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14. Project Management

The AUA has a Project Management Office (PMO) which exists to support the organization in project selection (identifying opportunities that provide the best value and understanding the effort/cost involved), to shepherd the project portfolio (the projects inflight or on deck), and to manage specific projects.

A Project is:

  • A unique endeavor. (It has not been done exactly like this before).
  • Can be time boxed. (It will have a start date and a stop date.)
  • Requires coordination, cooperation, tracking, and reporting.
  • Total cost (including human hours at $100/hr.) is around $30k or more.

The Project Portfolio

The project portfolio report list current projects, their descriptions, and status. The report is updated by the PMO department monthly.

Project Management

Project Management is about making sure a body of work is completed as agreed upon. It crosses all boundaries; the project manager must reach across organizational units (divisions, departments) and even companies (vendors, partners, other stakeholders) to ensure that the body of work is completed as defined.

At the AUA we manage projects using a variety of methods, but the roles are similar in each and are shown in the simplified diagram to the below. The arrows represent lines of communications, responsibility, and feedback. The project manager is responsible for making sure this system works and that the body of work, central to all of this, gets done.

Project Management Roles

Executive Sponsor

The sponsor champions the project at the highest level in the company and gets rid of organizational obstructions. She should have the clout to communicate effectively with the CEO and key stakeholders, provide necessary resources, and approve or reject outcomes. It's also important that she have “skin in the game”—in other words, accountability for the project’s performance.1

Project Manager (PM)

The project manager plays a primary role in the project and is responsible for its successful completion. The manager’s job is to ensure that the project proceeds within the specified time frame and under the established budget, while achieving its objectives. Project managers make sure that projects are given sufficient resources, while managing relationships with contributors and stakeholders.

Project manager duties:

  • Develop a project plan
  • Manage deliverables according to the plan
  • Recruit project staff
  • Lead and manage the project team
  • Determine the methodology used on the project
  • Establish a project schedule and determine each phase
  • Assign tasks to project team members
  • Provide regular updates to upper management2

Product Owner

The product owner represents the needs of the organization as it pertains to the project. They are typically a member of the division or department that has the best understanding of the need for the project and the objectives it must fulfill. Often, they report to, or are in the chain of command to, the project sponsor, but they do not need to be. Often, they are included as members of the project team, but they do not need to be to fit the definition of the role. They are far less interested in the management of the project but much more interested in the project results (the product or outcome).

Product Owner duties:

  • Confirmation that the product in development is going to meet the needs of the organization
  • Communication with the project sponsor, project manager, and key stakeholders as needed
  • Review of work in progress including overseeing the user acceptance testing
  • Raising risks and issues to the PM and (if the PM fails to address them) to the sponsor
  • Confirmation that the delivered product meets the needs of the organization

Project Team

The heart of any project, and the true engine of its work, is its membership. That’s why bringing together the right people is extremely important.

Criteria for membership:

  • Technical skills in a specific discipline, such as market research, finance, or software programming
  • Problem-solving skills enabling individuals to analyze difficult situations or impasses and to craft solutions
  • Interpersonal skills, particularly the ability to collaborate effectively with others—a critical aspect of team-based work
  • Organizational skills, including networking, communicating well with other parts of the company, and navigating the political landscape, all of which help the team get things done and avoid conflicts with operating units and their personnel1

Vendor

A vendor is a third-party organization providing goods or services in support of the project. Like all other entities involved, their work needs to be overseen, managed, and they must be held accountable. The PM must do this as part of her responsibility to ensure the body of work gets done.

1 Five Critical Roles in Project Management (hbr.org)

2 Project Team Roles and Responsibilities (villanovau.com)

Project Managemet resources will be available soon!