Project Process Plans from POME by Gautam KOppala
Project Process Plans:
Estimates:
- Specify the estimated cost, schedule and resource requirements for conducting the project, and specify the associated confidence levels for each estimate.
- Specify the methods, tools and techniques used to estimate project cost, schedule and resource requirements;
- Specify the sources of estimate data and the basis of the estimation such as: analogy, rule of thumb, standard unit of size, cost model, historical database, etc.
- Specify the methods, tools, techniques to be used to reâ€'estimate the project cost, schedule and required resources.
- Specify the schedule for reâ€'estimation, which might be regular, a periodic or eventâ€'driven (e.g.: on project milestones
- Value added engineering
Value engineering may be broadly defined as an organized approach in identifying unnecessary costs in design and in soliciting or proposing alternative design or technology to reduce costs without sacrificing quality or performance requirements. It usually involves the steps of gathering pertinent information, searching for creative ideas, evaluating the promising alternatives, and proposing a more cost effective alternative. This approach is usually applied at the beginning of the initiation/ detailed designing phase of the project life cycle.
The use of value engineering especially in the public/ private sector has been fostered by legislation and government regulation, but the approach has still needs to be widely adopted in the public/ private sector's. One explanation may lie in the difference in practice of engineering design services in the public and private sectors. In the public sector, the fee for design services is tightly monitored against the "market price, " or may even be based on the lowest bid for service. Such a practice in setting professional fees encourages the design professionals to adopt known and tried designs and construction technologies without giving much thought to alternatives that are innovative but risky. Contractors are willing to examine such alternatives when offered incentives for sharing the savings by End Users. In the private sector, the owner has the freedom to offer such incentives to design professionals as well as the contractors without being concerned about the appearance of favoritism in engaging professional services.
Another source of cost savings from value engineering is the ability of contractors to take advantage of proprietary or unusual techniques and knowledge specific to the contractor's firm. For example, a contractor may have much more experience with a particular method of tunneling that is not specified in the original design and, because of this experience, the alternative method may be less expensive. In advance of a bidding competition, a design professional does not know which contractor will undertake the construction of a facility. Once a particular contractor is chosen, then modifications to the construction technology or design may take advantage of peculiar advantages of the contractor's organization.
As a final source of savings in value engineering, the vendor/ contractor may offer genuine new design or construction insights which have escaped the attention of the design professional even if the latter is not restrained by the fee structure to explore more alternatives. If the expertise of the contractor can be utilized, of course, the best time to employ it is during the planning and design phase of the project life cycle. That is why professional consultant management or integrated design are often preferred by private End Users.
Significant quality can be added to the planning process by meeting with partners.
The original specification of the Project is documented in the proposal. Since the proposal was written, the technical design of the project to be reviewed and is detailed in the technical reference document. This is reviewed on the time scales of the collaboration meetings by the technical board. Significant changes are agreed by the executive committee before a new technical reference is issued.
An indicative cost of Project was given in the proposal. Projects must develop a full work-breakdown structure (WBS) of the experiment and infrastructure. This enables a full cost analysis including staff resources to be obtained. Contingency is included in detail in the WBS and is applied to materials and to schedule.
The WBS allows a comparative analysis of the resources needed for the expected material contributions to Project against the bids and allocations.
The WBS is being used to evaluate the Project milestones.
The WBS is being used to evaluate the Project staff needs. Each Project Manager is charged with bringing the required resources to effect the completion of the agreed contributions.
- Specify the number of required staff, providing the following details:
âˆ' number of personnel by skill level,
âˆ' numbers and skill levels in each project phase, and
âˆ' duration of personnel requirement.
- Specify the sources of staff personnel (e.g.: internal transfer, new hire, contracted, etc.)
- Consider using resource Gantt charts, resource histograms, spreadsheets and tables to depict the staffing plan by skill level, by project phase, and by aggregations of skill levels and project phases.
The baseline design is specified in the technical reference document. Fortnightly video conferences are used to discuss technical developments. Significant changes to the base line could be suggested, and a procedure to formally raise and document these suggestions to be developed. The procedure calls for a paper to outline the reasons for and consequences of the proposed change. This consideration of this within the collaboration and any further work is under the initiative of the Project management. Final agreement is then given by the Project Manager on the recommendation of the technical board, and the change incorporated into the baseline design.
The quality plan utilizes the following tools:
- Project management methodology to accepted international standards
- The process of change control
- Simulation appraisal of the design performance.
- Independent verification of engineering drawings, engineering calculations and documentation etc
The WBS is overseen by the project manager and the technical board. The technical board has the responsibility to ensure that the interfaces are appropriately addressed. The technical board uses an action list (generated at the TB meetings) to initiate and track issues of design, interface, or installation and integration.
Changes to the project specification, cost and schedule are also considered by the technical board (TB) and in turn by the Executive Board (EB). A change mechanism has been implemented. The details of a proposed change will be described in a "Change Request Note" to the TB. The consequences to schedule cost and performance and risk will be reviewed and documented by the TB (which will commission work to that effect if required). Decisions taken on whether or not to adopt the change will be recorded in the minutes of the meetings and approved changes (described in Change Notes) put on a Change Register. If a change is agreed, the base line Project Specification will be updated and reissued. The collaboration holds three open meetings per year. Significant requests for changes to the baseline specification will be issued as proposals prior to the open meetings for full exposure to the POME collaboration. A technical board meeting at the time of (or shortly after) the collaboration meeting will consider such a changes, and reissue the baseline specification.
Minutes of the TB, the change requests and change notes and the change register will form a system of traceability.
The details of the baseline design will be publicly available in a well defined place. These documents will be controlled by the document librarian, who will verify that new submissions are consistent with TB decisions and the published change notes.
- Quality Control
- Specify the processes to be used to measure and control the quality of the work and the resulting work products.
- Specify the use of quality control processes such as quality assurance of conformance to work processes, verification and validation, joint reviews, audits and process assessment.
Each task within the Project is responsible for producing its own safety analysis and operational procedures. It is the responsibility of the Technical Board(TB) to ensure that this is done. The TB is also responsible to ensure special issues (e.g. radiation, magnetic fields, hydrogen safety) are more widely discussed and addressed and a full safety analysis is performed. In turn, the TB is responsible for a coherent safety case for POME which will be delivered and reviewed (by OSHE) before the Project is allowed to operate. The TB will (and has) commission independent safety reviews as appropriate where the perceived risks are considered significant.
The TB is obliged to keep the Executive Board (EB) appraised of potential risks and consequences and to develop contingency plans. The spokesperson is a member of both the TB and EB. Trigger points (in time) and levels (in cost) will be set in the project costing & schedule to high-light potential problems before they are allowed to escalate. In such a case, an action plan is to be formulated. The Project Manager reports progress to both the joint Project Board and to the Executive Board.
- Risk, Escalation and Contingency Management Plan
The technical, financial and resource risks for POME are documented in a separate paper.A risk analysis has been performed, and the principal risks are summarized in a report to the Project Board. The conclusion is that the Project is, overall, low to medium risk, high risk, very high risk provided that sufficient resources are available. The Technical Board (TB) shall meet twice monthly to monitor progress against the baseline specification and to address and resolve specific issues. Cost and schedule are discussed. This discussion is recorded in the minutes which are signed off by the Project Manager and paper copies are filed in the document library (electronic copies available on the web). Both risk and contingency management are responsibilities of the technical board. The TB is obliged to keep the Executive Board (EB) appraised of potential risks, consequences and to develop contingency plans. The spokesperson is a member of both the TB and EB. Trigger points and levels will be set in the project costing & schedule to high light potential problems before they are allowed to escalate, and an action plan formulated. The Project Manager reports progress to both the Project Board and to the Executive Board.
The stakeholder plan is addressed in a separate document.
Procurement is to be established by the individual collaboration institutes and members along with the appropriate funding agency.
- Resource Acquisition
- Specify the plan for acquiring the resources and assets, in addition to personnel, needed to successfully complete the project.
- Describe the resource acquisition process.
- Specify the assignment of responsibility for all aspects of resource acquisition.
- Specify acquisition plans for equipment, computer hardware and software, training, service contracts, transportation, facilities, and administrative and janitorial services.
- Specify when in the project schedule the various acquisition activities will be required.
- Specify any constraints on acquiring the necessary resources.
- If necessary, expand this subsection to lower levels, to accommodate acquisition plans for various types of resources.
- Project Staff Training
- Specify the training needed to ensure that necessary skill levels in sufficient numbers are available to successfully conduct the project.
- Specify the following training information:
âˆ' the types of training to be provided,
âˆ' numbers of personnel to be trained,
âˆ' entry and exit criteria for training, and
âˆ' the training method, for example: lectures, consultations, mentoring, computerâ€'assisted training, etc.
- Identify training as needed in technical, managerial and supporting activity skills.
- Work Breakdown Structure
- Define a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to specify the various work activities to be performed in the project, and to depict the relationships among these work activities.
- Decompose the work activities to a level that exposes all project risk factors, and that allows accurate estimation of resource requirements and schedule duration for each work activity.
- Specify the following factors for each work activity:
âˆ' necessary resources,
âˆ' estimated duration,
âˆ' products or deliverables of the activity,
âˆ' acceptance criteria for the work activity products, and
âˆ' Predecessor and successor work activities.
- The level of decomposition internally within the WBS may vary depending on the quality of the requirements, familiarity of the work, applicable level of technology, etc.
- Schedule Allocation
- Specify the scheduling relationships among the project work activities in a manner that depicts the timeâ€'sequencing constraints and illustrates opportunities for concurrent work activities.
- Identify the critical path in the schedule.
- Indicate any constraints on the scheduling of particular work activities, that are caused by external factors.
- Identify appropriate schedule milestones to assess the scope and quality of project work products and of project achievement status.
- Techniques for depicting schedule relationships may include milestone charts, activity lists, activity Gantt charts, activity networks, critical path networks and PERT charts.
- Resource Allocation
- Provide a detailed itemization of the resources allocated to each major work activity in the project WBS.
- Specify the numbers and required skill levels of personnel for each work activity.
- Specify, as appropriate, the allocation of the following resources:
âˆ' personnel (by skill level),
âˆ' computing resources
âˆ' software tools
âˆ' special testing and simulation facilities, and
âˆ' Administrative support.
- Use a separate line item for each type of resource for each work activity.
- Budget Allocation
- Provide a detailed breakdown of the necessary resource budgets for each of the major work activities in the WBS.
- Specify the estimated cost for activity personnel, and include as appropriate, the costs for the following items:
âˆ' travel,
âˆ' meetings,
âˆ' computing resources,
âˆ' software tools,
âˆ' special testing and simulation facilities, and
âˆ' Administrative support.
- Use a separate line item for each type of resource in each activity budget.
- Requirements Management
- Specify the process for measuring, reporting and controlling changes to the project requirements.
- Specify the processes to be used in assessing the impact of requirements changes on product scope and quality, and the impacts of requirements changes on project schedule, budget, resources and risk factors.
- In the configuration management processes, specify change control procedures and the formation and use of a change control board.
- In the processes for requirements management, include traceability, prototyping and modeling, impact analysis and reviews.
- Schedule Control
- Specify the schedule control activities by identifying the processes to be used for the following purposes:
âˆ' to measure the progress of work completed at the major and minor project milestones,
âˆ' to compare actual progress to planned progress, and
âˆ' to implement corrective action when actual progress does not conform to planned progress.
- Specify the methods and tools that will be used to measure and control schedule progress.
- Identify the objective criteria that will be used to measure the scope and quality of work completed at each milestone, and hence to assess the achievement of each schedule milestone.
- Budget Control
- Specify the budget control activities by identifying the processes to be used for the following purposes:
âˆ' to measure the cost of work completed,
âˆ' to compare the actual cost to the planned and budgeted costs, and
âˆ' to implement corrective action when the actual cost does not conform to the budgeted cost.
- Specify when cost reporting will be done in the project schedule.
- Specify the methods and tools that will be used to track the project cost.
- Identify the schedule milestones and objective indicators that will be used to assess the scope and quality of the work completed at those milestones.
- Specify the use of a mechanism such as earned value tracking to report the budget and schedule plan, schedule progress, and the cost of work completed.
- Reporting
- Specify the reporting mechanisms, report formats and information flows to be used in communicating the status of requirements, schedule, budget, quality, and other desired or required status metrics within the project and to entities external to the project.
- Specify the methods, tools and techniques of communication.
- Specify a frequency and detail of communications related to project management and metrics measurement that is consistent with the project scope, criticality, risk and visibility.
- Project Metrics
- Specify the methods, tools, and techniques to be used in collecting and retaining project metrics.
- Specify the following metrics process information:
âˆ' identification of the metrics to be collected,
âˆ' frequency of collection, and
âˆ' Processes for validating, analyzing, and reporting the metrics.
Also refer to the Risk Management Chapter:
- Specify the risk management plan for identifying, analyzing, and prioritizing project risk factors.
- Specify plans for assessing initial risk factors and for the ongoing identification, assessment, and mitigation of risk factors throughout the life cycle of the project.
- Describe the following:
âˆ' procedures for contingency planning,
âˆ' procedures for tracking the various risk factors,
âˆ' procedures for evaluating changes in the levels of the risk factors and responding to changes in the levels of the risk factors,
âˆ' risk management work activities,
âˆ' procedures and schedules for performing risk management work activities,
âˆ' risk documentation and reporting requirements,
âˆ' organizations and personnel responsible for performing specific risk management activities, and
âˆ' Procedures for communicating risks and risk status among the various customer, project and subcontractor organizations.
- Identify and describe the applicable impact of any of the following risk factors:
âˆ' risks in the customerâ€'project relationship,
âˆ' contractual risks,
âˆ' technological risks,
âˆ' risks caused by the size and complexity of the product,
âˆ' risks in the development and target environments,
âˆ' risks in personnel acquisition, skill levels and retention
âˆ' risks to schedule and budget, and
âˆ' risks in achieving customer acceptance of the deliverables.
- Project Closeout Plan
- Identify the plans necessary to ensure orderly closeout of the project.
- The Project Order will be closed in ERP, after the technical Preliminary acceptance certificate from the customer, and when all contractual issues are settled including customer training and receipt of final payments
- Specify the following:
âˆ' a staff reassignment plan
âˆ' a process for archiving project materials,
âˆ' a process for capturing project metrics in the business projects database,
âˆ' a process for postâ€'mortem debriefings of project personnel, and
âˆ' a plan for preparation of a final report to include lessons learned and an analysis of project objectives achieved.
The master schedule shall indicate all the major activities, milestones with dependencies and the personal responsible for each work package. The master schedule also includes the duration of the activities and the probable start date and the tentative end date with variance.
The following additional comments are offered to get you started in your Planning about your project team.
POME definition of a team is a group of people working towards a common goal. Team spirit is the willingness of the members of a team to make their own priorities lower than the priorities of the team.
When planning an international project with young people we need to consider who is in ‘the team'. Many organizations have the culture that promotes the idea of a ‘leadership team' or a ‘direction team' and then there are participants. This is perhaps appropriate for large projects or organisations, but for smaller, time bound projects it is better to consider everyone involved as part of the team.
Some members will be involved at the centre of things and others will be on the periphery, but they are all members of the team and need to be communicated with in the same clear and efficient way.
Without a shared vision it is not possible for team to all moves in the same direction. Without a shared vision different people will view objectives and priorities in different ways, and without a shared vision it will be difficult to evaluate if the project has been successful.
The best way to ensure that the vision for a project is shared is to build it together. We need to check that the aims and objectives of an international youth project have been developed by all those involved and most importantly, the young people. Different stakeholders will of course have different objectives but they need to be compatible and complimentary to those of the young people.
Communication is a two way process and requires constant monitoring. Is anyone being left out? What are the systems for keeping everyone up to date with developments? How do you ensure that good ideas are not lost and that everyone is given the chance to be heard?
It isn't always possible to choose every one who is part of your project team, but it is possible for everyone to make a contribution to the team. Are you giving opportunity for people to use their skills and attributes and to develop new ones? (Maybe that is one of your project objectives?) From a practical point of view, do you have all the necessary skills to complete the project? What do you need to add, by training, by bringing others in, or by farming out certain tasks to others?
Be aware that teams are dynamic and changing entities. They grow and develop, they have fluctuating energy levels and, in the context of international youth projects, they have beginnings and endings. The members of teams change too: Their levels of commitment wax and wane, skills are developed and people grow into and out of roles. Team members need to be aware of each other as these changes take place. As trust and confidence in each other is developed, so efficiency and effectiveness will develop too.
One of the biggest changes occurs when two teams come together - for example at the start of an exchange. This is crucial time for team building activities and awareness of relationships.
The Gantt chart is one way of representing (and therefore communicating) the plan - there are versions on the theme but the main thing is to be able to break down the whole project into measured tasks. Tasks should be defined by objectives, which in turn are defined by Aims.
- Check list for an Advance Planning Visit (APV)
Planning the APV
q Formulate and circulate a provisional agenda for the APV
During the APV
Start of the meeting
q Expectations of the project and each other
q Get to know each other
q Formal procedure-take it seriously
q Make decision how you should make decisions
q Agree who will take minutes
q Concise record of meeting and agreements reached, with deadlines sent to each participant after the meeting
q Set the agenda for the meeting
After the APV
q Fulfil all agreements reached
Some advice on your way
Keep in contact, send regular reports
Keep to deadlines
Respect the ability of the organisation
Ask for help if required!
Be Tolerant
- Sub-contractor Management
The execution group will monitor the progress of the project with respect to the performance of the sub-contractor on site based on weekly progress meetings
The execution manager in each region are expected to review their projects on a monthly basis with their concerned project engineers and Regional Controllers based on the Percentage of Completion( POC) report and necessary actions need to be taken on to ensure that all Projects at any point of time give a correct representation on the financial parameters such as Profitability , Excess Billing , Excess costs, UOV, estimate at Complete ( EAC), Estimate To Complete ( ETC), Actual Costs (AC)
The focus areas in this review should cover the following:
- To identify & quantify the various potential opportunities for profit improvement and to assign responsibility and deadlines for achieving the same.
- To identify and effectively manage the chances or hazards which could result in commercial loss.
- Claim/ Variation Order is a financial, scheduling or substantive demand to the customer. All the claims are evaluated and Change Order or Amendment to Order/ Contract is issued if found acceptable by the customer. Proper monitoring of these claims need to be done as these can determine the success of a project.
Process Model
- Define the relationships among major project work activities and supporting processes.
- Describe the flow of information and work products among activities and functions.
- Specify the timing of work products to be generated.
- Identify the reviews to be conducted.
- Specify the major milestones to be achieved.
- Define the baselines to be established.
- Identify the project deliverable to be completed.
- Specify the required approvals within the duration of the project.
- In the process model for the project, include project initiation and project termination activities.
- Use a combination of graphical and textual notations to describe the project process model.
- Indicate any tailoring of your organization's standard process model for a project.
Methods, Tools, and Techniques
- Specify the development methodologies, programming languages and other notations, and the processes, tools and techniques to be used to specify, design, build, test, integrate, document, deliver, modify and maintain the project deliverable and nonâ€'deliverable work products.
- Specify the technical standards, policies, and procedures governing development and/or modification of the work products.
Infrastructure
- Specify the plan for establishing and maintaining the development environment (hardware, operating system, network and software), and the policies, procedures, standards, and facilities required to conduct the project. These resources may include workstations, local area networks, software tools for analysis, design implementations, testing, and project management, desks, office space, and provisions for physical security, administrative personnel, and janitorial services.
Product Acceptance
- Specify the plan for customer acceptance of the deliverables generated by the project.
- Specify objective criteria for determining acceptability of the deliverables.
- Reference a formal agreement of the acceptance criteria signed by representatives of the organization and the customer.
- Specify any technical processes, methods, or tools required for deliverable acceptance, such as testing, demonstration, analysis and inspection.
Configuration Management
- Specify or reference the configuration management plan for the project, providing the information identified in the following lines.
- Specify the methods that will be used to perform the following activities:
âˆ' configuration identification,
âˆ' configuration control,
âˆ' status accounting,
âˆ' evaluation, and
âˆ' release management.
- Specify the processes of configuration management including procedures for the following activities:
âˆ' initial baselining of work products,
âˆ' logging and analysis of change requests,
âˆ' change control board procedures,
âˆ' tracking of changes in progress, and
âˆ' procedures for notification of concerned parties when baselines are established or changed.
- Identify the automated configuration management tools used to support the configuration management process.
Verification and Validation
- Specify or reference the verification and validation plan for the project, providing the information identified in the following lines.
- Specify the scope, tools, techniques and responsibilities for the verification and validation work activities.
- Specify the organizational relationships and degrees of independence between development activities and verification and validation activities.
- Specify the use of verification techniques such as traceability, milestone reviews, progress reviews, peer reviews, prototyping, simulation and modeling.
- Specify the use of validation techniques such as testing, demonstration, analysis and inspection.
- Identify the automated tools to be used in verification and validation.
Documentation
- Specify the plans for generating nonâ€'deliverable and deliverable project documentation.
- Specify the organizational entities responsible for providing input information, and for generating and reviewing the project documentation.
- Specify the following information or object identification:
âˆ' list of documents to be prepared,
âˆ' controlling template or standard for each document,
âˆ' who will prepare each document,
âˆ' who will review each document,
âˆ' due dates for review copies,
âˆ' due dates for initial baseline versions, and
âˆ' a distribution list for review copies and baseline versions and quantities required
- Quality Assurance
- Specify or reference the quality assurance plan for the project, containing the information identified in the following lines.
- Specify the plans for assuring that the project fulfills its commitments to the process and the product as specified in the requirements specification, the POME Project Management Plan, supporting plans and any standards, procedures, or guidelines to which the process or the product must adhere.
- As applicable, specify the quality assurance procedures to be used, such as analysis, inspection, review, audit, and assessment.
- Indicate the relationship among the quality assurance, verification and validation, review, audit, configuration management, system engineering, and assessment processes.
- Reviews and Audits
- Specify the schedule, resources, and processes, and procedures to be used in conducting project reviews and audits.
- Specify the plans for joint customerâ€'project reviews, management progress reviews, developer peer reviews, quality assurance audits, and customerâ€'conducted reviews and audits.
- List the external agencies that approve or regulate any project deliverable.
- Problem Resolution
- Specify the resources, methods, tools, techniques and procedures to be used in reporting, analyzing, prioritizing and processing problem reports generated during the project.
- Indicate the roles of development, configuration management, the change control board, and verification and validation in problem resolution work activities.
- Provide for separate tracking of effort expended on problem reporting, analysis and resolution, so that rework can be tracked and process improvement accomplished.
- Subcontractor Management
- Specify or reference the plans for selecting and managing any subcontractors that may participate in or contribute to the project.
- Specify the criteria for selecting subcontractors.
- Generate a separate management plan for each subcontract, using a tailored version of this Project Plan, and include all items necessary to ensure successful completion of each subcontract as follows:
âˆ' requirements management,
âˆ' monitoring of technical progress,
âˆ' schedule and budget control
âˆ' product acceptance criteria,
âˆ' risk management procedures,
âˆ' additional topics as needed to ensure successful completion of the subcontract, and
âˆ' a reference to the official subcontract and subcontractor/prime contractor points of contact.
- Process Improvement
- Specify the plans for periodically assessing the project, for determining areas for improvement, and for implementing the improvement plans.
- Ensure that the process improvement plan is closely related to the problem resolution plan.
- Include in the improvement plan, a process to identify the project processes that can be improved without serious disruption to an ongoing project, and to identify the project processes that can best be improved by process improvement initiatives at the organizational level.
- Additional Plans
- Specify or reference any additional plans required to satisfy product requirements and contractual terms, which may include:
âˆ' plans for assuring that safety, privacy, and security requirements are met,
âˆ' special facilities or equipment specification,
âˆ' product installation plans,
âˆ' user training plans,
âˆ' integration plans,
âˆ' data conversion plans,
âˆ' system transition plans,
âˆ' product maintenance plans, or
âˆ' product support plans.
Project support and maintenance
- Specify or reference to the support, maintenance and operational model for the project when the project will be used by the potential customers
Follow-up projects
- Identify potential follow-up projects which will use this project
- Identify potential follow-up projects which will supersede this project
"Work together - feel and own the project."
We often think of evaluation as something we do at the end of a project but planning for at the beginning means that the project will benefit from the results whilst still in progress. It will also make the final evaluation much easier.
Checklist for evaluation
Take the time to think about evaluation - it is worth it!
Evaluation should show if the project has been completed
Evaluation involves everybody
BEFORE..................Planning for evaluation
q When planning a project, plan evaluation.
q Are the aims and the objectives measurable? Use eg ‘SMART' Can you measure everything? Define clear indicators for each objective so you will know (have evidence) an objective has been achieved.
q Global View: Need to take time to work on content of evaluations from beginning of project. Evaluation plan: aims of evaluation, sources of information.
q Why are you doing the evaluation?
q Who is evaluation for?
q What will I evaluate?
q Is it the needs and the issues the organisation is trying to respond to? Is it the process? Is it the performances, the outputs and the costing? Is it the outcomes? Is it the organisation? Is it the group dynamic? Or what? Compare to the aims and objectives for the project. Is there something that has to be measured before the activity? (for eg if you are aiming at increasing someone's awareness).
q Who will evaluate?
q Internal or external evaluator? Evaluation involves everyone.
q Use an expert to write it in an objective way. Involve experts for their opinion
q Who to involve? How could we involve the participants?
q Motivate and stimulate the participants as part of the project. Evaluation involves every stakeholder, from participants, families, communities, youth workers, host families, sponsors etc. Ask for participants' suggestions for improving quality for future projects.
q How to do it?
q Which method should be used? Qualitative method or quantitative? Use mixed methods. Bear target group in mind when devising evaluation. Choice of method depends on why you are doing it and who the target group for the evaluation is. Search for creative, lively, interactive, dynamic and fitting methods. First try and then use the right methods.
q What kind of indicators? Keep it specific and simple. Differentiate between achievement and aims, time management, financial management, personal management, quality management etc. Use different techniques at different stages or different techniques at the same time. Make it fun. Review the learning process/project as a whole and sub projects. Create a pleasant environment.
Consider using…
- Drawings,
- Interviews
- Feedback seminar, games, interviews
- Questionnaires. Simple, easily understandable questions. Open ended questions - do not expect certain answers. Include project aims. Adapted to the target audience. Not personal, evaluating the project! To the right people. Confidential. Task - result orientated not person orientated. Concrete. Use sociological questions - max 5 options - explain? Funny and interesting questions. What to ask about: resources, finances, activities, hospitality/food, accommodation, general feelings. Significant questions - on service, hospitality, activities, trainers, spare time
Collecting information
q What kind of information do I need? How could I find it? Written, verbal, Using diary, interviews, videos, media, photos, statistics etc. Have a system for recording.
q When to do it
Put in the schedule and plan it. Make an evaluation plan with partners during the Planning Visit. Continuous evaluation.
q Evaluation at all stages of the project
q Who is responsible for what?
You need to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders: The initial task is to identify those people or organisations who may have an interest in and/or expectation of the project in order that these people can be kept informed and in the most appropriate manner. It is essential that each is targeted in a manner which is appropriate and effective for them.
The basic criteria to include, to give your press release a fair opportunity of success are as follows:-
WHO - is involved in the project? Be clear about your organisation and the young people involved, especially any particular areas of disadvantage.
WHAT - is the project about? Give brief details including young peoples involvement in the preparation.
WHEN - is the project taking place?
WHERE - is the project taking place?
WHY - are you developing the project? Be clear about the benefits to young people.
HOW -How are you acheiving your destination?
PERSONAL STATEMENT - If possible obtain a supporting comment from a prominent member, from Client/ Project Spenser/ Project Manager.
POME LIGHTER VEIN:
How Projects Are Born
Programmer to Module Leader:
"This is not possible. **Impossible**. It will involve design change and no body in our team knows the design of the system. And above that nobody in our company knows the language in which this software has been written. So even if somebody wants to work on it, they can't. If you ask my personal opinion the company should never take these type of projects."
Module Leader to Project Manager:
"This project will involve design change. Currently we don't have people who have experience in this type of work. Also the language is unknown so we will have to arrange for some training if we take this project. In my personal opinion, we should avoid taking this project."
Project Manager to 1st Level Manager:
"This project involves design change in the system and we don't have much experience in that area. Also not many people are trained in this area. In my personal opinion we can take the project but we should ask for some more time."
1st Level Manager to 2nd Level Manager:
"This project involves design re-engineering. We have some people who have worked in this area and some who know the language. So they can train other people. In my personal opinion we should take this project but with caution."
2nd Level Manager to CEO:
"This project will show the industry our capabilities in remodeling the design of a complete system. We have all the necessary skills and people to execute this project successfully. Some people have already given in-house training in this area to other people. In my personal opinion we should not let this project go by under any circumstance."
CEO to Client:
"These are the type of projects in which our company specialize. We have executed many project of the same nature for many big clients. Trust me when I say that you are in the safest hand in the Industry. In my personal opinion we can execute this project successfully and that too well with in the given time frame."
Gautam Koppala,
POME Author
GAUTAM KOPPALA, With over a decade, track record of successful leadership, excellent results through strategic skills in driving revenue and profit growth. Demonstrated ability to identify and trouble shoot critical issues impacting productivity, cost, distribution, marketing, Strategic positioning, sales and financial operations, with innate ability to build and maintain strong client relationships in operations. Expert in distilling and managing processes, enhancing internal structures, and promoting multi-skilled team competencies via nurturing mentorship and inspirational leadership. Engagements have spanned operational, strategic, technological and change management roles. Academically, I am a cum laude graduate with a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (B-Tech E.E.E.) and a post graduate in Masters in Human Resources Management (M.H.R.M.) and Masters of Foreign Trade (M.F.T.). As you will see my Post Graduation's were been studied part-time, as well as working full-time as an Engineer. I feel that this demonstrates my ability to maintain dedication, motivation and enthusiasm for a project management over a long period of time. In addition, balancing full-time work with study has perfected my time-management and organizational skills. I believe that my college degrees and gamut certifications in combination with my extensive broad-based work experience along with my drive, resourcefulness and determination, would make me an excellent candidate for a senior management position with any company. Highlights of my background include Operations related Commercial, Supply chain, Sales with a magnificent experience in Project management, technically oriented towards Automation and Security Systems in Industrial and Building sectors. Presently, writing a book on Projects and Operations Management (comprise of 12 volumes, 6K pages), and awaited for the reputed publications. These books can be checked in Google books and other search engines too.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com
