Smart Project Reporting I Projekt Management
Communication is the door opener for successful project management. The magic triangle of time, costs and quality also applies here and consequently has an impact on the success of the project.
If time is lost, quality decreases and costs increase. As quality declines, the additional effort for ad hoc activities such as error analysis, rework and coordination meetings increase, and the vicious spiral continues to turn. The key to success therefore lies in an effective and efficient exchange of information.
Before Corona and in the office, communication was bottom-up, from the team via the team leader to the project management. At the same time, there were many informal exchanges in one-on-one conversations or in small groups. The decision was then usually made top-down at a jour fixe.
Informal exchange is the glue that holds the team together but does not always make the decisions understandable for everyone involved.
With Corona and a high proportion of home offices, the need for communication and project work has changed.
It is therefore time to rethink project communication, redesign it and continually adapt it to the current project situation. The goal is to set up an effective and efficient exchange of information that makes the project status and decisions 100% transparent for everyone involved.
My smart project reporting consists of four modules that cover all requirements and give you the time you need for other topics.
This is what Module 1 brings you – framework conditions:
The framework conditions are the guidelines for the project and should be determined together. For future new requirements, you have a reference value and can evaluate them better.
What is important here is that the defined agreements are constants and not moving targets.
The project charter describes why you want to change something. The potential description describes what needs to be improved and the objective quantifies it.
At the goal statement the further procedure is detailed and the time (t) is determined with the project plan and the necessary or possible capacities are determined with the project organization.
It is important to become aware of the critical success factors and to always keep an eye on them so that you can take countermeasures at an early stage.
Requirements management should also be defined in the project. This means a clear process on how to deal with new additional requirements in the project. Clear definition of who can apply for and decide on this and in what form. This means sharpening the focus and avoiding introducing new requirements into the project unfiltered.
If the project customer has a product project with hard milestones in the background, the minimum requirements should be described here. Keyword waterfall vs. agile software development.
This is what Module 2 brings you – Hard facts/ reporting structure:
The reporting structure lists all reports, status rounds, escalation rounds if necessary and ticket tracking. In what form is it documented, at what frequency, who takes part in which round and who is responsible for what.
Here I focus on the content, i.e. business processes and applications, as well as the integration of all those involved in the project. Smart project reporting is clearly differentiated from crew work and is based on the reports from the technical product owner.
Regarding to the participants, it is recommended to carry out a stakeholder analysis in advance. If you have ever been invited to a task force meeting with management, this may be because a key player (end customer) was not included.
This is what Module 3 – Soft facts/ Moderation brings you
So far, we have looked at the tools of a project manager, now it's time to drill down. Large projects mean many players, many players mean many sensitivities. You must be able to recognize, assess and manage these sensitivities.
There are different project roles: customers, external service providers, CoC department and IT. Each party has its needs and restrictions, these must be known and understood.
Each personality in the project has their own character, an individual, genetically predisposed basic structure of how they fundamentally act and react. This is a very important factor in moderation and communication; it is about classifying the other person quickly and correctly and reacting accordingly, not escalating, but defusing.
Each party has its needs, which they will always try to incorporate into the project. Now and then there are big requests, wishes or demands; you feel like you're at the bazaar. Now it's time to recognize and understand your counterpart's negotiating tactics and prepare yourself.
Dashboards are recommended for focused status rounds. If there are several points with different areas, it is recommended to prepare the status graphically in MS PowerPoint. Ideally as a template with recognition value, clear and pretty are not a disadvantage. With good visualization you can convey bad news in a better and more digestible way.
When it comes to moderation, good preparation and follow-up is very important, not once, not twice, but constantly. Furthermore, the moderation should be calm and neutral - after the status round is before the status round.
This is what Module 4 – Project Lifecycle Management brings you
Depending on the project phase, the main topics in the project shift, i.e. the reporting and meeting structure should be checked regularly and adjusted in terms of duration, frequency and participants in a way that save resources.