Project Management Tips

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Project Management Tips

• Top 10
• Maine Digital Government Summit
• October 18, 2007
• Kelly Hokkanen, InforME

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Real World Project Management
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1. Document Everything

• You are the project expert
• What to document
• Standard project documentation
• Important discussions and decisions made
• Dates of deliverables, decisions, milestones
• Meetings, emails and phone calls
• If a new project manager were to take over
  tomorrow, would they have the complete project
  history and status?
• Quality of documentation
• Where and how is the information stored?

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2. Establish Clear Roles

• Who has decision making authority?
• Who are the project team members and what is each
  persons role?
• Have team members been given the time they will
  need to complete their responsibilities related
  to the project?
• Avoid Decision by Committee!

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3. Follow a Standard Process

• Make a template or guide of common steps for a
  given type of project
• Checklist for each phase or at completion
• Documentation templates with standard language
  that can be re-used/customized
• Benefits
• You wont miss important steps
• Documentation is faster and easier to write

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4. Manage the Project Scope

• Take time for good requirements gathering
• Understand stakeholder goals, needs, and
  constraints
• Document the project scope (level of detail will
  vary) and get approval of all parties involved
• Keep the project within scope (nearly impossible)
  OR manage changes carefully
• Analyze change requests and consider alternate
  solutions
• Consider pushing changes to future project phases
  the initial project does not need to include
  everything or it may never get done

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5. Communicate

• Coordination and leadership of your project team
  keep everyone on track
• Make sure tasks and timelines are clear to all
• Provide frequent status reports
• Respond to questions and requests
• Manage expectations dont promise what you
  cant deliver

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6. Run Effective Meetings

• Provide an agenda for each meeting
• Its your job to facilitate the meeting follow
  the agenda
• Encourage side conversations to move offline
• Keep meetings under 2 hours
• Close meeting with re-cap
• Follow meeting with minutes or an email
  summarizing decisions and next steps
• Dont hold unnecessary meetings

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7. Have a Plan

• Develop a project plan with milestones and a
  timeline
• Balance detail with practicality (depending on
  project size/complexity)
• The plan is a tool
• Be flexible and accept that your timeline will
  change keep everyone informed

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8. Save Time to Test

• For any project, testing is very important
• Internal external testing
• Quality assurance
• Standards compliance
• Functionality (meets specifications)
• User interface(s)
• Technical/back-end
• Security
• Usability

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9. Be Smart

• Be aware of state policies, standards, and
  security issues
• Dont assume when in doubt, find out
• Examples
• Dont use email, AutoForms, or Whats New tool
  for sensitive information
• Establish where databases and applications will
  be hosted early in project
• Build to state standards

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10. Know Your Resources

• Available Tools, such as
• AutoForms
• Whats New Tool
• WebShop, Payment Engine
• InforME as a resource
• Web design
• Web application database development
• eCommerce application development
• Payment engine over-the-counter online credit
  card and e-check processing

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Questions?

• Contact
• Kelly Hokkanen
• Director of eGovernment Solutions
• InforME
• kelly_at_informe.org
• 621-2600 x28