| A | B |
|---|
| Scope | The establishment of the scope of the project is critical to the success of the project. Without scope being established and more importantly, agreed amongst the key stakeholders, we don’t know where we are going. |
| Time | The time taken is a result of looking at the deliverables, the time it will take to produce those deliverables, and the resources available. A schedule needs to be established at the start of the project. The impact of not producing a schedule is that the project will stumble from one stage to the next without any clear indication of where it is up to, or what resources are required in the coming days or weeks. |
| Cost | Once a plan is in place, the cost needs to be estimated. Cost will consist of both resource costs, and capital costs. A budget needs to be allocated to the project so that money is not wasted on something that the organization cannot, or chooses not to fund. |
| Communication | A project typically involves two potential dangers to a corporation. “Expenditure” and “Change”. There is usually a risk that the expenditure can be wasted and that the change will bring disruption to the organization. A plan needs to be drawn up to understand who, needs to be told what, when and how often. |
| Risk | A project is about doing something new. Every new endeavour has risk. At the start of the project, a Project Manager should identify the risks and what can be done to lessen the risks. By taking action at the start, many of the risks can be lessened or removed. It is like a Line Manager having a disaster recovery plan. If it does go wrong, we know what to do. |
| Procurement | If external services or materials need to be purchased, the process needs to be established before the project starts. In many cases the organization may well have a procurement process and this can be applied to the project. |
| Quality | There is always the temptation to cut quality to meet deadlines. Before the project starts, the Project Manager needs to identify what quality checks will apply to the deliverables. A quality plan should be drawn up so that time can be built into the schedule to accommodate the quality activities. |
| Integration | Although there are more sophisticated explanations of Integration Management, I prefer to think of it as “pulling it all together”. With eight other areas planned and organized, the Project Manager needs to pull all the threads together into a cohesive plan. Integration is to organize the scope, people, tasks, risks, communication, quality, procurement and resources so that the outcomes of the project are achieved. |
| Resource | If a Line Manager is starting up a new function, he or she would look at the skills required, recruit resources and induct them into the organization. It is no different for a Project Manager. Resources have to be found and brought into the project. Their role has to be defined just as a Line Manager might draw up a position description. They have to be trained and inducted into the project. |
