Project Management - The Basics That

Every Business Should Implement

Mariel McLellan
Management Executive, CapCircle

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What We Will Discuss Today
What is a project? What is a task?

Why should I implement basic project Tips to simplify your projects and make them less
management practices in my business stressful

The Waterfall Methodology The Agile Methodology

What does this look like in real life? Practical application

How to leverage communication as a way of

Tips on project communication
ensuring your project is a success

Do these 3 things to see an immediate impact The basics

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What is a Project and What is a Task?

1. There is a specific goal 5. There are limited resources

2. There is a timeline 6. There is a defined scope

“In project management, a task is

3. There is a specific budget a work item or activity with a
specific purpose related to the
larger goal.
It’s a necessary step on the road
4. There are stakeholders towards project completion.”

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The Juggling Act of Resources, Time, Cost and Scope

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Project Methodologies
• A project management methodology is a set of principles, tools and techniques that are used to plan,
execute and manage projects. Project management methodologies help project managers lead team
members and manage work while facilitating team collaboration.

• There are many different project management methodologies, and they all have pros and cons. Some
of them work better in particular industries or projects, so you’ll need to learn about project
management methodologies to decide which one works best for you.

• “Some methods though, like Waterfall, aren't as effective for software teams. With priorities and
customer needs constantly changing, the Agile methodology breaks projects up into several phases to
drive continuous improvement”.
https://asana.com/resources/agile-methodology

• We will take a closer look at Waterfall and Agile in particular during this Master Class.

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Examples of Project Methodologies
• Waterfall Methodology
• Agile Methodology
• Scrum Methodology
• PMI / PMBOK
• Critical Path Method (CPM)
• Kanban Methodology
• Extreme Programming (XP)
• Lean Methodology
• Six Sigma
• PRINCE2

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The Waterfall Project Methodology
• “The waterfall methodology is a project management approach that emphasizes a linear progression
from beginning to end of a project. This methodology, often used by engineers in the manufacturing
and construction industry, is front-loaded to rely on careful planning, detailed documentation, and
consecutive execution.” – www.business.adobe.com https://asana.com/resources/waterfall-project-management-methodology
• Each milestone needs to be completed before the production process can move forward. For example,
you cannot build the walls of a house if foundation
has not been poured.

• The waterfall methodology is often visualized in the

form of a flow chart or a Gantt chart.
This methodology is called waterfall because each
task cascades into the next step.
In a Gantt chart, you can see the previous phase
"fall" into the next phase.
https://asana.com/resources/waterfall-project-management-methodology

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The Waterfall Project Methodology
The waterfall model divides each project into different phases and moves through the phases in sequential
order. No phase can begin until the phase before it is completed. Typically, each phase ends in a project
milestone that indicates the next phase can begin.

The specific phases of the waterfall process depend on exactly what your team is creating, but typically
they look similar to this:

• Requirements phase, sometimes split into an additional analysis phase

• System design phase
• Implementation phase, also known as the development phase or coding phase—depending on the type
of project
• Testing phase
• Deployment phase, also known as the operations phase
• Maintenance phase

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The Agile Project Methodology
• “Agile methodology is a project management framework that breaks projects down into several
dynamic phases, commonly known as sprints.” – www.business.adobe.com https://asana.com/resources/waterfall-project-management-
methodology

• “Agile project management is an evolving and collaborative way to self-organize across teams. When
implementing the agile methodology, project planning and work management are adaptive,
evolutionary in development, seeking early delivery and are always open to change if that leads to
process improvement. It’s fast and flexible, unlike waterfall project management.

• The Agile methodology offers project teams a very dynamic way to work and collaborate and that’s why
it is a very popular project management methodology for product and software development. That’s
because what we think of as agile really appeared in 2001 with the publication of the “Manifesto for
Agile Software Development,” authored by 17 software developers.” https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/project-management-
methodology

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The Agile Project Methodology
• The practice originated in software development and works well in that culture. https://asana.com/resources/waterfall-agile-
kanban-scrum

• How do you know if agile is for you? It has been applied to non-software products that seek to drive forward
with innovation and have a level of uncertainty, such as computers, motor vehicles, medical devices, food,
clothing, music and more;
and it’s also being used in other types of projects
that need a more responsive and fast-paced
production schedule, such as marketing.”
– .https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/project-management-methodology

• The Agile philosophy is all about adaptive

planning, early delivery, and continuous
improvement.

• Agile sprints are used to deliver value quickly

in the shortest possible time frame!

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The Agile Project Methodology
• First, the product owner organizes the product backlog. The product backlog is a list of every task that
may be worked on during the sprint. This information is usually stored in a project management tool.

• Before the sprint, the entire project team participates in sprint planning to identify the best tasks to work
on during the two-week period.

• During the sprint, Agile teams meet frequently to discuss blockers and action items.

• Once the sprint is over, team members get together to run a sprint retrospective and identify what went
well and what could have been better.

• When someone speaks of Kanban in project management, they’re most commonly referring to Kanban
boards. A Kanban board represents stages of work with columns that hold the individual tasks for each
stage

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Agile Kanban Board Examples

https://asana.com/templates/agile-project-plan

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Agile Kanban Board Examples

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The Seven Habits of Brilliant Project Managers
1. Plan
2. Communicate
3. Remain customer-focused at all times
4. Focus on solutions to problems
5. Have a consultative yet decisive approach
6. Agility / Flexibility
7. Track scope

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Project Challenges
If basic project management principles are not applied,
we risk failure of the project.
Projects run into trouble because of
breakdown or challenges in these
four areas:
1. Process

2. Resources

3. Communication

4. Scope

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Project Phases

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 Project Initiation in Real Life
What a Project Manager Does
What you can do
TASKS:
TASKS:
• 1. Define Outcome
• Ensure you and the customer
• 2. Write a Project Charter agree on what they are going to get.
• Objectives • Identify possible assumptions and risks and
• Scope think of a backup plan. Tell your customer
upfront
• Risks/Constraints
• Identify Stakeholders
• 3. Identify Stakeholders
TOOLS:
TOOLS:
• Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RASCI) –
• 1. Project Charter List who are all involved in the projects –
Your side and the customer’s side
• 2. Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RASCI)

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Considerations

1. Is the scope of the project clear?

2. Is the project funding approved?

3. Have all the stakeholders been identified?

4. Does the project contain 3rd Party or external resources? Are there aligned contracts in place?

5. Have you confirmed in writing the project delivery expectations (time and scope) with all the
stakeholders?

8. Do you have a high-level effort estimate for the project?

9. Has the project team been established or are resources available to start the project?

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Project Planning in Real Life
What a Project Manager Does What a you can do

TASKS: TASKS:
• Finalise Scope • Finalise scope of what you will deliver/do
• Identify and Schedule Activities • Get the team together incl. contractors
• Allocate Resources • Make a list of all activities and assign
dates to them
• Finalise Budget
TOOLS:
TOOLS:
• A project plan
• Project Plan

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Selecting Resources

Resources are people and things. People are seen as the Time part and things are the Materials.
• Resources can be internal or external.
• Make sure you have back-to-back agreements with outside resources.

Questions to think about when considering which people to allocate:

1. What level of expertise/skills do you need?
2. How many people will be required to complete the task?
3. How long will it take?
4. Will the resource be available?
5. Do I have a backup resource for this task?
6. Does their timescales match what you agreed with the customer?

Materials will be the things needed to complete the task. These could be things that need to be
purchased, hired or reserved and can be obtained from outside or internally.

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Project Execution in Real Life
What a Project Manager Does What a you can do

TASKS:
TASKS:
• Delivery of the tasks on time and in budget
• Delivery of the tasks on time and in • Communicate progress and any
budget impediments
• Communicate progress • Manage quality of deliverables
• Record all changes, risks, issues and
• Manage quality and scope mitigations
• Keeping project documents up to date TOOLS:
TOOLS: • A project plan
• A Risk and Issues Log
• Project Plan

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Monitoring and Control in Real Life
*This is an activity that sits across all the phases
What a Project Manager Does What a you can do

TASKS: TASKS:
• Communication and Reporting • Communication and Reporting
• Compare Actual against Planned
• Compare Actual against Planned
• Adapt and change
• Adapt and change
TOOLS:
TOOLS:
• Project Plan
• Project Plan
• Report Templates
• Report Templates
• Schedule regular catchups with all stakeholders
• Communications plan
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Best Practice When Communicating
Always prepare your content by asking Who, Why, What, When, How.

1. Who is receiving this information – Think about confidentiality and role in the
project?

2. Why do they need to know about this – In what way will this information be useful to
them and what should they do with it?

3. What do they need to know – what is the level of detail

4. When do they need to know – How often do you need to inform them

5. How will you inform them – in which format you will share the information

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Best Practice For Emails
• Select the necessary audience – you don’t always have to Reply All, or CC everyone

• In the subject line, give a signpost like “Please action”/”Please review and approve”/”For your information only”

• Use the subject line to clearly indicate what the email is about e.g. “For urgent response: Blue Sky Investments asking to
increase number of guests”

• If there is a time constraint to your email indicate this in the subject line e.g.: PLEASE APPROVE BY 25 January 2020

• Use bullets or short sentences

• Remember that using only capital letters and bold font can come across as “screaming” in the email

• If necessary, add colour to draw attention to specific areas, but don’t overdo it

• If emailing more than 1 person with instructions, make sure you indicate who you are addressing by using @TheirName

• Use priority flags and reminder settings on the emails if necessary.

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Best Practice when Communicating via a Call
FOR HOSTING OF VIRTUAL MEETINGS (e.g. Teams, Google Meet, Zoom, Loom)
• Send out a meeting invitation to necessary attendees containing the dial-in details well before the time
• Greet and thank attendees for joining when the call commences
• Ask permission from attendees if you would like to make a recording of the call
• State the objective or agenda of the call both in the meeting invite and at the beginning of the call
• Minimise background noise, and mute yourself when not speaking on the call
• Switch on your camera if bandwidth allows and if you would like to create a more personal experience
• At the end of the call, summarise the tasks and decisions and the responsible parties, and follow up with the same
contents in an email to attendees

FOR PHONE CALLS

• Ask if it’s convenient to discuss something
• At the end of the call, summarise what was agreed in an email and send to them for record and accountability
purposes.

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Alternative Ways of Communicating
1. Consider asking permission from the relevant stakeholders to create a WhatsApp group for the
Project team, but agree rules. This should be used for specific types of updates and serve a purpose to
inform

2. Instant messenger apps on your computer or smart phone, such as Teams, Zoom or Loom – this will
help you to see who is available and can be used for a quick answer to specific questions

3. Project management apps such as Trello to collaboratively leave messages and report progress or
impediments on tasks

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Risk Management
There are mainly 3 types of risks, 2 of which you can plan for:
1. Known risks – These are risks that you know from right at the onset of the project and are
deemed to be acceptable enough for the project to go ahead
2. Predictable risks – These risks may or may not occur and are anticipated based on previous
experience on similar projects in your organisation or the industry
3. Unknown risks – These risks lie outside your control and cannot be prepared for

Risks will come from the following areas in your project:

1. Funding
2. Skills
3. Time
4. Resource availability
5. External Factors
Once identified, evaluate and prioritize them to design your mitigation plan.
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 Project Closure in Real Life
What a Project Manager Does What a you can do

TASKS: TASKS:

1. Communication and Reporting TASKS:

2. Compare Actual against Planned 1. Communication and Reporting

3. Lessons Learnt 2. Compare Actual against Planned

TOOLS: 3. Lessons Learnt

1. Project Plan TOOLS:

2. Report Templates 1. Project Plan

3. Communications plan 2. Report Templates

3. Communications plan

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Do These 3 Things To See An Immediate Impact
• Start using a project plan with dates and milestone dates to identify problems early on

• Set a standard communication plan with all your customers and stakeholders – Schedule this at the
start of your project

• Identify possible risks and start thinking of a backup plan OR tell your customer about them and work
together to agree how you will deal with it

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 Questions?

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