Depending upon the scope of the team responsibility they may be about in creating the implementation phase which would include a detailed project plan or schedule. The purpose of the plan is to coordinate activities and resources and former baseline from which to manage the project. This gives everyone involved the same reference point.

In marketing it always amazes me the lack of detailed project planning. Most marketers resist the idea, misunderstanding the role of detailed planning for marketing projects. They assume that the purpose of a detailed plan is the same as it would be for other repetitive activities like manufacturing. The purpose of a project plan in marketing is to coordinate many of the uncertain activities that happen. Maybe more importantly, a good project plan will coordinate the activities of your resource requirements. Not everything will be predictable but even if we make some of the predictable we will increase the likelihood of success.

Photo courtesy of Systems2win.

Within a project plan we can establish over all and individual process metrics. We will need metrics to produce information quickly so that they may be acted on in the middle of a project rather than at the end. The value of these types of match reached will that they allow you to take action during a project where you can still influence its success. These metrics may are ready BD identified in your value stream map. Measurability is perhaps the most important feature of the project plan.

Once a schedule is completed it should be posted or made available to all stakeholders of the project. Constant updating should appear and be visible to all parties. This should be an active document, and be used to manage the process. A schedule is the translation of the project plan into individual tasks, identifying durations, responsibilities, start and finish dates, resources, flow and milestones. It is very easy for a team to want to jump straight in, generate a schedule and get on with the project. There is more to project planning than this.

Project management is the whole aspect of planning, which leads to a realistic schedule, which in turn requires control. If you have completed your Value Stream Mapping Process, a project plan will be relatively easy to complete.

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Technorati : Project Management, Project Plan, Value Stream Map, Value Stream Mapping

Use the Metrics that you Collect: You don’t want to collect metrics just for the sake of collecting them. If they are required by your organization, collect them. Also collect any other metrics that are needed to validate whether the project was successful. However, if you don’t have a purpose for the metrics, or if the project is not long enough that you can use the information for process improvement, they are not worth collecting for that particular project.

Compare the Cost of Collecting a Metric Vs. the Benefit: Just as there is some cost associated with most project management activities, there is a cost to collecting and managing a metrics process. In the case of scope management or issues management, this is a cost the project needs to invest in to be successful. Managing metrics, however, is more under the discretion of the project manager and the overall organizational culture. In many cases, the cost to collect and leverage a certain type of metric is prohibitive. These metrics should not be pursued. Other metrics are interesting, but do not provide the type of information that can be leveraged for improvement. The bottom line is that the cost to gather each metric must be balanced against the potential benefit that will be gained. When you think about project metrics, start by gathering metrics that are required by the organization. Then add metrics that have the lowest cost and effort and can provide the highest potential benefit.

Link Team Performance with Individual Performance: This old adage about “what gets measured gets done” is true on projects. If communication is important on your project, then build some metrics around communication. For instance, survey the clients and stakeholders on a quarterly basis to see how effective they think your communication is. If you are encouraging teams to reuse existing components, then track the instances of reuse and the hours and cost savings.

Manage Metrics – Beware Unintended Consequences: Metrics will drive certain behaviors. When you are establishing a metric, think about how the metric might drive unintended consequences and be sure that you set up the process in a way that clearly drives the desired behaviors.

Source of information: Ten Step Project Management archive of Newsletters.

Related Blog Post: How do you Measure the value you add?

Technorati : DMAIC, Lean, Marketing, Measure, Metrics, Performance, Project Management, Six Sigma