On Project Meetings

Posted on 27 November, 2007 by duardo

Despite the overload freely available advice on the Internet on how to plan and run effective meetings, I keep on sitting in project meetings that just make you wish you crawl under the table for a brief nap while the team debate item 3.2.5 on the agenda.  This blog entry is a collection of really good advice and tools I’ve created / received / found over time.  It’s obviously not a system to implement but use it to evaluate and improve yours.

Before your meeting

During your meeting

Taking Notes / Minutes

After your meeting: Covering your Assets

If you come across any other great tips let us know!!

Filed under: PMO, Templates | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

On Project Issue Management

Posted on 23 September, 2007 by duardo
Simply put Project Issue Management is the means of controlling change within your project. However defining an exactly what an issue is can be a little more tricky. An “issue” is defined as a situation, problem, or an activity that has happened or is happening which impacts upon the approved Project Plan.
Tool Downloads
> Project Issue Log Template
> Project Issue Submission Form

A “project issue” is a concern or request raised by any stakeholder or team member that needs to be addressed, either immediately or during the project.  As such there can be many different flavours of project issues:

  • General Issue

  • Request for Change

  • Off-Specification

  • Business Process Improvement

Issues vs Risks

While being a source of confusion for many, risks are different from issues because an issue is something that is a problem that has happened, whereas a risk is something that may happen in the future and have an affect on the project.

Critical considerations for speedy resolution – Ownership & Escalation

The concept of an issue having an owner is crucial to effective issue management. The owner is someone within the project team who is responsible for ensuring the issue is resolved. All members of the team should be encouraged to log issues as soon as they arise (often this occurs first in the course of informal discussions) and an appropriate owner should be determined. Generally ownership should be at the lowest level at which the issue could possibly be resolved.

If the event of the initial owner not being able to resolve the project issue an escalation procedure should be in place to escalate it through line management of the project up to the project manager and, ultimately, the project sponsor/executive.  If you are employing PRINCE2 you will find this already in place.

Filed under: PRINCE2, Templates | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

On Setting up a Project Board

Posted on 12 June, 2007 by duardo
It’s not uncommon to be in a position where a Project Board has been formed with people who have never served on one before.  PRINCE2 terminology for the Project Executive, Senior Supplier and Senior User may also be confusing.  However, when setting up a Project Board or Steering Committee it is crucial that the members understand what is the purpose and scope of the Board and how it should operate.
Tool Downloads
  > Project Board TOR
  > Senior User TOR
  > Senior Supplier TOR
  > Subject Matter Expert TOR

A Project Board is the key governance body within the project structure and is responsible for making decisions, escalating issues (that exceed the authority of the Board) to corporate/programme management, managing business issues associated with the project that are essential to the ensuring the delivery of the project outputs and the realisation of the project outcomes.

This includes approving the budgetary strategy, defining and realizing benefits, monitoring risks, quality and time-lines, making policy and resourcing decisions, and assessing requests for changes to the scope of the project.

In short – while the project manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of the project, the Project Board is ultimately responsible in the realisation of project outcomes/benefits.

While strictly not required we created some Terms of Reference templates to help educate and communicate the requirements of the roles and of the Project Board / Steering Committee.  We’re adopted a more formal approach however depending on the culture of your organisation you can water-down the formality as required.

Filed under: PRINCE2, Templates | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Next Page »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.