Project management

PROJECT MANAGEMENT · METHOD, NOT IMPROVISATION

A funded project is run on four numbers

Structure, time, cost, risk. Keep them under control and you reach the final payment; find out about them at the end and all you can do is write reports justifying the variances. Below are the instruments we run them with, not the words to describe them.

01StructureWBS and work packages

02Timeschedule and critical path

03Costbudget and earned value

04Riskregister and assessment matrix

The structure

WBS · WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

Before the calendar and before the budget, the work gets broken down. If an activity is not in the structure it does not exist: no owner, no cost, nothing to report.

PROJECT

WP 1Management and coordinationCROSS-CUTTING

project charter and scope
roles and responsibilities
monitoring and financial reporting

WP 2Analysis and requirements

state of the art and constraints
specifications and acceptance criteria
verification plan

WP 3Implementation

operational packages
deliverables to be released
in-process quality control

WP 4Validation and acceptance

tests and measurements
acceptance testing and sign-off
technical documentation

WP 5Communication and disseminationCROSS-CUTTING

communication plan
materials and channels
events and publications

The 100% rule. The sum of the packages must cover the whole project and nothing more: no activities outside the structure, no duplicates. Management and communication are cross-cutting: they run for the whole duration and have no time slot of their own. This is the check we run before writing a single date.

Time

SCHEDULE · CRITICAL PATH

Not all activities carry the same weight. The ones in red have no float: if they slip by a day, the project slips. Those are the ones we look at every week.

M10

M11

M12

Start-up and governance

CRITICAL

Detailed design

CRITICAL

Procurement

2 months float

Implementation

CRITICAL

Communication

cross-cutting

Acceptance and validation

CRITICAL

Reporting and final payment

CRITICAL

Start-up and governanceM1 - M2

Detailed designM3 - M5

ProcurementM4 - M6

ImplementationM6 - M9

CommunicationM2 - M11

Acceptance and validationM10 - M11

Reporting and final paymentM11 - M12

critical activity, zero float activity with float verifiable milestone status date

A reading scheme, not a real project. The red chain is the critical path: the longest sequence between start-up and final payment. Every milestone is a fact you can prove with a document, not a percentage stated out loud.

Cost

EARNED VALUE

"We have spent 60% of the budget" tells you nothing. The question is how much work has actually been produced with that money. Three curves answer at a glance.

WORK PRODUCEDEVhow much work has been produced, measured on the deliverables accepted.

WORK PLANNEDPVhow much was planned by the status date in the approved plan.

SCHEDULE INDEXSPIbelow 1 the project is behind plan: you act immediately.

COST INDEXCPIbelow 1 the work costs more than planned: the estimate to complete is revised.

Why it matters. In the drawing the red cost curve runs above the green curve of work produced: more is being spent than is being achieved. This reading shows it at the status date, not at the end of the project, when there is nothing left to correct.

Risk

PROBABILITY · IMPACT MATRIX

A risk written in a register is a risk somebody is watching. Every entry has an owner, a threshold and a countermeasure decided in advance, not while it happens.

PROBABILITY

very high

high

medium

low

very low

negligibleminormoderatemajorcritical

IMPACT

R1Delay in permitting times. Countermeasure: parallel activities started early and applications filed with time to spare.
R2A critical supplier becomes unavailable. Countermeasure: a second qualified supplier in place before the order.
R3Cost found ineligible at reporting stage. Countermeasure: prior check in writing on every doubtful item.
R4Change of contact person in the partnership. Countermeasure: shared documentation and minutes, not knowledge held in people’s heads.

Five by five. Probability times impact: the red zone is not accepted, it is reduced. The risk register is updated at every monitoring report, not once at application stage.

What the client is left with

Documents, not meetings. Each of these is what an auditor or an authority needs in order to understand the state of the project without calling anyone.

Project charterScope, objectives, roles and responsibilities, approved.

WBS and work planStructure, packages, deliverables and acceptance criteria.

ScheduleActivities, dependencies, milestones and critical path.

Itemised budgetCosts by package and by eligible cost category.

Risk registerAssessment, owner, threshold and countermeasure.

Monitoring reportsProgress, indicators, variances and corrective actions.

Reporting fileSupporting documents, ordered and reconciled with the approved budget.

Close-outMinutes, accepted deliverables, final payment claim and lessons learned.

Do you have a project running and no idea whether it is late?

With the approved plan and the costs incurred to hand, the answer takes a few hours. If needed, we take the management over straight away.

Tell us about your project

For the list of completed and ongoing projects, and for any detailed information, please contact us: we will provide it directly.