Project Management Skills Guide

As a project manager your responsibility is to drive the project from initial idea through to successful delivery. Your responsibilities will evolve through the project lifecycle but as a quick guide you should be able to complete the activities set out below. We have organised the skills under each of the stages of the project lifecycle:

Project concept

• Defines project objectives, appraises the project (including financial appraisal), carries out a feasibility study and establishes an outline project plan
• Analyses and prioritises requirements, taking into consideration business benefits and priorities
• Understands the relationship between the timing of deliverables and the realisation of benefits
• Agrees a design and the preferred solution with the sponsor and stakeholders, ensuring that they are able to supply the likely resources required to deliver the solution

Project definition

The preferred solution is further evaluated, the project plan is produced and the required resources identified:

• Agrees and documents the objectives, scope, high-level deliverables and success criteria for the project
• Ensures the accountability and responsibilities of the roles are clearly understood by the project team and stakeholders.
• Ensures constraints, assumptions and dependencies are documented and understood by the stakeholders and project team members
• Develops a strategy and/or plan to manage and communicates effectively with all stake-holders
• Prepares a detailed project plan
• Uses experts and knowledge gained from previous projects to prepare estimates for time, cost and resource usage 
  - Defines and sequences the activities and/or work packages taking into account any dependencies
  - Obtains agreement with line management/resource owners for resource assignments to the project. 
  - Schedules project evaluation reviews at key milestones during the project
• Defines responsibilities and authority levels so that routine changes can be dealt with efficiently, but significant changes are escalated to the sponsor and other senior managers

Project implementation

The plan is executed, the work is carried out and progress is monitored, controlled and reported upon:

• Executes the project quality plan, carrying out quality assurance and control and maintains a quality log containing all assurance activities and results
• Throughout the project ensures that estimates are continually reviewed and revised as and when new information becomes available and more is known about the project
• Assesses risks (threats and opportunities) and documents them in the risk log including details of any responses to the risks
• Prepares and maintains an issue log to facilitate the progress tracking of project issues from identification to resolution and closure, ensuring each is allocated an owner responsible for their resolution
• Anticipates and prepares for potential conflict situations that may have an impact on the project
• Compares planned and actual progress and takes corrective actions where necessary
• Reviews progress with the sponsor and agrees any remedial actions and/or changes to scope and deliverables to ensure delivery is on time, on budget and meets the required level of quality
• Creates an environment that empowers and inspires involvement in the project and uses  collaboration and teamwork to ensure work is delivered on time, on budget and to the required level of quality

Project handover and closeout

Project deliverables are handed over to the users, the project team are redeployed and the project information is archived. Lessons learnt and follow on actions are identified and agreed with the sponsor:

• Undertakes an assessment of the readiness of the business to accept and utilise the project deliverables
• Ensures that all of the required project deliverables have been delivered to and accepted by the required stakeholders, agreeing ownership of any outstanding requests for change and open risks and issues with plans for resolution