Setting
up
a
Project
Office
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Rating
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Neville Turbit - Project Perfect
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Project
Office,
Project
Management
Office,
Program
Office,
Program
Management
Office.....?
No
matter
what
you
call
it,
a
central
office
to
manage
projects
across
an
organisation,
or
part
of
an
organisation,
is
becoming
a
more
common
occurrence.
I
have
seen
they
called
Program
Office,
Program
Management
Office,
Project
Office,
Project
Management
Office,
Project
Control
Centre,
Project
and
several
other
variations.
People
have
their
own
interpretation
for
each
but
in
the
end,
their
role
is
to
make
projects
more
efficient.
Project
Office
Role
It is essential for the success of a new
Project Office that there is clear understanding before establishment, as
to the role of the office, and the interaction between the office and the
individual projects.
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The key to successfully establish a Project
Office or Programme Office is to gain agreement at the start of the
process, as to the responsibilities.
A useful and speedy technique is to workshop the possible activities
with the key players, and gain consensus as to what the office is intended
to do. The starting point is to create a list of possible activities, then
hold a workshop to evaluate the responsibility of the office, for each
activity. It is likely in some
cases there will be no activity, and in other cases, the activities
will need to be split down further.
It is also useful if the office is not to have responsibility,
to identify who does have the responsibility
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Attached is a list in no particular order.
The list is not definitive. It is intended to form the basis of a review
of the role. Each organisation will
have specific activities that may, or may not be included in the role of a
Project Office.
This matrix allows four conditions for each
activity.
·
Uninvolved. The Project Office has no responsibility for the activity
·
Monitor. Essentially they are aware of
the activity and pass on information.
·
Influence. Whilst the Project Office is not responsible for the activity, there
is a responsibility for the project team and the Project Office to work together
on the particular activity.
·
Control. The Project Office is fully responsible for the activity.
On completion of this matrix, questions
such as resourcing, inputs and outputs can be determined.
The
Project
Perfect
Checklist
for
Project
Offices
Rate each of these as
one of the four categories above. Also try to identify activities that may
be important in your organisation.
IT Strategic Plan
- Creation of a plan (3yr to 5 yr) for the whole organisation
IT Annual Operational Plan
- Define the next level of detail focusing on the projects
to be undertaken in the next year
Project Establishment
- All projects need to be logged into some central source
Project Sizing
- Create a first cut size estimate
Project Charter
- The plan for the project covering all aspects objective,
scope, constraints, organisation and staffing etc.
Budget
- Setting the initial budget
- Performance against budget
- Budget changes
Scope
- Setting the initial scope (including exclusions)
- Scope variations (Process for managing and management
of)
Staffing
- Project organisational structure
- Assigning staff (who?)
- Staff movements
- Staff personnel management
- Skills matrix and identification of gaps
- Resourcing contract maintenance & negotiation
- Staff training
- Project roles and responsibilities
- Project team terms and conditions (allowances, rates
etc.)
- Timesheet and payment
- Exit management
Methodology & Processes
- Selection of a methodology
- Maintenance of a methodology
- Training
- Maintenance and customisation of procedures
- Maintenance of templates
- Compliance with methodology
- Creation of processes and procedures
- Approval of processes and procedures
- Standardisation and rationalisation of processes and
procedures
- Training of processes and procedures
- Review of new methodologies
Tools
- Selection of tools
- Purchase of tools
- Exemptions from using tools
- Availability
to
teams
(IT
support,
upgrades
etc.)
- Training
- Review of new tools
Funding
- Approval of expenditure (levels?)
- Gating approvals
Standards
- Use of external standards (ISO 9000, CMM, SPI)
- Creation of internal standards
- QA services to project teams
- QA approvals
Admin Support
- Assist teams with logistics (rooms, travel, photocopy
etc.)
- Produce regular reporting
- Provide facilitators to workshops
- HR issues (employee leave, payment, queries)
- Materials (Stationary, PC's etc.)
Planning
- Compile plans (Project, phase, specific activity)
- Approve plans
Risk Management
- Risk assessment and logging
- Risk monitoring
- Provide risk logging facilities
Issue Mgmt
- Creation of issue log
- Management of issue log
Dependencies
- Identification of dependencies (other projects etc.)
- Monitoring of dependencies
- Identification of new dependencies
- Liaison
with
other
teams
Communication
- External to project team (where?)
- Inter project team
Change Mgmt
- Creation of a strategy and plan
- Implementation of plan
- Monitoring expectations
Problem Escalation
- Create a mechanism to escalate project issues
- Facilitate problem escalation
Library
- Maintain standard documents
- Maintain example documents
- Set project documentation standards
- Maintain project library
- Maintain checklists for project activities (Implementation,
testing, initiation)
- Create and maintain a glossary
Benefits
- Identify benefits from the project
- Quantify the benefits
- Track benefit delivery after the project
- Prepare cost benefit analysis
- Produce business case
Constraints
- Identify project constraints (resource limitations, system
limitations etc.)
Reporting
- Project status (what?)
- Budget v Expenditure
- Scope changes
- Project overview
- Staffing
- Projections
- Gantt charts
- Earned value
Integration
- Compliance with IT architecture (applications and technical)
- Integration with other systems
- Compliance with IT Policy (package preferred, particular
vendors, etc.)
Audit
- Compliance with organisational standards
- Ad hoc audits of projects to ensure company policy is
being adhered to
PIR
- Carry out post implementation review
- Generate action items from PIR
- Carry out recommendations of PIR
Acceptance & Conformance
- Set conditions for acceptance of deliverables
- Accept deliverables
- Authorise exemptions to acceptance standards
Configuration Management
- Setting up Configuration Management
- Managing software migration
- Version control
Mentoring
- Formal mentoring programmes
- Support
roles
in
projects
(e.g.
supplying
an
experienced
resource
on
a
part
time
basis)
- Special Interest Groups
Business
Interaction
- Carry out Business Process Re‑engineering
- User documentation
- User training
For more information on Project Management visit www.projectperfect.com.au
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