What is a Project?
A "Project" at PCT is temporary endeavor that it has a defined beginning and end in time. It has a defined scope and resources. A project is undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. A project team may include people who don’t usually work together.
Additionally, a project:
- Needs to be Visible to stakeholders OR
- Meets resource Requirements (e.g. material cost > $5000, over 40 hours of work, etc) OR
- Requires resources from two or more Resource Groups (specialized resources)
Our projects will include a series of structured tasks and activities that are carefully executed to achieve a desired outcome. The focus of a managed project is to "do the work right."
Project Management Life Cycle
The project management life cycle starts with an idea! This idea kicks off the project management life cycle once a project request is submitted. The project request will be evaluated and if approved will go through planning, execution, controlling, and closing project phases. During the project planning phase, careful consideration will be given to how the project outcome will be "operationalized" so that once the project is complete, it can be properly utilized, supported, and maintained.
Initiation Phase
Project Initiation begins when a project request is submitted. This project request is evaluated and it is determined if there is staffing and resources available to execute the project.
Planning Phase
The Planning phase of a project is a critical phase where a detailed plan is developed to execute the project. The tasks generated from planning are allocated to resources to complete the work in a specified time frame. The planning phase is also a time to identify project risks and strategies to handle them if they arise, as well as opportunities and how they may be leveraged for maximum benefit.
Execution and Control Phases
Ready? Set? Go! Project Execution is where we work the plan, measure the progress, make adjustments, and communicate with stakeholders. It is a sister phase to Project Control where we solve problems as they arise, and control changes/expenses/schedule.
In Team Dynamix, using the the Project Update, Status, and Health features provides a useful way for monitoring projects. Once a project is started, we recommend setting the Project Status to "In Progress" and the Project Health to "Green." When project Health is set, Team Dynamix will automatically downgrade Project Health to "Yellow" after 14 days of inactivity, and to "Red" after 30 days of no Project Updates.
We recommend using the following guidelines for setting Project Updates, Statuses and Health.
Project Updates:
- Use this feature to record meeting summaries, project decisions, and provide updates to project progress.
Project Status:
- New - A project is approved, but hasn't started
- On Hold - A project was "New" or "In Progress" but shifting priorities dictated this project should be set aside for a period of time
- In Progress - Project execution is underway
Additionally, when a project is Closed, the project status could be set to:
- Cancelled - Indicates the project was deemed to be unsuccessful or no longer needed
- Completed - Met Expectations - Indicates the project was completed successfully
- Completed - Exceeded Expectations - Indicates the project was completed VERY successfully, some team members are delighted with the outcome
- Completed - Did Not Met Expectations - Indicates the project failed to meet some or all of it's objectives, or that some team members are unhappy with an aspect of the project
Project Health:
- Green - This means the project is "on track." Project tasks are complete or "on schedule", stakeholders are responsive when queried, and resources are engaged in the effort.
- Yellow - This means an aspect of the project needs attention. It may need to be updated, tasks may be behind schedule, or the effort may be stalled due to a minor issue.
- Red - This means the project requires attention. Tasks may be significantly overdue, stakeholders may be inaccessible, or resources may have been pulled away by emergent issues.
When Project Updates, Statuses, and Health are consistently applied to projects, then Team Dynamics reporting and Dashboard capabilities can be utilized to provide insight into projects and team efforts.
Close Phase
When the project is 100% complete, take a moment to acknowledge the accomplishment. Celebrating achievements is fun! Shortly after the party kazoos are collected, be sure to bring the project team back together a final time to reflect on the successes and challenges of the project's execution. Document the "lessons learned" from the project to encourage continuous process improvement.
Operations Phase
This phase encompasses the ongoing "care and feeding" of the product or service generated from the project. It is important to ensure the product or service can be supported throughout it's lifetime. This is accomplished by setting up service requests to provide ongoing support, incident management to ensure the service/product continues to meet the needs of it's stakeholders, and knowledge management to effectively communicate purpose, usage and support of the service or product.
Project Roles
A project team involves several types of roles to be successful. They include:
- Project Sponsor - The individual(s) fulfilling this role are responsible for setting the vision and goals for the project. They have oversight of the project to ensure it is proceeding as expected, they provide leadership and guidance for project outcomes. If challenges arise within the project or in engaging with stakeholders, they may need to provide direction and support to the team. Lastly, they are responsible for ensuring the project provides value toward the mission and priorities of the institution.
- Project Manager - This individual is responsible for planning, scheduling, assessing risks/opportunities, and coordinating project resources. They must effectively communicate project tasks and priorities to the team(s) responsible for developing and testing the product or services. They monitor the project process and provide timely updates on the project status to the project team and stakeholders. They ensure project updates are documented regularly and properly feed reports and Dashboards which may be tracking projects statuses. They strive to ensure the project will be successfully executed to completion.
- Project Team - These individuals are responsible for designing, implementing, executing, testing, and deploying solutions to support the project goals and vision. When necessary, collaborate together and with project stakeholders to achieve project outcomes. They report issues, scope creep, or roadblocks in a timely manner to ensure the overall project is successful.