Project management best practices

1. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
BEST PRACTICES
S.A.A.D.C.I Athukorala
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2. Content
What is a Project
The Triple Constraint
What is Project Management
Why need Project Management?
Suggested Skills for a Project Manager
Project Management Best Practices
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3. What is a Project
 A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to
accomplish a unique purpose.
Attributes of projects
Unique purpose
Temporary
Require resources, often from various areas
should have a primary sponsor and/or customer
Involve uncertainty
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4. The Triple Constraint
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5. What is Project Management
 Project management is “the application of knowledge , skills ,
tools , and techniques to project activities in order to meet or
exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a project”
PMI*, Project Management Body of Knowledge(PMBOK)
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6. Why Need This Project Management
Bosses, customers, and other stakeholders do
not like surprises.
Good project management (PM) provides
assurance and reduces risk.
Project members learn and grow by working in a
cross-functional team environment.
PM provides the tools and environment to plan,
monitor, track, and manage schedules, resources,
costs, and quality
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7. Suggested Skills for a Project Manager
Communication Skills : Listening
Organizational skills : Planning , goal-setting
Team Building skills : empathy , motivation , team
spirit
Leadership skills : sets example , energetic , positive
Technological skills : experience , project knowledge
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8. Project Management Best Practices
Define the Project Definition Document
The project definition is the primary deliverable
from the planning process and describes all
aspects of the project at a high level.
Once approved by the customer and relevant
stakeholders, it becomes the basis for the work to
be performed.
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9. The project definition should include the
following:
 Project overview
 Objectives
 Scope
 Assumptions and risks
 Approach
 Organization
 Signature page
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10.  Project Planning
 Planning requires that the project manager decides which
people, resources and budget are required to complete
the project.
 Define what activities are required to produce the
deliverables using techniques.
 estimate the time and effort required for each activity,
dependencies between activities.
 Estimate how long activities will take.
 Write this into the project plan and get the key
stakeholders to review and agree to the plan.
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11. Communicate with all project stakeholders
From the first day project manager kick the
project off PM need to be communicating.
Not to just a select few, but to all the
project stakeholders.
 This includes key people like team members,
managers, project sponsors, clients, and valued
users.
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12. Tracking and Reporting Project Progress
When the project is underway it must monitor
and compare the actual progress with the planned
progress.
It needs to record variations between the actual
and planned cost, schedule and scope.
It needs to report variations to your manager and
key stakeholders and take corrective actions if
variations get too large.
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13. Risk Management
Risks are events which can adversely affect the
successful outcome of the project.
Plans must be made to avoid the risk.
If the risk cannot be avoided, to mitigate the risk
to lessen its impact if it occurs.
This is known as risk management.
Not managing risks effectively is a common reason
why projects fail.
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14. Change Management
Stakeholders often change their mind about what
must be delivered.
By managing changes, the project manager can
make decisions about whether or not to
incorporate the changes immediately or in the
future, or to reject them.
Not managing changes effectively is often a
reason why projects fail.
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15. Hold The Wrap- Up Meeting
Once the project has been completed, it’s time to
reflect and see how we can optimize the next
projects for success.
Holding a wrap-up meeting is a perfect
opportunity to get all of the project members
together for discussion.
Go over lessons learned and ways to improve for
next time.
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16. References
https://cdn.projectsmart.co.uk/pdf/project-
management-success.pdf
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-
best-practices-for-successful-project-management/
https://www.wrike.com/blog/project-management-
best-practices-infographic/
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