Questions for PMs

Submitted by Smithers on Sat, 01/11/2014 - 19:55

Hey guys,

I have a few questions I'd like to pick your brains on, weather from PMP best practices pov or simply drawn from your professional experience.

1- How do you handle scope changes in a project?
2- How do you do you determine if scope creep has set in?
3- What are a project manager's involvements at the project launch stage?
4- How do you start a project in an field you are not familiar with?
5- If a project goes off track, how do you pull it together?

Thanks in advance

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Smithers

Sun, 01/12/2014 - 17:13

Guys, if you can take a stab at any of the above questions, it'll be greatly appreciated. I think those are real life scenarios that may be helpful to many people out there...

Thanks

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admin

Wed, 01/15/2014 - 04:08

All of these are quite loaded questions


1. Scope changes must be handled via the change management process outlined in the SoW or contract. All team members and client stakeholders must be aware of this process. CCB must be setup to approve , evaluate , review the changes.  We must agree with client to stop scope changes after project has crossed certain lifecycle stage. If this is not done then there is a risk of project not meeting the intended schedule as changes during later stages of project are more expensive and time consuming.


2. Scope creep is uncontrolled changes and continous growth in project scope. If you see too many scope changes in your project then scope creep has set in


3. Project launch stage is very important and you must intervene in all aspects of project management during the launch phase, be it communicaiton plan, knowledge management plan, HR plan etc. Make a checklist of what needs to be done by what date and ensure all team members understand the importance of project management activities


4. To start  a project you are not familiar with , you will need to take help / advise from people who are experienced in that technology or domain. Make sure you know all the risks involved , meticulously identify the risks and ensure mitigation actions are in place. Being familiar with a project implies you know the risks involved. If you can get risks identified it will help you manage the project well. Ensure you do the required learning required.


5. First determine where the issue is, find the root cause. Where the project has gone off track. ? Is it w.r.t Scope, schedule, cost, quality etc. once you find the impact to triple constraints, root cause then you can make an action plan to be on track. Identify the risks involved from this point onwards and make a mitigation action plan.