Project Management Event with Fergus O Connell
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Date: 21-09-2010 Duration: 1 Day Location: Bunratty, Clare Cost: €170 Members, €220 Non Members To book this Event or make an enquiry click this button. |
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Agenda
Structured Project Management Workshop – 1 day
Contents:
09:00 – 9:30 Introduction
The nature of projects. The BIG problem in project management. The Method - The Ten Steps: Steps 1-5 are about planning; Steps 6-10 about executing the plan. Why planning is so important. Project Probability of Success Indicator (PSI). The ten most common reasons why projects fail.
9:30 – 10:30 Step 1 - Visualise the goal
Deciding where you're heading. Picking the outcome you want. Identifying the key success and failure factors in a project. The goal must be bounded and not vague. Change Control. The First Law of Project Management. Establishing the goal of the project. Understanding stakeholder’s requirements and how stakeholders hope to ‘win’ in the project. Identifying the win-conditions of the stakeholders. How to identify all of a project’s stakeholders and influencers. How to establish the goal of the project – the goal which will satisfy the win conditions of all of the stakeholders. How to implement effective change control when stakeholders are pressurising you to do otherwise. Scoping and planning projects in a day.
Attendees establish the goal of their own project.
10:30 - 10.45 Break
10:45 – 12:00 Step 2 - Make a list of jobs
The project planning process begins here. Estimating. Good estimation is the crucial skill in project planning. Without proper estimation it is impossible to (a) make realistic commitments to customers, management, investors, shareholders or other project stakeholders; or (b) know the true cost of a project. Poor estimation is the reason why many projects run late, over-budget or leave stakeholders with a bitter taste in their mouths – or worse.
Building the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Estimating. Since estimating is about predicting the future, how can we do this with any degree of accuracy? Effort and Duration. The importance of Knowledge. When and How to use Assumptions. How to accurately estimate projects – even those phases of the project which lie very far into the future. Why the ‘rolling wave’ approach is fundamentally wrong. Making estimates that stakeholders can ‘take to the bank’. Class example – taking one of the attendees’ projects, build some of its WBS.
12:00 - 12:30 Step 3 - There must be one leader
Project management is a real job with real duties. Estimating how much project management effort the project is going to require. The Project Manager’s priorities. What exactly the project manager is required to do, what s(he) is responsible for i.e. the roles and responsibilities of the project manager.
12:30 – 13:00 Step 4 - Assign people to jobs
Finding resources to do the work. Allocating work. Resource levelling. Optimising the skills in the team. How to identify the resources required for the project
How to ensure that those resources will be available and what to do if they are not. Availablity of time and time management. How to play to the strengths of the project team.
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:00 Step 5 - Margin for error / Manage expectations
What if it doesn't work out like we thought? Contingency planning and risk analysis. How to put a margin for error into the project plan through the use of contingency and risk analysis / risk management. Attendees put contingency plans into their own projects and do a risk analysis of their project.
Dealing with impossible projects. The correct response when the project given to the project manager is impossible to achieve within the given deadline, budget or resource constraint. How to negotiate with the stakeholders, and resolve conflicts when their win-conditions are impossible to reconcile.
15:00 – 15:30 Step 6 - Use an appropriate leadership style
Leadership styles. How to lead / work with / influence other people so as to get the best out of them. What to delegate, when and to whom. Class exercise and individual exercise.
15:30 – 15:45 Break
15:45 - 16.00 Step 7 - Know what's going on
Using your plan as instrumentation to drive the project. Monitoring and control. Positive and negative signs. No surprises. How to correctly assess the status of the project. The project manager’s daily routine.
16:00 – 17:00 Step 8 - Tell people what's going on
Status reporting. How to do truthful, accurate and useful status reporting
Project meetings. Telling it like it is. Communicating bad news. The project manager’s weekly routine.
Step 9 - Repeat Steps (1) - (8); Step 10 - The Prize
Project Audits. How to do audits / post mortems / reviews at the conclusion of
Projects. Wrapping up a project.
17:00 Finish
Fergus O'Connell
Fergus O’Connell is one of the world’s leading authorities on project management and getting things done in the shortest possible time. The Sunday Business Post has described him as having ‘more strings to his bow than a Stradivarius’. He has a First in Mathematical Physics and has worked in information technology, software development and general management.
