Project Management Book

...chapter 10 continued


A good stage agreement will summarise the plan by declaring a milestone every couple of weeks: start date, requirements workshops finished, sign off achieved, etc.

One project had their plan up on a whiteboard. Every couple of months there was a drawing of a champagne glass. They represented key milestones - if the team met them the sponsor would take them out and buy the drinks. Every few weeks was a drawing of a beer mug. If the team met these milestones they went out and bought themselves a drink. Mineral water, no doubt. You do need something like this to get a bit of team spirit going. Tangible recognition and reward from senior management can also be a great aid to motivation.


5.PCR STATUS SUMMARY

Hours

£

 Spent investigating PCRs to date

200

9,000

 Allocated to approved PCRs to date

670

30,150

So, total to date on PCRs COMMITTED & SPENT

870

39,150

?In current approved plan, total PCR BUDGET

800

36,000

   Total PCR expenditure, estimated OUTLOOK

1500

67,500

number submitted

number approved

number

number under

Number not

month

to date

month

to date

rejected

evaluation

looked at

 

 

 

 

 

 

24

6.KEY ACTIVITIES LAST MONTH

 

 

 

 

 

7.KEY ACTIVITIES NEXT MONTH

 

 

 

 

 

 

8.KEY MILESTONE DATES

Plan

Actual

Outlook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Section 8 shows when we thought we'd achieve the milestones, for those we have achieved when we actually achieved them, and for those still in the future when we now thing we'll achieve them. A quick glance at this section of the report tells us instantly whether the project is more or less running to its schedule.

Page 3 below is more free format: risks, issues, concerns, problems, health check findings: things we've previously reported on and new things we need to bring to the attention of the sponsor.


9.RISKS, ISSUES, CONCERNS, PROBLEMS, HEALTH CHECK REVIEW FINDINGS 


Item No:       Month first reported:

Description of Risk/Issue/Concern etc:





Proposed Action:





Action by whom:


Item No:       Month first reported:

Description of Risk/Issue/Concern etc:





Proposed Action:





Action by whom:


Item No:       Month first reported:

Description of Risk/Issue/Concern etc:





Proposed Action:





Action by whom:



For example: "Item 1, sponsor, we declared a major risk at the outset that we might not be able to recruit a graphic design specialist. He joined on Monday, that risk has now gone away. Item 2, we had a health check which recommended that we change our intention to have a single test team and instead have two sub-teams for better control - we'll do it. Item 3, we can't get HR to provide the committed resource to review the requirements document please would you have a word with the HR Director?"

How long would it take somebody to fill in three charts like this each month? An hour or so assuming there is a plan, hours and tasks are tracked, change requests are managed, etc. If planning and tracking are done properly, reporting is quite straightforward. If there's no plan or no tracking, reporting becomes just an unsubstantiated opinion and of little value.

Always do the reporting face to face in presentation mode. If you received those three pages via email, even with tons of backup, you wouldn't know whether the person who sent it to you really understands what is going on. But if they're presenting to you you'll know instantly if they know what's going on in their project.

Whether this data is being reported by the team leader on behalf of his (sub) project manager to the project director or by the project manager/director to the project sponsor the same reporting format is used, though the focus of the presentation and discussion may be different. The sponsor won't want too much detail - just reassurance that you'll deliver as committed. The project director will want to dig much deeper. If you were the project director and were shown the data in our illustration above, you would have a hundred and one questions. Indeed, when a team leader is presenting to a project director if he, the team leader, is any good he'll come armed with loads of backup information, such as we saw on the Key Controls report in the planning chapter, and be ready for those questions. If he isn't and can't answer the questions, the project director may not want to wait a month before having another update on that project's status.

In a programme it is useful to have all sub projects reporting to the project director in the same meeting. Healthy competition develops - who's in best shape, who clearly knows what they are talking about. Those whose control isn't quite what it should be will realise they don't know as much about their project's status as their colleagues and will, one hopes, improve. And again, knock on effects between sub projects may become evident in this forum. If a couple of the sub projects are under pressure to meet dates and are contemplating declaring a slippage you may find it becomes a matter of who blinks first. Eventually someone cracks and says they will slip and the others oh-so-reluctantly agree to move their dates later to realign while breathing a silent 'phew!'.

In some IT organisations the senior managers like to see a snapshot each month of all of the projects in which IT is involved - again the same format is used.

   

...next

Project Management Book
Copyright M Harding Roberts 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
This book must not be copied either as is or in modified form to any website or other medium
www.hraconsulting-ltd.co.uk


Home   Sitemap   Contact Us   Project Management Articles   Project Management Book




Privacy Policy and Cookies