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3 Oct 2011 03:40 PM
CoP Participants at HCS Breakfast Learning on 30 Sep 11
Why the Importance of this topic?
It has been discovered in a study in 2007 that only 29% of the projects surveyed had
reported to be completely successful, 23% had failed, and the rest had experienced cost
overruns.
Managing projects well, which include the knowledge and skills of planning, organising,
and managing resources, can increase the propensity of project success and reduce
wastage in efforts, money and time.
Line of Sight
What is the outcome we are trying to achieve
Understanding the importance of Managing Projects including mitigating risks
and the different stages of Managing Projects. Through the CoP able to share
useful gems from successful project management for participants to take away
Sharing of Top Issues and Best Practices
The participants deliberated on the top issues of concerns and voted the following as the top 2 issues of concerns regarding the topic on Managing Projects :
a) The allocation and management of resources for managing projects; and
b) People management and communication challenges
Some of the key Sharing on Best Practices :
(I) Resources
a) Upfront clarity on scope of work
b) Understand the availability and limitations of resources allocated
i) People
ii) Materials
iii) Budget
c) Maintain an open communication line with members and management
d) Finding and tapping on specialized skills and expertise of members
e) Bring in people who have past experiences to mentor the team
f) Be prepared in case resources promised at the start may not be fully available. Always be flexible and manage the project according to the budget
g) Never hesistate to communicate to top management if budget is insufficient. Hence the need to update management regularly
h) Allocate task according to who can do what best but be mindful of what is on each member’s plate to avoid overloading
(II) People Challenges
a) Need to build members into a team
b) Work towards getting members’ buy-in and ownership
c) Need for more transparency
d) Need to have more effective meetings and cut down on unnecessary meetings
e) Use other means of communications to update and inform.
f) Ensure proper documentation of decisions taken especially from management, customers etc.
g) Need to regularly engage stakeholders, including customers, contractors, suppliers, other support staff, regulatory agency reps etc
h) Understand diversity in teams especially cultural and generational and find ways to help people understand each other better
i) Have a contingency plan to manage membership attrition due to resignation
j) Have a properly conceived Risk Mitigation plan