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InfoPro Home > Professional Development > Monthly Column
Project Management Concepts for the Information Professional
(December 2002)
By Marie Kaddell, Information Professional Consultant
Whatever the size of the library, there will always be projects to address. Some of these may still be in the planning stages, some might be in full swing, and others may be at the point of closure, but they all need to be managed at some level. A project may be a large-scale effort, that requires working effectively as a part of an organizational team. It may be a small short-term labor that stays with one person from start to finish. No matter what the size and stage of the project, skillful management techniques can enhance the process and the outcome.
The triple focus of the project manager is:
The goal is to bring a project in on time, on budget, and at the level of quality agreed upon by the project stakeholders and sponsors. Controlling time, cost, and quality is something information professionals find themselves doing every day. Applying project management to that process can increase our potential for success.
Project Phases
1. The Definition Phase
An undefined problem has an infinite number of solutions.
Robert A. Humphrey
Our work environments are hectic and it is a temptation to jump from idea to action without always taking the time to clearly identify our goal and the steps we will need to take to reach it. The definition phase of a project allows you to define your result and build the framework you need to obtain it. This is the time to look around at your resources, constraints, and where your project fits within the priorities of the organization.
As a start, consider these sets of questions in the definition phase:
- What is the scope of the work that needs to be done? Does everyone that will impact the project agree or do you need to build consensus?
- How are you planning on allocating human resources? Do you have power without authority and if so, how are you going to create buy-in and keep the project on its timeline? Is this a solo effort and if so, who are your champions and stakeholders in the organization? How can these allied resources help you?
- What are your constraints €“ time, budget, staff, missing skill sets, organization positioning?
2. Project Planning
He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that
plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy
life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely
to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign.
Victor Hugo
Victor was right. Chaos can soon engulf a project that does not have a plan attached to it and someone with that plan in hand to guide it along. Project planning is a labor in detail, but it will reveal roadblocks, time and resource conflicts, critical paths of tasks, task dependencies, and intermediate milestones needing your attention that you may not have considered. The project planning phase is invaluable for uncovering opportunities and hazards as a project moves through its life cycle.
As a start, consider these sets of questions in the planning phase:
- What are the specific tasks that make up the whole of the project?
- Have you thought about the order of tasks? What are the task dependencies or the things that must happen before others tasks can begin? What are the critical tasks that if not completed on plan will delay or even shut down your project? Are you aware of potential roadblocks?
- What are your time constraints? Where in your project do you have €œwiggle room€ and where are you tied to hard and fast completion dates?
- Do you have a schedule on paper or is it just in your head? If it€™s floating around between your ears you may want to put fingers to keyboard. Project software is great but even a word processing document or a spreadsheet will help you in breaking down the workflow of your project.
- How will you allocate your resources? Do you need to delegate certain tasks to others? How will assigned project tasks need to be scheduled to mesh with their schedules and priorities?
- How will you be allocating and tracking resources and costs?
- How will you be measuring performance and maintaining project quality through the course of the project?
- How will you be reporting project progress? Are there milestones and deliverables are intermittent stages throughout the project to which you can point?
3. Project Tracking
Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies
solely in my tenacity.
Louis Pasteur
This is the part of the project where the rubber really meets the road and where tenacity will be a great asset to the process of moving a project from paper to reality and completion.
As a start, consider these sets of questions in the tracking phase:
- How is the plan comparing to reality? Where are bottlenecks in the process? Where do you have some slack time?
- Are potential problems coming to light that you can mitigate or avoid?
- How€™s the budget? Are you where you should be or are costs running over the planned figures? If your project is over budget, is there a way to reallocate the mix of resources to bring costs back in line?
- How is the allocation of work playing out? Is a team-member overburdened? Do assignments or timelines need to be adjusted?
- Are you on task, on time, on budget? Is quality suffering to meet any of these goals and if so how can you adjust the project to balance quality and with cost and time constraints?
4. Project Closure
Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these
couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
Inscription, New York City Post Office, adapted from Herodotus
You're done. Well, almost. This is the part of the project where you can reflect on what you€™ve learned through this process and how you can apply it to future efforts.
As a start, consider these sets of questions in the completion phase:
- What went right and went wrong? Why?
- How did your plan compare to reality, and how would that impact future project planning?
- Are there re-occurring problems you can target?
- Do you have a project document file that is finalized for future reference?
- How is the organization being made aware of your success? Do you need to do some marketing to move your completed project into the limelight?
In Conclusion. . .
Drive thy business or it will drive thee.
Benjamin Franklin
A few final thoughts on project management for the non-project manager:
- The planning process is an ongoing one, so recognize that you will be planning and re-planning through the life cycle of your project.
- Communicate to create forward progress and maintain buy-in. There is a sense of urgency inherent to project management and that urgency needs to be communicated to team members effectively and on a regular basis in order to stay on plan.
- Identify best practices and integrate them into your process.
- Use the skills that you have as an information professional to gain project management knowledge. Utilize project management resources available on the web through professional associations, educational institutions, project management communities and business enterprises. Identify peer resources via listservs and professional networking.
- Pinpoint milestones and deliverables and make sure that sponsors and stakeholders of the project are made aware of their completion.
- Make sure that the deliverables of your project link back to the documented business needs of your organization to enhance your success potential.
- You know your project, and that means that sometimes you need to stand your ground and lobby for the best process for the best result.
- If you are responsible for a project, it is important to obtain some level of authority even if indirectly. Think creatively. Look to your champions and stakeholders in the organizations to access leadership buy-in and create grassroots support.
- Maintain a project file and keep good records of project progress.
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