and the commitment to those decisions is considerably higher, making collaboration the first choice in a decision making process, and not the last one.

A reporting system is a key process in any organization and for every kind of project.

The information is used to provide all interested parties with information about the status of the project and is of course also used to make decisions.

Thus it is essential that the accounting and reporting system in project management is accurate at every stage.

Reporting may not be the most exciting part of a project manager’s work, but it helps to ensure that projects stay on track and end according to plan.

So let’s see in this article what are the most common types of reports in projects.

Types of reporting in project management

Project reporting means much more than just communicating the latest project updates to the team and stakeholders.

You can use project reports to mitigate risk, monitor budget and schedule and create more accurate project plans.

Here are some project reports that may prove valuable to a project manager:

• Resource availability report
• Project status report
• Project health report
• Risk assessment
• Project baseline

Resource availability report

To build an accurate project plan, a project manager needs to know what resources are available to perform the work and for how long they will be available.

Furthermore, this report shows the amount of work that each team member accomplishes (and can accomplish) in their time available for the project. This allows the project manager to make weighted decisions about activity distribution.

Project status report

A weekly project status report is an easy way to keep the team and stakeholders informed and handle expectations as the project progresses.

Generally speaking, this report shows these results:

• Completed activities
• Activities under completion
• Incoming activities
• Overall project completion
• Spent/available budget
• Project risks or problems

This report does not necessarily need to get into too much detail and often it is enough to write a page with key information to learn the trend of the project.

In case stakeholders need more specific information, a meeting or a series of documents can be arranged.

Project health report

This kind of health status report provides a high quality view of a project’s status.

It is ideal for immediate sharing during meetings with the team and stakeholders, so that everyone knows at a glance which activities are on schedule, which are running against the clock and which – unfortunately – have already exceeded the deadline.

For example, the project can simply be split into 3 different levels of health status and, for an even stronger impact, with 3 different colors.

Here are the ones:

• Activities in progress marked in green: activities that are in advance or meet the deadline.
• Activities running behind the schedule marked in yellow: activities where there is still some time left until the deadline but in which case, if the current rhythm is maintained, it will be difficult to respect it.
• Late activities marked in red: those activities that have missed the deadline and require special attention in order to avoid that the traps prevent the regular continuation of the whole project.

Risk assessment

A risk assessment helps to identify and categorize project risks according to their magnitude and likelihood of occurrence.

In this way, problems can be prioritized and the risk can be minimized before the entire success of the project is undermined.

Project baseline

A baseline report compares the original and initially planned timeline with the actual project timeline to determine which activities were performed on time or ahead of schedule and which were delayed.

It is also valuable to show how changes or delays affect the overall project timeline.

Best practices for project reporting system management

Here are a series of suggestions that will make the management of the reporting system in projects more effective:

1. Set a deadline: a schedule in the reporting system fixes regular deadlines so that everyone knows when to expect and/or provide important updates on the project.
2. Pay attention to the data: a report is only as good as the information it provides. Verifying that project details are up to date and correct before sharing reports with customers and stakeholders is essential.
3. Writing with your audience in mind: team members, clients and stakeholders should not get lost in the details of the project (unless the purpose of the report is precisely that). Generally speaking, reports are brief, with bulleted and schematic lists and without the presence of technical terminology.
4. Add graphic elements: an image is worth a thousand words and visual project management specialists are well aware of this. The use of diagrams and graphs when possible will make a report easier to assimilate.
5. Be honest: if the project is late or over budgeting, don’t hesitate to mention it in the report. The sooner a problem emerges, the sooner it can be solved.
6. Encourage sharing: a project report should be a launching pad for dialogue, not a static document carved in stone. This is how it becomes essential to create a space for feedback on the project and constructive discussions so that everyone agrees on the next steps to take.

 

Ultimately, an efficient reporting system is crucial for project activities execution.

Simply put, unless the organization uses an adequate reporting system, the project team and stakeholders won’t be able to know the full details of the project.

The traceability matrix, also called Requirements Traceability Matrix or RTM, provides documentation of the links between the proposed requirements, concerning the project output, and the test phase.

Simply put, it is a document to map and track requirements and to ensure that an adequate level of testing is achieved for each of these requirements.

Indeed, when developing a product or service, you want to make sure that this output matches what was requested. To ensure this, the traceability matrix and tests are essential.

Traceability is the process of reviewing all defined test cases for any requirement.

Traceability allows one to determine which requirements generated the most defects during the testing process.

The traceability matrix is, essentially, a tool that helps to ensure that the purpose, requirements and results of the project remain in line with what was initially agreed.

Why is traceability of requirements necessary?

The requirements traceability matrix provides an accurate connection between requirements, test instances and defects.

Generally it ensures good output quality as all functionalities are tested.

Quality control can be achieved when the final product is tested for unexpected scenarios with minimal defects and all functional and non-functional requirements are met.

From that moment on, quality improvement can also be achieved.

Benefits of using requirements traceability matrix

The benefits of utilizing a traceability matrix are many, here are the most important ones:

• The final product is tested and includes all the required functionalities that meet users’ needs and expectations. The end customer must get what they want. There cannot be any negative surprises for the user, if this happens it would not be a nice experience for anyone.

• The final product developed and delivered to the customer must include only the required and expected features. The extra functionalities present in the product may initially look interesting until an overburden of time, budget and effort to develop them is experienced. Extra features can also become a source of defects and cause problems for a customer during or after use.

• The activity of the project manager and their team can be set out clearly because they work first on the implementation of the requirements, which are of the highest priority, according to the client’s needs. If the high priority requirements are given clearly, the output elements can be developed and implemented in this order of importance. In this way the entire project plan can be set up clearly.

• At the time of testing all the most important and top priority features can be examined, without losing time with unnecessary testing. This helps to produce a quality product that meets expectations.

 How to efficiently run tests with the help of a traceability matrix

To effectively run tests with the help of the traceability matrix, it is important to follow four basic rules:

Have a good communication channel

In case of modifications suggested by stakeholders or users, they must be promptly reported to the project team. Without this timely communication, accurate testing cannot be guaranteed.

Determine test scenarios priority

Identifying high priority test scenarios can be a challenging task. Trying to test all scenarios is in many cases an unachievable task, so the goal of the test must be very clear from the business and end-user point of view.

Process implementation

Testing process must be clearly defined taking into account factors such as technical infrastructure and implementations, team skills, past experience, organizational structures and processes undertaken, project estimates of costs, time and resources. A uniform implementation of the process considering the mentioned factors ensures that every person involved in the project is on the same page.

Effective implementation of the testing strategy

An effective testing strategy, supported by a traceability matrix, plays an important role in planning ahead for all types of critical challenges, which further helps to develop a better product.

How to create a requirements traceability matrix

In the process of creating a requirements traceability matrix, the following operations must be conducted:

• Set objectives: Only one question needs to be answered is: “What purpose will the traceability matrix serve?” Here is an example of an objective to explain the concept: To create a traceability matrix to keep track of test cases and bugs that will be affected if changes are made to the requirements.
• Collect artifacts: Once the objective is determined, it is necessary to know what artifacts you will need to achieve it. To create a traceability matrix of requirements, you will need to:
• Requirements
• Test cases
• Test results
• Bugs

The next step will be to collect these artifacts.

• Create a traceability matrix template: For a requirements tracking matrix template, an Excel spreadsheet can be used and a column can be added for each artifact collected.

• Artifacts addition: Now you can add requirements, test cases, test results and bugs in their respective columns depending on the results achieved.

• Update traceability matrix: The updating of the traceability matrix is an ongoing work that continues until the completion of the project. If the requirements change, it is mandatory to update the traceability matrix. If a new test case is added or a new bug is found, you need to update it in the traceability matrix of requirements.

Bottom line, the requirements traceability matrix is the way to map and track all customer and stakeholder requirements with test cases and defects detected.

It is a single document that has the main purpose of not losing track of test cases and therefore ensures that all the functionality of the final product is covered and tested.

The capability of mitigating risks means they can be recognized proactively and addressed by implementing specific mitigation strategies.

Risk identification is undoubtedly an important and crucial step in project management, but by itself it is not enough.

Knowing and thinking about risk is not the same as doing something about risk.

Risk will happen; some will even bring positive results, others won’t; some will be minor, others catastrophic.

So here are some of the most common ways to mitigate risks that can be faced in developing a project.

Risk mitigation strategies: Expanding requirements

First of all, we must know what’s what… Exactly, what do we want to achieve with the project?

This is a key question to ask and have a clear understanding of it, it is in itself a risk mitigating factor because it automatically removes all the mistakes related to “we didn’t know what we were doing“.

Taking full advantage of feasibility studies, kick off meetings with stakeholders and user groups to test ideas before making a full commitment, ensures that what is delivered is really what is desired.

Risk mitigation strategies: Have the right project team

People working on a project may be part of some risks themselves, especially in the case of inappropriate skills or perspectives that do not fit the company environment.

People who are not available when needed also affect the timing of the project.

This is why team members must be chosen in a thoughtful manner, thus mitigating the risks associated with people.

Risk mitigation strategies: Risk distribution and/or transfer

A big mistake is to place all the responsibility for a risk on a single person or a group.

Without doubt, risk transfer is a proven and useful risk management strategy, but it must be used with care.

Mitigating one’s own risk by transferring it to someone else isn’t always the best approach.

For example, it is possible to transfer the risk to another player, but this could lead to increased costs – through increased supplier or insurance prices – which in many cases is not the most appropriate use of the organization’s funds.

The solution here is to look for solutions for managing risk jointly with other stakeholders considering the impacts of this 360-degree strategy.

Risk mitigation strategies: Communicate and listen

There is another way in which risks can be added to a project: lack of communication.

Communicating efficiently, consulting extensively and, above all, listening to the answers you receive, must be a core activity in any project.

This strategy can help the project manager to identify risks and engage more effectively with stakeholders.

Risk mitigation strategies: Assess project feasibility

Making use of feasibility studies and prototypes to test ideas and solutions before moving on to actual development can be an easy way to mitigate the risk of a project.

In this way it is possible to use this early stage as a test bed for checking concepts, methodology and solutions.

How? Break the project into phases and include time, at the beginning of each phase, for a feasibility study or survey.

This learning can be incredibly useful to shape the rest of the project and can prove – or disprove – the business case without having to commit the entire investment.

Risk mitigation strategies: Run tests

Arguably many people will know that when project time is nearing its end, testing is often the task that is cut out in the first place.

You should try to avoid this situation; testing is an important part of making sure that the project risk is reduced and manageable.

Tests help to eliminate much more important problems that may later fall on the project.

One way to make sure that you always have enough time to do tests is to estimate the “traditional” time needed to do tests and then double it.

This way, even if the project will encounter problems that will slow it down, there will always be room for tests.

Tests are often widely underestimated, but they are a great tool to detect defects or bugs that can be corrected so quickly, without causing much more serious problems later on.

That’s why carefully estimating and having a dedicated planning contingency for testing is fundamental in project management and can be considered a real risk mitigation strategy.

Risk mitigation strategies:  Have a plan B

Despite having planned everything, including risk mitigation strategies, an unforeseen problem occurs.

You don’t have to worry… it happens.

So the best way to deal with these unpredictable situations is to have alternatives to the hand, which you can include:

• Emergency funds
• Additional resources on standby
• Options to split the project into segments and/or reduce the scope

A plan B isn’t exactly something that the project manager plans to use. However, having one prepared as a backup in case a risk materializes unexpectedly can be extremely valuable.

To prepare this strategy, it is necessary to discuss tolerances and contingencies with the sponsor and stakeholders before the project begins.

Determine what additional funding can be provided to address unforeseen problems and how to access it if and when the time comes.

 

The key to dealing with the unknown is to have an attack plan, maintain flexibility and always make sure you learn the reality of the situation so that you can adapt your actions accordingly.

This is therefore the solution to successfully manage risk for any initiative or at any stage of a project.

You cannot avoid risks, however you can prepare yourself through appropriate mitigation strategies.

Project criticalities aren’t really missing and managing them is what a Project Manager should be able to do in complete control.

Project managers need to be multitaskers and must be able to manage multiple single elements of a project at the same time, keeping everything under control.

However, even in the case of projects led by the most efficient managers, critical issues may occur during the planning and execution phases of the project. These problems are difficult to avoid, but often easy to solve.

To help you understand and give you an insight into what might be the most common issues to manage, in this article we will provide an overview of the 7 main challenges project managers may face.

Manage project criticalities: Break during project planning process

A skilled project manager knows that planning is one of the most important steps in the project management process.

However, sometimes project managers fail to spend adequate time at this stage and try to skip to solving the problem immediately. rather than planning and creating more effective strategies to avoid the issue, they prefer to solve it when it appears.

Instead, better planning means having more control over the project and more peace of mind when it comes to implementation.

So, please listen to the advice, it is important to never start a project before analyzing the problem, exploring possible solutions, finding the best one, and planning all the activities and resources needed to solve the problem.

Always keep in mind that some risks may affect the project in an important way and therefore find alternative solutions when they appear or you are certain that they will appear.

Clearly there is a difference in planning between longer-term and shorter-term projects: the former tend to require detailed planning, while the latter require a more pragmatic and agile approach.

Manage project criticalities: Scope Creep

It is very important to have a clear outline of the project before running it. However, even when a good planning process has already begun, the scope of the project may change during execution.

This change of scope, or scope creep, can be particularly threatening because it can result in the project deviating from deadlines and/or budget.

When this criticality occurs, in order to manage it, it is above all important to focus on the objectives and the real need to which the project must satisfy:

• Have the goals changed?
• Was it due to planning or execution?
• Is it really necessary to change the scope?

If the answer to these questions is yes, a meeting with all project stakeholders should be scheduled so that everyone can find the easiest and most convenient unanimous solution.

Taking the time to refocus your project, reallocate resources, create new activities, reprogram them and let everyone know what happened is essential in this situation.

All documentation must be updated so that everyone can work under the same conditions and be fully informed on every aspect.

Manage project criticalities: Budget is exceeded

The project has been planned, the necessary resources have been defined and, consequently, the final project budget established.

So, if all these steps have been followed correctly, why, despite such good planning, is the budget exceeded?

This could be due to three reasons:

• The planning process wasn’t as efficient as it seemed,
• There wasn’t an efficient monitoring and control process during the execution phase
• The project was influenced by external sources (environment, regulations, currency exchange, etc.) even unforeseen ones

When a project exceeds the budget, you need to find out what happened and try to reallocate the remaining resources so that you can continue to continue to maintain the same expenses.

A sound practice during project planning is to set a small “buffer” budget for exceptions, i.e., to have a reserve in case contingencies emerge that are beyond the project manager’s control.

Manage project criticalities: Missing or inefficient communication

A bad or missing communication plan results in unresolved conflicts, which could have a negative impact on the project.

A project is executed by a team of members, each of them responsible for specific tasks and deadlines.

If one member is not on track and the rest of the team or the project manager doesn’t realize this, the project will definitely be delayed. In the worst cases, larger problems will occur if the gap persists.

Having recurring meetings and records of these meetings sent to participants and stakeholders is a great idea to keep everyone on the same page.

Manage project criticalities: Missing deadlines

In a project, tasks depend on other sub-tasks and many of them cannot begin if a previous task has not yet been performed.

So, essentially, a missed deadline could lead to 1,000 other missed deadlines in a domino effect and, in the end, a late delivery of the final project result.

This is why time and deadline management is crucial in a project.

A good software with a clear Gantt and easily accessible is very helpful in this regard.

When delays occur, it is important to first analyze whether the expired activity is part of the critical path.

If not, you can check other activities within the critical path that can be carried out and reallocate resources so that you can keep the same end date.

Manage project criticalities: Lack of responsibility

Each task usually only needs one person in charge, i.e. a person who takes charge of the specific task and anything related to its completion.

A project manager must therefore clearly define the responsibilities and decision-making power of each team member and the expectations of stakeholders for that particular activity.

Manage project criticalities: Decentralized information

It is key to keep everyone up to date on the status of the project at all times.

Lack of accessible, available and reliable information can lead to project errors and delays.

Also, disorganized information, such as multiple versions of the time process, several document folders, many emails, can lead to decentralized information that creates confusion for all team members.

One solution to this problem is to use a project management software to help coordinate employees in multiple positions and, if applicable, in different time zones.

 

A project manager will build and develop effective project management skills with quality training and direct experience in the workplace.

Furthermore, the project team should not be passive but at best will proactively help the project manager to manage the various projects and their critical issues.

Project management is a long-standing profession and in the past century it has become a real subject covered by many studies and research.

According to classic project management, and too often used nowadays, the success of a project is measured in terms of time, budget and scope metrics.

Therefore, little attention is paid to the overall business benefits in terms of both customer value and profit for the organization.

Granted, project management has improved in recent decades, but it is clear that project management practices need to transform rapidly to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

But what does this mean in practical terms? Let’s see it in this article.

Project management transformation in the 21st century

The 21st century challenges us to change the way we manage change within organizations.

Conventional jobs are changing and new ones are starting to appear, the old concept of office work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. is no longer up-to-date, means and opportunities for communication are evolving, as is technology that is constantly improving…

Organizations need critical thinkers capable of adapting, inventing and reinventing; collaborating, creating and innovating, understanding and exploiting complexities to let creativity flow.

So project management and business analysis are also transforming before our eyes in order to achieve and create better business results.

Some refer to it as “Breakthrough Project Management” (or BPM), an innovative approach to procurement and project management.

This method provides a sound and replicable basis for delivering projects:

• Meeting deadlines
• Using a limited budget
• Without compromising reach or quality

Although the traditional approach to project management is still successful in the case of low to moderately complex projects, as far as the most difficult tasks are concerned, this method becomes inadequate and it is necessary to follow a new path also taking into account the ever-changing market.

Project manager’s role

The project manager, in this context, should not be stuck on the classic approach of project management, but should always be looking for new perspectives and new innovations in the industry.

It is clear that the world, including business, is moving rapidly, technology advances are rapid and furious, and organizations are forced to innovate all the time.

Indeed, the new Agile approach towards projects can be successful in this regard.

In this case, the required synergies are leveraged to stimulate creativity and innovation.

The key word therefore becomes “innovate” or stay in the market and facing competition will become increasingly complicated.

Innovating therefore becomes the lifeblood for organizational survival.

The project manager must therefore focus on the continuous delivery of business value and innovation, understanding the holistic nature of change.

This change requires attention to people, processes, organizations, rules, data, technologies to constitute a transformative business practice.

Realizing that a holistic perspective towards change is both an art and a science, the project manager must find a balance between analysis and intuition, between order and disruptive change.

The decision-making process thus becomes collaborative; thought is inclusive and strategic; complexity is exploited to achieve creativity; leadership is shared and diversified; teams are collaborative and highly performing; methods are adaptive, creative, agile; solutions are innovative, competitive and create value for the organization.

The innovative practices of the project therefore produce revolutionary results and require different thinking and new practices and systems.

The success criteria of the project must therefore be changed to include the concept of value, wealth and benefits for the company, innovation and creativity.

 

Ultimately, traditional project management tools and techniques are often considered inadequate today.

These traditional approaches that use a static method, in fact, provide project managers with unrealistic estimates that ignore multiple feedback processes and non-linear project relationships.

The interrelationships between the components of a project are more complex than those portrayed in the classic project management model and make them inadequate for the challenges of the dynamic project environment of the 21st century.

New complex and dynamic environments therefore require project managers to rethink the traditional definition of a project and classic management methods.

Project managers must also be able to make decisions in these dynamic and unstable systems that are constantly changing and evolving randomly and are difficult to predict, very different from traditional linear and predictable systems.

To achieve this goal, more integrated approaches to project management in complex environments and new methods of project planning, scheduling, execution and control need to be studied.

As mentioned above, “innovation” must be the watchword in 21st century project management.

A Statement of Work (aka S.O.W.), is one of the most important documents in project management as it outlines everything that must be part of a project.

Project management processes comprise many different documents, regardless of the industry, but in the SOW you can find a complete description of what the project will be.

Not only data sheets and forecast numbers, but a proper narration of the project work. Activities to be carried out, results to be obtained and deadlines, but also prices, conditions and project governance will be described.

Basically the Statement of Work is the most comprehensive document of the project to have an overview of what we are going to achieve and when and how we intend to do it.

Let’s take a closer look at what this article is about.

What is a Statement of Work?

A SOW is a formal project management document that is aimed at defining the entire scope of work of the project and clarifying results, costs and deadlines.

This type of document is used where projects require suppliers and external collaborators and is generally created as part of a contract.

Project managers should pay sufficient attention to provide a comprehensive SOW to all stakeholders to avoid conflicts regarding results, budget or deadlines.

A Statement of Work is practically “the Bible” for the work that the project aims to achieve, a key governance tool, whether it is used to direct work for a supplier or contractor, or to direct work internally.

The work included in this document is part of the contractual obligation, while activities not contained herein will only be executed if mutually agreed upon or introduced into the project through a modification request.

When is a SOW needed?

The importance of a SOW lies in its capability to acquire all the elements of work and critical activities of the project and is particularly useful in two situations:

• When a contract with an external supplier or consultant is signed
• As an intermediate planning phase for a large and complex project where the work is carried out internally.

You don’t need a Statement of Work when the project is small and straightforward enough to perform.

When should the SOW be drafted?

The SOW must be drafted after the scope statement, so during the planning phase of the project.

Notably, the scope statement should capture, albeit in very general terms, the product of the project.

For example, if you want to launch a project to develop software to capture and track orders, the scope statement should include a list of users used to place orders, software engineers and employees who send orders.

Furthermore, you could also include features desirable in the system, e.g. whether it is available on the Internet, what information it should store about every order, how the system will collect the payment for the order, etc.

The scope statement, in a nutshell, will provide information about what needs to be produced or built through the project.

Once you have determined what you are building, you need to capture the details of how it will be built; then you prepare the SOW.

The Statement of Work defines what needs to be done and must therefore be written before the work can be scheduled or a division of labour created.

What is included in the Statement of Work?

All elements included in the project scope statement should also be included in the SOW.

This should contain information on the final results at a more detailed level.

For example, if the scope statement includes an order acquisition and management system, this can be broken down into a database to acquire, store and track information, a front-end to interface with users, and a reporting system to manage reports.

Here is a list of categories of information that are usually included in the SOW:

• Introduction: begin with an explanation of the work carried out. In addition, state who is involved in the project.
• What is the goal of the project, what are the results, objectives and return on investment.
• Goal of the work: which activities should be carried out in the project and which processes? This includes results, time needed and even the general steps needed to achieve this goal.
• Where the work will be executed: will the team work at a central facility or remotely? However, in this part it is necessary to detail it, as well as specify where the equipment and software used will be located.
• Duties: adopt the general steps outlined in the scope document and divide them into more detailed assignments. If desired, break down the activities into milestones or phases.
• Milestones: define the expected time period for the completion of the project, from the suggested start date to the proposed end date. Specify billable hours per week and month and everything else related to project scheduling, e.g. if there is a maximum number of billable hours per supplier and/or contract.
• Results: explain what is due and when is due. Describe it in detail, such as quantity, size, color and everything that might be relevant.
• Planning: include a detailed list of when the final results must be presented, from which supplier will be chosen, the execution period, the review phase, development, implementation, testing, project closure, etc.
• Standards and tests: If there are industry standards that must be met, list them. Also, if testing of the product is planned, list who will be involved in this process, what equipment is needed and other resources.
• Define success: write down what the sponsor and/or stakeholders expect for the successful completion of the project.
• Requirements: list any other equipment needed to complete the project and whether a degree or certification is required for team members.
• Payments: If the budget has been set, you can list the payments related to the project and how they will be made – in advance, over time or after completion.
• Other: if there are parts of the project that cannot be traced back to the above categories, you can add them at this stage so that everything is covered.
• Conclusion: Determine how the final results will be accepted and who will deliver, review and sign the acceptance. Additionally, this part also includes specifications on the final administrative functions, such as confirmation that everything is signed, closed and archived.

As you can see, there is plenty of information that needs to be included in a SOW.

This must be specific and clearly defined so as to avoid any confusion later in the project when communication errors or disputes cannot be afforded.

Including visual elements in the SOW, graphics or other illustrations, can help to better focus the objective on various aspects of the project.

After writing the SOW down in detail, the final and crucial step is to get it approved.

For this, the project manager must make sure that those responsible have signed the Statement of Work; in case of disputes in the future, it will be possible to show the signed document in support of their actions.

 

Ultimately, the SOW therefore helps project managers by providing them with a support on which project plans can be built.

The document also helps to avoid conflicts during the project life cycle and keeps everyone involved on the same page as well as helping to reduce confusion to a minimum.

The success of a project is usually calculated with traditional evaluation parameters that only take into account the fact that the project has respected the budget and the programme. Quite often, however, this is not enough.

Some organizations consider broader parameters than the traditional ones – cost, planning and operation – and determine the success of the project by evaluating key performance indicators, the so-called KPIs.

This approach generates more relevant, fair and balanced project performance evaluations.

Some organizations, however, do not have a consistent way to determine the parameters that should be applied to determine how a project has achieved its objectives and how it has influenced the company in a tangible and non-tangible way.

Therefore, let’s see in this article what are the possible evaluation parameters to quantify the success of the project.

Why measure the success of a project?

This may seem like a silly question, but what is the main point of measuring the success of the project?

After all, once a project is finished, there isn’t much more you can do about it, whether it is a success or a failure, right?

This has been the primary philosophy for a long time, but with the development of the concept of learning and best practice, the value of recording information about an organization’s past to guide its future strategy has become more prevalent.

Nowadays, the value of continuous improvement based on past data is recognized and it is based on this that companies can understand what went wrong during a given project so that they don’t fall into the same mistakes during subsequent projects.

By integrating new knowledge, particularly about successes and failures, into new processes, fewer mistakes are made and higher performance can be achieved.

That’s why measuring project success has become critical for every project manager.

The problem with measuring project success is that it’s not as easy as it sounds.

What is so difficult about the measurement of a project’s success?

It seems logical that by measuring the success of a project, it will be possible to collect data on what went particularly well or badly and that you will be able to pinpoint those success factors to be applied to future projects.

What happens if the project is delivered on time and on budget but two months later the client does not benefit from the result? Or are you absolutely not satisfied?

On the contrary, some clients may be completely satisfied with the result of a project that has been almost a disaster in terms of management with, for example, unforeseen delays, excessive resources, financial losses for the company, etc.

For years project management has been trying to come up with a more precise idea of what is meant by “project success” and for years we have been trying to identify what is needed to ensure the success of the project.

A lot of research has been conducted on this subject and many studies have been published.

However, the results were not so homogeneous: despite thousands and thousands of texts written about project management, despite decades of individual and collective experience and despite a considerable increase in the amount of project-based work, the data have led to highlight that the success of a project is also partly very subjective and varies according to situations, organizations, sectors and stakeholders.

Indeed, everyone could have a different perception of the project and its result.

Fortunately, however, some good practices have also emerged that should help a project manager to measure the success of his projects using simple processes.

Criteria for successful project management

In these criteria we will find all those concerning the project itself and its implementation.

These in particular help to measure the internal efficiency of the organization to implement projects and here we find the “classic” elements of project management:

• The project is completed within schedule
• The project is completed within budget
• The project meets its quality objectives

Other project management criteria can be added such as:

• The project includes all the points covered by the scope
• The project meets commercial objectives in terms of revenue and profits

And again in this category it is possible to include criteria related to different stakeholders:

• Project team satisfaction
• End-user satisfaction
• Supplier satisfaction

The subjectivity of success is therefore minimized through the use of predefined success criteria.

Everyone will know what they are working on and when it is time to measure success, established benchmarks will be available.

 The “define, align and approve” paradigm

To ensure that the established success criteria are satisfactorily realistic, the development of the criteria must follow the “define, align and approve” paradigm.

In short, the success criteria must be properly set out in measurable terms, must be aligned with the needs and constraints of the project, and must be approved by all parties involved in the decision-making process.

Let’s see each point further in detail:

1. Success criteria must be explicitly set out

Success criteria must be stated in specific terms related to the execution of the project management process, the project activities and their results. For example: it is a success if the project is completed by the end of Q4.

2. Success criteria must be ‘aligned’ adequately.

Success criteria must be aligned adequately with the project vision, scope and effort, considering the overall purpose, benefits to be achieved, organizational capacity, priorities, risks and operational constraints. For example: it is a success if the project leads to a 5% reduction in reports of problems related to remote access to the system.

3. Success criteria must be duly approved

Success criteria must be developed and defined using a structured and collaborative process, whereby all parties involved in the decision-making process have the opportunity to provide input, challenge hypotheses, negotiate and finally provide acceptance and approval.

 

Whatever the project in question, when it is possible to measure success through optimal evaluation parameters, critical information will be obtained which, perhaps, will not lead to the improvement of the project itself, but will help to create a database of knowledge for the development of future successful programmes and projects.

Let’s go back to our discussion about the detection and management of project criticalities already started with the previous article.

Effective criticality management

Regardless of how well and thoroughly you plan, there are countless unknown variables in any project.

It would be foolish to think that a few chats about potential risks at the beginning of the project are enough to ensure that you don’t run into obstacles and critical issues along the way.

Project managers must therefore assume that problems will arise, and they should develop criticality management skills that will help them address these issues in a timely and effective manner so that the project can continue.

Critical issues that arise during a project may be unforeseen, but may also arise from risks discovered during the project planning phase.

To minimize the impact that critical issues have on the project, it is necessary to quickly set up an action plan and solve the problem before it becomes serious.

When a criticality occurs, the first step is to comprehend and fully understand the issue: it is necessary to understand what happened and what or who was “hit” and to what degree.

A criticality cannot be tackled effectively if the potential repercussions are not realized beforehand.

It is also necessary to verify whether this criticality has been reported as a potential risk in the planning phase. If so, a response plan should already have been drawn up to mitigate the impact of the problem.

Only once all aspects of the problem have been fully understood can we begin to address it in the most effective way.

Ways to address criticalities

One of the most efficient ways to address the criticality found is to get the project team together, present the problem and make sure everyone is on the same page and there are no misunderstandings that could only worsen the situation.

The project manager can then work alongside their team to find a solution to the criticality that will work for everyone.

Working on problems as a group enables opinions and ideas that the individual may not have thought of to be heard, which means that critical issues can be resolved more quickly or in a way that results in unexpected benefits.

It is worth remembering that both the risks and the critical issues are not always negative, but can also represent opportunities.

Once a successful solution is found, the next important step is to ensure that this solution is shared with the whole team, stakeholders and customers – if necessary.

Letting everyone involved know that a criticality has been found, but for which you have a solution, means not having to work against unrealistic expectations.

This way, if there are delays to the project, stakeholders will know exactly what happened and there will be less room for dissatisfaction or negative feedback.

Then, the response plan will be put in place, most likely to be delegated to a person who can guarantee that it will be implemented in the way that everyone has agreed.

After having addressed the criticality…

Once the criticality has been addressed and the response strategy implemented, it is advisable not to carry on as if nothing had happened and not to forget what happened.

Instead, it is important to reach out to the person, team or process that has been impacted to see if the action plan has actually solved the problem.

By reviewing the criticality and how it has been resolved, you can obtain information relevant to future risk management strategies to avoid similar events in future projects.

In this regard it might be worthwhile for you to read this article about lessons learned.

One last remark we would like to underline: the project manager must make sure to address problems to the team and stakeholders only after the critical issues have gone beyond their control and decision-making powers.

If the project manager raises issues that the management committee and stakeholders believe could be solved by himself, his trust as project manager is at risk.

Warning flags indicating that you’re drifting towards failure

1. There is no project risk

If you cannot spot a single project risk, it is likely that you will encounter unpleasant surprises during the project lifecycle.

2. Some risks remain unidentified

To effectively address risks during implementation, it is important that risk identification is also based on the residual risk and not just the initial risk. This allows the project manager to understand the project’s exposure to risk as the program progresses and to monitor developments in the risk elements. Focusing only on initial risks does not provide an accurate overview of the remaining risks as the project progresses through its cycle.

3. Risk identification is incomplete

The project manager and the project team often neglect some major risk elements. The application of risk analysis to every project that is implemented in an organization can lead to an improvement in the risk identification process. However, as in all things, practice improves the process.

4. You don’t have a risk mitigation plan

If one simply lists the risks without preparing a risk mitigation plan specific to each of them, the future of the project is uncertain. Every material, likely and extraordinary risk needs a clear response strategy to ensure that the risk does not become a reality or that its impact totally affects the project.

5. There is no clear owner for the risk mitigation strategy

A risk becomes a reality and begins to have some weight on the project, but because there is no owner responsible for implementing the mitigation strategy, precious time is lost and the impacts of the risk become greater and greater. Every action plan needs an owner who is capable of implementing it at the appropriate time and following the chosen strategy.

6. The project sponsor or the management committee are not used effectively to solve risks

The project manager must be careful not to exacerbate problems when they shouldn’t be or to not report them when they should. Time is limited when it comes to project sponsors and management committees, and the project manager must ensure that this time is spent on serious issues that require analysis and approval that he or she, as an individual, is unable to provide.

7. The project team does not have a clear picture of the risks the project is facing

If project team members are surprised or confused by the impact of the risks, it means that timely and clear communication is not taking place or that warning flags for early risk identification have not been agreed upon.

8. No one knows when a factor is going to become a risk

If you are often caught by problems affecting the project without any warning, you probably do not have the right alarm system to detect potential risks so that you can act promptly. Surprises are certainly fun on other occasions, but not in the case of projects.

Tips for dealing correctly with project risks and criticalities

1. Define risks and find clear mitigation strategies for each risk

This step should be taken before starting the project. The project manager and their team should take some time to consider the potential risks which, as mentioned above, are material, foreseeable and extraordinary. Once the list is developed, it is used as a starting point to start thinking about response strategies for each risk.

2. Give the right scale to each single risk

The project manager needs to clarify which risks can be solved by them individually, which by the project team and which need the help and support of the project sponsor, management or other interested parties.

3. Know who is responsible and owner of the risk

The project manager shall appoint, for each risk, an owner responsible for managing the mitigation strategy. If the risk is about to become a reality or already is, this person will be in the forefront to implement the response plan as planned. In this way there will be no waste of time and the response will be immediate.

 

Certainly the tips and strategies explained in this article are good rules to follow for the general management of risks and project criticalities.

However, sometimes circumstances require much quicker decisions and you simply don’t have time to bring the whole team together to examine the details.

It may happen that the project manager is forced to make a quick decision over the phone or the problem is simply not big enough to justify bringing more people on board.

Regardless of whether the project manager makes the decision alone or works in collaboration with the team, it is vital to record everything.

It is therefore a good idea to create a document that reports and outlines all risks identified, mitigation plans prepared and those actually undertaken, along with all the critical issues the project has encountered along with the steps the project manager and team have taken to resolve them.

These risk and criticality records must be tracked and updated throughout the project lifecycle.

At the end of the project, the project manager should be able to provide clients, stakeholders, and managers with an explanation of why the project has stalled, been delayed, or exceeded budget.

Effective risk and criticality management is therefore crucial to a project manager’s career development.

Showing that the project manager has the right attitude to work efficiently and effectively to detect and mitigate the impact of risks and critical issues will demonstrate their expertise even if the single project fails.

The recognition and management of project risks and criticalities is one of the most crucial aspects for the success of a project; however, this issue is easily overlooked.

Throughout the life cycle of any project, there will almost always be unforeseen problems, questions and concerns that occur.

When these problems appear, the project manager and their team must be prepared to address them, or they may have an impact – even a severe negative one – on the outcome of the project.

Since most problems are, inherently, unexpected, how can we tackle them quickly and effectively?

The ideal solution is to have a problem-solving process in place before the project even kicks off, to make sure that you meet your deadlines and costs and achieve your objectives.

Problem management is the process of identifying and resolving problems. Problems that may affect staff, suppliers, technical failures, material or resource shortages, etc. every single factor in these categories can potentially have a negative impact on the project.

If the problem is not solved in time, it could lead to conflict, delay, or even total cancellation of the project.

So why is this often overlooked?

Perhaps because it is easier for a project manager to focus on organizing tasks and distributing roles rather than investing time in analyzing and managing project risks and issues.

However, risks and challenges, when they arise, are impossible to avoid. That’s why it’s critical to consider them from the beginning.

Risks and criticalities: what’s the difference?

At first, risks and criticalities might seem the same thing, just called in different ways, but this is not the case.

There are several aspects that characterize these two concepts. Let’s see what they are.

What is a risk?

The PMBok defines the risk of a project as

An uncertain event or condition which, if it occurs, affects positively or negatively one or more goals of the project.

Here is an example of a risk statement:

Since the project team failed to review the requirements with users, it might fail to meet the customer’s needs, resulting in dissatisfied users.

The cause in this example is the failure to audit and validate the requirements. The risk is that the project team may not meet the user’s requirements, while the impact is dissatisfaction with the product by users.

The risk is therefore an event or condition that could potentially happen in the future.

In particular, the risks of a project include several attributes such as:

• They are generally known at the outset of the project.
• They may exist at a specific point in the project and/or may last for the entire duration of the project.
• They may have a significant impact on the outcome of the project if the risk becomes a reality.
• There is a moderate probability that the risk may come true.
• Sono straordinari rispetto alla normale gestione del progetto.

Making assumptions to identify project risks is a reasonable way to determine the elements of a project that could cause problems.

However, it is important to focus on important risks by basing them on three factors: materiality, probability, and extraordinariness.

When defining risks, it is advisable to try to make a list of the main factors that are most likely to occur, are extraordinary for normal project management, and could significantly damage the project if they occur.

After defining the main risks of the project, the next step is to implement mitigation strategies for each point on the list to apply if the risk begins to become a reality.

By defining mitigation strategies for each risk, one can actively and proactively outline how to avoid the risk and manage the potential problem.

Accuracy in risk definition is extremely important. Risks need to be defined in order to clearly design and determine the action to be taken to mitigate or avoid them.

If it is not possible to structure the response action, this means that the risk is poorly defined or is not a tangible risk.

What is a criticality?

A criticality is identified as:

An event that has occurred and is impacting the project.

It is the project manager’s responsibility to responsibly address events and ensure that their impact on the success of the project is minimized.

Critical issues require immediate attention and real-time action and may be the result of risks identified at the start of the project or may come from an invisible area not initially considered.

In both cases, critical issues arise in most projects and any effective leader should be able to address them efficiently.

Similar to project risks, critical issues are problems that occur in a project that require certain management actions and strategies for resolution.

If a criticality is not addressed promptly, it may impact significantly on the successful completion of the project.

The extent to which critical issues differ from risks, however, is that the former generally do not last throughout the project and may not be known at the beginning of a project.

The list of critical issues will not be as persistent as the list of project risks.

Effective risk management

The project manager should take care of risk management in every project from the very beginning.

It is certainly not a pleasant topic, but it is worth talking about potential risks to and with stakeholders during the initial project start-up meetings.

This may be the only chance to have the whole team and stakeholders together before the project is started and completed, so it is a good time to gather doubts and thoughts about potential risks from all perspectives.

This planning phase is unfortunately often overlooked due to the increasing need for speed that the market requires to drive back and overcome the competition.

However, skipping this part can cause major problems for the project later on.

Visualizing risk from a different perspective

The first thing the project manager and team should ask themselves is what could go wrong during the project.

• Are there any factors that could prevent the completion of any project activity?
• Is it necessary to take into account elements such as seasonal weather conditions, external suppliers, market fluctuations, political effects or material stocks as possible risks?

These are just two examples of questions that the project manager should ask himself.

There is an almost limitless list of “what if” questions that need to be considered and that can help identify as many risks as possible.

There are many types of risks that affect projects:

• Cost risk: this generally translates into an increase in project costs due to poor cost accuracy or a change in scope.
• Planning risk: i.e. the risk that the activities will require more time than expected. Delays generally increase costs and postpone the reception of the project output, with a possible loss of competitive advantage.
• Performance risk: the risk that the project may fail to produce results consistent with the project specifications.
• Governance risk: it applies to the performance of the board of directors and management in terms of ethics, community management and corporate reputation.
• Strategic risks: resulting from errors in strategy, such as the choice of a technology that cannot be used in a specific case.
• Operational risk: includes risks arising from implementation and process problems such as acquisition, production and distribution.
• Market risk: includes competition, currency exchange rates, commodity markets and interest rate risk, as well as cash and credit risks.
• Legal risk: arises from legal and regulatory obligations, including contractual risks and controversies brought against the organization.
• Risk related to external hazards: including storms, floods and earthquakes, vandalism, sabotage and terrorism, labour strikes and civil unrest.

After having identified the project risks, it is time to consider their potential impact.

• What kind of effect will every risk have on the project?
• Will the risk cause delays in activities?
• Will the risk cause an increase in project costs?
• Will the risk affect the end product or service quality?

The best way to help the whole team and stakeholders understand these risks is to quantify and give them a value that everyone can clearly understand.

For example, for how many days could the risk delay the project? Will the risk lead to a percentage increase in how much on the project?

Giving a concrete number to the risk will make it appear as a real threat with real consequences and not just an abstract possibility.

Identify ways to mitigate, reduce, eliminate risks

Once identified, the next step for effectively managing risks is to determine and examine ways to mitigate, reduce and, if possible, eliminate the problem.

Is there anything the project manager and team can do to reduce the impact on the project or to eliminate the risk?

For example, if a risk has been defined regarding one supplier’s reliability or cost, can you look at the services of another supplier that may charge less or be more reliable?

The project manager must commit to putting in place a response strategy for any potential risk.

Defining and filtering the list of risks is easy compared to defining mitigation strategies.

The action plan will be the one in which the creativity and resourcefulness of the project manager will come into play.

It is fundamental to have a mitigation or risk management strategy, but it is also necessary to ensure that ownership and responsibility for the plan is fully assigned to a team member or a separate team.

No strategy can be implemented unless it is implemented by its owner and by assigning responsibility for that specific plan to someone, you can ensure that risk management strategies are implemented when necessary and as quickly as possible.

For example, back to vendor risk: by giving responsibility for mitigating that risk to the person who is directly involved with that vendor, they will be able to act quickly in the event of a problem rather than having to wait for the project manager’s green light.

In short, risk management is:

the process of identifying potential risks to the success of the project and the process of implementing strategies and procedures that will mitigate the impact if such risks occur.

Risk management is a key part of the planning process and the project manager must ensure that this vital step is not overlooked in favor of urgency.

The lack of a risk management strategy can result in project delays, increased costs and, in the most serious cases, even total project shutdown.

In part two we will analyse the effective management of the identified criticalities.

The project responsibility matrix is a fundamental mainstay not only for the Project Manager but for the entire Project Team.

Regardless of the size of the project, in order to prevent problems, task descriptions and role divisions need to be clearly set out.

Whether it’s a small team or an international collaboration, everyone must understand their role and know what they have to work on.

One method of defining the role of each team member is to use a project responsibility matrix also called the RACI matrix.

But what exactly is it and how is it implemented correctly?

What is a project responsibility matrix?

In short, it is a charting system that depicts the objective of the activity and the action required for each individual.

This helps to reduce confusion about expectations, thus increasing the efficiency of the project.

In this way, decisions can be taken more quickly, the responsibility is clear and the workload can be distributed evenly.

What does the acronym RACI mean? :

• “Responsible”
• “Accountable”
• “Consulted”
• “Informed”

The RACI matrix maps the activities and final results in relation to the roles in the project and responsibilities are assigned to each using the above terms.

Specifically:

“Responsible”: who should carry out the activity

This person carries out the activity at issue and is responsible for the work done. Sometimes it may be more than one person, but it is advisable to try to minimize the number of people involved.

“Accountable”: who owns the business

This person is in charge of the overall accomplishment of the activity. They don’t necessarily have to carry out the activity, but they are responsible for it being finalized. Ideally, this role should be assigned to one person rather than a group to avoid confusion about who actually owns the activity.

“Consulted”: who is consulted for the benefit of the activity.

This person, role or group will provide useful information to complete the activity.

“Informed”: who has to be informed about the activity

This person or group will be kept updated and informed about the activity and its delivery. These people are not asked to give feedback or reviews, but may be influenced by the outcome of the activity and the final result.

Benefits of a project responsibility matrix

A RACI matrix offers several advantages including:

1. Simplified communication

A RACI matrix in place can be useful to have a well defined reference during the life cycle of a project. Instead of involving every single person in every single decision, it is possible to simplify communication and reach the right people at the right time, thus accelerating the process.

2. Prevent overload of perspectives

When one gets opinions from any person, the situation can become complicated. This is how the distinction between those who are “consulted” and those who are “informed”, those who are involved in feedback and those who are not, becomes important.

3. Prevent work overload

The RACI matrix can be a useful tool to help delegate and prevent people burn-out.

4. Clear expectations setting

When creating a RACI at the outset of a project, a crucial element is to set expectations for those who are managing or responsible for the work to be done in the future, so that there are no nasty surprises afterwards.

When to use a project responsibility matrix

Is a project responsibility matrix useful in all projects? The answer is no.

Having too much complexity in relatively small and fast-moving projects can only slow things down and create obstacles.

So if the project team is small, roles are already well defined and/or a similar structure has been used successfully before, all you need to do is assign tasks to people without wasting time building a matrix.

However, for more complex projects with multiple stakeholders, not using a RACI matrix can lead to difficulties during the life cycle of a project.

The use of a responsibility matrix is a great way to avoid unexpected surprises and excessive involvement of stakeholders during the project which can then lead to delays in decisions and the project as a whole.

How to create a RACI matrix

The process for creating a RACI model includes these six steps:

1. Identify all the activities involved in the project delivery and then list them on the left side of the chart in order of completion.
2. Identify all project stakeholders and list them at the top of the chart.
3. Fill in the model cells by identifying the role of each person according to the RACI concept – who is responsible, who is the owner, who is to be consulted and who is informed.
4. Ensure that each activity has at least one responsible stakeholder.
5. No activity should have more than one responsible stakeholder. Resolve any conflicts where there is more than one for a particular activity.
6. Share, discuss and agree the RACI matrix with stakeholders at the beginning of the project and resolve any conflicts or ambiguities.

Ultimately, investing time to prepare a customized RACI matrix for each project is an opportunity to design the management process for the success of the project.

Surely a well-organized team is essential to successfully complete a project, but a matrix assignment of responsibilities is beneficial, if not vital, to achieve this goal.

Measuring the progress of the project, or a simple task, is obviously critical, but why is it so important to use good software to achieve this?

It probably happened more than once that the project manager was asked the question “So, are we done?” in relation to a project activity or the project itself.

Whether it was brought in by clients, managers, team members or the project manager himself, this situation is not as rare as you might think at first.

During your work you may lose your sense of space and time and forget exactly where you are along the way.

Furthermore, incorrect or deliberately manipulated information can lead to a distorted image of the situation.

This is how project management software becomes vital to measure the progress of a project.

Why is project progress difficult to measure?

Knowing exactly where you are along the path of a project is difficult to measure for several reasons. For example:

• Project progress is much more subjective in nature: this is particularly true if you work in an innovative technological environment where developers can work on a feature indefinitely, with the promise that they are just “on the verge of a breakthrough to complete things”.
• Delayed resources: resources that are working on a certain project activity have been left behind and instead of reporting this, they hide it by being confident that they can recover it. They will go ahead and say that everything is fine, thinking that they can solve the problem by spending a few more hours in the office at the end of the day or working over the weekend. Meanwhile, the project manager will report in his planning file that everything is going according to plan, even if it is not.
• Resources that don’t want to make a bad impression: another reason why manual planning may not be in sync with reality is based on human nature. People don’t like to make a bad impression, and the status of an activity can be “tweaked” slightly so that colleagues and, above all, the project manager have no complaints. From time to time this may not be a big problem, but week after week delays and false information can accumulate and cause significant damage to the project.

Use planning software to measure the progress of the project objectively

After seeing the previous examples, it becomes clear how automated project management software can help to objectively monitor and measure the state of progress of a project.

Below are four ways to measure project progress correctly:

• Make the objectives clear: every activity or milestone must highlight the intended objective or final status. For example, rather than having a loose activity as a “search solution for implementation” indefinitely, it should be precisely referred to as, for example, a “decision made on the solution for implementation”. This implies that this product must be completed and completed within a certain period of time and according to certain criteria.
• Split the activities into small blocks: it’ s better to split results into small blocks of work rather than a big, complex final goal where each team member has the opportunity to be vague about his or her part of the work. It is not efficient to have a unique 6-month task called “product X finished”, which includes a series of tasks that are just as measurable in their own way. This way it is not possible to know what might be off track for a long period of time.
• Allow only 3 status indicators: the team can report on the progress of an activity using only 3 indicators, i.e. not started, ongoing and completed – or any type of indicator that suits the industry. In this way there will be no room for intermediate or loose answers. This black and white approach avoids subjectivity.
• Automation: good project management software provides automatic data collection and analysis. In this way, the team and the project manager can spend their time completing individual activities and keeping the project on track. In addition, the project manager will have the opportunity to see the progress in real time and to intervene in time in case of particular blockages or delays.

 

These are some examples that show how project management software is important to measure the progress status of a project.

Moreover, a project management software allows you to have a whole range of features that help to maintain efficient work and active and effective communication.

It is worth keeping in mind that it is impossible to improve what cannot be calculated, so using software gives you the opportunity not only to measure the progress of a project, but also to analyze it and implement process improvement strategies where necessary.

The Monte Carlo Method used in predicting project results is what we would like to discuss with you today. Let’s see what it is.

Almost all project managers have experienced, at least once in their career, a missed deadline for a project.

The most common reasons that lead to missed deadlines are erroneous cost estimation or incorrect duration estimation of one or more activities.

Most managers treat estimates – both of the cost and duration of activities – as deterministic, thus not acknowledging that these values are actually probabilistic.

Unambiguous estimates are used with a false idea that the future can be predicted accurately.

Here is how it becomes useful to predict the results of a project using the Monte Carlo method to perform a quantitative analysis of the project’s risks.

What is Monte Carlo method or simulation?

Monte Carlo simulation is a mathematical technique developed by John Von Neumann and Stanislaw Ulam in 1940 for Project Manhattan. Its name derives from the casino in Monte Carlo, where Stanislaw Ulam’s uncle used to play often.

This quantitative risk analysis technique is used to identify the level of risk in achieving objectives, determining the impact of the identified risks by running multiple simulations and finding a range of results.

It is possible to run this simulation to analyze the impact of the risks on the costs of the activities, duration estimation, etc.

Every decision has a certain degree of uncertainty and the Monte Carlo simulation helps in such situations, avoiding nasty surprises later on.

This technique offers a range of possible outcomes and the probabilities with which they will occur for any choice of action.

According to the number of uncertainties and intervals specified, a Monte Carlo simulation can involve countless recalculations before it is completed, which is why it is a very complex technique.

Example of how the Monte Carlo method works

Let’s say we’re in the Monte Carlo casino and we’re playing Blackjack.

If we wanted to find the odds of getting Blackjack, we could simply count the number of possible hands in this case and divide by the total number of possible card combinations to get the chance – which is about 1/21.

Now, let’s imagine that our sample space is much more difficult to calculate, for example considering that our deck contains thousands of cards instead of only the classic 52, or, even more difficult, we don’t even know how many cards there are.

There is another way to find this probability.

We could play a hundred games and record the results while we play; we could get a Blackjack 20, 40 or even 50 times and assign the probability using one of these values; anything is possible but these are certainly uncomfortable techniques.

If we think about playing a total number of times, the Law of Large Numbers states:

“As the number of identically distributed, randomly generated variables increases, their sample average is close to their theoretical average.”

Besides being easily one of the most important laws of statistics, this is the foundation for the Monte Carlo simulation that allows you to build a stochastic model with the method of statistical tests.

Monte Carlo simulation in project planning

Let’s suppose we have three assets with the following estimates (in months):

Activities	Optimistic	Most likely	Pessimistic	PERT estimation
A	5	4	6	4.5
B	5	6	7	6
C	6	7	8	7
Total	16	17	21	17.5

 

From the table above it can be concluded that according to the PERT estimation, these three activities could be completed in 17.5 months.

However, in the best case scenario, according to the most optimistic estimation, they will be completed in 16 months and in the worst case, in 21 months.

If we run the Monte Carlo simulation for these activities five hundred times, we will get the following results:

Duration (months)	Likelihood of completion
16	4%
17	8%
18	60%
19	75%
20	95%
21	100%

 

From the table above we can see that there is a:

• 4% chance of completing the project within 16 months
• 8% chance of completing the project within 17 months
• 60% chance of completing the project within 18 months
• 75% chance of completing the project within 19 months
• 95% probability of completing the project within 20 months
• 100% chance of completing the project within 21 months

The Monte Carlo method therefore provides a more in-depth analysis of the data and helps to make a more educated decision.

Modelling uncertainty and risk with the Monte Carlo method

In short, the following statements apply to the Monte Carlo simulation:

• If the asset is risk-free, a single point estimate from expert judgement can be trusted. Then, the activity and project schedule can be modelled according to the most likely estimate.
• If the asset carries a low risk, the estimate is fairly accurate, except for unforeseen changes due to random factors. Therefore, a Beta or triangular distribution can be used.
• If the activity carries a known risk, the causes of the variance are known and the project team knows that the activity will be earlier or later if these risks occur. It is therefore advisable to use a Beta or triangular distribution.
• If the task presents an unknown risk and therefore the project manager does not have the right expertise to produce a reliable estimate, one can set a range of possible values and model the task according to a uniform continuous distribution.
• If the activity falls within the so-called “black swan theory“, in which a major unexpected event can happen with great consequences, it is possible to manage these risks as a hypothesis and, according to the Monte Carlo strategy, to model it all as a risk-free activity.

To factor in risk, assets are usually based on three points (as seen in the table above): optimistic, pessimistic and more likely.

In order to choose the type of statistical distribution, it is worth considering qualitative risk analysis for the activity:

• Triangular symmetrical or Beta if the activity has a low probability,
• Triangular asymmetric or Beta if the activity has an average probability,
• Consistent if the activity has a high probability.

The advantages of using Monte Carlo analysis on projects are many:

• It helps to assess the risk of the project.
• Converts risks into numbers.
• Provides early identification of probabilities.
• Create a more realistic budget and program.
• It helps to predict the probability of failure or exceeding time and cost.
• Quantifies risks to better estimate impacts.
• Provides objective data for decision making.
• Helps obtaining management support for risk management.
• Helps in the decision-making process with objective evidence.
• Helps finding opportunities to achieve project goals or milestones.

 

Bottom line, Monte Carlo simulation is a key technique in risk analysis that allows decisions to be made under uncertain conditions.

Although this technique is not commonly used in projects, when taken into account it significantly increases the chances of achieving a successful project within the approved baselines.