New member here.. I come with an IT background, so the whole project management idea is new to me. I've been reading, watching videos on youtube and udemy about project management, and I've recently registered as a PMI member because i'm interested in this field.
This is a long story, so please bear with me.
Earlier this year, the management of the company i work for decided that we need a Business Continuity plan. They will lease a remote office to continue business in case they can't conduct business in the main office because of disasters.
They approached different firms to get a BCP (which includes the technology part of it, i.e. system, setup, hardware, software, etc), and the amount quoted were high. So i jumped and said i will be doing the project management plan for the technology side of it (i elaborated to the management that this is a new thing to me and might take time to submit), which should eventually reduce the cost of the consultation.
They accepted that, but then came that moment "What have i done!!!?, i'm not yet ready for this!!!".. but, i'm optimistic, i'm accepting the challenge and have the will to win it..
So i've started with compiling a project charter, and it looked like this:
-Introduction: put the background and objectives of this project
-Project scope: i've mentioned that i'll be planning, designing, implementing, testing and closing out the project, and it will not include risk assessment or business impact reports.
-Project management approach: who's the project manager (me) and it's my responsibility to manage the project and everything gets approved by the project sponsor, also included who will be part of the project team (from different dept.).
-Milestone list: listed 5 of them (requirements gathering, network infrastructure design, implementation, testing, close-out and documentation).
-Communication management: formulated a table with what's going to be communicated, with who, in what format (email or meeting) and their frequency. Also listed all team members contact details and titles/responsibility.
-Sponsor acceptance: so the sponsor can approve this which gives me the authority to allow me to start planning.
I've submitted that to the sponsor (management) and yes, i got it signed and approved.
Now i'm putting the project plan together and i'm not sure what i'm doing.
Now i've started a new document and listed all the milestones and activities within them, with estimated time/duration of each activity (all in a table and a Gantt chart).
-What do i do next?
-How do i present this document? do i add it to the charter? what should be included with this document? if this is called the "project plan" document, do i include everything i've mentioned in the charter again? i'm a bit confused on that part.
-I haven't mentioned a budget because i'm not sure how much it's going to cost. i can't know the cost before achieving the first milestone (requirements gathering). do i submit the cost once i have all the requirements and get quotes from different suppliers? or should i mention an estimate (which might be far exceeded when i get actual numbers)?
Since it's not a complex project (and we're not a big company), i don't believe it would require so many documents, but i could be wrong.
I'd appreciate any information, guidance, tips, etc.
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
This is great effort Mahmood especially that you are new to PM. You need to create a WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) and then finalize the schedule baseline. Following this, you need to finalize your cost estimates and cost baseline.
What you included in your project charter for now should be enough for the management to approve it but probably you need to add the objectives and how this project ties into the company goals. Saving Changes...
Justin WortleyProject Manager| Quicken LoansDetroit, Mi, United States
Rami is on point with his follow ups. If you ever get overwhelmed with where to acquire data based on anything you need to work on, ask for help. Work with people internally, do research, find example situations where you can complete your WBS. From there you can extrapolate your schedule baseline based on the number of resources you have. If you don't know what your resources are, or even more difficult is having to acquire your own try and consult finance folks in your organization. HR and finance are your best friend when it comes to cost estimates. Bottom line is, you're new to this - embrace it. You've already taken a lot of really solid steps to get up to speed, keep moving forward and ask for help where you might have roadblocks. I've never seen a company yet get too upset that you had too much information available to you at your request. Saving Changes...
but not sure how to populate it. Should i look for another template somewhere else?
I've already structured a Gantt chart (in Excel) with breakdown of each milestone with their tasks, start date, end date and duration. Would that be considered as WBS?
@ Justin - Unfortunately, HR and Finance are the least with expertise, so i can't relay on them for cost estimation or anything else in that matter. i'll have to do this on my own.
every task has a start, end and duration set to it.
How do i present this document? Do i call it a project plan or WBS? Maybe "Project Plan - Schedule"? Who needs to see this document? Management (Sponsor)? All involved?
Thanks
...
1 reply by Rami Kaibni
Sep 16, 2016 2:05 PM
Rami Kaibni
...
Mahmood,
You need to download the WBS Dictionary as well and for every package, you divide it into activities which has duration, resources allocation, and so on.
The WBS you've downloaded gives you guidance of how to create your own WBS. For each major deliverable you need to divide the work into packages then each package into activities.
but not sure how to populate it. Should i look for another template somewhere else?
I've already structured a Gantt chart (in Excel) with breakdown of each milestone with their tasks, start date, end date and duration. Would that be considered as WBS?
@ Justin - Unfortunately, HR and Finance are the least with expertise, so i can't relay on them for cost estimation or anything else in that matter. i'll have to do this on my own.
every task has a start, end and duration set to it.
How do i present this document? Do i call it a project plan or WBS? Maybe "Project Plan - Schedule"? Who needs to see this document? Management (Sponsor)? All involved?
Thanks
Mahmood,
You need to download the WBS Dictionary as well and for every package, you divide it into activities which has duration, resources allocation, and so on.
The WBS you've downloaded gives you guidance of how to create your own WBS. For each major deliverable you need to divide the work into packages then each package into activities.
Hope this helps.
...
1 reply by Mahmood Alnasheet
Sep 19, 2016 5:28 AM
Mahmood Alnasheet
...
Thanks Rami
I've downloaded that as well and will modify it to fit my needs.
Now, once i have the WBS done, how do i present this document? does it need to have all of the info on the charter? or would it be fine as it is with all the WBS details?
-Do i have to set a meeting and discuss it? or emailing it would be fine?
-Who should see it apart from the sponsor?
You need to download the WBS Dictionary as well and for every package, you divide it into activities which has duration, resources allocation, and so on.
The WBS you've downloaded gives you guidance of how to create your own WBS. For each major deliverable you need to divide the work into packages then each package into activities.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Rami
I've downloaded that as well and will modify it to fit my needs.
Now, once i have the WBS done, how do i present this document? does it need to have all of the info on the charter? or would it be fine as it is with all the WBS details?
-Do i have to set a meeting and discuss it? or emailing it would be fine?
-Who should see it apart from the sponsor?
Thanks again for all the help
-MA
...
1 reply by Rami Kaibni
Sep 19, 2016 11:17 AM
Rami Kaibni
...
Hi Mahmood,
You need to create a schedule and cost baselines from the WBS you created and then you present those to the sponsor. Presenting the WBS alone to the sponsor won't be as beneficial.
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Sep 19, 2016 5:28 AM
Replying to Mahmood Alnasheet
...
Thanks Rami
I've downloaded that as well and will modify it to fit my needs.
Now, once i have the WBS done, how do i present this document? does it need to have all of the info on the charter? or would it be fine as it is with all the WBS details?
-Do i have to set a meeting and discuss it? or emailing it would be fine?
-Who should see it apart from the sponsor?
Thanks again for all the help
-MA
Hi Mahmood,
You need to create a schedule and cost baselines from the WBS you created and then you present those to the sponsor. Presenting the WBS alone to the sponsor won't be as beneficial.
...
1 reply by Mahmood Alnasheet
Sep 20, 2016 3:33 AM
Mahmood Alnasheet
...
Hi Rami,
WBS and Schedule is now done. I will research the "Cost baseline" because i have no idea how to do that.
Other than that, anything else i have to consider presenting to the sponsor in this stage?
You need to create a schedule and cost baselines from the WBS you created and then you present those to the sponsor. Presenting the WBS alone to the sponsor won't be as beneficial.
Hi Rami,
WBS and Schedule is now done. I will research the "Cost baseline" because i have no idea how to do that.
Other than that, anything else i have to consider presenting to the sponsor in this stage?
What would be the cost estimated for a project that will utilize internal staff? i mean, i'm the project manager and i will also be part of the team to do the installation of new equipment. the team is comprised of individuals from different departments, and we all will do the work, so there won't be any extra cost on the company for utilizing the staff to complete this project. The only cost will be of buying equipment and services to complete the project.
i can estimate cost for equipment and services to hire, but that's about it..
Am i doing this wrong? because this ^ looks like a process to me. Should the WBS be only focused on technical details? i.e. installation of software, configuration, testing?
...
1 reply by Rami Kaibni
Sep 20, 2016 2:05 PM
Rami Kaibni
...
It is very difficult to explain this in details here but long story short, you are not doing wrong but you are not doing 100% right as well.
Your WBS is very high level while it should be broken down to all sub-activities with dates and durations (Early Start, Early Finish, Late Start, Late Finish) so you can establish your critical path and detailed schedule.
As for the Cost baseline, it is the cost of everything related to the project including the Contingency Reserve (Cost if the Known-Unknown Risks).
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Sep 20, 2016 4:15 AM
Replying to Mahmood Alnasheet
...
I've just looked at the cost baseline..
What would be the cost estimated for a project that will utilize internal staff? i mean, i'm the project manager and i will also be part of the team to do the installation of new equipment. the team is comprised of individuals from different departments, and we all will do the work, so there won't be any extra cost on the company for utilizing the staff to complete this project. The only cost will be of buying equipment and services to complete the project.
i can estimate cost for equipment and services to hire, but that's about it..
Am i doing this wrong? because this ^ looks like a process to me. Should the WBS be only focused on technical details? i.e. installation of software, configuration, testing?
It is very difficult to explain this in details here but long story short, you are not doing wrong but you are not doing 100% right as well.
Your WBS is very high level while it should be broken down to all sub-activities with dates and durations (Early Start, Early Finish, Late Start, Late Finish) so you can establish your critical path and detailed schedule.
As for the Cost baseline, it is the cost of everything related to the project including the Contingency Reserve (Cost if the Known-Unknown Risks).
Hope this helps !
...
1 reply by Mahmood Alnasheet
Sep 22, 2016 4:06 AM
Mahmood Alnasheet
...
Thanks again Rami for all the trouble. All of this is new to me and i'm trying to get a good grasp of things so i don't screw up. I know it's my fault for taking something without fully preparing for it (never did that before), but i saw an opportunity and didn't want to miss it.
I took your advise and did CPM and PERT, got things sorted. I will need to do more reading on Cost Baseline so i can do that as well and be done with this part.
Community Champion
