Project Management Fundamentals
Return - https://go.mgpd.org/pmfs
As a technology administrator, you will manage large projects with many components. This session will introduce you to the fundamentals of organizing such projects while highlighting tips and best practices.
Resources
TCEA TechNotes Blog Entries & Podcasts
Blog: Solving Wicked Problems
The Wicked Problem
“Our kiddoes are stuck in a portable building with no Internet,” challenged a kindly, experienced principal, smiling her demand, “and I’m not sure why. Can you help me, please?”
In any environment, there are various ways of accomplishing goals and objectives and of receiving funding for needed projects. In some locations, a conversation that moves participants towards action suffices, while in others, the value is placed on a formal presentation or proposal.
Goal #1 - Defining Project Management
Project management is the application of processes, methods, knowledge, skills and experience to achieve the project objectives.
Project Management Action Steps
Sample Scenario: Power Poles & Action Steps
“When the power poles in the computer labs were put in, the maintenance department failed to connect the power.”
“Wait,” you asked in surprise, “Are you saying that all these power poles do not have power in them? Are you just daisy chaining the power from one outlet?”
“Yes,” replied the media specialist. “That is exactly what we have had to do. As you can guess, we can’t put as many computers in this room as we would like. And I’m worried about overloading power. Isn’t this unsafe or something? I’ve told my principal, but she doesn’t have the money to get it done and it should have been done when they built the school several years ago.”
Why is this necessary?
High School campus labs lack electrical connections needed to “complete” the labs. Inadequately wired rooms have consequences on performance of equipment and reliability.
What happens if we don’t implement?
High school campus labs will continue to face electrical issues caused by poles that were never wired for electrical. Furthermore, new equipment will sit unused in the labs.
Potential summary of costs are as follows (estimated since quotes are not yet available):
Electrical in Labs: $1,000 (estimate)
How will we measure success?
All labs will be at 100% utilization and have functional network and electrical connections.
When will this happen?
This is scheduled for the next budget year.
Tracking and Graphing Projects
Spreadsheet Tools:
Google Sheets
Microsoft Excel
Graphing Tools:
Gauging and Reporting Success
Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are a set of quantifiable measures that compare performance to organizational outcomes.
Network Operations Center #1 with alternate power source (Status: 95%)
Put data backup plan in place (Status: 100%)
Multi-Year Equipment Replacement & Support Services (Status: 100%)
Anti-Virus Replacement (Status: 100%)
Identity Automation (Status: 100%)
VOIP Program (Status: 10%)
Data Warehouse and Web Data Portal (Status: 100%)
Addition of Network Services Technician (Status: 100%)
Case Study: Crowley ISD
Jerry Allen, CTO, uses several tools to power the District’s digital dashboard. He combines Google Sites, Sheets, Domo, and Pingdom.
The first three yield a wide variety of viewable data. The last, Pingdom, provides insight into the status (e.g. offline or up/down) of web-based services.
Sample Executive Summaries & Proposal Types
Looking for some example proposal formats? These are sure to get you going. Remember, they are examples that you can use and adapt for your own. However, even though these items were successful in their time, you will need to adapt them for use in your unique situation. Fortunately, you won't have to start from scratch.
Proposal Types
Project Management Tools
Chances are, you are going to rely on the tool you know best to manage your projects. Some folks prefer Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel to create Gantt charts, etc. Others will rely on traditional whiteboards or tools like Padlet.com or Google Keep.
Here are a few video tutorials that introduce you to several different tools. According to the project manager's guide video below, FIFTY-SEVEN PERCENT of projects fail due to a failure in communication. Gannt charts can help.
Microsoft Projects 2016
Although a popular project management tool, MS Projects 2016 works only on Windows devices (and Office 365). If your organization is using it, great! But if not, you may find implementation of MS Projects 2016 a challenge if you're not trained on its use.
Still, it's worth mentioning for the heavy-duty project managers out there (that's every tech director without the benefit of a project management team in their district!).
Google Sheets
Easily turn a Google spreadsheet into progress indicator bars.
Richard Byrne's video shows you how to use Flippity.net to create a progress chart in Google Sheets. You can easily adapt it as a dynamic tool for use to display KPIs or project progress.
This video shows how to create a Gantt Chart in Google Sheets, and how to customize it.
Gantt Chart Template: https://goo.gl/yoaAMW
Trevor Fox's Blog: https://goo.gl/OxJDGc
Table of contents below:
00:00 - Introduction
00:40 - Labeling
02:57 - Dropdown for status
04:00 - Creating the bar chart
09:16 - Changing colors of tasks
13:39 - Burndown bar
14:54 - Overall project timeline
19:26 - Adding and deleting tasks
20:55 - Conclusion
Microsoft Excel
Kanban boards
Want to try another neat tool? Try Kanban boards. A quick definition:
A kanban board is a project management tool designed to help visualize work, limit work-in-progress, and maximize efficiency (or flow). Kanban boards use cards, columns, and continuous improvement to help technology and service teams commit to the right amount of work, and get it done (source).
Start with a physical Kanban board or go digital:
Business Intelligence (BI) Tools
Domo.com
Giving teachers, principals and boards the tools to track, quantify and fund successful education initiatives could be the difference in a young student’s life. Domo empowers educators to do more with less by enabling you to:
Identify at-risk students
Track successful intervention programs
Measure student progress
Manage alumni and community relations
Microsoft Power BI
To aggregate and analyze student information, Lawrence Township created an integrated system based on Smartsheet technology and Microsoft Power BI. Called Attendance, Behavior, Academics, and Incidents (ABAI), the multiphased solution uses Smartsheet’s work-management and collaboration capabilities to provide a hub for multiple sources of data—from grades and attendance records in the student information system to documents, photographs, and email. Power BI integrates with Smartsheet to provide interactive, self-service data visualization tools that can be used by everyone from teachers to school district administrators.
InfoGraphics for Project and Knowledge Management
Get copy of Infographic: Google Slides
View an example of a knowledge management repository created in OneNote. Here's another in Google Sites
