General Business
No general business this week.
Presenters: Youssef Mourra of Cognizant Technology Solutions and Jorit Nühs of CRT
Presenting: Project Types
How different Projects can have different personalities.
How to structure and manage projects using Microsoft Project Server 2010.
Youssef described Enterprise Portfolio Management (EPM) principles and how a portfolio of projects should be aligned to the strategy of an organisation in order to succeed. There is a need to be able to select the right project to reduce the chance of disconnection between the project and the organisation’s strategy and vision.
Projects are chosen in a variety of ways and the selection criteria alone can influence up to 50% of the portfolio’s value. If the selection process is random or subjective, then up to 50% of the value of the portfolio can be lost. Therefore, it’s important to adopt a transparent process that aligns choice of the portfolio to the organisation’s strategy. A fusion of organisational context, process methodology, tools, and people capability is extremely important to the overall success of the project.
People that want their projects to be selected need to present analysis on the strategic value, costs and benefits as well as the risks. Microsoft Project Server can present analysis to the “C” level decision makers in the organisation. Preliminary project details and claims of success are recorded and can be used to hold sponsors accountable.
Youssef demonstrated some of Microsoft Project Server’s key features such as:
- The drilling in to strategic drivers for assessing each project
- Tracking of business cases
- Prioritisation of drivers and setting of ratios and weightings and inter dependencies for projects
- Impact statements
- What if analysis
Jorit explained how the implementation of Microsoft Project Server at CRT is helping with the management of the large amount and variation projects that CRT have underway or being planned.
CRT has undergone rapid growth in the past few years with the addition of new business areas. One of the intended outcomes of the Project Server implementation is to build a common methodology and implementation plan for the projects.
Project Server utilises SharePoint technology to create sites for each project so risks, issues and other documents are centrally located. The Microsoft Active Directory is utilised as a resource pool.
Microsoft Project 2010 is used to develop the project plan which is stored and shared on the server. Team members can update the project plan through their browser without the need for Microsoft Project.
Youssef rounded out the presentation by introducing us to the Eddie Obeng (author of All Change! The Project Leaders Handbook) project typology that explains the different project types and requirements for each, in terms of what you want to do and how you are going to do it.
The four main project types discussed are:
- Painting by Numbers
- Walking/Lost in a Fog
- Making a Movie
- Going on a Quest
The following diagram illustrates where each project type sits in relation to the others:
It is important to match the project being proposed to the project type and use the appropriate methodologies in terms of scoping, pricing and management to best set expectations and increase the chances of project success.
Thank you to the presenters, Youssef and Jorit and CRT for the use of their facilities and Cognizant for the presentation material.
Next Monthly meeting
The next meeting will be at Dunedin School of Medicineon 5 June and the presentation is Stress Management by Ross Hanson and Vicky Varlamova from Polson Higgs.