Project Management Fundamentals

Here's a basic rundown of what you need to know to get started in project management.

roject management consists of three distinct phases -- Planning, Initiation, Tracking and control. Planning and initiation occur sequentially, while tracking and control operate together, simultaneously.

Planning Phase

As the project manager you will manage the planning phase insuring that key players and stakeholders all participate or provide input and getting the input from resources that will be assigned to the project. You will insure that communication takes place and flows freely.

In the planning phase you determine the goals and objectives of the project, identify any budget and schedule constraints and generally define the scope of the project in terms of its deliverables, its areas of influence and its impact on the organization. At the same time you identify all the key players, stakeholders and resources you'll need and establish lines of communication to each. From the list of deliverables, you develop a work breakdown by identifying and listing the tasks associated with producing each deliverable. The work breakdown structure can take the form of a graphic chart or an outline. From the list of tasks and the list of resources, you allocate resources and prepare a schedule based on the resource time available and each individual task's level of effort in hours or required duration.

You may also identify any prerequisites for the project like tools to be acquired, training to be accomplished or other projects that should be completed first.

When the planning phase is complete, you review it with appropriate key players and stake holders, obtaining agreements and concurrences as necessary.

Initiation Phase

In this phase, you launch the project. You hold a kickoff meeting where you explain the final plan to stakeholders and resources going over goals, objectives, constraints, and schedule deadlines carefully. You verify that all are ready to participate and have the required, documents, materials, tools and training. You verify lines of communication and insure that procedures are in place for you to get feedback on progress.

Tracking and Control phase

In this phase, you will be watching for problems and attempting to correct them so that the project is brought back in line with expectations. The sooner you catch problems and correct them, the greater will be your chance for success. You'll be monitoring the actual progress of the project, comparing it to the plan and taking corrective action as needed to bring actual progress in line with or ahead of the plan. You'll be evaluating progress on a task by task basis checking for the following:

• Did the task start on time? If not, why not?
• Is the percentage of completion as expected at this point in time? If not, why not?
• Is the cost of the task as expected at this point in time? If not, why not?
• Can the task be completed with the remaining planned time, labor, and cost? If not, why not?
• Did the task finish on time? If not, why not?
• Are there any problems associated with the task that need correction? What are they?
• Is the quality of this task's deliverable as expected? If not, why not?

Some of the corrective actions that can be taken are as follows:

• Assign additional resources.
• Replace Resources.
• Reallocate unused budget to tasks that are overrunning.
• Revise the schedule to allow for new information.
• Advise stakeholders of revised schedule and manage expectations
• Redefine the desired quality of deliverables.
• Eliminate nice-to-have deliverables and tasks.
• Redefine the project scope or goals.
• Recommend abandonment of the project.

According to project management fundamentals, your primary function is to bring the project in on time and within budget. But remember, an important secondary function is to help your organization avoid squandering valuable resources. For this reason, it may be appropriate to recommend terminating a runaway or non-productive project. It happens all the time.