Towering Skills LLC

Project Management: Launch Your Project with a Clear Scope

10 July 2008
Topics: project management, scope planning, scope definition, brainstorming, work breakdown structure (WBS), progressive elaboration, process development, project launch, financial indicators

Engineers often face confusion and uncertainty launching new projects. This video address a method to address this concern.

What does the new project manager do first to gain a vision of where he or she needs to take a project? How does an engineer begin the journey to provide a project’s deliverables? How does the technical professional set his or her bearings?

A big part of launching any project rests in clearly defining the scope and establishing metrics to measure a project’s progress. Project teams benefit by employing the following steps:

  1. Plan how the scope will be defined.
  2. Brainstorm the scope. Consider both who (of your customers) needs what when and who (of your team or vendors) will do what when.
  3. Logically reign in your brainstormed ideas. Talk with and listen to stakeholders to precisely define deliverables.
  4. Break the work down into manageable tasks.

If you apply these steps, you can launch successful projects.

 

Script

Many people say that the first step is the hardest to take. This is especially true launching new projects. I find again and again that engineers often face confusion and uncertainty launching new projects. It is not as if an overwhelming number of tasks loom as a daunting obstacles, rather it is more the case that those assigned to the project can’t see the work ahead of them. At the beginning of most undertakings we stand so far away from the fields of labor that almost all of the details fall below our horizon of awareness.

What does the new project manager do first to gain a vision of where he needs to go? How does an engineer begin the journey to deliver a project’s deliverables? How does he or she know what most needs doing? How does the technical professional set his or her bearings?

I have helped managers and engineers deal with this issue. And I believe you can apply these principles to more effectively conceptualize and initiate your projects.

In the last few months, I have worked with two teams, each consisting of junior and experienced engineers, to launch projects. Working together we set these projects on track with clearly defined scopes and metrics to measure each project’s success.

In each case, we started with little more than a preliminary concept. These were processes for producing new produces from waste streams. Each team met together for one day to brainstorm and refine the scope. We rapidly sketched a basic process flow diagram and outlined a preliminary material balance. With these in hand, we developed a major equipment list, manning chart, preliminary capital estimate, operating cost estimate, and simple discounted cash flow.

We worked quickly and collaboratively. The exercises proved so effective, that after each session, the lead engineer confidently and effectively communicated each opportunity to senior management. Our work provided a clarity that enabled him to secure the resources required to promptly advance each project.

The comprehensive scope and the clear financial indicators clarified purpose. These helped effectively launch each project.

Applying good project management principles creates trust. It also speeds up results.