Hello everyone! I am almost three years into my project management career and I have asked my mentor to challenge me by performing a deep-dive project audit. As PM's we need to have several tools and skills in our toolbox. What should be audited to flush out opportunities? Saving Changes...
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Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
The only thing that matters is the defined Project Governance process. If the organization do not have one then audit has no sence. Saving Changes...
PMO Leader | Speaker & Mentor | Content Leader – PMOGA Latin America
Hub| Catholic University of UruguayMontevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
To detect opportunities in projects, it is essential to conduct a thorough audit that covers several key aspects of the project. Here are some elements that should be audited:
Project Objectives and Goals:
Verify that the project objectives are clearly defined and aligned with the organization's strategic goals.
Assess whether the goals are achievable and measurable.
Project Scope:
Review the project scope to ensure it is well-defined and documented.
Identify any potential scope expansion that may offer additional opportunities.
Schedule and Deadlines:
Audit the project schedule to detect possible delays or advancements.
Evaluate the feasibility of the established deadlines and look for opportunities to optimize time.
Resources and Allocation:
Review the allocation of resources to ensure they are adequate and well-distributed.
Identify opportunities to improve efficiency in resource usage.
Risks and Opportunities:
Evaluate the identified risks and mitigation strategies.
Look for opportunities that may arise from risk management.
Budget and Costs:
Audit the project budget to detect deviations and savings opportunities.
Assess cost management efficiency and look for areas of improvement.
Quality and Deliverables:
Review quality standards and project deliverables.
Identify opportunities to improve the quality and value of deliverables.
Communication and Collaboration:
Evaluate the effectiveness of communication channels and team collaboration.
Look for opportunities to improve communication and coordination.
Stakeholders and Sponsors:
Audit the level of commitment and participation of stakeholders and sponsors.
Identify opportunities to increase support and engagement from interested parties.
Lessons Learned and Continuous Improvement:
Review lessons learned from previous projects.
Identify opportunities to apply these lessons and improve project processes.
In summary, a thorough audit covering these key aspects can help identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce costs, optimize resources, and enhance the quality of projects. This not only improves project outcomes but also contributes to achieving the organization's strategic objectives. Saving Changes...
Project audits are driven by a specific purpose which would then help to identify specific control objectives which should be met. The project should be able to demonstrate how those objectives have been met.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Marc, an audit is often an official instrument of the governance framework. You might call such a mentor-mentee exercise a peer review.
It depends on the purpose of such a review, which could be an overall project health assessment, a specific examination of security risks, or an analysis of whether risk management is appropriate.
IBM used the 7keys assessment, which tried to answer 7 questions: 1. are stakeholders committed? 2. are business benefits realized? 3. are work and schedule predictabel? 4. is the scope realistic and managed? 5. is the team high performing? 6. are risks managed? 7. are the benefits of the delivery organization realized?
There are about 10 sub-questions for each. The semi-structured 1:1 review typically takes one hour. The goal is to find five to eight improvement opportunities. Saving Changes...
Marc,
First, 2 thumbs up on asking for some feedback. The ability to take and give constructive feedback is very important to professional growth.
If you want to "deep-dive" your performance, then you should consider specific areas of focus. Investigating everything in great detail would take more work than required to effectively manage the project itself. Your mentor probably doesn't have that much extra bandwidth.
My suggestion would be to minimize their time investment and prepare a PM plan review for them. Explain your project plan to them like they are the sponsor and you have 10-20 minutes to explain your purpose and plan. Let them figure out where they think you might be falling short in some areas.
Creating that summary view will also be very useful in managing the project itself. A lot of being an effective PM is communication. Summarizing your plan for your mentor, you can collect your thoughts and also generate some excellent content for your project reporting. Saving Changes...
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