Module 5 Flashcards
Stakeholder Management Tools
- Comprehensive Risk Plan
- MEAL Plan
- Human Resource and Management Plan
- Stakeholder Engagement and Communications Plan
The art of people management
includes motivating team members, communicating vision, empowering staff, recognizing achievements, listening, leading by example, resolving conflicts, and building trust. These are related to the leadership/interpersonal competency of the project manager.
The science of people management
involves knowing which project management tools to use and when, identifying and managing variances, and developing comprehensive plans. These are all technical project management skills.
If the project schedules are fixed and the project scope cannot be changed, what are your alternatives?
- Fast tracking
- Crashing
Fast tracking
Fast tracking a project schedule involves taking activities that would normally be completed in sequence and instead completing them in parallel. To make the most of fast tracking, project teams should target the tasks on the critical path first, as the activities on the critical path provide the greatest potential to accelerate the overall project schedule.
Crashing
adding additional resources to the critical path to accelerate progress. Note that this doesn’t necessarily result in getting the highest level of efficiency.
the lower productivity of marginal resources can result from a variety of reasons.
six areas of coordination and collaboration in finance
Compiling project expenditure information
Gathering information about and understanding budget variances
Managing payments
Authorizing expenditures
Managing cash flow, spending, forecasting, and expenditures
Overseeing purchasing procedures.
How can a PM answer the question, Is the project over or under budget?
compare the Cumulative Planned Costs to the Cumulative Actual Costs.
Earned Value Analysis
a tool that compares the planned and actual cost for each task that has been performed. It also compares the rate of progress on each task to what was scheduled in the project plan. This means that in order to conduct an Earned Value Analysis, the project manager needs a more complete set of data that combines elements of both the project budget AND the project schedule in the implementation plan.
The Earned Value Analysis helps underscore that not all scenarios where the cumulative costs exceed the project budget are “bad.” Additionally, not all scenarios where a project’s cumulative costs are under budget are “good.”
Issue Management
Issue management consists of having a process for identifying the unresolved decisions, situations, or problems that arise as issues, and then managing them until they are resolved. In some instances, the project manager and team may not have the authority needed to resolve an issue. Even if that issue needs to be escalated to the next level or delegated to another person to resolve, it still needs to be tracked by the project manager.
What is an issue?
An issue is an unresolved decision, situation, or problem that will significantly impact the project and that the project team cannot immediately resolve.
managing issues will require the team to…
- Identify project issues
- Contribute to the resolution of project issues
- Escalate important issues (that are above their tolerances) to the project manager as soon as possible.
If issues are not resolved, the negative consequences can include the following…
- Inability to meet project timelines, cost, and schedule
- Poor or unacceptable project quality
- Poor reputation among communities, donors, and others
- Post implementation disputes
The project manager needs to manage all issue management processes and can do this through the following…
Issue Identification and Tracking
Issue Analysis
Issue Communication
Issue Control
Issue Identification and Tracking
Identifying outstanding questions, decisions, and other problems before they adversely affect the project. As such, the issue identification and tracking process is closely related to the topic of risk management and to the monitoring of the project.
Issue Analysis
Understanding the issue sufficiently to consider future consequences of action plans designed to resolve it.
Issue Communication
Communicating issues to the right level of the organization to get them resolved. Furthermore, it is important to communicate when and how issues are resolved.
Issue Control
Establishing an environment where the project team and implementing partners can carry out actions to ensure issues are resolved in a timely and effective manner.
Issue Log
summarizes the issues, describes their current status, and identifies who is responsible for addressing the issue. The issues log can take on a variety of technical forms, from paper printouts to a fully integrated database.
The control process ensures that project changes are…
- Managed through a formal change management process
- Analyzed to ensure that implications of those changes are thoroughly thought through
- Documented to illustrate their complete impact on all the integrated elements of the project
- Communicated to key project stakeholders.
Change Request Map
The project manager, team, and stakeholders can use it to ensure that changes are documented and their impact on the project is assessed. The change request map is part of the principle of adaptive project management.
Monitoring
The project manager uses indicators from the logical frame to measure progress toward targets, ensuring that they are being achieved according to the plan. For this, the project manager and MEAL team may use an indicator performance tracking table (IPTT) that includes all the indicators of the project, the frequency with which they are measured, the targets to be achieved, as well as baseline and endline values.
Accountability aims to commit to, respond to, and balance the needs of stakeholders in a project. It encompasses four primary components:
transparency, standardization, responsiveness, and participation
Learning should be…
…participatory, documented, and shared with stakeholders. It is also important that the lessons learned get fed upwards to the program and portfolio levels.
Procurement
Procurement includes the complete process of obtaining goods and services, from preparation and processing of a requisition through to receipt and approval of the invoice for payment.
Logistics
…having the right thing, at the right place, at the right time. Logistics involves the transport of goods, but there is more to it than this. Logistics includes all the activities required to deliver items accurately, efficiently, and in a time-bound manner to the place and person it is meant to be sent.
Asset Management
Project equipment and supplies are the property of the project. This often means that these assets are either returned after the closure of the project or allocated to another project for use. The project manager needs to make sure that there is an effective process for the management of assets during the Implementation phase so that these assets can be returned or re-allocated once the project has finished.
Assets management should include each of the following:
- Recording assets
- Labeling assets
- Monitoring and Assets Records
Some things to consider as you continue to justify the sustainability of the project:
- Is the plan for transitioning out of the project still valid and appropriate?
- If the project will be handed over, will support and capacity be provided to the entity that will take over?
- Has the context changed? Is the sustainability plan still viable?
What part of issue management involves tolerance?
Part of issue management requires that tolerances are set for decision-making concerning those risks that become issues.
Define change management
The actual process of change is not the only component of a well-governed project however. Communication of those changes is also very important, particularly since it is likely that the change will affect at least one aspect of the Triple Constraint Triangle.
Adaptive management is key to…
…navigating changes, committing resources appropriately, and ensuring the right project is being done in the right way. Decision gates, issue logs, and information from MEAL all help to make adaptive management work during the implementation phase.
The products or outputs of the Implementation phase are:
Issue Log Monitoring Reports Evaluation Narrative and Financial Reports Stage Plans Updated Risk Plan
Narrative reports
Narrative reports normally outline the progress that the project has made, describe any issues that have happened, and communicate progress against the targets. The donor may require additional components for narrative reporting, so it is always good to check donor and funder compliance.
Financial reports
Financial reports provide information on the spend (burn) rate of the project, forecasts and projections, as well as any supporting documentation that will be required. Reporting should have been included as part of the project scope of work, and it should have been planned for in the Planning phase.
Five Common Scenarios for Project Closure
- Closure
- Handover
- Extension
- Expansion
- Redesign
What is the most practical way to ensure an effective project closure?
include a project closure plan in the project plan.
To successfully close a project, you need to have the following inputs:
- Detailed Implementation Plan and Stage Plan
- MEAL Reports (including any lessons learned that have been documented during the project)
- Narrative and Financial Reports
- Issue Log
- Updated Risk Register
Some stakeholders to consider involving during this phase may be:
- Project Team
- Operations/Support Teams (HR, Security, Supply Chain, and Finance)
- Project Governance
- Program Manager
- Suppliers, Vendors, and Contractors
- Program Team-INGO Partner
- Beneficiary Community
- Partners
How is sustainability linked to project sustainability?
In many cases, sustainability is directly linked to handing the project over to a local partner once it has closed. The checklist linked here provides some guidance on the details required to finalize the sustainability plan.
Contents of a final narrative report often include the following, but can have more or fewer requirements, depending on the organization or donor:
Project Summary
Project Results (Targets Achieved, Indicators, Outputs, and Outcomes)
Challenges and Issues
Lessons Learned
Assets and Inventory Summary/Return/Disposal
Types of final reports
Final Financial Report
Endline Report
Final Financial Report
In theory, all money has been received once the project is preparing to close. It is likely that financial reports have been provided throughout the project, with the final financial report summarizing the allocation of financial resources. The final report should include any and all supporting documents required.
Endline Report
Often, the MEAL team will conduct a project endline report that is then matched against the baseline report to determine to what extent the targets and indicators were met. This report is frequently included in the final narrative report and provides valuable information for the final project evaluation.
Three types of closure
Administrative Closure
Financial Closure
Contract Closure
Administrative Closure
Administrative closure includes personnel, assets, and reporting compliance requirements.
Have project personnel been released or reassigned?
Have the project equipment, vehicles, offices been reallocated? Sold? Transferred?
Are project reports and closure documents complete? Are project archives and/or files up to date?
Financial Closure
The finance department focal point should work closely with the project manager to make sure that all compliance and requirements have been closed in the project. This includes any supporting documentation as well as reports. Some things to consider include:
Has all permitted funding been received from the donor?
Have all receivables (project advances, travel advances, and advances to suppliers) been liquidated or transferred to another project number or accounting code?
Have all payables been paid?
Contract Closure
The project manager should work with the project support teams (HR, Procurement, Finance) to see that all contracts are officially closed. This must happen before the project can close. The project manager must ask:
Are all contracts closed out? Suppliers? Subcontractors? Donors? Implementing organizations? Others? Has the donor reviewed and accepted project deliverables?
Final Evaluation
A final evaluation should have been planned from the beginning of the project, with an outline of the purpose and desired key evaluation questions to be answered by the evaluation team or evaluator. Depending on the size and complexity of the project, a tentative timeline and budget should also have been allocated for this exercise, providing the evaluator and team with sufficient resources to be able to make a data-informed judgement on the value of the project.
The evaluator and team work closely with the MEAL and project teams to develop a methodology, work plan, and tools for the evaluation. Project documents and monitoring plans should be provided by the team, and the evaluator and team will likely need to coordinate through the MEAL and project teams to conduct data collection with stakeholders.
lessons learned log
An organization’s lessons learned are the contents of that organization’s memory bank.
As the project enters the Closure phase, the project manager should ensure that the lessons learned related to the project are recorded in sufficient detail and filed. The files should be easily accessible to the organization and to program teams, which means that all files (both hard and digital copies) need to be properly organized and named.
After Action Review
What did we set out to do?
What did we achieve?
Focus more on facts than opinions!
What went really well?
Again, look at the facts. Why did it go well? Compare the plan to reality.
What could have gone better?
Compare the plan to reality. What prevented us from doing more?
What can we learn from this?
