Project Managment

Project Management Handbook

Version 1.1 - July 2006

Wouter Baars Recommendations: Henk Harmsen Rutger Kramer Laurents Sesink Joris van Zundert

DANS – Data Archiving and Networked Services The Hague – 2006

DANS – Data Archiving and Networked Services PO Box 93067 2509 AB The Hague T +31 (0)70-3494450 F +31 (0)70-3494451 info@dans.knaw.nl www.dans.knaw.nl ISBN 90 6984 496 6

Thiswork is licensed under the Creative Commons AttributionNon-Commercial-Share-Alike 2.5 License. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ or send a letter to: Creative Commons 543 Howard Street – 5th floor San Francisco, CA 94105 USA

Table of Contents

Foreword Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The six phases of project management Managing a projectProject reporting The sales representative and the politician Waterfall versus cyclical project management DANS software-development working methods Programme management

Appendices 1. Top 11 causes of delays in IT projects 2. Roles within a project 3. Helpful resources for project management 4. License for this handbook 5. About DANS and the producers of this handbook 6. Sample action-and-decisionlist 7. Sample issue log 8. Sample risk log 9. Sample meeting report 10. Sample project plan 11. Sample budget 12. Sample financial statement Literature and Internet sources

Project Management Handbook, version 1.1 http://www.projectmanagement-training.net

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Foreword
Anyone who has ever worked on a project will agree that making a project succeed is no simple task. The difficultiesmanifest themselves in (extreme) delays, (extreme) budget over-runs, inadequate results, dissatisfied customers, high stress among the project team and other undesirable outcomes. What is the cause of all of these problems? Projects are characterised by four features: a group of people, a goal, limited time and money and a certain level of uncertainty regarding whether the goals will be achieved.Project managers are involved with all of these aspects. Supervising and directing a project is thus anything but an easy task. Projects are becoming increasingly common. Project-based working methods have also found their way into non-profit organisations, including DANS.1 The rules of the game for projects in non-profit organisations differ from those in commercial organisations. Political factorsplay a particularly important role in non-profit organisations. This makes it even more difficult for projects to succeed, compared to projects in which commercial aspects play a part. Project leaders should be aware of this and be able to play the game of politics. After several years of experience with IT projects, the authors of this handbook have become even more keenly aware of how IT projectsdiffer from ‘regular’ projects. Most importantly, projects are more dynamic, and that has both advantages and disadvantages. We have established that IT projects require an approach that differs – at least partly - from the approaches that are appropriate for construction, re-organisations or other types of projects. This handbook is intended for projects that are conducted by DANS. The firstsection describes a working method that can be followed for ‘traditional’ projects. The second section describes the working method for IT projects, particularly those that involve software development. This handbook presents a practical model that will allow project members, project leaders, project managers, general managers, programme managers, customers and project partners to play their roleswithin DANS better. It is impossible to learn all there is to know about the field of project management. Theoretical development and practical experience are continually producing new insights. This handbook is therefore incomplete, and it will grow along with new developments in the area of project management. To make this possible, we have chosen to publish the text under a creative-commons...