Focuses on the training and development needs of admin professionals and features topics such as hard skills (software competencies, writing, communication, filing) and soft skills (teamwork, time management, leadership).
Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/735135
NOVEMBER 2016 6 6 Continued on page 7 Every project has a life cycle By Rhonda Scharf As we reach the final article on project management for administrative pro- fessionals, we need to understand the life cycle of a project. Put simply, the life cycle is the path your project takes, from its inception until its goal – the deliverables. Your project will create something (for in- stance, a new software program, a new organizational structure or an event for your employees) and to get to that de- liverable you have to create a process. That's your project's life cycle. There are four main areas in the life cycle of a project, and responsibilities within each one. 1. Project initiation At the start of any project, regardless of its size, it is important to decide ex- actly what it is that you are doing and not doing. In my last article I talked about scope creep and what happened when my husband and I installed our swimming pool last year. (In case you missed it, we didn't do this stage well enough and ended up making a lot of adjustments during construction. That added unnecessary time and money to the final result—the deliverable.) When you take the time to clearly define the scope and the outcomes re - quired, there is a much higher chance that your project will be a success. However, initiation is a step that many people fail to spend enough time on. It really is the most important part of the project. Saying "we want a really good web- site" is not good enough. How will you know it's a really good website? What do you need the website to do? In the initiation phase, you need to thoroughly define what "really good" means, and what it looks like in this case, using specific terms that are measurable. One of the most important ques - tions you can ask at this stage is: What does success look like? Brainstorming is very important to make sure you have thought of every- thing. Anything you forget or leave out at this stage could be a factor in your project's success – or failure. If I had discovered Pinterest last year before we put in our pool, I would likely have planned my scope properly. Instead, we ended up rush- ing through the initiation phase of our project in our excitement to get the pool installed. We should have spent much more time brainstorming about why we wanted a pool, and what kind of pool would make us happy. Create your vision and get ev- eryone (stakeholders, clients, team members, sponsors and everyone else who is involved or will be affected by the project) on board. Your final step in the initiation phase is to put everything in writing. Don't avoid this step. Put everything in writing, and get it accepted or approved – again, in writing (you'll thank me later). 2. Project planning During the planning phase, you need to identify clearly each task required in your project and put it into a work breakdown structure. A WBS is a structured approach to the work. Planning in project management makes you stronger. How detailed your list of tasks is will depend on your project, but the more details you include, the better your project will be. For instance, let's assume you're renovating your kitchen. When you list all the tasks into a WBS you can say: • Install Plumbing • Install Electrical • Install Tiling • Etc. Credit: canbedone/Shutterstock "If you want to have good ideas, you must have many ideas." -Biochemist Linus Pauling