For contracts longer than 12 months, you should have a clause to allow unknown technologies to be added. Particularly for high tech and IT projects.

Part way through a long contract, the industry best might have superseded some of the items specified in your contract. You need a way to change to these newer technologies. They may perform better, and at a lower cost.

If you don’t have a way to add these, you could be stuck trying to source a specified item that you know is outdated, cannot be supplied, and will be more expensive to maintain because no one supports it anymore. An addition clause will allow you to approach the client with a change/addition proposal that the client can comfortably approve. If no clause exists, they may not be able to allow a change or addition because of their internal organizational procedures.

Tagged with: addition • clause • technology

Filed under: Contract • Scope

A contract is a risk allocation and control device.

Remember the importance of the contract.

Tagged with: risk control

Filed under: Contract • Risk

Make sure you know what the client really wants. You are working for them as a means to an end. Make sure you know what this end result is supposed to be.

Make sure you get their statement of this. A large scope document is often included, but it is important that you have an understanding of what is really wanted.

An example I have heard is: In building a palace, you might deliver great quality, great cost savings, and be ahead of schedule, but what the king really wants is something amazing to look at (more gold, more turrets etc).

Tagged with: end result

Filed under: Client • Communication • Scope

Make sure your team members always have work to do.

• Give them a list of lower priority tasks (such as improving certain systems) that they can do when they have no other tasks (particularly important for office workers).
• Give them a list of recommended training (short online courses) to do in their spare time (e.g. while waiting for results or feedback). Especially for new members who haven’t been given lots of work yet.

Along with giving them work to do, make sure they know how to do it, where to access it, and who specifically to talk with for clarification or further instructions.

Tagged with: courses • extra work • priority

Filed under: Human Resources • Planning • Training

Identify and Manage Risks Properly

• This enables you to reduce or eliminate risks.
• Helps you make plans for each major risk.
• Reduces the possibility of things going wrong in the project.
• If something goes wrong, you have a plan ready.
• Reduces stress on you as the project manager.
• Means you should rarely have to work overtime or on “emergency measures”

Tagged with: emergency • wrong

Filed under: Planning • Risk

Make sure to write the lessons learned for each project. This should include what has been done right, wrong, and what you would do differently if you could redo the project.

• This is for your benefit as well as for other project managers.
• When starting a project, it is useful to be able to find a similar project your organisation has done and look at its lessons learned.
• It should include both technical and management areas.
• It should be added to your organisations database to be easily searchable by project type, project manager’s name, key functional areas, etc.

Tagged with: lessons • redo • right • wrong

Filed under: Documentation • Training

If you are the project manager on a large project (with lots of team members) consider starting a library for the team.

• Books could be borrowed by team members
• Include training books for common project tools
• Industry specific manuals and books
• Industry magazines
• Self improvement books (goal setting, financial planning, brain training etc)
• Audio books of above (for when driving)

If on small projects and based in an office amongst other projects, consider the above but for the whole project office/organisation.

Include books such as:

• Free from Fear
• How to Win Friends and Influence People

Tagged with: books • library • training books

Filed under: Training

Get to know the functional managers within your organisation.

They can be a wealth of information and knowledge. You will need to be able to communicate easily and comfortably with them if they manage people doing work for your project. It makes it a lot easier if they get along with you. They are then more likely to do their best to help you and supply resources for your projects.

Tagged with: functional manager

Filed under: Communication • Human Resources

Recognise that outsourcing some tasks might be more efficient. Especially if your organisation is struggling to recruit enough people to fill needs (in a tight market).

Paying an external expert to do some specific tasks (e.g. calibration of sensors) may be quicker (saving costs and time) than finding an internal commissioning engineer with available time and getting them trained.

Also recognise that such training could benefit the company in the long run if it is a common task. If not, then outsourcing it may be the best way to get it done.

Time can often be the biggest saving to the project by outsourcing some tasks, as long as you manage the risks of doing so properly.

Tagged with: commissioning • expert • Training

Filed under: Contractors • Human Resources • Time • Training

Know the resource schedule of your project and of your organisation.

• What if another large project will start part way through yours?
• Will this reduce the number of resources available suddenly (drafting, design, fabrication, installation)?

Tagged with: resources • schedule

Filed under: Human Resources • Planning

Provide each new team member a one to two page summary of the project.

• Include an outline of the objectives, scope, size, and benefits (to the organisation, community, person)
• Possibly include total budget and budgets for individual areas.
• Status of project (over/under budget, behind/ahead of schedule)
• Significant problems
• List of main tools for that person/role
• Role and responsibility of that person
• Who they report to

Could split all above into two parts. One part for everyone, one part specific to each person.

Tagged with: benefits • objectives • project summary • status

Filed under: Communication • Human Resources • Training

Be sure to make a project organisation chart.

• Helps with assigning responsibilities
• Helps new team members identify the roles of the rest of the team and who to talk to for their tasks.
• Makes communication between team members easier.

Ideally list contact details in the chart as well.

Keep up to date (this is better if done automatically).

It wastes a lot of time in a big project trying to find someone only to discover they are not on the team anymore, so this is an important task.

Tagged with: contacts • organisation chart • responsibilities • rolse

Filed under: Human Resources • Planning

Find a template showing the common responsibilities on your type of project. Your organization may have one.

This helps with assigning responsibilities and makes sure nothing is forgotten.

Tagged with: responsibilities • template

Filed under: Documentation • Human Resources

Make sure the role and responsibility for each team member is clear.

• Ideally provide this in writing to the team members so they can easily refer to it.
• Provide clear direction on what activities each person should work on.
• Give clear time objectives (when is this activity due)
• Make sure each member knows what information they are expected to report, and what meetings to attend.

Tagged with: clear direction • objectives • report • responsibilities • roles

Filed under: Communication • Human Resources • Training

It is the responsibility of the project manager to organise priorities for the team members.

You should provide direction on what is the most important task.

You should settle conflicts between activities.

Provide things like the network diagram and critical path of the project to clarify to team members what work is the most important.

The PM should also give their team direction on the requirements for time, cost, scope, and quality.

Tagged with: activities • conflict • critical path • direction • important tasks • network diagram • prioritise • priority

Filed under: Cost • Planning • Quality • Scope • Time

The project manager should be held accountable for the failure of a project.

If you are a program manager (manage project managers) you should hold your project managers accountable.

This sounds obvious, but often this accountability is only mentioned at the end of a failed project.

The program manager should require regular (weekly) reports on status and at least monthly financial and schedule reports (performance measurements).

It is more difficult to hold a project manager accountable if he/she was not involved in the project from the start (initiation / tendering), including scope planning, schedule, costs, objectives, etc.

If the project manager is not involved from the start, he/she may blame a failed project (over budget or over schedule) to a badly estimated / planned tender.

If the project manager is involved right from the start, with the proper support and authority given, it is reasonable to fire the project manager of a failed project (unless the PM can show causes outside of reasonable planning or control of a PM, such as natural disaster in an area not prone to them).

This must assume the project manager has had proper training, not just someone thrown into the role of PM without training.

It must also allow time for training a new project manager to your organization in the internal procedures, templates, systems, etc.

In initiating, if a project manager believes the project is being underfunded, the schedule is unrealistic, or the price is too low, they should say so, change it, and then sign the changed project plan. A project manager should not accept an unrealistic schedule (unless agreement is reached with management that the project will make a loss or similar (such as breaking into a new market).

Accountability could mean loss of status/title, moving to an assistant project management role, or possibly being fired.

Tagged with: accountability • accountable • project failure

Filed under: Human Resources • Planning • Scope • Training

As a project manager you should aim to be proactive (prepare for problems before they happen) rather than just reactive (dealing with problems as they arise).

Proper planning and well setup systems help you to be proactive.

Tagged with: proactive • problems • proper planning • reactive • systems

Filed under: Planning

As a project manager you should produce performance measurements of your project.

These could be measurements such as:

• Planned Value
• Earned Value
• Actual Cost
• Budget At Completion
• Estimate At Completion
• Estimate To Complete
• Cost Variance
• Schedule Variance
• Cost Performance Index
• Schedule Performance Index
• Estimate At Completion
• Estimate to Complete

Many of these can be automated outputs (depending on your software tools).

They are important to supply to management and are the easiest and most specific way of presenting your project status to management.

They help you know if your project is over or under budget and also ahead of or behind schedule. They should be checked regularly (at least once a month for long projects) to spot problems.

In some cases you should present the schedule measurements to the client.

The Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) (www.pmi.org) has details of all of these performance measurements in its “Cost Management” section.

Tagged with: performance measurement • status

Filed under: Communication • Documentation

When ordering lots of smaller items (e.g. 50 x 40mm PVC ball valves) it is a good idea to order 5 to 10 percent more than required.

• This allows for breakages.
• This is especially important if the project is not well planned (e.g. the design is not complete at the time of order) .
• Ordering extras saves money because you get them at the bulk price instead of buying small numbers of extras later at a higher per item price.

Tagged with: breakage • bulk price • extras • order more • orders • smaller items

Filed under: Construction • Cost • Procurement

If your project site has potential graffiti problems (or has problems) consider hiring some street artists to paint murals on those walls with graffiti problems.

• When painted well, graffiti is less likely to be put there as there is already good art.
• It makes the site more attractive.
• If it discourages graffiti, it may work out less expensive than continually repainting the areas to cover graffiti.
• An example is the electrical boxes around Brisbane, Australia. They have all been painted with different topical, sometimes funny, always creative pictures. Very little graffiti is put on them now, and they make a very attractive addition to the street.

Tagged with: art • artists • graffiti • painting • repainting

Filed under: Cost • Design