The power of one

Abstract

Projects as well as teams come in different sizes. Being a team of “one” provides the project manager with more of a unique opportunity to use project management processes. The project manager can scale the processes to fit the needs of the project and utilize simplified techniques based on the needs of the project. To operate efficiently, it is imperative that the project manager stays focused by setting priorities and keeping project data organized. This paper provides a scalable process and templates ideal for small projects along with suggestions on how to prioritize daily activities and organize project data.

Introduction

Teams are a key and distinct element of organizational design and have helped to facilitate the implementation of new products and organizational processes. Teams are also the means of accomplishing divisional, departmental and personal goals. Other benefits associated with working as a team, include shared ownership and responsibility for tasks, faster response to technological change and synergy.

The size of a team is an important consideration for project success and is determined by the needs of the project. For example, if the team is responsible for a task requiring a lot of technological know-how, the team size should be large enough to include people who can perform the job, as well as those who can manage—even design—the product (a cross-functional team). (Harrington-Mackin, 1994, p.10) Large projects generally provide an increased opportunity for support, synergy, information sharing, risk sharing, and personal growth. If the team's goals and tasks are complex and demand considerable skill small teams (from six to twelve members are most effective. (Harrington-Mackin p.10) Small teams also provide opportunity for support, synergy, sharing and personal growth.

As a team of one, things change drastically….

Team of One

Roles and Responsibilities

As a team of one support, synergy and sharing are lost. However, personal growth is still possible. As a team of one, you are expected to fill multiple roles; i.e., project manager, leader and subject matter expert.

Project Manager

It is still important to know project management. By understanding project management you are in a position to determine how and when to apply project management processes, tools and techniques. In general, the project manager is responsible for the overall success of the project. More specifically as Christensen states it, the project manager establishes the direction of the project, identifies what must be done to reach that destination and the means by which the required work is completed (2002, p.6). Although you may not have the title of project manager, for the purpose of this paper we will us the term to identify the person responsible for the project-our one person team member.

As the project manager you are responsible for coordinating project activities, which includes:

• Deciding on the processes and ensuring that they are followed,
• Defining and documenting the project and obtaining agreement,
• Monitoring project progress,
• Communicating with the sponsor and customer,
• Managing change.

It is important to manage the processes. This includes the project management process and any other development or business processes that are required to complete the project. A simplified project management process for small projects is detailed in the Project Management Process section of this paper.

Leader

By operating as a team of one, many of the common problems normally associated with teams are eliminated. For example personality conflicts, non-team players, bullies, etc. are not an issue. The ongoing teambuilding process is also eliminated; however, leadership is still required. Leadership can be defined as a style of behaviour designed to integrate both the organizational requirements and one's personal interests into the pursuit of some objective (Kersner, 2003 p. 216). You can cast the project management vision and motivate others to use project management processes and tools.

As a leader it is important to

• Be a visionary – create and nurture a vision,
• Have integrity – having words and actions in alignment, character,
• Be a change agent – be willing to change personally and then create a climate for others to change,
• Be a problem solver/decision maker – be able to recognize a problem in its early stages, analyze and respond appropriately,
• Have a positive attitude – choose to respond to daily situations/challenges with optimism,
• Have a business orientation – understand the culture and where the project fits in achieving organizational goals,
• Have a high tolerance for ambiguity – understand that uncertainty exists and work to provide clarity ,
• Communicate effectively – clearly articulate information, and actively listen to others.

Subject Matter Expert

You also have the role of subject matter expert, which requires you to take on the responsibilities of the analyst, specialist, designer, or developer, to name a few. As subject matter expert you are responsible for performing analyses, gathering business requirements, developing specifications, creating deliverables, and testing and implementing deliverables. To state it another way, you perform all of the tasks required to complete the project.

Challenges

There are some team challenges that exist regardless of size, such as making sure commitments are met, stakeholder management and scope creep. However, as a team of one there are some additional challenges that often exist:

1. Planning – making sure all of the work effort and associated costs are defined. Planning is a major challenge for small projects and even more so with a team of one. With small projects, everyone seems to have a solution, and time for planning is often overlooked. (Campbell, 1998). The project manager should make time to plan because the plan provides direction for the project and is a communication tool for sponsor and other stakeholders. However, the project manager must be careful not to over plan or become too detailed.
2. Not structuring the project to over-emphasize those elements you are most comfortable with and ensuring the elements you are not comfortable with do not get short changed. Don't work in a vacuum, obtain input from stakeholder and schedule project reviews with the sponsor.
3. Obtaining support from other areas when needed. Although you maybe a team of one, at times you may still need support from other areas. Because of the lower visibility of your project others treat it as a lower priority when asked for information, or assistance with completing a task or resolving an issue. As the project manager, you must work hard to convey a sense of project urgency and use influence as a means to obtain much needed project support.
4. Managing multiple projects is another challenge. With a small project there is a greater chance that you will be assigned more than one. It is important to know all the project priorities and deliverable due dates. One suggestion is to have a weekly or monthly calendar which shows key dates and activities for all projects. Projects can even be colour coded for easy reference.
5. Keeping materials organized and professional, as they would be if others were involved. Since you are operating with no backup, it is important to stay disciplined, even during the difficult times.

Power of One

Power – the power to choose. One – one person solely responsible for the outcome of the project.

The power of one is one person solely responsible for the outcome of the project with the power to choose how it will be managed. The power of one means you have the ability to:

• Use project management to clearly define the project, develop realistic schedules and manage change.
• Choose processes, systems, level of detail and amount of discipline for managing your project…
• Operate in an organized and efficient manner.
• Define quality up front and to edit your own work harshly and objectively and from as many perspectives as you can.
• Keep things simple.

Small Projects

A project as defined in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide): “a project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service.” (Källman, & Williamson, 2002, p1)As a team of one the focus will probably be small projects. While there is no fast definition of a small project, generally small projects do not have a detrimental impact to the company's bottom line. A small project usually lasts less than six months, has a narrowly defined scope, has an easily understood problem and the solution is readily achievable, impacts a single business unit and has no major dependencies or inter-related projects.

Even assignments can be managed as projects. Treating assignments as projects allows more effort to be carried out in an efficient manner with better use of resources (Källman, & Williamson, 2002). Treating assignments as projects provides you with the opportunity to clearly define the goal and expectations at the onset thereby eliminating the frustration of wasted effort and unnecessary rework.

Examples of small projects include:

• Developing a business process,
• Enhancing an existing production process or system,
• Developing a proposal or business case,
• Implementing a small marketing plan,
• Developing a training course,
• Implementing a purchased software application,
• Discretionary requests.

Project Management Process

Process Overview

Most people do not see the value of using a methodology on what should be a simple project. The processes are viewed as burdensome and the belief is why waste time planning when you could be executing the project. Even after things continue to take longer than expected, a lot of people just don't seem to understand that planning and a methodology could save them a lot of grief and even more money in the long run (Campbell, 1998).

Projects must be managed proactively, regardless of the size. Project management processes, as described in the PMBOK^® Guide, describe, organize, and complete the work of the project, and are organized into five groups: initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing. (Campbell, 1998, p1) It is important to note that the process can be applied to small projects, even for a team of one. Processes should be efficient and require minimum documentation with an emphasis on forms and checklists.

Initiating

Initiating Process

Typically when people begin a project, they jump into planning or even implementation before they have a clear idea of what they're planning or implementing. The first step on any project is to gain an understanding of the project and the sponsor's expectations. This information can be documented on a form such as a Project Charter, Project Brief or Project Definition. We will refer to this initial document as the Project Charter. The Project Charter converts the idea into the details required for planning, including project goals and objectives, scope, assumptions, constraints, and risk factors. The information on the Project Charter should be shared with stakeholders to clarify expectations and with the sponsor to gain agreement to proceed with planning.

Project Charter Components

Goals and objectives are statements that describe what the project will accomplish, or the business value of the project will achieve. There has been lots of discussion regarding the definition of goals and objectives. Tom Mochal in his Ten Step PM Process explains it best. Goals are high level statements that provide overall context for what the project is trying to achieve, and should align to business goals. Objectives are lower level statements that describe the specific, tangible products and deliverables that the project will deliver (2004). Objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed to, Realistic, Time-related).

The Scope defines the boundaries of the project and includes what is in and out. It is the foundation on which the project is built and is used for change control. The scope can be written as a simple statement or as a bulleted list. Regardless of how it is written, the scope must be clear and understandable, and it must be agreed upon by the sponsor prior to beginning the planning activities.

Major Deliverables are the clearly defined results, goods, or services produced during the project. The deliverables are not always obvious or clear. Information gathering is critical during the initiation phase. Interviewing the sponsor and other stakeholders is a good way to identify major deliverables.

Assumptions are factors that, for planning purposes, are considered to be true, real or certain and are often used as a basis for decision making. Constraints limit the project manager's options. Both assumptions and constraints should be identified.

A Risk Factor is a potential problem that could arise in the project. Risk factors will be the basis for the risk assessment that will be performed during the planning phase.

Other items that can be included on the project charter include: roles and responsibilities, external dependencies, criteria for success, budget, and timeframes.

Planning

Planning Process

Many people get hung up on the definition of a plan, saying that they don't have time to produce one. This probably means that they have the wrong idea about what a plan should look like. They assume that a plan needs to be a complex, graphical document, showing how every minute of every day will be used. This misconception about the form and content of plans is particularly wrong for smaller projects (Watson, 2002, p.41).

It is important to define the work and identify the resources necessary to complete the project. For a small project, the planning cycle should be short. Scalability is really important during planning. The effort required to plan the project depends on the type and amount of information, and level of detail that needs to be communicated. The duration required to plan depends on the length of time necessary to discover and document the information as well as the time required to gain agreement with the sponsor on scope, schedule and cost. Regardless of the simplicity of the project, the final plan should be documented.

Planning Tools and Techniques

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) should be deliverable-oriented. It can be hand drawn or developed using a software application. The important thing to remember is the WBS is a simple hierarchy of deliverables representing the total project and can be used as a visual to determine the amount of work to be performed. Based on the WBS, a task list can be developed for each deliverable.

The Project schedule should be simple and, at a minimum, should include the deliverable, task, start and finish dates, and effort hours. Be careful not to make the task size too small. The purpose of the schedule is to provide a means to monitor progress. An extremely detailed or complex project schedule will be difficult to keep current.

A budget may not be required for some small projects. If a budget is required it should have the level of detail necessary to see the cost associated with the major deliverables, in addition to the total project. The WBS and task list will help to define resource cost. Other costs may include travel, training, equipment, technology, supplies, printing, etc.

Risks should be identified. As a team of one you can quickly brainstorm potential problems. A simple assessment of high, medium and low priorities will determine which risks should be avoided, mitigated or accepted. Risks should be documented on a simplified risk response plan and monitored for the duration of the project.

Executing and Controlling

Executing and Controlling Process

Executing and controlling processes can be combined for a small project. Keeping all of the project documents current is important. These activities should not be overly time consuming, because the tools and techniques chosen in the planning phase were based on the needs of the project. If the process is appearing to become burdensome, the project manager should make adjustments as necessary.

It is important to review the project schedule on a weekly basis and identify activities that have been completed during the previous period as well as those that should have but were not. Evaluate the remaining work and make adjustments to the project schedule, identifying remaining work that needs to be completed. If the original budget or deadline estimates cannot be met, new estimates need to be prepared and communicated to the sponsor.

Executing and Controlling Tools and Techniques

A Status Report should be shared with the sponsor on a regular basis. This could be in the form of an email of a status reporting form. The status report should include major accomplishments, variances, plans for next period and project issues.

Issues are unresolved questions, problems or conditions and require a resolution. Issues should be documented in a simplified issues log. After a resolution is agreed upon, the appropriate activities should be added to the project schedule. The issue, current status and resolution should also be documented in the project status report.

Change Management is an important activity, even for small projects. When a scope change is required, a Change Request should be prepared to document the change and impacts. The Change Request should be given to the sponsor for resolution. After a resolution is agreed upon, the appropriate activities should be added to the project schedule to ensure the change is implemented. A Change Control Log can be used to track all changes.

Closing

Closing Process

When the project is finished, the project manager should tie up loose ends, revisit the scope statement to determine if customer requirements were satisfied, and prepare a final status report. It is a good idea to complete a Lessons Learned. The Lessons Learned identifies what was learned as a result of using the project management process in addition to what was learned from doing the project work. This is also a good time for a celebration. You deserve it!

More Discipline

It is important to stay focused, especially as a team of one. Staying within the project boundaries requires self discipline. This means choosing to focus on the activities that will help you achieve your project goals. Take things one day at a time. In addition to project management processes, and tools, to obtain maximum benefit, organization and time management tools and techniques are also helpful.

Project Notebook

The Project Notebook provides a practical way to organize and easily access project information. The intent is to ensure that the project manager has current data regarding the status of the project available at all times; therefore, it should remain small enough to be carried at all times. For project managers with multiple projects, a separate project notebook should be created for each project. The Project Notebook should include the Project Charter, WBS, baseline and current project schedule, project directory, issues log, risk response plan, status report, and change requests. Important documents specific to the project should also be included.

In addition to a project notebook, it is still important to have a system for storing documents electronically. Based on the needs of the project, consider including a document management system for project documents and deliverables with naming and formatting standards, versioning, retention/purging and backup. Project notebook documents should also be stored electronically and a document management system would allow for easy access to previous versions.

Action Items

An action item is unplanned work that arises on an ad-hoc basis while performing project activities. Action items can be administrative or require substantial work. Action items can be added to the project schedule or they can be documented in an action items log. As a team of one it is important to keep track of all of the work associated with the project because you may have to account for it later. An action items log will provide a means for tracking small ad hoc activities as well as ensuring they do not get missed.

Time Management

Time management requires discipline. Time management requires you to write down what you want to accomplish, create lists and set priorities. Brian Tracy uses this vivid analogy when it comes to focusing on priorities. He says, “if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long. Your ‘frog’ is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don't do something about it now” (Tracy, 2001, p. 2).

The following is a list of some common time management techniques.

1. Create monthly, weekly and daily priority lists (To Do Lists).
2. Use a document management system.
3. Organize your work space.
4. Plan every day in advance.
5. Keep track of due dates.
6. Do the most difficult task first.
7. Apply the Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) to everything.
8. Focus on results.
9. Develop systems that work for you.
10. Work according to your temperament.
11. Allow a little time for the unexpected.
12. Eliminate wasteful activities.
13. Choose to be positive

Final Words

As a team of one you perform multiple roles: project manger, leader and subject matter expert. You also have the power to define the project management processes, tools and techniques that will be used for managing your project. It is important to keep things simple and organized. Manage your time wisely. Find a system that works for you but more importantly make sure your project is documented. As a team of one, you must plan the work, lead the effort and work the plan.