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Useful guide from Microsoft Best Practices for Migrating to Project Server 2007

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Step 1: List the Financial Expenses

The first step taken when defining a Financial Plan and setting a project budget, is to identify all of the types of expenses that are likely to be incurred throughout the Project Lifecycle.

Typically, most projects spend the majority of their budget on purchasing, leasing, renting or contracting the resources to the project (e.g. labour, equipment and materials). However other types of expenses incurred may include those related to the:

• Procurement of resources from suppliers
• Establishment of a Project Office
• Administration of the project

Step 2: Quantify the Financial Expenses

Once you have identified a detailed list of expenses to be incurred throughout the project, the next step is to forecast the unit cost of each expense type listed. The unit cost is simply the cost of a single unit of a particular expense item. For instance, the unit cost for:

• labour may be calculated as the cost per hour supplied
• equipment may be calculated as the rental cost per day
• materials may be calculated as the purchase cost per quantity

After listing the unit costs, you should calculate the total amount of each expense item needed to undertake the project. For instance:

• Identify the number of roles required
• Quantify the items of equipment needed
• Determine the amount of materials required
• Quantify the procurement items to be sourced from suppliers
• Calculate the administration costs the project

Step 3: Construct an Expense Schedule

You have now collated all the information needed to build a detailed expense schedule. This schedule enables the Project Manager to calculate the total cost of undertaking the project on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

To create an Expense Schedule, build a table which lists all of the expense types down the left hand side of page, and all of the weeks in the year across the page. Then identify for each week and for each expense type, the amount of financial expenditure to budget. Once complete, you can sum up all of the expenses for any particular week to gain a weekly budget for the entire project.

Of course you may wish to calculate a daily, monthly or yearly view, based on your particular project need. Also don’t forget to list any assumptions made during the creation of this Financial Plan. For example, it may be assumed that:

• “The project delivery dates will not change during this project.”
• “The unit costs forecast are accurate to within 5%.”
• “The funds listed by this plan will be available as required.”

And finally, list any constraints identified during this financial planning process. For example:

• “Limited information was available when identifying costs”
• “A market shortage has resulted in a high labour costs”

Step 4: Define the Financial Process

Now that you have created your Expense Schedule, you need to define the process for monitoring and controlling expenses (i.e. costs) throughout the Project Lifecycle. Define the Cost Management Process for your project by documenting the:

• Purpose of the process
• Steps involved in undertaking the process
• Roles and responsibilities involved in undertaking the process
• Templates used to support the process

And there you have it! By completing these steps, you can build a proper Financial Plan to help you deliver on time and under budget.

To save time creating a Financial Plan, and help you manage your project finances, download the Project Management Kit of templates.

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The Project Charter describes the project vision, objectives, scope, organization and implementation plan. It helps you to set the direction for the project and gain buy in from your stakeholders as to how the project will be organized and implemented. It will also help you to control the scope of your project, by defining exactly what it is that you have to achieve. To define a Project Charter, take these steps:

Step 1: Identify the Project Vision

Vision: The first step taken when defining a Project Charter is to identify the project vision. The vision encapsulates the purpose of the project and is the defined end goal for the project team.

Objectives: Then based on the vision, list three to five objectives to be achieved by the project. Each objective should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART).

Scope: With a clear view of the Vision and Objectives of the project, it’s time to define the project scope. The scope defines the formal boundaries of the project by describing how the business will be changed or altered by the project delivery. Deliverables: Then you need to describe each of the deliverables that the project will produce.

Step 2: Describe the Project Organization

The next step is to identify how the project will be structured by listing the customers, stakeholders, roles, responsibilities and reporting lines.

Customers: First, identify the project customers. A customer is a person or entity that is responsible for accepting the deliverables when the project is complete.

Stakeholders: Then identify the project stakeholders. A stakeholder is a person or entity within or outside of the project with a specific key interest or stake in the project. For example, a Financial Controller will be interested in the cost of the project, and a CEO will be interested in whether the project helps to achieve the company vision.

Roles: Now list the key roles involved in delivering the project. Examples of roles include the Project Sponsor, Project Board and Project Manager. Then summarize each of the primary responsibilities of each role identified.

Structure: Once you have a clear view of the roles needed to undertake the project, you can depict the reporting lines between those roles within a Project Organization Chart.

Step 3: Plan the Approach to Implementation

You now have a solid definition of what the project needs to achieve and how it will be organized to achieve it. The next step is to describe the implementation approach as follows:

Implementation Plan: To provide the Customer and Stakeholders with confidence that the project implementation has been well thought through, create an Implementation Plan listing the phases, activities and timeframes involved in undertaking the project.

Milestones: In addition, list any important milestones and describe why they are critical to the project. A milestone is typically an important project event, such as the achievement of a key deliverable.

Dependencies: List any key dependencies and their criticality to the project. A dependency is defined as an activity that is likely to impact on the project during its life cycle.

Resource Plan: Create a plan which summarizes the resources involved in undertaking the project by listing the labor, equipment and materials needed. Then budget the financial resources needed.

Step 4: List the Risks and Issues

The final step taken to complete your Project Charter is to identify any project risks, issues, assumptions and constraints related to the project.

And that’s it. If you complete each of the steps above, then you will create a solid Project Charter for your project, helping you to manage scope and deliver consistently on time and within budget.

Download a Project Charter template to save you time and effort.

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Project Scope is everything that must be produced to complete a project. These ‘things’ are called deliverables and you need to describe them in depth as early in the project as possible, so everyone knows what needs to be produced. Take these 5 Steps to scope your projects:

Step 1: Set the Direction
Start off by setting the direction for the project. Do you have an agreed Project Vision, Objectives and Timeframes? Are they specified in depth and has your customer agreed to them? Does everyone in the project team truly understand them and why they are important? Only by fixing the project direction can you truly fix the project scope.

Step 2: Scope Workshops
The best way to get buy-in to your project scope is to get all of the relevant stakeholders to help you define it. So get your project sponsor, customer and other stakeholders in a room and run a workshop to identify the scope. What you want from them is an agreed set of major deliverables to be produced by the project. You also want to know “what’s out of scope”.

Run the workshop by asking each stakeholder for a list of the deliverables they expect the project team to deliver. Take the full list of deliverables generated in the workshop and get them to agree on what’s mandatory and what’s optional. Then ask them to prioritize the list, so you know what has to be delivered first.

Step 3: Fleshing it out
You now have an agreed list of deliverables. But it’s still not enough. You need to define each deliverable in depth. Work with the relevant people in your business to describe how each deliverable will look and feel, how it would operate and how it would be supported etc. Your goal here is to make it so specific that your customer cannot state later in the project that “when they said this, they really meant that”.

Step 4: Assessing Feasibility
So you now have a detailed list and description of every deliverable to be produced by your project, in priority order and separated as mandatory / optional. Great! But is it feasible to achieve within the project end date? Before you confirm the scope, you need to review every deliverable in the list and get a general indication from your team as to whether they can all be completed before your project end date. If they can’t, then which deliverables can you remove from the list to make your end date more achievable?

Step 5: Get the thumbs up
Present the prioritized set of deliverables to your Project Sponsor and ask them to approve the list as your project scope. Ask them to agree to the priorities, the deliverable descriptions and the items out of scope.

By getting formal sign-off, you’re in a great position to be able to manage the project scope down the track. So when your Sponsor says to you in a few weeks time “Can you please add these deliverables to the list?”, you can respond by saying “Yes, but I’ll either have to remove some items from the list to do it, or extend the project end date. Which is it to be?”. You can easily manage your Sponsors expectations with a detailed scope document at your side.

The scope document is the Project Manager’s armor. It protects them from changes and makes them feel invincible!

And there you have it - 5 steps to defining the scope for your project. If you want document templates to help you define and manage scope for your project, then download the Project Management Kit today.

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The purpose of a Business Case is to justify the project expenditure by identifying the business benefits you’re going to deliver. Here’s how to create a Business Case in 4 simple steps:

Step 1: Identify the Business Problem

Usually, projects are undertaken to solve a particular business problem or opportunity. So you need to investigate that business problem or opportunity and describe what it is, how it’s come about and the timeframes in which it needs to be addressed.

Only with this knowledge, will you truly understand the purpose of the project and the timeframes for delivery. Without this knowledge, it’s like building a house without a solid foundation.

Step 2: Identify the Alternative Solutions

Now that you understand the business problem/opportunity in depth, it’s time to identify a solution to address it. To ensure that you choose the right solution, take these steps:

• Identify the alternative solutions
• Quantify the benefits of implementing each solution
• Forecast the costs of implementing each solution
• Assess the feasibility of implementing each solution
• Identify the risks and issues associated with each solution
• Document all of this, in your Business Case

Step 3: Recommend a Preferred Solution

Before you rank the solutions, set out the criteria for ranking them and choose a scoring mechanism as well. For instance, you may decide to:

• score each solution from 1-10, based on their costs and benefits
• weight each based on criteria which are important to you
• use a more complicated scoring mechanism

Then go ahead and score your solutions to identify the best solution. Make sure you document the entire process in your Business Case.

Step 4: Describe the Implementation Approach

By now, you have selected a solution and you have confirmed its benefits and costs. The next step is to convince your Project Sponsors that you have thought through the approach for implementing it. So document the steps you’re going to take to build the solution for your client. Remember, only with a clearly defined Business Case will you ensure you deliver the business benefits expected by your customer.

Documenting the Business Case is one of the most critical steps in the Project Life Cycle. If you want templates to help you do this as well as all of the other steps in the Project Life Cycle, then download the Project Management Kit today.

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How often have you carried out regular, systemmatic reviews to re-evaluate the value of a project throughout its lifecycle?

There is a natural reticence to challenge the business value of a project and most managers instead focus on delivery. So there is a tendency to avoid decisions being made on potential cancellation or rationalisation once it becomes clear that a project is unlikely to deliver the benefits including the ROI originally proposed in the business case.

Generally this is because the project manager has no awareness that the assumptions about the business case have been materially changed. Frequently it is through an unwillingness of the Project Manager to take action, even though the changed circumstances may be known, because of a major stakeholder’s emotional attachment to the project (how many major ERP projects fall into this category?).

So make a point of periodically blowing the dust off the Business Case you spent hours creating and establishing if it is still on target to deliver the ROI originally forecast.

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Regardless of the type of methodology used, there is one common theme - that it typically helps them to manage projects and therefore improve their project success. Read this newsletter to find out why…

What is a Methodology?
A methodology is “a set of methods, processes and practices that are repeatedly carried out to deliver projects”. The key concept is that you repeat the same steps for every project you undertake, and by doing that, you will gain efficiencies in your approach.

What is a Standard?
So what is the difference between a methodology and a standard? A standard is “a collection of knowledge areas that are generally accepted as best practice in the industry”.

Standards give you industry guidance, whereas methodologies give you practical processes for managing projects. Standards are not methodologies, and vice versa. The two most popular standards are PMBOK® and Prince2® .

What should be included?
When you buy a project methodology, it should give you:

1. A core set of processes to follow for delivering projects.
2. A set of templates to help you build deliverables quickly.
3. A suite of case studies to help you learn from past projects.
4. An option for customizing the methodology provided.
5. The ability to import your existing processes into it.

MPMM® is the only methodology that provides all of these features.

What will it not do?
A Methodology is not a silver bullet. It will not fix projects by itself or guarantee success. It is fair to say that no methodology “out-of-the-box” will be 100% applicable to every type of project. So you will need to customise any methodology you purchase to ensure that it perfectly fits your project management environment.

Why use a Methodology?
While a methodology is not a silver bullet for projects, it should help you by giving you a clear process for managing projects.

After you have customized it to perfectly fit your environment, your methodology should tell your team what has to be completed to deliver your project, how it should be done, in which order and by when.

Using a methodology you can:

• Create a project roadmap
• Monitor time, cost and quality
• Control change and scope
• Minimise risks and issues
• Manage staff and suppliers

Of course, you will need to use the elements of the methodology that are most suitable to each project you undertake. For instance, when managing smaller projects, you will only want to apply lightweight processes to your project. When managing large projects, you should apply the heavyweight processes to monitor and control every element of your project in depth.

But if you can manage every project you undertake in the same way, then you will gain efficiencies with your approach, work smarter and reduce your stress. You will also give your team a clear understanding of what you expect from them and boost your chances of success.

See MPMM® for more information and a trial download.

If you manage projects, then you will know that to succeed, you need to communicate clearly with all of your project stakeholders. Otherwise your staff will lack clear direction, team morale will be low and your project may deliver over schedule and exceed its budget.

Step 1: Situation Analysis
The first step to take when creating a Communications Plan is to perform a Situation Analysis. This is a fancy term for researching your existing communications environment.

Review the performance of all communications within your project and identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Then identify any lessons learned from past communications exercises, so that the same mistakes made in the past are not repeated here.

Step 2: Communications Objectives
Great. So you know what your communications strengths are and where you need to improve. You are now ready to set out your communications objectives.

List the top three objectives that you want to achieve from your project communications. For instance, you might want to inform stakeholders of the project progress, boost management buy-in or improve your team productivity.

Step 3: Communications Guidelines
Then set out your communications guidelines for controlling communications within your project. For example, you may decide that:

• All messages will be distributed through pre-defined channels
• All critical communications will be pre-approved by management
• All communications will be tailored, based on stakeholder needs

Step 4: Target Audience
Now define exactly who it is that your team will formally communicate with. Remember, formal communications are a method for controlling the messages sent out by your team. They promote a single consistent view of your project to a specified audience so that “everyone has the same version of the truth”.

Step 5: Stakeholder Needs
Each target audience group will have their own needs. These stakeholders will require information that is specific to their role in the project. For instance, a Project Sponsor will need to be informed of high priority risks and issues, whereas a Quality Reviewer might need to be notified of the current status of project deliverables.

Step 6: Key Messages
Then list the key messages that need to be sent to each Stakeholder. Key messages may include project status, project issues, project risks, project deliverables or project resources. The next step is to define how you will deliver each message to them, through a delivery channel.

Step 7: Delivery Channels
There are a huge variety of ways in which you can deliver your key messages to stakeholders (e.g. emails, newsletters, meetings, conferences). For each stakeholder, identify the channel that you will use to deliver your key messages.

Step 8: Communications Schedule
Now you are ready to create the schedule of communications events, activities and actions that are required to deliver the right messages to the right people at the right time throughout the project. Create a detailed schedule of events and for each item listed, specify the timeframes for completion and any dependencies on other events in the schedule.

Step 9: Communications Events
For each event listed in your schedule, describe it in depth. Make sure that you define the purpose of the event, how it will take place and when it should occur.

Step 10: Communications Matrix
And finally, once you have listed the events and described them in detail, you need to identify who will manage them and who will review their effectiveness. Create a Communications Matrix which lists for each event who is accountable for the event, who will take part and who will review its success.

For the whole range of project templates including the new communications plan Click Here

A couple of months ago I discussed a method of distributing your project plans using a free PDF converter. This is great if your colleagues just need a static view. However, there will always be a number of people who need to actively look at your project plan – drill down into detail, change views etc. Giving them MS Project could be expensive, especially if you work for a large organisation.

I have recently been investigating an MS Project viewer as a low cost alternative to buying and distributing MS Project for those team members who need interactive views. 

Seavus Project Viewer is an application that reads native Project files (.mpp) and supports all the possible project views available within MS  Project with printing functionality and a powerful zoom feature

Supported views are Bar Rollup, Detail Gantt, Gantt Chart, Tracking Gantt, User Defined Gantts, Relationship Diagram, Task Usage, Network Diagram, Milestone Date Rollup, Milestone Rollup, Resource Graph, Resource Sheet, Resource Usage.

Savings can be up to 90% compared to MS Project and this application is well proven and used widely within large organisations worldwide.

There has been great interest on my current project as it means more members of the team can have dynamic views of  plans and updates

There is a 15 day free trial so that you can evaluate its potential in your organisation.

Graham Perry 

Before my holidays I gave the same project update presentation to 3 different groups of people. The presentations were very straightforward Powerpoint and talk sessions, each one lasting 20 minutes, and very few questions were asked.

As I am always having to fit more into my working day I started to think about how I could save time in delivering the project updates, which are for information only and don’t actually need my presence.

After a bit of research I came across Flash Demo Builder, an application which can import Powerpoint presentations and to which you can add your voiceover commentary. Once your presentation is complete it can be emailed to your audience or run from your intranet.

Easy to Use

The starting point can be Powerpoint, a list of images or (and this is something I am still experimenting with) a screen capture. The screen capture looks quite interesting as I am working on a software project and this will enable me to capture what I see on my screen as I use the software (complete with moving cursor and auto-generated callout boxes to give instructions). It should be a very useful way of of demonstrating the functionality of our new system.

There are numerous ways of drawing attention to particular pieces of information in your presentation and adding interactivity to give detailed information to those who need it.

It is very easy to pick up and my prototype 6 slide presentation took about 30 minutes. When doing voiceovers you record one slide at a time - the advantage is that you dont need to be word perfect for the whole presentation. My presentations are viewed from our intranet, although I have also emailed standalone versions to people.

The Results

My Interactive Project Updates (IPU’s) have been running for 2 weeks and have been well received by the business - the advantage is that the stakeholders can view them when it is convenient for them - saving them the time to go to meetings. I have included an email link at the end of the presentation so they can contact me with any questions - the advantage is that I only need to answer questions by exception.

I am investigating other uses such as ‘lessons learned’ presentations to help future projects, and also online training sessions as part of the induction process for new members of the project team.

If you want to squeeze a few more hours out of your working week have a look at Flash Demo Builder - you can either buy it or try it out for 30 days (Click HOME, DOWNLOAD).

It is saving me around 6 hours a week so well worth the investment!

Graham Perry