It is one thing for a task to be done by you personally. No one will interfere or push you, stand over your head, control you, poke their nose into your problems. You will accept the result for yourself and yourself alone. There will be no acceptance commissions, no acceptance certificates, no support…
But it is quite another thing when two or more people are working on a project, the result has to be handed over to someone else, there are clear deadlines, a list of requirements and someone has to be responsible for it all.
Such activities need to be controlled and coordinated. This is what managers or project managers are responsible for.
Here is our version of Project Management for Dummies. We will tell you the what, where, how and why.
What is a project
In general, the word ‘project’ has many meanings. But specifically in management theory, it is an undertaking or set of actions aimed at creating a product or service with new features, or changing the current product or service. Usually, projects are strictly limited in time and scope, and have a specific goal.
Projects can be large or small, one-off or cyclical.
In fact, all sources attribute the following key characteristics to projects
- A specific action objective.
- A time frame (fixed with a deadline or renewable by new tasks identified in the process of achieving the objectives).
- Specific resources (material and human resources allocated to the project).
It is also worth mentioning the project approach. Let’s say you already have an organisation, it works perfectly, it has its own goals and objectives. However, the company decides to diversify its product range with a new service or product. Since the product is new, nobody knows exactly what its characteristics are, so it is desirable not to put all the forces and resources into its production. There are too many risks.
However, the company may decide to test its theories in practice. A goal is formulated, some resources are allocated (according to the original project plan) and a project team is appointed. The team may be made up of specialists from different departments, hired or outsourced specifically to achieve a particular goal. There are no restrictions. But the team’s main task is to deliver the project.
Once the project has been completed, or has been brought to a stage where it can be adequately evaluated to adjust further plans for its development, the project team can be disbanded. For example, everyone will return to their previous jobs or be involved in other projects as part of the team.
Another nuance is that to avoid over-consumption of resources, teams should be formed based on the volume of tasks. This means without additional specialists.
Due to the volatile nature of the work, project teams and project work in general have their own peculiarities in terms of planning, control, management style and task cycles.
At the same time, the project manager (unless such a position is documented, there will always be an overt or unspoken leader in the team) performs all the same tasks as in the management of any other department or company, i.e. is responsible for
- Planning,
- Coordination
- Assigning tasks to performers,
- Providing resources,
- Checking the results,
- analysing and drawing conclusions.
Even if these responsibilities are not explicitly stated, they must be fulfilled. In addition, some work can be distributed among team members or assigned to a specific person to reduce the manager’s workload, for example a project administrator (we have talked about their responsibilities here). But what should never be delegated is control. Control should always remain with the most responsible person, i.e. the manager or team leader.
The lack of formal authority (which is very important because it is the most powerful tool for imposing sanctions on performers who refuse to fulfil their tasks) is a common problem when setting up project teams.
Imagine a situation where specialists who have not even been in contact before are brought together to work on a project. They are given a task and deadlines, but no one controls the process. And even if they do, there is nothing they can do about a bad outcome.
But this is not the only problem that causes projects to fail. We have compiled a whole list of such problems.
Project Stages
Since project work is time-bound, this means that every project has a certain life cycle, even in large organisations. But that’s not what we’re talking about here.
There are usually 5 main stages in the life of a project:
- Creating a concept — the idea behind it, the purpose.
- Developing a plan to understand the resources required, the timeframe and other specifics.
- Starting the project — getting to know the team, introducing the management methodology, setting tasks, getting used to the project, establishing external links if necessary, etc.
- Implementation phase.
- Project completion — this is usually the delivery of the results to the client.
In some cases, the final stage may be the transition to the next level, as new tasks and objectives emerge in the project.
Planning stage
Planning is the most important stage before implementation. The quality of the planning will determine the accuracy of the result and its consistency with the objectives or concept.
On the one hand, planning should be very detailed and have maximum theoretical and practical justification. But it should also be based on the resources available, including time. If too much time is spent on planning, there will be less or no time left to implement the project.
The plan should contain key points:
- Basic practical and theoretical justification — how feasible the project is and what you will gain from its implementation.
- Formulation of technical requirements for the outcome.
- A list of tasks to be carried out to achieve the project result.
- Describing the roles and tasks of the team members (this is a must if you want the team to work harmoniously and everyone to know their responsibilities).
- Calculation of resources (you can link them to tasks).
- List of risks (we have discussed how to plan and manage risks in a separate article here).
Special programmes can help to improve the quality of planning. For example, online BPM systems, task managers, mind maps and other software. It all depends on the preferences of the people involved in planning and their ability to visualise and document their thoughts.
It is important to understand that the higher the responsibility, the more detailed the plans should be. This means that specialised software should be used, capable of implementing all the necessary functions: control, feedback, notification of upcoming deadlines, management of personal calendars, storage of documents and much more. Projecto, for example, is ideal for small and medium-sized projects that work with flexible methodologies and is provided on a SaaS model (without the need for installation and implementation).
How to formulate goals and objectives
How to make an ideal project plan
Initial stage
To organise task allocation and control, to establish communication and to set up cyclical reporting (to track progress), it is necessary to choose the optimal methodology.
There are many methodologies, some of which are used as company standards. Some of them are even applied nationally and used for the work of government agencies.
However, as you can see from the peculiarities of the project approach, working with project teams should be flexible, in order to be able to adapt to external and internal factors on the fly.
To save you time, we have prepared a list of the top 10 project management methodologies.
Many IT projects, including large enterprises, choose the agile approach. These are Scrum and Kanban. They are simple and clear to implement, well-documented, and involve small iteration cycles for intermediate control, as well as continuous overall control through joint work with the customer’s representative.
You can use any other methodology or create your own by combining different approaches. However, the choice of methodology should be based on the objectives and on the specifics of the interaction with the client’s representatives (they may have their own view of the project implementation and you will need to agree on the methodology).
Implementation stage
Once the methodology has been selected, you can focus directly on the project work:
- Implementers are selected.
- Tasks are set.
- Their fulfilment is monitored.
- Meetings are held, difficulties are discussed and the best ways of resolving them are sought.
- And other steps.
BPM systems (how they differ from ERP and CRM) can help with many management tasks.
Final stage
Many people think that once all the tasks involved in implementing a new product have been completed, the project is finished.
This is fundamentally wrong. If you are experienced in planning, or if you have approached the plan wisely, it must include the tasks of implementing the product (or handing it over to the customer) and maintaining it. Yes, the customer can refuse them, and for some types of project this is not always relevant, but you should think about it and plan the work. If the customer refuses support, it is their problem, not yours.
In any case, the results of the work should be recorded and analysed (e.g. the data may be useful for other projects).
When the project is finished, it is the project manager’s responsibility to ensure that team members return to their places of work, and that unspent budgets and released materials are returned to their destinations.
