I have become a hands-on project manager, not by intent or professional training, but as a result of gradual progression at my workplace. However, there are some PMP or project management basics that I have inculcated specifically to ensure that I can better map and manage my projects. For instance, feasibility analysis has a lot more to do with the overall relevance of landing a project rather than just the costing. Some projects have an identifiable starting and termination point – you are aware whether this is an ongoing collaboration or a one-time affair.
Evaluating Project Feasibility, Best Run with Project Scope and Skill Set Reality
Now, based on this simple analysis, you need to do a check on how a proposed project can be fitted within the current workload of your team – this feasibility parameter, based on project doability, is not about profit or the number of dollars earned as pure profit, it is about whether a project can be done within the time-frame the client expects and by using the current pool of resources you have – you might earn something out of it but the feasibility is also about a project not overwhelming your team leader, manager or other teammates.- profitability
- ability to make things work with the current, available resources
- ability to conform to the deadline
- ensuring sufficient resource availability in view of planned leaves across the team
- checking QC bandwidth
- ensuring the project does not clash with the highest of priority projects
- checking the planned leave calendar
- if the same client has been working with another team in the department, catch-up and set-up a familiar mode of communication for more preparedness
- able to set-up client handling for high-quality projects with multiple stakeholders might need communication beyond the working hours
- for projects that have substantial digital footprints, it might be necessary to ensure that the project outcomes are readily shared on client-owned platforms, from PRs to social media channels
- you might be tackling undefined goals. Are you ready for this? Is there room to ramp-up the resource bandwidth without any notice?
- if there are milestone payments, how to handle client requests for making lump-sum payments are receiving initial payments on a milestone basis
- freedom to change instructions for the team when some sub-processes become redundant
- sharing plans with the client about the unrealized business value of data generated as a part of the project. Ideally, there should be a presentation for it
- ensuring minimal fragmentation of outcomes, emphasizing that complete sets of allocated tasks are finished systematically rather than running submitting work with on-hold sub-sets
One challenge that you cannot really prepare for is unplanned and immediate exits - for instance, we had this girl from Kashmir who found a brilliant opening at one of the FM radio stations at her native place. Obviously, I had to relent since the offer was so good and there was nothing she had done wrong. With a joining window so small, we had to adjust and let her go with no grudges...you cannot always plan the volatility of members on the verge of switching!
ReplyDeleteThere is also the case of projects that run into difficulty simply because the client has too much to share, too many options to try and is still very strict about the billed hours. As a PM, you are stuck with a client who will not hear your reason and will hope to achieve overnight success by employing your resources.
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