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Monthly posts about the project management world. Opinions, experiences, best practices, processes, tools, and the most important thing, your feedback* are all part of this blog. Contact us and tell us what topics you would like us to cover.
These posts have been featured on Ezine Articles, Google Knols and other top websites by Expert Author Jorge Dominguez.
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The Case For The Business Case
The business case document… How wonderful if it was developed every time there was a business need if only for the benefit of the business itself.
The hard truth is that this document is not being produced in the majority of the projects that see the light. The business case document is the only document that supports the business need and reasoning for initiating a project or not. How long or short it is has no relevance; the relevance lies in its existance. The most compelling business cases adequately capture tangible as well as untangible characteristics of a proposed project.
Wikipedia has this very good example: “a software upgrade might improve system performance, but the “business case” is that better performance would improve customer satisfaction, require less task processing time, or reduce system maintenance costs.”
An effective business case must, at least, contain the following:
• Detail the problem to be solved
• Detail the proposed solution
• Advantages and disadvantages of the proposed solution
• Proposed process flow (if known)
• Proposed technical flow (if known)
• Estimated or approximate cost of the proposed solution
• Benefits of the proposed solution
• Risks of the proposed solution
With the above information, the performing organization is certain to be able to establish priorities between this project and the many others. This document is now the instrument for receiving funding and approval to move forward or not.
Who is responsible for writing the business case document? This is asked over and over again, even in mature organizations. So, let’s clear this up once and for all and allow me to answer this question with another question: Who has the need? If you can answer this question you would know who is responsible for writing it. The only one(s) who can write a business case document is the one(s) who has the need.
Without a business case the organization may be wasting valuable resources on things not really needed by the business at the moment. Don’t you think so…? Well, I do. Don’t you think so…? Well, I do.
MS Project: There Is A Tip For That – Part 1
Let’s get to the point and to right into the MS Project tips*.
1) To Change Views: Select the View menu and select a new view. Or, press
2) To Display the View Bar: Select View View Bar from the menu
3) To Use More Views: Select View More Views from the menu. Select a view in the dialog box and click Apply
4) To Create a New Project: Select File New from the menu and click Blank Project in the task pane. Or, click the New button, or press
5) To Enter the Scheduling Date: Select Project Project Information from the menu. Click the Schedule from list arrow and select a scheduling option. Enter the project’s Start date or Finish date
6) To Set the Office Project Calendar: Select Project Project Information from the menu. Click the Calendar list arrow and select the calendar you want to use. Click OK
7) To Change Working Hours: Select Tools Change Working Time from the menu. Select the date(s) you want to change: Day of the Week: Click the column heading(s) of the days you want to change for the duration of the project. Date: Select the date(s) you want to change. Enter the new working hours in the To and From text boxes. Click OK
8) To Change Nonworking Time: Select Tools Change Working Time from the menu. Select the date(s) you want to change. Day of the Week: Click the column heading(s) of the days you want to change for the duration of the project. Date: Select the date(s) you want to change. Click the Details button. Click the Nonworking time option in the dialog box and click OK
9) To Create a New Base Calendar: Select Tools Change Working Time from the menu. Click the Create New Calendar button in the dialog box and enter the calendar name in the Name text box. Click the calendar option you want to use and choose the base calendar you want to copy, if necessary. Click OK. Change the working hours and nonworking days for the calendar as necessary and click OK
10) To View the Project Guide Toolbar: Select View Toolbars Project Guide from the menu
11) To Use the Project Guide: On the Project Guide toolbar, click the area button you want to work on. Click the link to the step you want to complete in the project and follow the Project Guide’s instructions to set up the project. Or, click any button list arrow on the Project Guide toolbar and select the step you want to complete
12) To Turn Off the Project Guide: Select Tools Options from the menu. Click the Interface tab and uncheck the Display Project Guide check box
13) To Print a Project: Select File Print from the menu. Choose your print options. When you are ready to print, click OK
14) To Print the Current View as a Report: Open the view you want to print. Click the Report button list arrow on the Project Guide toolbar and select Print current view as a report from the list. Work your way through the steps of the wizard and click the Print button when finished
15) To Get Help: Press the
16) To Turn Off Office Online: Click the Online Content Settings link in the Project Help task pane. Uncheck the Search online content when connected option and click OK
More MS Project tips in the near future will be beneficial to all. Don’t you think so…? Well, I do.
* Based on MS Project® 2007.
Project Status Is Critical But Stable
Most project status reports tell you that the project is doing well, others are braver and say that the project is “a little” behind schedule but there is “plenty” of time to catch up, some report on budget/schedule plan vs. actual but most fail to indicate what exactly has been completed and what remains to be completed as well as issues and risks.
Some status reports incorporate a red, yellow (or amber), green stoplight. Other more sophisticated are in the form of key performance indicators (KPIs). They both indicate the health of the project based on pre-defined thresholds of mostly time and cost that never satisfy everybody and are almost always misinterpreted or completely ignored by the readers.
The project status report is an important part of an effective communication process.
An effective status report must include:
• Milestones scheduled for the last reporting period and if they were completed
• Milestones scheduled for next reporting period
• Issues and their action items scheduled for the last reporting period and if they were completed
• Issues and their action items scheduled for next reporting period
• Risks and their response
• New risks identified and response plan
• Priorities
• Budgeted cost vs. actual
• A project health summary
This type of content is comprehensive and sure to provide an excellent value to its readers. Project sponsors and executives know where each critical component of the project stands and can decide whether they need to step in. The project team focuses on the priorities and what has been planned but not completed yet so that it doesn’t appear on the next report.
A link to a free project status report template can be found here. However, keep in mind that it is not about format but about content. You can have a beautifully formatted status report and if it doesn’t tell the story it is worthless.
Try to keep the report on the positive side, but if the status is critical say so, don’t hide it because sooner or later it will be obvious. Don’t you think so…? Well, I do.
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