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- Herausgeber: Haufe Lexware
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Serie: Haufe Fachbuch
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
Good project management sets standards and ensures that all project participants speak the same language. In this book you will also learn the reasons behind the specific steps taken in the project and how to contribute to making projects a success. It takes you on a journey through all areas of classical, traditional project management and provides insights into agile and hybrid PM. Graphics and comprehensible examples from everyday project work help develop a basic understanding. This book includes interviews with experienced project managers such as Arie van Bennekum, Peter B. Taylor, Petra Berleb or Tobias Rohrbach and an extensive glossary with the most important technical terms. Content: - The five standard phases from DIN 69901: initialization, definition, planning, control, and completion. - Agile methods and hybrid process models - Which soft skills are importantThe digital and free addition to your book on myBook+: - Read e-book directly online in the browser - Personal specialist library with your booksUse now at mybookplus.de.
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[7]Content
Hinweis zum UrheberrechtCopyrightPreface1 Overview on Traditional Project Management1.1 What is a Project?1.2 What is Project Management?1.3 Quintessence1.4 Interviews with Project Managers2 Initiation Phase2.1 Fundamentals2.1.1 Scoping2.1.2 Project Context Analysis2.1.3 Projectification2.2 Practical Example2.3 Quintessence2.4 Tools and Tips2.5 Interviews with Project Managers3 Definition Phase3.1 Fundamentals3.1.1 Project Design3.1.2 Project Team and Project Organization3.1.3 Objective Definition3.1.4 Stakeholder Analysis3.1.5 Risk Analysis3.1.6 Project Start Workshop or Kick-Off Meeting3.2 Practical Example3.3 Quintessence3.4 Tools and Tips3.5 Interviews with Project Managers4 Planning Phase4.1 Fundamentals4.1.1 Phase Planning4.1.2 Project Structure4.1.3 Process Planning4.1.4 Scheduling4.1.5 Resource Planning4.1.6 Cost Planning4.1.7 Financial Planning4.2 Practical Example4.3 Quintessence4.4 Tools and Tips4.5 Interviews with Project Managers5 Execute Phase5.1 Fundamentals5.1.1 Easy Traffic Light Control by means of Work Breakdown Structure5.1.2 Control Measures5.1.3 Reporting5.1.4 Change Management5.2 Practical Example5.3 Quintessence5.4 Tools and Tips5.5 Interviews with Project Managers6 Closeout Phase6.1 Fundamentals6.1.1 External Project Completion6.1.2 Internal Project Completion6.1.3 Project Review6.2 Practical Example6.3 Quintessence6.4 Tools and Tips6.5 Interviews with Project Managers7 Agile Methods and Hybrid Process Models7.1 Fundamentals7.1.1 Scrum7.1.2 Critical Chain Project Management7.1.3 Kanban7.1.4 Hybrid Process Models7.2 Practical Example7.3 Quintessence7.4 Tools and Tips7.5 Interviews with Project Managers8 Soft Skills in Project Management8.1 Fundamentals8.1.1 Leadership8.1.2 Ethics8.1.3 Culture, Values and Diversity8.1.4 Agile Mindset8.1.5 Teamwork8.1.6 Communication8.1.7 Conflicts and Crisis8.1.8 Courage and Motivation8.1.9 Creativity and Problem Solving8.1.10 Negotiating8.2 Practical Example8.3 Quintessence8.4 Tools and Tips8.5 Interviews with Project Managers9 Advanced Knowledge9.1 Network Diagram Calculation9.2 Controlling9.3 Legal Aspects and Compliance9.4 Configuration Management9.5 Quality9.6 Stacey Matrix10 Our Interview Partners11 The Authors12 AttachmentGlossaryList of IllustrationsLiterature and LinksDigitale ExtrasHinweis zum Urheberrecht:
Alle Inhalte dieses eBooks sind urheberrechtlich geschützt.
Bitte respektieren Sie die Rechte der Autorinnen und Autoren, indem Sie keine ungenehmigten Kopien in Umlauf bringen.
Dafür vielen Dank!
Haufe Lexware GmbH & Co KG
[6]Bibliographical Information of the German National Library
The German National Library lists this publication in the German National Bibliography. Detailed bibliographical data can be accessed on the internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
ePub:
ISBN 978-3-648-16792-2
Order no. 10872-0100
Michaela Flick/Mathias Flick
Understanding Practical Project Management
1st Edition 2023
© 2023 Haufe-Lexware GmbH & Co. KG, Freiburg, Germany
www.haufe.de
Image credits (cover): © mbbirdy, iStock
Image credits (drawings in the book): Michaela Flick / Mathias Flick
Product Management: Bettina Noé
All information/data to the best of our knowledge but with no guarantee for completeness and correctness. All rights, including but not limited to the printing of excerpts, photomechanical reproduction (including microcopy) and analysis using databases, are reserved.
[11]Preface
It was Albert Einstein who said:
«Make things as simple as possible, but don’t make them simpler!«
This was our exact motivation when we developed the idea of writing a book on project management. It was our intention to keep the entire topic as simple as possible so that everyone could get an easy access to project management. However, it also was our intention to tackle this fascinating topic as thoroughly as possible without leaving out the essentials. Projects change the world. In projects, companies and organizations implement new, unique and cool ideas, make results measurable and turn intentions into success. Behind project management stand complex structures: A group of people aim at dealing with demanding tasks in the most goal-oriented way by being on time, on budget and on quality. Most of these tasks, however, cannot be seen in an isolated way, because there are multitudes of counter-dependencies to take into consideration. Planning and coordination requires networked thinking. Project managers have to meet a lot of requirements evolving from the complexity of the assigned projects. In addition to this they also need to be leaders and role models. In companies and organizations projects play an important part, often taking over a key function, supporting the strategic path, enabling innovation and competitiveness along the way. To cut a long story short – the existence of said companies and organizations is based on successful projects and the project manager very often needs to mutate into a ‹do-it-all superhero’. This way, project management is thrilling as well as demanding. Good project management sets standards and ensures that all project people speak the same language. In the market we already find lots of literature on the topic and a lot has been written on traditional project management, agile methods or hybrid approaches. So does the market need yet another book on PM? Clearly yes! For more than two decades we have been actively involved in projects. Together we have more than 45 years of national and international project experience in different areas and branches – and we really have seen a lot in our practical project work. In companies and organizations a lot of projects are going extremely well already – in others there is plenty of room for improvement. Good project management is no rocket science, but for project creators it is definitely helpful to dive deep into matters and to ponder on the questions of WHY we need to perform particular steps in the project and how we can contribute to leading our projects to success. We take our readers in a simple, clear and practical way on a journey through all areas of classical, traditional project management and navigate around the five standard phases based on DIN 69901: Initiation Phase, Definition Phase, Planning Phase, Execute Phase, Closeout Phase. We then talk about agile methods and hybrid process models and take a look at which soft skills, respectively power skills, we need in order to incorporate [12]good project management. Every chapter is outlined in an identical way where firstly we introduce the topic, then explain the various steps we need to undertake in each phase and especially the reasoning behind them. With the help of a specific, practical project example (where we describe our journey of writing this book) you will receive the common thread and valuable insights into the world of projects, because complex issues become a lot less tricky with practical, comprehensible examples at hand. All events in our practical project example that describe the phases that take place after uploading the manuscript are mere anticipations to give our readers a thorough practical insight into all project management phases and areas. After the part presenting the quintessence of the chapter we come forth with practical tools and tips to make your project work easier. At the end of each chapter you will find interviews with national and international project managers who lead us through their work and give us insights behind the scenes of projects. A big thank you therefore to our amazing interview partners who answered a multitude of questions about all aspects of project management. Thanks to Peter B. Taylor, the ‹Lazy Project Manager› and number one bestseller author who brought forth lots of valuable impulses in his unique, humorous and yet inspiring way. A big thank you also to Arie van Bennekum, co-author of the Agile Manifesto, who led us into the agile world and whose pragmatism and love for common sense made our interview quite eventful and exciting! Thanks to Carsten Mende of Valeo, our HR Project Director, to Felix Mühlschlegel from Portland, Oregon, who took us into the fascinating world of product development at global player adidas. A heartfelt thank you to Chris Schiebel for being the ambassador for solid project management, to Stephan Scharff, our ‹project rocker› and, of course, a big thank you to Petra Berleb, Editor in Chief and publisher of the projektmagazin. A warm thank you to Ben Ziskoven from the Netherlands, a young, active and already experienced Agile Coach and Scrum Master, to Michael Künnell, Chief Financial Officer at HEITEC and to Tobias Rohrbach, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO at Lutz und Grub AG. A warm thank you to our wing people and companions at GPM, Astrid Beger, whose passion for projects is outstanding, René Windus, with his extensive, thorough PM experience and Thor Möller, who inspired us with his expertise and, of course, with his valuable Project Management Dictionary. Thanks also to Olaf Piper, who gave valuable insights into his projects at FESTO, to Sebastian Wächter, who led us ‹without mental barriers› into his world of change projects, to Daniel Laufs from CAPTN FördeAreal, Kiel, and of course to the inspiring Stefanie Gries from SMA Solar Technology AG.
As we wanted to write our book in the most understandable, catchy way so that project newbies get an easy access to project management, we remained absolutely pragmatic in the main chapters, following the initial quote of Albert Einstein. However, there are one or two aspects where it makes sense to go into more detail and which are particularly interesting for those willing to take a deep dive into the world of projects or who are thinking about pursuing certification in PM. We bundled up a few specials into our advanced knowledge and hope you will enjoy this deep dive as [13]much as we did writing it! Bold terms in the text can be found with some explanations in the glossary. At the beginning of each chapter you will find a graphic created by the authors themselves and there are also many illustrations throughout the rest of the book in order to facilitate understanding practical project management.
A big thank you to Ombretta Zanetti for proofreading the first English version of our book. Thanks to the entire Haufe Team, that accompanied us all along the way to the final book from A to Z and that supported us perfectly. A special thank you to our product manager Bettina Noé, who – yet again – did a great job: never change a winning team! Thank you also to our proofreader and subject specialist Csilla Serestély.
Michaela and Mathias Flick
[15]1 Overview on Traditional Project Management
Project management is en vogue. Whether classical, agile or hybrid, project management is a great term and who would not want to be a project manager anyway? But what exactly is project management? In order to understand that we first need to clarify what a project really is.
1.1 What is a Project?
A project is an endeavor or a task completely new to us. That means so far we have not carried out something similar and thus we do not know how to proceed. A project is not only something entirely new, it is also more complicated than everything we have done so far. In a project there are always many people involved that need to be coordinated. Last but not least the project has to fit to us or our corporate entity. This means it needs to be integrated into the organizational structure of the company; in an ideal way so that neither the daily business of the company nor the project are negatively impacted. This is not an easy task to fulfill and traditional school knowledge or being book smart does not necessarily lead us anywhere for the most part.
Another problem that occurs is, that we usually face all sorts of limitations. Either we have too few resources (thus personnel and materials) or we need to meet deadlines and do not have enough or unlimited time on hand. Money is often tight due to the fact that the authorized budget (the limitation for costs) is too low.
There may be several reasons why we still want to carry out our plan. Maybe it simply is important for us to solve a problem or a customer is about to place an order. One way or another the project comes along with a certain benefit, and it is for exactly that reason that we are willing to invest a lot of money and time in it. We carry out a project because we are hoping that we can use the projects’ results to our best benefit, generating an implementation benefit.
1.2 What is Project Management?
Now that we have clarified that a project is something new, unique and complex which follows specific goals, consists of a start and end date and is executed by a group of people in teamwork, let us take a look at what project management actually is. This [16]includes all accompanying activities we need to successfully carry out such as to plan, organize, coordinate, communicate, control as well as to lead people. We need to keep in mind, though, that project management is not the most important factor when working in projects, but that it is the project itself. It is important to conclude the project correctly. This means, however, that projects are not adapted to project management, but rather that project management adapts to the project. We only use the methods and techniques necessary to successfully implement our project. Project management therefore is like a toolbox offering all sorts of specific tools (methods, techniques). We only select the ones that prove the most efficient and reasonable for carrying out our project endeavor, leading it to success! When you need to drive a nail into the wall, for example, the only tool you need is a hammer, not an impact drill.
The keynote of the project management concept is to approximate the target in small steps. This means that upon creating the plans you need to put one step after the other. For instance, if you want to plan a party, then the usual procedure is to focus on many things at once. You think about the salads you would like to make and which ingredients you need and in what order, when you need to buy what and when the relevant people in charge need to actually prepare the salads. This works pretty well for small activities, but when we talk about a project consisting of more than one hundred activities, it is no longer possible to plan in this way. Therefore, you carefully and deliberately need to separate the individual steps and plan them one after the other.
As a first step, you would probably think about what needs to be done (determination of the necessary quantities/grocery shopping/preparing salads). In the second step you may think of the logical order of the tasks (only when you know what you need, you can go for groceries; only when you have all the ingredients ready at hand, can the salads be put together). In yet another step you would complete the activities, probably using a calendar to determine what takes place when. Subsequently you would check to see who is available on the planned dates to take care of the tasks. Now that you know who is in charge of what and which ingredients you need, you can start calculating the exact costs. In the end you would double-check to see if you have enough money left.
Due to the fact that the steps of the planning process are separated, you do not have to ponder on all eventualities for every single step and you can concentrate on the main tasks instead. Thus you are minimizing the complexity of the individual steps and everything becomes manageable. In this way you will minimize the chance of forgetting anything important and avoid possible mistakes.
Project management therefore aims at making a complex endeavor less complex so that everything becomes a little bit easier and has a better chance of success.
[17]1.3 Quintessence
Classical project management consists of five consecutive phases where the results of a previous phase are being used in the next phase. Since the content of each individual phase is precisely defined, no task is assigned twice and we ensure that nothing of importance is left out. By navigating through these consecutive planning steps where we only have to deal with a small number of elements instead of multitasking, the execution of the project becomes so much easier and less mistakes occur. This enables us to handle projects that are completely new to us or that seem to be extremely complicated. Project management and its methods gives us the means and opportunities to deal with everything in the best possible way.
1.4 Interviews with Project Managers
Ben Ziskoven
MF:According to your personal view – what is «good project management« and why is it important?BZ:Project management in general and also good PM is important to me because each day is different in a project and the people we need to deal with in the course of the project are also different. It is often demanding, sure, but it never gets boring. It is important to take project management seriously and to actively engage in what we do. Projects need qualified people who have a lot of knowledge and who connect as humans. Then the projects will definitely work well.MF:How do you think project management presumably will change over time? What should we project people be prepared for?BZ:The future of project management is very positive! For all sorts of PM. It actually has to do with the fact that there are much more frequent and extreme changes in the world and everything is happening faster. Therefore everything will be more lean and on a short term basis, less things are plan-driven and «classical«. And the customers are asked for their input in faster loops and thus can participate more. Agile is not a trend, it is something that will stay and that is important. The customers are involved more and more – not only at the end during delivery. Topics of the future that will matter for us project people are: 1.) Sustainability and supply chain management 2.) Creativity regarding new raw materials and alternative resources 3.) Working with people and for the people becomes more and more important – work needs to make sense and be of value 4.) Big Data is definitely going to be an issue 5.) AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning or bio-technology[18]Peter B. Taylor
MF:How do you think PM will presumably change over time? What should we project people be prepared for?PBT:I strongly feel that there are two significant impactors on project management – AI/Artificial Intelligence and Team Analytics. A recent Gartner press release made a bold claim about the future of project management: ‹By 2030, 80 % of the work of today’s project management (PM) discipline will be eliminated as AI takes on traditional PM functions.’ The impact of this on project management and project managers is going to be huge – and, in my view, positive since AI will ‹do› the stuff that most project managers don’t enjoy so much (and no doubt ‹do› it better) and will leave project managers free to focus on the people more – and projects are (and have always been) about the people. This is why, in my view, it is so important to focus on team analytics so that project managers can get a greater insight in building and leading the most high-performing and productive teams for greater project success. I for example am working very often and with pleasure with Perflo.coMy recommendation to all project professionals is to ‹get ready› for these changes – read, learn, talk about, listen to, and debate what is without doubt heading fast your way!Astrid Beger
MF:What are your personal «insider tips« for successful projects? Do you have any favorite tools?AB:My most important tip, personally: encourage career changers. Promote new orientations, new beginnings. Realize that care responsibility outside of vocational goals is immediately converted into money in projects. Favorite tools – I love diversity. The more tools I have in my toolbox, the better. A canvas can be cool as long as it does not become routine. Also in working relationships my credo would be: we tend to become quite lazy in our perception. Does this mean I do not have any favorite tools? Sure I have; at the end the project contract and our formal agreement are my favorite tools. Always in a pair.[19]Felix Mühlschlegel
MF:«Tell me how your project starts and I’ll tell you how it ends.« According to this old PM saying – which topics do you think matter at the beginning of a project and why?FM:A project for me starts with the kickoff – even though before that a lot of the KPI planning is already done. I present those KPI (Key Performance Indicators) at the kickoff which involves all the key stakeholders. The point is to give everybody a clear understanding of what the goal is. It’s showing the team the problem but not the answer. Brainstorming sessions without any framework have a low efficiency so this kickoff acts as an alignment of the overall vision. I also use this milestone to present consumer insights, market analysis and trend research which also serve as guardrails for the project team. Following this kickoff is a creative phase where each stakeholder sees how they can use their function and expertise to tackle a problem and improve on how it was handled last season/last project.Michael Künnell
MF:According to your personal view – what is «good project management« and why is it important?MK:Good project management for me is when we achieve our objectives with joy and when it feels like fun. In the future, I think, we will tackle more and more projects online. Even more important that we get to know each other personally and face to face, because that makes cooperation a lot more efficient, the projects are more fun and successful.Daniel Laufs
MF:According to your personal view – what is «good project management« and why is it important?DL:Good project management for me is a mix between agile and classical. This means that we have quite rigid structures, but we can move around within in an agile way. Self-realization is cool, but that only works when we have solid structures as framework. And it is important that the people working in projects really know what they are doing.[20]Thor Möller
MF:According to your personal view – what is «good project management« and why is it important?TM:A tool is only as good as the person using it, a car only as good as its driver and every project management approach is as good as it has been introduced and implemented. With all the tools we have for PM, unfortunately the aspect of ‹leadership› is too often left out and neglected, meaning that projects very often lack leadership. To quote Siemens: ‹A fool with a tool is still a fool!›. Good project management is something truly wonderful and never goes out of fashion. After more than 20 years I am still learning something about project management – and I will continue to learn valuable things in the next 30 years. The world needs projects – but projects are much more than mere methods or tools. Unfortunately some companies still think: ‹We’re doing PM now. We need a software!›. No! That’s not how it works. We need to understand project management and we need to incorporate it, living it, that’s the bottom line. And in order to be able to do so we need extensive, profound knowledge on project management. Sure, of course also about the methods out there. But most of all, we need the knowledge about WHY we need to do WHAT and WHEN during the project. Good PM therefore means an holistic view on the project with everything that belongs to it. That’s very well possible without much fuss, it works perfectly in a very down-to-earth way, by using excel sheets or very pragmatic approaches. That’s the great thing about project management, after all!Tobias Rohrbach
MF:According to your personal view – what is «good project management« and why is it important? Why is it important for companies to deal with PM and train their employees accordingly?TR:Quite an obvious answer – to get the maximum potential out of everything. Time, costs, scope, quality – the classical triangle of constraints… On a meta level good project management for me is that I need to recognize if the project really is a project, whether it is good or bad. It is about not only being effective, but efficient. Good project management ensures that nothing gets out of hand. Corporate entities and organizations urgently need more knowledge with regard to PM, because this topic definitely is the topic of the future. I am thrilled by everything that is calculable – and good PM ensures that everything is calculable! Project management has a great methodology and therefore inspires me in all aspects.[21]René Windus
MF:Do you have «secret tips« for successful projects?RW:At any rate, we need a proper clarification of the tasks, a clear-cut scope! Everything other than that blows it all up in our faces. And then we need a functioning, appropriate stakeholder management. That means, identifying our stakeholders at an early stage and understanding what drives them. And then doing everything necessary to keep them engaged during the project. Another important aspect – no matter, what’s going on, always be honest with the people! This includes bad news. Communicating everything openly and immediately, that’s the bottom-line when our project needs to work out. But that only works when everyone understands interpersonal matters. Success factors are soft skills! Plans are important, but the success of a project does not depend on the plan, but on how well I interact and cooperate with the people in the project.Olaf Piper
MF:According to your personal view – what is «good project management« and why is it important?OP:Good PM has a lot to do with communication and building confidence. The project manager cannot and should not do substantive matters all by him or herself, but rather concentrate on having the right people on board, building confidence and constantly listening to the things that matter in order to be able to react fast. A lot of well-known projects have proven how inefficient it can be when decisions come far too late. Often it takes a lot more effort to correct faults than to start all over again (see the project of the Berlin Brandenburg Airport BER, the ‹Philharmonic› project in Hamburg, etc.).Petra Berleb
MF:According to your personal view – what is «good project management« and why is it important?PB:For me, good project management results in something great and valuable at the end! When I create a product or service that thrills my customers. The method only comes second! A good customer experience and a value-adding result to me matter more than the method. Unfortunately in Germany this is often different because we are a country of engineers and always want to have things as clear-cut as possible. Interpersonal issues very often are neglected. PM is more than ticking checkboxes or applying methods. Methods are a means to an end. Appreciation very often is a high-held buzzword – and yet often falls by the wayside in practice.[22]MF:Do you have «secret tips« for successful projects or maybe even favorite tools?PB:Making room for truthfulness and trust! It is always going bad when people do not play with an open deck… Particularly when a project is not running smoothly at all – talk about it and be open! Then we will find solutions for everything. Sweeping problems under the carpet always leads to mistrust and chaos. And then, of course, it also requires good communication and transparency. In our projects we use Kanban boards, because they facilitate transparency. You can see at once where there is a bottleneck or which team member is overburdened, because he or she is involved in too many tasks. Since we work a lot remotely, we use Trello. But it’s not about the software, it’s about an agile mindset! This is the reason why I love PM. Because the focus lies on the human and on added value.Chris Schiebel
MF:Why project management? What fascinates you about working in projects?CS:Firstly – projects design the future of companies. Projects implement the strategies operatively and that fascinates me because this is why we need project managers. It is incredibly inspiring to contribute in this context and to co-create. And it’s project management that enables exactly this. Success is visible effectiveness. In projects we send out a signal and are able to see, feel, touch – and, to some extent, make history. Secondly – almost nobody in a company is better connected than the project managers! So we have an incredibly high influence, co-create and set marks. Networking is the key, it leads to visibility. It is a gift to be able to contribute to bringing companies forward. Thirdly – projects mean very little repetition, there is rather a lot of novelty. And that really fits to a great extent with my personality. Leaving well-trodden paths behind, embracing new developments and having some variety.[23]2 Initiation Phase
Illustration 1: Overview Initiation Phase
2.1 Fundamentals
We have an idea for a project or some circumstances lead to an endeavor that is completely new territory for us. Above all, neither we nor the customer have a very clearcut idea on the objectives, on how to proceed or on the specific content of the project. This means so far we are quite at a loss! We have a broad idea of what we want to achieve, but we cannot really put our finger on it yet. At least we have a mutual understanding that this topic is important, that we need to do something and that it is time to put it on the agenda. We get a first overview by collecting everything we can find on this very topic. This means we check to see if we have already done something similar in our company and if we have access to documents or progress reports on this. We check our (project’s) environment or audience to see if someone has already done something of a similar nature or if there are people with expert knowledge in this field with whom we can get in touch with and exchange thoughts and ideas. Other than that we can collect information related to our potential project in the same trade or [24]industry sector and ask around. Everything we find is recorded, structured, evaluated and little by little we gain more clarity.
2.1.1 Scoping
We share the collected information with our customer and find out what is clear, unclear and debatable. The clear aspects are stipulated in written form, the unclear issues are not addressed yet – either because the customer has not thought about it so far or to him or her it seemed such an obvious topic that it was not necessary to bring it up. Thus, we ask specific questions and scrutinize the answers, if necessary, until we obtain a clear picture. Regarding some aspects – those that are debatable – we will soon realize that we have different opinions or views to those of the customer. Therefore we need to clarify these topics! Only when there is a mutual understanding on what we want to achieve with our project and how we might proceed is the scoping completed.
If we are lucky, the customer has already thought about specific requirements and has stipulated preferences in official requirement specifications from which we establish at a later date a statement of work containing specific instructions with regard to the implementation and execution of the project.
2.1.2 Project Context Analysis
In order to get an overview on which factors have an impact on our project we have to establish a project context analysis. This contains social factors as well as objective factors regarding our audience or environment. Social factors refer to individual people or groups of people that can influence the project or who are influenced by the project. The objective audience consists of things or facts that can have a negative or positive impact on the project. From them we can detect risks or chances which help us in taking the decision whether or not it makes sense to really initiate the project. In the process of collecting, structuring and sorting out the individual factors it makes sense to differentiate between direct and indirect factors – for both social and objective factors. We can influence direct factors without any problems, whereas indirect factors need a workaround. A classification at this early stage can make sense to avoid wasting time or resources for situations beyond our control later on in the course of the project. However, we always need to bear in mind that our project is influenced by all factors regardless of whether they are direct or indirect!
Suppose we would carry out a project context analysis for the Titanic. Our direct social factors would be the captain, the crew and the passengers. A captain has [25]absolute power on the ship, the passengers need to follow his commands as well. This makes them direct factors. The indirect social factors include the families of the crew and the passengers, because the operators of the Titanic have no impact or bearing on them at all. The same applies for reporters not being on board. If a disaster occurs, the families might claim damages and the reporters will report on the drama despite the fact that the shipping line cannot do anything about it! The direct objective factors includes the ‹unsinkability› of the Titanic, the number of lifeboats, the selected route, the speed of the ship and the ‹Blue Riband› (a sought-after trophy for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic). The indirect objective factors include icebergs, weather, visibility conditions and media coverage, because the shipping line cannot influence these factors.
2.1.3 Projectification
In order to be able to make a decision for or against the project, we still have to clarify whether the project fits our company at all! The thoughts we have about this will feed into the project design which will be addressed and tackled in the next phase, the definition phase. Social aspects such as corporate culture and values have to be considered as well as the organizational aspects of the company. We need to examine if carrying out the project is possible with regard to the parent organization of our company and if the projects’ objectives can be compatible with our corporate objectives. If, for instance, the Vatican would be aiming at initiating a project on producing war weapons, this project would probably not correspond with the objectives of the Papal States. If a ‹clean company› would want to initiate a project and realize that this would not be possible without child labor, it would also not correspond with the corporate objectives.
If the collected information so far describe the project idea sufficiently well, we now need to make a decision if the endeavor is going to become a project or not! The official approval of the project idea automatically starts the next phase, the definition phase.
2.2 Practical Example
At the beginning of a project there is an idea. In the present example it was our idea to write a book. A book on project management. Why a book? Why on project management? And what benefit did we expect from this project idea?
After my first positive experiences in writing a book and publishing it with Haufe, a renowned German publishing house, I literally was in an «author’s mode«, because I love [26]writing, I feel like I have something to say and I love reading good books myself. My visibility would expand as an author and I would also become more noticed as a trainer, coach and author and find, at the best, recognition as an expert for my topics. The success factors are that readers buy the book, want to know more about the topics addressed, become curious and contact me to book me as a trainer or coach. My husband Mathias and I are both experienced project managers and trainers, supporting our various participants in preparing for different project management certifications. Apparently we have developed the right feel for didactics and manage to ignite the «project management spark« with the consequences of more and more participants asking us to write a book on project management and explain to the world how PM really works. Mathias and I were immediately convinced and the idea for writing a book on PM got us started.
I am a big fan of the Project Canvas by Karen Schmid and Frank Habermann. This tool is very helpful when it comes to project design, because it reasonably sets the scene and helps me to ‹ask the right questions› at the very start of my project idea. In an initial creative brainstorming session we identified a few key topics and quickly agreed on the central theme of our book and seeing that I published my first book on leadership with Haufe it was quickly agreed upon that Mathias and I wanted to cooperate with them for our new book project as well.
We got together and collected our first ideas on what a possible cooperation could look like, what timeline we could think of and how we could integrate writing our book into our daily business as project managers, trainers and coaches without neglecting neither ourselves nor our family.
A project context analysis brought forth the objective factors such as the publishing house and its good reputation in the industry, the author’s contract and also the relevant legal regulations such as the Publishing Law and copyright or the data protection regulations. Of course, our expertise on project management and our experience as business economists, project managers, project consultants and trainers fell into the category of objective factors. It was clear from the beginning that our book would be based on good project management according to the regulations of GPM/IPMA. We also counted in the current standards ICB 4.0 as well as our German DIN 69901 respectively in the international context the DIN ISO 21500 as objective factors on behalf of the PCA. The list of social factors included us as the authors, the leading manager of business publications at Haufe, our product manager, logistics people, graphic designers, correctors, our proofreader, the future readers of our book or the transport agent responsible for delivering our books. A decision in favor of the project was quickly taken and even expanded by the idea of writing the book in a German and English version right from the start.
[27]2.3 Quintessence
In the initiation phase everything is looked at in a rather superficial, rough way as one does not want to waste too much time and money on a project that may not be carried out at all, or is not feasible at all. Efforts are only made to define the project in concrete terms, to create a common understanding between the parties and to ensure that all relevant information is provided that is necessary for the decision «Carry out the project: Yes/No«. Only when the project order is in place and the work in the project would actually be paid for, the issues collected such as the contextual factors or audience are examined in more detail – which will take place during the next phases.
2.4 Tools and Tips
After the initial communication and exchanges with the customer you very often realize that there are still a lot of things that are unclear, that have not yet been talked about and that some important information may be missing. Maybe the customer is still unaware of all that or he assumes that we certainly know what he is aiming at. Now, the most crucial point is to keep cool, not get into a blind frenzy, but rather to get a precise overview of the situation and to research it in detail. Good research resources are lessons learned from previous projects, information from industry associations and, of course, the internet. It is important to address all questions arising within the framework of scoping. Also, when realizing that important information is missing – take notes. When you have collected all items, schedule another meeting with the customer and talk about all of this until both parties have reached a mutual understanding of the steps to be taken.
A very helpful tool which has already been mentioned in the practical example is the Project Canvas. It is valuable to get an overview on all relevant project issues at one glance, with all relevant stakeholders and pose the questions that in practical project work often remain unanswered. Similar to the Business Model Canvas there is a pre-defined scheme consisting of eleven domains that we draw – in landscape format – on a flipchart (or better: on a meta board!). Every segment comes with relevant questions that lead all involved stakeholders into the perfect direction right from the start, giving valuable impulses.
We start with the customer domain and ask ourselves who exactly the people who have commissioned us are, who expects to benefit from our project and who finances our project.
[28]We then move on to the purpose domain and question the motives, the intentions behind the project. Why is the project meaningful and important and how can we make history with our project? Subsequently we go to the result domain and deal with the question around what exactly is the project supposed to deliver to the customer – is it about a new product, a new service or is it about new knowledge or findings? The fourth domain is quality and we take a closer look at what really makes our customers happy, what expectations they have and also how much they would like to participate or be involved in the project personally. Of course, the domain time also plays an important role. Both in terms of the actual start and end of the project, as well as questions regarding deadline flexibility, approvals or necessary documents. Another domain reads as milestones, where we need to think about what the important stages of the project are, when it is time to celebrate and how we can really measure our project’s success and make it visible. Moving along, we now deal with the environment and scrutinize which known forces influence our project in both a positive and negative way. Of course, the Project Canvas also has a domain for risks and chances, in order to find out which uncertain future event either blows wind into our sails or hinders our project journey. In this regard I particularly like the fact that Karen Schmidt’s and Frank Habermann’s Project Canvas includes for us project managers the practical tip that events that are certain to occur and that we can influence belong in the environment – they are not risks! The next domain is about the team, and we explicitly ask ourselves the question of who is or should be on board as the core team, the extended team, external partners and, of course, the project manager. We then tackle the resources domain and think about which models or methods can support our project and which resources are available, but we also question which locations we can use and how we want to hold meetings; online or face-to-face, with what materials etc. The eleventh domain is about the budget and here we ask ourselves how much money is needed, what the financial framework is all about and what internal and external financial resources we need, including the budget for the team.
The concrete questions for every domain of the Project Canvas make the discussions among the project participants very goal-oriented and systematic so that right at the beginning of a project we adjust our sails onto efficiency and everyone receives valuable impulses up front. The great thing in working with this tool is that the people using it discover everything together and thus really get a mutual understanding on what their project is all about. They bring the big picture to light!
Illustration 2: Project Canvas
At the beginning of our project a particular creative technique can help us to adopt a new perspective and get impulses that are of value further into the course of the project. I am talking about the so-called headstand method. The approach is as follows: Instead of asking ourselves how we can manage to lead our project to success, we turn the question into the exact opposite and, together with our project team, we think about what we could do to sabotage our project instead! How would we need to work and what would we need to do in order to fail? This way of thinking might seem awkward at first, but the moment the first person from the team boldly utters a specific idea, the floodgates open and creative work starts. Once we have an array of ideas on how to make our project fail, it is time to implement the second step of our headstand method by doing another headstand, reversing the question once more. That means that we now take an item from our list and turn it into the opposite. This way we are back to the initial question about the project’s success. The only difference is that by approaching the problem indirectly by doing the headstand twice, we are able to be a lot more precise and we may have received quite a lot of new, inspiring impulses that will be helpful in the further course of our project. The headstand method is a great way of integrating skeptical people and people with a rather negative attitude, taking their skepticism and concerns seriously. This change of perspective inspires us [30]to leave the trodden paths and to conquer new domains of thought. And it is precisely this that may really set us on the path to success.
Engaging Questions for the Initiation Phase
CUD – What is clear, unclear, debatable?What potential is hidden in our endeavor?What is our main objective?What benefit do we expect from our project?What is the measure for success of our project?To what extent is our project important to the strategic orientation of our company?What exactly is our plan and why is that important?Who is our customer and who is the ‹audience› for our project?Why has the customer chosen to work with us in particular?Have we already done something similar or are there empirical values of something similar?What are we going to implement/not implement?How do we want to regulate the contractual aspect? (General contractors? Consulting contracts etc.?)What if we fail?
