Chapter 4 ideas - Write the rules: Five key documents to manage expectations and define success

Project rules are the function. Clarifying the Project rules of the game for a new project is exactly what skilled managers need to do. The need for project rules is part of the challenge of each new project.

3 factors of Project rules:

-          Agreement on the goals of the project among all parties involved

-          Control over the scope of the project.

-          Management support: the first, the project charter, is an announcement that the project exists. The following three, the SOW, the responsibility matrix, and the communication plan, are developed concurrently and constitute the actual written documents containing the project rules.

A project charter announces that a new project has begun. It brings the key players out into the open where everyone can see them. The purpose of the charter is to demonstrate mgmt support for the project and the PM. The charter clearly establishes the PM’s right to make decisions and lead the project. It contains the name and purpose of the project, the PM’s name, and a statement of support from the issuers. [Reflections: the deal lead will send an email indicates the name of the customer, the purpose of the project, the PM’s name and a list of team members.] 2 ways to use the project charter: One is as a formal recognition of authority. The other refers to the project definition doc as a SOW.

The charter is a one- time announcement, which makes it different in two ways. 1^st, it should precede the other docs, 2^nd, it is not meant to manage changes that occur later in the project. If a change occurs that is significant enough to make the charter out of date, a new charter should be issued rather than amending the original.

PMs need expert authority.

The sponsor is the best person to sign the charter, because he or she is the one who will be actively supporting the project.

SOW: it lists the goals, constraints, and success criteria for the project – the rules of the game. (Minimum content)

SOW is for members of the same organization. However Contract might be needed if the team consists of multiple organizations.

SOW –purpose statement (why this project?)

SOW- Scope statement (Project scope is all of the work required to meet project objectives. And what are beyond the scope)

SOW-deliverables: what is the project supposed to produce? A new service? A new design? Will it fix a product defect? Tell a team what it is supposed to produce.

SOW-cost and schedule (write it down: Range of budget; deadlines and intermediate deadlines)

SOW-Objectives should be specific and measurable so to measure for success.

SOW- stakeholders (write the draft SOW before presenting the stakeholders); Chain of Command (a common way to illustrate the chain of command is with an org chart)

The SOW that remains at the end of the project may be very different from the original document. The amount of this difference is not important; what is important is that everyone has been kept up-to-date and has agreed to the changes.

Responsibilities Matrix: who are responsible for what?

1.        List the major activities of the project

2.        List the stakeholder groups

3.        Code the responsibility matrix – RACI

Communication Plan:

·         Example of what can go wrong.

·         It is written strategy for getting the right info to the right people at the right time. (who needs info? What info do they need? When & how will they get it?)

·         Regular update meetings via more than one channel

·         Keep the status report short

Proposal vs SOW:

·         Project proposal is completed before the project start (Project proposal launched the project)

·         Content of the proposal overlap the SOW

·         Project manager may or may not be part of the proposal process.

CALMAT 2012 Orientation Stakeholders Analysis

[Project Name] Stakeholder Analysis

Project Manager

[Team Member 1]

Stakeholder Role Profile These questions will encourage the project team to consider a wide variety of stakeholders.  Use these questions to identify as many stakeholders as possible. After generating the list, you may decide some of the stakeholders are represented by other stakeholders or will have so little involvement in the project that you don’t need to consider them and you may remove them from your list. This list is a starting point Add questions to this list that fit your project environment.  If you miss an important stakeholder on one project, add a question to this list that will cause the next project team to identify that stakeholder.

For each of the questions below answer the question: “Who…?”

	Question	All stakeholders that apply. Use people’s names whenever possible.
1.	Approves funding for this project?	Ginger Chen – CALMAT President
2.	Approves functional requirements?	Joshua Chen – Dir of Recruitment & Admission
3.	Approves technical requirements?	Carlos Villanueva - CTO
4.	Approves design decisions?	Carlos Villanueva - CTO
5.	Approves changes to requirements?	Joshua Chen – Dir of Recruitment & Admission
6.	Approves changes affecting schedule?	Joshua Chen – Dir of Recruitment & Admission
7.	Approves changes affecting cost?	Joshua Chen – Dir of Recruitment & Admission
8.	Will use the product or service produced by the project?	Orientation attendees/New students
9.	Set the organizational goals that drive the necessity of this project?	Team Member 1 – Project Manager
10.	Will assign people to the project team and determine the hours per day they work on the project?	Team Member 1 – Project Manager
11.	Approves contracts for suppliers?	Team Member 1 – Project Manager
12.	Is the manager or executive sponsoring this project (will use their authority on behalf of the project team to overcome organizational obstacles)?	Joshua Chen – Dir of Recruitment & Admission
13.	Will manage the project (provide leadership to assure tasks are assigned and completed on time, cost and schedule are monitored, issues are identified and resolved)?	Team Member 1 – Project Manager
14.	Represents organization policies governing this project?	Ginger Chen – CALMAT President
15.	Represents regulations or laws affecting this project?	Joshua Chen – Dir of Recruitment & Admission
16.	Will have their work disrupted by this project?	Board of Directors (?)
17.	Will have to change their systems or processes because of this project?	Joshua Chen – Dir of Recruitment & Admission
18.	Will benefit from this project? (If this is a large group, who will represent this group?)	Joshua Chen – Dir of Recruitment & Admission
19.	Will perform the work on this project? (This includes all vendors and subcontractors as well as employees)	Existing Students/Faculty/Staff
20.	Will participate in phase gate decisions to approve moving the project to the next phase?	Event participants

Stakeholder Alignment Questions These questions will ask for a minimum amount of understanding about each stakeholder.  Use these for each stakeholder that has a high interest in the project or can have a high impact on the project.  The better you understand each stakeholder, the better prepared you’ll be to win cooperation. Not for publication These questions are meant to stimulate thinking about stakeholders.  Your assumptions and insights into the motivations of each stakeholder or stakeholder group are a private assessment and should not be published.

For each significant stakeholder, answer the following questions:

	Name:	Title:
1.	What is their contribution to the project?	Initiate, agree and execute the event proposal
2.	To whom do they report?	Project Manager
3.	What authority do they have over the project?	Monitor, execute, role change and reward
4.	What is their goal for the project (what is their stake in the project) and how does it relate to their organization’s goal or other personal goals? (What makes this a ‘win’ for them?)	Cost-schedule-quality: deliver quality orientation goals as planned on time and within budget.
5.	Do they present a specific threat or opportunity?	Stakeholders will get opportunity – new students get event deliverables, project team achieves the success of project management, CALMAT gets better popularity and increased awareness.
6.	What perception do you want them to have about the project?	To get a better idea what they are going to accomplish through CALMAT program and get a smooth transition to the program. CALMAT provides solid education via its unique teaching/learning platform.

Plan Communication

Use the Communication Plan and Responsibility Matrix templates to document roles and responsibilities and how you’ll keep your stakeholders engaged and informed.

CALMAT 2012 Orientation

Communication Plan

Project Manager: [Team Member 1]

This communication plan describes our strategy for keeping the project’s stakeholders sufficiently informed to avoid any disappointment regarding cost, schedule, or quality goals.

Stakeholder	Information needs	Frequency	Medium	Response
Sponsor	·  Execution status, approvals & problems	Every 2 weeks	1. Face to face or email	[describe]
Customer	·   Event Announcement email, Invitation email and VIP email confirmation ·   Survey (on site & at the end of the event)	Total 3 times over the length of the project	3 Emails
Management/Team Member 1	·   all aspects related to cost, schedule and quality goals	Problems occur: On a timely basis/otherwise:  weekly	5.  skype/email
Team Member 2	G Group 1: status updates & problems	Problems occur: On a timely basis/otherwise:  weekly	skype/email
Team Member 3	·   (Group 1: Team Member 2 & 3)	Problems occur: On a timely basis/otherwise:  weekly	skype/email
Team Member 4	·   Group 2: status updates & problems	Problems occur: On a timely basis/otherwise:  weekly	skype/email
Team Member 5	·   (Group 2: Team Member 4 & 5)	Problems occur: On a timely basis/otherwise:  weekly	skype/email
Team Member 6	·   Group 3: status updates & problems	Problems occur: On a timely basis/otherwise:  weekly	skype/email

[Project Name] Responsibility Matrix

Project Manager: [Name]

This matrix describes the level of participation and authority for project stakeholders on major project activities.

E    Execution responsibility.  Stakeholder responsible for getting the work done.  Not necessarily a decision maker, but drives the group to make decisions in a timely manner.

A    Approval authority.  Final approval on accepting the outcome of this activity.  Makes decisions.

C    Must be consulted.  As work is performed this stakeholder contributes information.  Does not make decisions, but is asked for input prior to decisions.

I     Informed after a decision is made.  Wants to stay updated on progress of this activity.

Activity	[Sponsor]	[Customer]	[Team Manager 1- PM]	[Team Member 2]	[Team Member 3]	[Team Member 4]	[Team Member 5]	[Team Member 6]
Project Kickoff Team Meeting to cover & reach an agreement on: -       Project team, responsibilities & schedule -       Project Scope -       Est’d budget & set up policy/rules & procedures -       Communication plan	A		E	E	E	E	E	E
Develop event agenda to reach the event outcomes as below: A. Knowing the CALMAT learning model B. Knowing the registration process and individual learning plan C. Knowing where to get resource - food, library, parking, study partners D. Knowing the basic technology - ulearn, gmail, calmat.us E. Register classes F. Walking tour of Starbucks, MLK library, eateries, museums, etc	A		E	E	E	E	E	E
Administrative function (Team Member 2 & 3): -acquire the access to the new students data -acquire the administrator access to registration process -schedule keynote speakers -enforce the policy/rules & procedures -identify event participants			E	E	E	I	I	I
Logistic function (Team Member 4 & 5): -acquire the access to use/modify CALMAT current equipment (PCs, laptops, wireless, audio/video equipment, facility, furniture, etc) -outfit the event venue, add signs for parking -Establish logistics items order process -finalize walk tour route with alternatives			E	I	I	E	E	I
Marketing function: -establish materials production process -modify event materials as needed -contact medias -establish sponsorship with businesses in the neighborhood			E	I	I	I	I	E
Post-event evaluation	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E