Project Management for Everyday Work

Recognise a project, define a useful outcome and record the limits.

• A project is a change with a finish15 min · Separate a temporary project from continuing work.
• Describe success without promising miracles15 min · Write a result that another person can check.
• Make a one-page brief15 min · Capture purpose, scope, limits and approval in one place.

Turn the brief into deliverables and finishable tasks.

• Know what is inside the job15 min · Distinguish an agreed deliverable from an attractive extra.
• Break a deliverable into useful tasks15 min · Write tasks with an action, owner and completion evidence.
• Choose the first useful version15 min · Prioritise essential work and make trade-offs explicit.

Clarify ownership, useful updates and decisions.

• Name the owner and the approver15 min · Give execution and acceptance clear responsibilities.
• Give people the update they need15 min · Tailor a short update to the person making the next decision.
• Record a decision you can find again15 min · Keep a decision record distinct from a meeting note.

Sequence tasks and test availability before promising a date.

• A due date is not a plan15 min · Distinguish work effort from elapsed duration.
• Find what must happen first15 min · Use dependencies to identify work that is blocked.
• Check the people as well as the dates15 min · Resolve an overloaded owner before approving the schedule.

Build a clear cost baseline and review the remaining allowance.

• Add the costs you can explain15 min · Calculate a baseline from quantities and rates.
• Separate estimates, commitments and actuals15 min · Avoid counting the same supplier cost twice.
• Test a change before accepting it15 min · Calculate the combined effect of several changes.

Keep risks, issues and change decisions visible.

• A risk might happen; an issue has happened15 min · Choose the right response for current and possible problems.
• Make a response practical15 min · Choose a trigger and action instead of a vague warning.
• Escalate with options and a deadline15 min · Help an approver make a timely informed decision.

Use a board, evidence and truthful status updates.

• Make the board mean something15 min · Use statuses with clear entry and exit rules.
• Report the outlook, not just busyness15 min · Write a concise update that exposes decisions and forecast changes.
• Replan without losing the original agreement15 min · Keep approved changes traceable to the baseline.

Check acceptance, explain the result and build your reusable project pack.

• Use evidence to accept the result15 min · Separate doing the work from accepting its usable output.
• Leave a handover somebody can use15 min · Explain ownership, access and unfinished actions.
• Build your own project pack15 min · Apply the complete method to a new small project.