Project Management Book

Write, revise PM Rules & Guidelines

• Rules maximum 16 small pages
• Guidelines support the rules and reflect best practice
• Revised every 6 months
• Annual survey of PM Rules & Guidelines users

Provide PM advice & guidance

• Help people comply with PM Rules
• Help people adopt best practice
• Respond to requests for advice either personally or by identifying and securing others who will offer advice

Start of stage plan reviews

• Ensure all key projects start each stage properly planned
• Identify other 'at risk' projects (e.g. inexperienced project manager) and help ensure they too are adequately planned

Project Health Checks

• Agree with IT steering committee list of KEY projects
• Chair project health checks for key projects
• Involve other project managers as health checkers

Compliance monitoring

• Ensure all projects comply with PM Rules

Project information sharing

• Act as librarian of stage end and project end reports
• Proactively ensure cross fertilisation between projects
• Distil & disseminate rules of thumb e.g. for estimating
• Keep lists of mentors: those with expertise (e.g. in Planning, Risk management) who can mentor the less experienced

Quarterly PM forum

• Establish and manage quarterly project managers' meeting
• Make it a useful forum for sharing and learning

Annual improvement report

• In January each year, present a short report to the Board on major areas for improvement in the company's project management with recommendations.

One full time Project Support person is needed for every 100 people involved in projects, once the initial work to set up Rules and Guidelines has been completed. The Project Support person is not expected to provide all of the above services single handed. Guiding advice seekers to people with relevant experience is often the appropriate response.

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