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20 Key Project Manager Actions and Results

The Project Manager's Partner by Michael Greer is organized around these 20 Key Project Manager Actions and Results. The handbook provides several pages of background information concerning each of the actions, as well as step-by-step guidelines, worksheets, and examples for helping new project managers achieve results quickly and easily.

The 20 Key Project Manager Actions are organized according to their support of the Five Essential Project Management Processes: initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing.

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Action

Results of Successful Performance

Initiating

1. Demonstrate project need and feasibility.

A document confirming that there is a need for the project deliverables and describing, in broad terms: the deliverables, means of creating the deliverables, costs of creating and implementing the deliverables, benefits to be obtained by implementing the deliverables.

2. Obtain project authorization.

A "go/no go" decision is made by the sponsor.

A project manager is assigned.

A "project charter" is created which:

	Formally recognizes the project
	Is issued by a manager external to the project and at a high enough organizational level so that he or she can meet project needs
	Authorizes the project manager to apply resources to project activities

3. Obtain authorization for the phase.

A "go/no go" decision is made by the sponsor which authorizes the project manager to apply organizational resources to the activities of a particular phase

Written approval of the phase is created which

	Formally recognizes the existence of the phase
	Is issued by a manager external to the project and at a high enough organizational level so that he or she can meet project needs

Planning

4. Describe project scope.

	Statement of project scope
	Scope management plan
	Work breakdown structure

5. Define and sequence project activities.

	An activity list (list of all activities that will be performed on the project)
	Updates to the work breakdown structure (WBS)
	A project network diagram

6. Estimate durations for activities and resources required.

	Estimate of durations (time required) for each activity and assumptions related to each estimate
	Statement of resource requirements
	Updates to activity list

7. Develop a project schedule.

	Project schedule in the form of Gantt charts, network diagrams, milestone charts, or text tables
	Supporting details, such as resource usage over time, cash flow projections, order/delivery schedules, etc.

8. Estimate costs.

	Cost estimates for completing each activity
	Supporting detail, including assumptions and constraints
	Cost management plan describing how cost variances will be handled

9. Build a budget and spending plan.

	A cost baseline or time-phased budget for measuring/monitoring costs
	A spending plan, telling how much will be spent on what resources at what time

10. Create a formal quality plan. (optional)

	Quality management plan, including operational definitions
	Quality verification checklists

11. Create a formal project communications plan. (optional)

A communication management plan, including:

	Collection structure
	Distribution structure
	Description of information to be disseminated
	Schedules listing when information will be produced
	A method for updating the communications plan

12. Organize and acquire staff.

	Role and responsibility assignments
	Staffing plan
	Organizational chart with detail as appropriate
	Project staff
	Project team directory

13. Identify risks and plan to respond. (optional)

A document describing potential risks, including their sources, symptoms, and ways to address them

14. Plan for and acquire outside resources. (optional)

	Procurement management plan describing how contractors will be obtained
	Statement of work (SOW) or statement of requirements (SOR) describing the item (product or service) to be procured
	Bid documents, such as RFP (request for proposal), IFB (invitation for bid),etc.
	Evaluation criteria -- means of scoring contractor's proposals
	Contract with one or more suppliers of goods or services

15. Organize the project plan.

A comprehensive project plan that pulls together all the outputs of the preceding project planning activities

16. Close out the project planning phase.

A project plan that has been approved, in writing, by the sponsor A "green light" or okay to begin work on the project

17. Revisit the project plan and replan if needed.

Confidence that the detailed plans to execute a particular phase are still accurate and will effectively achieve results as planned.

Executing

18. Execute project activities.

	Work results (deliverables) are created.
	Change requests (i.e., based on expanded or contracted project) are identified.
	Periodic progress reports are created.
	Team performance is assessed, guided, and improved if needed.
	Bids/proposals for deliverables are solicited, contractors (suppliers) are chosen, and contracts are established.
	Contracts are administered to achieve desired work results.

Controlling

19. Control project activities.

	Decision to accept inspected deliverables
	Corrective actions such as rework of deliverables, adjustments to work process, etc.
	Updates to project plan and scope
	List of lessons learned
	Improved quality
	Completed evaluation checklists (if applicable)

Closing

20. Close out project activities.

	Formal acceptance, documented in writing, that the sponsor has accepted the product of this phase or activity.
	Formal acceptance of contractor work products and updates to the contractor's files.
	Updated project records prepared for archiving.
	A plan for follow-up and/or hand-off of work products

Do you like this tool? The latest edition of The Project Manager's Partner: A Step-by-Step Guide to Project Management contains 57 tools, checklists, and guidelines to help project managers. For more information, click on the link above or phone HRD Press at (800) 822-2801.

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(C) This article copyright 2004 from Michael Greer's Project Management Resources web site. The URL is http://www.michaelgreer.com. For more information, send e-mail to greers_pm@yahoo.com. -- Feel free to copy and distribute for informational (not-for-profit) purposes.

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