The Project Manager’s Playbook Bryan Barrow CITP MAPM MBCS MPSA

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LET’S LOOK AT OUR PROJECTS

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THIS IS WHERE WE WANT TO BE

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THIS IS SEEN AS ACCEPTABLE

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WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THIS?

TODAY’S AGENDA

• The Challenges We Face

• A Bit About Me

• Why American Football?

• The Project Manager’s Play Book

• The Top Three Plays

• Over To You . . .

TODAY’S AGENDA

• The Challenges We Face

• A Bit About Me

• Why American Football?

• The Project Manager’s Play Book

• The Top Three Plays

• Over To You . . .

POOR INITIATION AND PLANNING

• xx

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MEETINGS, BLOODY MEETINGS!

Photo credit: www.toronto.com

POOR PROJECT PUBLIC RELATIONS

TODAY’S AGENDA

• The Challenges We Face

• A Bit About Me

• Why American Football?

• The Project Manager’s Play Book

• The Top Three Plays

• Over To You . . .

I’M A CONSULTANT AND SPEAKER

BUT I STARTED OUT HERE

MY PROJECT MANAGEMENT JOURNEY

1981: Started life as an apprentice

1984: My son was born, finished Apprenticeship

1989: My first project role

1992: My First PM Role

1994: When I decided to go freelance

BUT I TOOK ANOTHER JOURNEY TOO

MY AMERICAN FOOTBALL JOURNEY

1982: Channel 4 broadcasts American Football

1989: I first play American Football

1992: I Join the Swindon Steelers American football club, we win our first game

1993: My second season with the Swindon Steelers, we win our second game

1994: My final season with the Swindon Steelers, we have a winning season!

1982: Channel 4 broadcasts American Football

1989: I first play American Football

1992: I Join the Swindon Steelers American football club, we win our first game

1993: My second season with the Swindon Steelers, we win our second game

1994: My final season with the Swindon Steelers, we have a winning season!

ONE JOURNEY LED TO THE OTHER

1981: Started life as an apprentice

1984: My son was born, finished Apprenticeship

1989: My first project role

1992: My First PM Role

1994: When I decided to go freelance

TODAY’S AGENDA

• The Challenges We Face

• A Bit About Me

• Why American Football?

• The Project Manager’s Play Book

• The Top Three Plays

• Over To You . . .

THE OBJECTIVE IS TO GAIN TERRITORY

4 10 1st Attempts Yards Down

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1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 1 0

PROJECTS ARE NO DIFFERENT

Initiation

Feasibility

Definition

Development

Installation

Testing / Pilot

Rollout

Review & Close

End

Start

SUCCESS IS DOWN TO THE BASICS

“Some people

try to find

things in this

game that don’t

exist but

football is only

two things:

blocking and

tackling.”

Vince Lombardi Head Coach of the

Green Bay Packers

1959 -1967

MY TOP 12 FOOTBALL LESSONS

1. Everyone knows the goal

2. One squad, three teams

3. The kick-off is vital

4. Players know their

assignments

5. No teamwork, no victory!

6. Unlimited substitutions

MY TOP 12 FOOTBALL LESSONS

7. Feedback in real time

8. Always watch the clock

9. Minimise fumbles and

turnovers

10. You will play hurt

11. Defenses win championships

12. No draws in football

MY MOST IMPORTANT LESSON

“I would rather play on

a losing team with a

bunch of winners than

on a winning team with

a bunch of losers.”

-- @bryanbarrow

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TODAY’S AGENDA

• The Challenges We Face

• A Bit About Me

• Why American Football?

• The Project Manager’s Play Book

• The Top Three Plays

• Over To You . . .

MY OFFENSIVE PLAYS

• Task Assignment, Coaching and

Mentoring

• Quality Assurance Reviews

• The Weekly Schedule Review

• The Budget Review

• The Top Ten Risk Log

• Stakeholder Communications

MY DEFENSIVE PLAYS

• Scope Statement

• Resource Management

• Dependency Tracking

• Contingency Planning

• Issue Management

• Change Management

MY SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYS

• Project Kick-off

• Stakeholder Analysis

• Project Scheduling

• Risk Identification

• End Stage Review

• Exception Management

• Lessons Learned Review

TODAY’S AGENDA

• The Challenges We Face

• A Bit About Me

• Why American Football?

• The Project Manager’s Play Book

• The Top Three Plays

• Over To You . . .

PLAY #1 – PROJECT KICK OFF

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PLAN PROJECTS USING INDEX CARDS

HERE’S THE WORKSHOP AGENDA

First Hour

Second Hour

Third Hour Add Work

Products needed to achieve Key

Milestones

Add Governance

Review Points

Review the results of

the Workshop

Introduce the

Workshop Activity

Break Review the High Level

Plan

Welcome, Agenda and Icebreaker

Break Goal of the Workshop

Project Vision

Review Expectations

Divide the project into Workstreams and

Agree Key Milestones

Add the Timeline

HERE’S A WORKSHOP IN ACTION

THIS IS A KEY DECISION POINT

If the project is viable, proceed with:

• Project Scheduling

• Risk Identification

• Contingency planning

• Stakeholder Analysis

If the project is not viable:

• Terminate the project now

MOST PROJECTS ONLY HAVE ‘PLAN A’

“Most projects only

have a ‘Plan A’.

These projects are

never successful

because Plan A

never works.”

-- @bryanbarrow

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YOU NEED TO HAVE ‘PLAN B’ READY

“It’s better to have a

plan you don’t need

than need a plan you

don’t have.”

-- @bryanbarrow

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BRYAN SAYS . . .

“You can successfully

kick off even the most

challenging projects

but only if you have

the right process and

the right people.”

-- @bryanbarrow

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PLAY #2 – WEEKLY TEAM MEETINGS

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LEADERSHIP IS THE #1 RATED SKILL

Source: Project Management Institute (2013), “Pulse of the Profession”

Common problems:

No Agenda

Failure to Signal

Intentions

Negligent Ordering

of Items and Poor

Allocation of Time

Not being in Control

of the Meeting

No Record of the

Meeting

My Meeting Formula:

Standard Agenda

Clear Purpose and

Outcome

Time Allocated and

Each Item Taken In

Order

I’m in Charge

Minutes Published

to Attendees and

Stakeholders

WHY MY TEAM MEETINGS WORK

HERE’S MY STANDARD AGENDA

10 mins 20 mins 10 mins 10 mins 10 mins

Item 1

Review

Actions

Item 2

Review

Progress

Item 3

Review

top 10

risks

Item 4

Review

top 10

issues

Item 5

AOB

HERE’S HOW WE REVIEW PROGRESS

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INSTEAD OF TIME VERSUS COST

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risk

100%

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LET’S LOOK AT TIME VERSUS RISK

FOCUS ON TOP 10 RISKS

80% of problems

issues and

delays

20% of risks

risk

100%

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Here’s where we started

Here’s where we are now

Here’s where we’re likely

to finish

CONSTANT FOCUS REDUCES RISK

PLAY #3 - STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS

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GOOD COMMUNICATION IS VITAL

Source: Project Management Institute (2013), “Pulse of the Profession”

MY PROJECT PR PROCESS

• Issue team meeting minutes

• Update the project schedule

• Update the risk and issues logs

• Issue pack to key stakeholders

• Create tailored updates

• Make good news travel fast

• Prepare people for bad news

BRYAN SAYS . . .

“Make sure that you

are the one telling

the story of your

project.

If you don’t, someone

else will do it for you.

Their version will be

worse that yours.”

-- @bryanbarrow Tweet this

HERE’S ME WITH MY SON JASON

HE WAS LOVABLE AND TALENTED

BUT HE WAS WASTING HIS TALENTS

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Here’s where you started

Here’s where you are now

Degree

stage

30

15

10

5

20

25 A Levels

Good GCSEs

Accepted on GCSE courses

THIS WAS MY GAMEPLAN FOR JASON

DESPITE SETBACKS, HE SUCCEEDED

BRYAN SAYS . . .

“Work hard and

believe in yourself,

your play book and

your team mates.

Don’t worry about the

outcome, the victories

will follow -- Bryan

Barrow”

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ALL THAT HARD WORK PAID OFF

NOW IT’S OVER TO YOU . . .

Is there a challenge in your life that you’ve

been afraid to take on because you might

fail? Are you working on a project that is

stressing you out because you feel it’s all

on you? Here’s what to do:

• Trust in your playbook and your team

• Tell your project’s story, loud and often

• Put your fears to one side, look beyond

today’s failures to tomorrow’s successes

FEEL FREE TO CONNECT WITH ME

Bryan Barrow CITP MAPM MBCS MPSA

Tel:

+44 (0)7954 435456

Email:

bryan@bryanbarrow.com

Web:

bryanbarrow.com

Skype:

bryanbarrow

Twitter:

@bryanbarrow

Available at bryanbarrow.com/resources

FOR MORE INFORMATION . . .

• The Five Biggest Drawbacks Of

The ‘Brown Paper and Post-It’

Planning Workshop

• How To Plan Your Project Using

Index Cards

• The Business Benefits Of

Facilitated Planning Workshops

FOR EVEN MORE INFORMATION . . .

My take on running

successful project

kickoff workshops:

• My Step-by-Step

planning approach

• Who should attend

• Getting buy-in

• Resources needed

Available on Amazon