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Project Management Mcnaughton
Project Management Mcnaughton
Projectmanagement
In part three of his series on product management, Donald McNaughton focuses on how to
ensure that the projects in the project portfolio remain on scope, on schedule, and on budget
The first core process of product their lifecycle, guided by the strategic 6 through 13 of the enabling process
management, portfolio management, intent and profit objectives of the steps and roles (Figure 2). This article
was described in part two as a business (Figure 1). will describe process steps 6 through
systematic process that manages The second core process is project 10, and process steps 11 through 13
the products of a business through management which focuses on steps will be featured in the next article of
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Strategicmanagement
this series. planning and managing projects from to the people’s skills, current “routine”
The portfolio management process, start to finish. To achieve effective workload, and any participation they
as previously described, determines project management, a series of may have on other project teams. The
which products are to be phased enabling process steps and roles must PMC also reaches consensus on the
in and phased out of the product be adopted (Table 1). Following these selection of the project team leader,
portfolio. Each selection results in a steps will ensure that the projects once again based on the specific needs
project initiative. are not only well managed but also of the project and the availability of a
How well these projects are increase the odds that the original qualified project team leader.
managed determines the eventual expectations will be met. Team-based project management
quality of the product portfolio and Project management enabling is a critical component of an effective
ultimately the business performance. process steps and roles: product management process. It is,
The significance of the project 6. Project team therefore, important that each project
management process is reflected in A “go” decision by the portfolio team has the following elements in
a recent study, which found that 83 management committee (PMC) at the place:
percent of projects fell short of the gate one review transforms a proposed • Shared vision and goals
original expectations, 15 percent of project into an active project. • Clear roles and responsibilities
projects met the original expectations, Once the decision is made, the • Good leadership
and only 2.0 percent exceeded the cross-functional team members of the • Good communication
original expectations. PMC then assign qualified resources • Clear plans
Project management can be simply from their own functions to the • Trust
defined as a methodical approach to project team. Consideration is given • Performance measures
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Figure 3
plan template that they then refine to Project meetings occur weekly or bi- milestones are achieved by executing
better reflect the characteristics of weekly with project team members to the tasks associated with each
their specific project. The objective is ensure that all tasks are accomplished milestone as defined in the project
to initially prepare detailed plans for on schedule, on scope and on budget. plans in process step 7.
the first few project stages and then The project leader is responsible for The entrance to each stage is a gate.
to use directionally correct tasks and communicating issues, conflicts, These gates control the process and
lead times for the remaining stages. and problems requiring higher- serve as quality control checkpoints.
This approach will enable the project level resolution within the product The gates are managed by the PMC
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Donald McNaughton, an Oliver Wight principal, is a consultant and educator providing guidance on the design and
implementation of effective business processes, including sales and operations planning and product management. April 08 www.bus-ex.com 13