Using The One Page Project Manager

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SUBHEADING 5.8 Project Outcomes

In addition to achieving the project objective, there are generally a range of project outcomes, both positive and negative. For example, the organisation may have purchased a technology for the project which is useful for other tasks; or through the changes implemented on the project people are freed up to do things they had not previously done.

It is good practice to predict what these could be. These predications can then be used to promote the project to people for whom the main project objective is not particularly attractive.

ACTIVITY:

Write down the outcomes (apart from the project objective) that could be achieved on the project. Now consider who these could be useful to.

SUBHEADING 5.7 Project Deadline

By definition projects are expected to finish. In most cases we have a good idea of when that will, or must, happen. At this stage you have not developed a rigorous project schedule, but you have decided what the key activities will be, and how much you are likely to be spending. You should be able to take a stab at the project end date.

If you are going to be presenting this information to people who are likely to treat this finish date as a commitment, make sure you add some time. This is another kind of contingency – in this case a time contingency as opposed to a cost contingency.

The reason why you add time is that projects seldom finish early (unless timeframes have been poorly estimated or you have done less than you expected). They are much more likely to run over time. We often identify tasks that we did not think of before we started, or we decide to do more than we had planned. (This is called 'scope creep' and is considered a no-no in sophisticated project management circles.)

ACTIVITY:

Write down when you think you will finish the project you have been planning. Now add a 10% time contingency.

SUBHEADING 5.5 Project Budget

There are lots of different kinds of costs – fixed and variable costs, operational and capital costs. In planning project costs for small costs I like to distinguish between ‘cumulative’ and ‘lump-sum’ costs.

The cumulative costs are those that increase as you do more, or as tasks take longer – for example, when you are paying a contractor an hourly rate. The lump sum costs are those that will cost a particular amount – for example, when you have a quote from an electrician for lighting and power points. Lump sums can vary, but generally only under particular recognisable circumstances, such as when we later ask the electrician to add a new safety switch to the fuse box. In this case the electrician will have a legitimate reason to ask for more money.

Wrapped up in the need to budget is the need for a source of funds. Identifying and making firm friends (or at least developing a grudging mutual respect) with the person through whom you obtain the funds is very important.

You need to ensure that you can afford the unexpected – such as the people you are paying an hourly rate taking longer to get things done than planned; or needing to/wanting to do some things you did not initially put in the budget. You can do this by going back to the source of the project funds and asking for more money. Alternatively, you can add a contingency figure to the figures in your budget. This is generally to cover for small additional costs. A project managers’ rule of thumb is to always add 10%. If you have reason to expect to need more, you can consider adding more. But remember that a high contingency may stand out, and need to be justified. A really high contingency may prevent the project from going ahead (which may be the best outcome if the chances of cost overruns are high).

Microsoft Excel (or other spreadsheet program) is a good place to record your budget, although you can equally use a pen and paper (and calculator if needed).

ACTIVITY:
Identify what costs you will have, estimate how much they will be, and distinguish between cumulative and lump-sum costs. Then add 10% to see the impact of a modest contingency.

SIDEBAR: 5.4.n The Lichtig Score (Project Teams)

Occasionally I would like to present what others are saying on topics of interest to me. These topics may become sidebars in the book. (Yes, for those new to this Blog, I am writing a book - that is the point of all this.) Here is a bit about something I read this week.
...Geoff

Will Lichtig, an attorney who specialises in construction projects, recently wrote an article called 'Projects as Patients: What Can We Learn from the Medical Profession?' (the original is at projects as patients - in the American Institute of Architect's journal Practice Management Digest). In this article Will is concerned about construction projects' failure to keep pace with the increases in productivity elsewhere in the economy, and their failure to keep people safe. He calls projects 'temporary social organisations', and proposes a project management equivalent of the Apgar score given to newborn babies. He believe we should closely examine five aspects of projects: collaborative planning; reliable promising; unaccounted-for foreseeable issues; safety; and project mood (or team spirit). You can give a 0, 1 or 2 to a project on each aspect - see Will's article to find out what each rating represents. Alan Mossman, posting on the Blog Reforming Project Management calls Will's system the Lichtig Score.

I am impressed with the apparent simplicity of this rating system, as it has the potential to provide the tools to substantially improve the experience of people on project teams, while improving our chances of achieving our project objectives.

I suggest that you try this system out on a project you are familiar with. I then suggest that you apply another deceptively simple approach to understanding the causes of both excellent and appalling ratings - the 5 whys approach - ask 'Why?' five times to get to the bottom of what we are doing both right and wrong.

Then you will need to have the courage to share your findings.