Making Project Management easy as 1-2-3 简单进行项目管理

Making Project Management easy as 1-2-3: once you've mastered these steps, you'll be gliding effortlessly through your next project - Supplier Business: Plante Moran

简单进行项目管理：一旦掌握了这些方法，将会轻松应对下一个项目——供应商业务：普兰特 莫兰

Automotive Industries, Dec, 2002 by Jonathan E. Probst

Project management (PM). To many, just hearing those wards conjures up a myriad of negative emotions--uncertainty, anxiety, and concern, to name a few. When some people think of PM, they often think of very expensive software systems and large project implementations that last years, leading to countless capital costs yet yielding marginal and unquantifiable savings. This is the wrong approach to PM. PM is not frightening, but trying to function on a day-to-day basis without it is. PM is concerned with all kinds of things that make jobs easier--stress reduction, gaining control, providing tools for their organization and saving money.

对于许多人来说，一听到项目管理（PM），便会产生负面的情绪——不确定性、焦虑、担心等。当一些人想到PM，通常想到持续数年所实现的昂贵的软件系统和大型项目，投入大量的资金却没得到什么回报。这种想法是错误的。PM并不可怕，而是尝试去不依赖于它来运作。PM关注于令工作更为容易——减轻压力、获得控制、为他们的组织提供工具、节省开支。

 

It's that simple. Understanding PM and knowing how to create an effective PM process can improve productivity as well as your bottom line.

事情没有那么简单。理解PM并知道如何创建有效的PM过程可以提高产出和底线。

 

Defining Project Management

项目管理的定义

Of the projects you are currently involved with:

1. Can everyone on the project team access a common, regularly updated, project schedule that identifies independent tasks for each individual on the project?

2. Does everyone know where to locate all project forms and documents, including the project scope and objective?

3. Is the correct version of a document always used by project stakeholders?

4. Is scope creep always handled in a standard, manageable manner in which budget, resources, and schedule concerns are addressed?

5. Are project issues captured for everyone to view?

6. Does management always have buy-in to new projects?

 

你当前所参与的项目中：

1.        是否项目组中的所有人均能访问一个共同的、定期更新的项目时间表？该表列出了每个项目成员所应负责的任务。

2.        是否所有人都知道从哪里去获取项目表格和文档？包括项目范围和目标。

3.        是否项目利益相关者经常使用正确版本的文件？

4.        需求以标准的、可管理的方式来处理需求的渐变？在处理过程中是否腔调预算、资源、时间表？

5.        项目事宜是否抓住了所有人的眼球？

6.        管理人员是否支持项目？

 

If you answered no, then there is a very simple solution--provide a standardized controllable approach to solving these issues. This can be done with Project Management.

如果回答是否定的，这里有一个简单的解决方法——提供了一种标准的途径来解决这些问题。可以通过项目管理来解决。

 

The Project Management Institute defines PM as, "the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a project." There are four main application areas in that definition--knowledge, skills, tools and techniques. To simplify, "knowledge and skills" are elements of experience that someone who has experience in projects possess. 'Tools and techniques' are application areas that a PM methodology will provide. Tools and techniques are part of the process that can be tailored to meet your organization's needs.

项目管机构将PM定义为“将知识、技能、工具、技术应用到项目活动中，以满足或者超于利益相关者对项目的需要和期望。”该定义中有四个主要的应用——知识、技能、工具、技术。简单来说，“知识和技能”是经验方面的内容，即在项目中所拥有的经验。“工具和技术”是PM方法所能提供的应用方面的内容。工具和技术是过程的一部分，可以进行裁剪以满足你所在组织的需求。

 

When Good Projects Go Bad

一个表现良好的项目何时会出现问题？

Why do good projects to bad? Reasons include:

1. Unclear scope or direction

2. Unclear requirements

3. Lack of resources

4. Undefined project end date

5. Lack of clear deliverables t having timeframes for tasks

7. Not knowing who is on the project

8. Poor communication

9. Lack of planning

10. Not knowing where to go to access project information

11. Changing requirements or scope

12. Cost and schedule overruns

13. Lack of buy-in and accountability

为何良好的项目会出现问题？原因包括：

1.        不清晰的范围或方向

2.        不清晰的需求

3.        缺乏资源

4.        未定义项目截止日期

5.        缺少清晰的任务可交付物的时间安排

6.        不知道谁负责项目

7.        不畅通的交流

8.        缺少计划

9.        不知道从何处获取项目信息

10.    更改需求或范围

11.    开销和时间表超支

12.    缺少支持和责任

 

All of these problems have one thing in common--lack of PM. How does an organization go about putting together an effective PM methodology? Use this Top 10 list as a guide.

所有这些问题有一个共同点——缺少PM。一个组织如何将有效的PM方法组合在一起？使用下面的10点建议。

 

The Top 10 Tips for Instituting Effective Project Management

有效项目管理的十点建议

1.         With new projects, capture the known project objectives, scope, deliverables, stakeholders, project manager, assumptions, risks, budget constraints and senior management personnel responsible for approving the project.

2.         Determine who you need on your team to plan and execute the scope outlined in Step 1.

Sound like a lot? But if management or the project manager doesn't know the answer to Step 1, then how will project team members? Oftentimes, team members have a different opinion of the scope and head in a different direction. Avoid this pitfall.

The level of experience is often critical to project success. The leadership and technical expertise varies from project to project. The team responsible for planning the project must have some ownership and accountability in the project in order for the planning process to be successful.

3.         How are project stakeholders going to communicate with each other?

Who needs what information, when, how and at what frequency? This applies to all people affected by the project. This is one of the most important overlooked elements to the planning process and includes steps such as when and where the project team will meet, what technology will be used to send information, and how will people be notified.

4.         Where and with what structure will project information be stored?

This step is critical, especially for larger projects that touch many stakeholders. For example, a project team could specify a common drive or web site location where all project forms and documentation Will be stored along with a folder structure to allow team members to quickly and efficiently locate, project information. It's also important to have a PM methodology to locate documents across projects.

5.         Develop your schedule.

Start by creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to capture the tasks required to support and relate project deliverables. After the WBS, capture the task relationships -- what needs to happen first. Estimate the time duration and assign a responsible person to complete each task with a discrete output.

6.         Determine your project budget.

Use the WBS and the project schedule to determine when spending will occur. Set a tolerance band on expenses to flag variances and create actions to address the variance.

7.         Record project issues and risks.

Issues and risk will arise throughout the entire project life cycle. Assign individuals to issues with a discrete output, meaning that issues need to be written to identify if the associated task(s) are completed.

8.         Capture and document project approval steps.

Add approval steps throughout the process to ensure management support and to capture team member buy-in to the planning process. Capture the approval steps in the project schedule (Step 5 above) to communicate major milestones and reviews. Documented approval steps should include not only the approval to plan the project but also during technical review points throughout the execution of the project

9.         Identify steps needed during the project execution phase.

This is a critical step because it measures how accurate the planning was for a given project. This information can be used to increase the accuracy of the next similar project. Various Earned Value methods will provide an estimate of how the project is performing relative to cost and schedule.

10.     Institute a continuous improvement process to capture lessons learned.

It is obvious to each of us that documenting lessons learned after and during a project is beneficial. The problem is that many organizations do not capture them and, if they do, they take place in the form of a meeting or discussion around the coffee machine. All potential lessons can be forwarded to the respective process owners, and a proactive approach can be utilized to institute change before the next project begins.

1.         在新项目中，不活已知的项目目标、范围、交付物、利害相关者、项目管理者、假设、风险、预算控制，以及负责批准项目的高级管理人员。

2.         确定在你的团队中你需要谁来计划并执行第1步中所描述的范围。

听上去挺多？但是如果管理或项目管理者不知道第1步中的答案，那么项目组成员更不会知道了。通常，项目组成员对范围有不同的理解，从而各自为营。要避免这种情况发生。

经验水平对项目的成功与否来说至关重要。不同的项目具有不同的领导力和技术能力。为了让计划过程的成功，负责项目计划的组必须拥有一些项目所有权和责任。

3.         利害相关者彼此之间是如何进行沟通的？

谁需要什么样的信息？何时？如何？以什么样的频率？这一点适用于与项目相关的所有人。这是计划过程中最容易被忽略的元素，其中包括项目组何时何地碰面、采用什么技术来传递信息、如何通知他人。

4.         项目信息在哪里存储？以及通过什么结构存储？

这一步很关键，尤其是与许多利害相关者相关的大型项目。例如，项目组可以指定一个普通的驱动器或一个网站来存储所有的项目表格和文档，采用一个文件夹结构，以供项目成员快速高效的访问项目信息。采用在多个项目间定位文档时采用PM方法来也很重要。

5.         创建时间表

通过创建一个工作分解结构（WBS）来捕获支持和设计项目交付物所需的任务。在创建WBS之后，捕获任务剑的关系——那个任务先开始。估计时间段，安排一个有负责的人通过离散输来完成每个任务。

6.         确定项目的预算

使用WBS和项目时间表来确定何时会有开销。设定一个开销可容忍的范围来应对变动，并对变动做执行相应的措施。

7.         记录项目事物和风险

事物和风险贯穿于项目的整个生命周期。将食物分配给个人来达到离散输出，这就意味着需要将相关完成的事物记录下来。

8.         捕获并记录项目批准步骤

在整个过程中增加批准步骤，可以保证项目支持，可以捕获项目成员支持项目过程。在项目时间节表中（第5步骤）捕获批准步骤来交流关键里程碑和评审。记录批准步骤不仅应包括项目计划的批准，还应包括整个项目执行过程中技术评审点的时间间隔。

9.         在项目执行阶段识别所需的步骤

该步骤很关键，因为对于给定项目，其衡量了计划的准确度。该信息可以用来提高下次面对类似项目时的真确度。Various Earned Value方法可以提供项目是如何执行的与开销和时间表之间关系的评估。

10.     着手可持续性改进过程来捕获经验教训

显然，在项目结束或项目过程中记录经验教训对我们每个人来说是非常有益的。问题是大多数组织不作为。如果这么做了，那么通过会议或者在咖啡机旁的讨论，所有潜在经验可以传达到各自的过程负责人那里，可以在下次项目开始之前采用主动的方法来着手改变。

 

Taking Baby Steps

 迈小孩的步子

You're probably thinking that while PM sounds great -- theoretically -- that practical implementation is a whole other baligame. And you're right -- to an extent.

Some companies roll out very comprehensive PM methodologies within divisions and across organizations. They work to create a project and provide reference material that will address almost every situation. Manuals are often thick and training classes, if they exist, can be weeks long. While this may not always be the wrong approach, it is if an organization didn't have many tools in place to begin with. Introducing new protocol has to be manageable and in small enough steps to I encourage acceptance. PM is a living methodology that should be periodically updated to meet the needs of the users.

Therefore, manageable steps are needed to have sustained, proficient success. This is affectionately known as taking "baby steps." Throwing too much at an organization will result in poor acceptance.

 

你可能认为PM听起来固然伟大——理论上说——实际的实行确是另一回事。你是对的——某种意义上说。

一些公司在部门内部、组织之间采用非常全面的PM方法。他们致力于创建一个项目，并提供考虑几乎所有情况的参考资料。很厚的手册，可能维持数周的培训课程。这通常不是一个坏方法，关键是组织没有开始着手的工具。引入新的协议需要具有可操纵性，小的步伐更容易接受。PM是活跃的，需要根据用户的需求定期更新。

因此，可控的步伐是可持续、成功所必须的因素，即中所周期的“小孩的步子”。吃多了不易消化。

 

The Bottom Line

So what's the bottom line? It's simply this: you don't need to have a large investment to institute an effective PM methodology at your organization. By following the Top 10 tips for effective project management and using very simple tools, that are already present at your company, you can often create an efficient system to manage your product development and service projects. It doesn't have to be difficult, but if you still have questions, it is often beneficial to utilize the support of experts in this area to kick-start your internal efforts and create a systemic approach that can be quickly implemented.

底线

何谓底线？简单来说：在你的组织中，你不需要为提出有效的PM方法投入过多。根据前文的10点建议来实现有效的项目管理，使用公司中现有的简单工具，通常可以构建一个高效的系统来管理你的产品卡发和服务项目。并不难，不过如果仍然存在一些问题，可以利用本领域专家的支持来发动你的内在力量并创建一套可以快速实施的系统化方法。

 

Src: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3012/is_12_182/ai_96553946/

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