Fabrication project 2c write-up

8th-Semester-Spring-2025/clinic-consultant/notes/project-management.md

@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+---
+title: Management of Your Consulting Project/Contract
+---
+
+# Project Planning
+$400 before record for taxation
+
+## Project vs. Program
+#### Project
+A temporary task undertaken to create a unique product or service
+
+#### Program
+A series of projects that are managed in a coordinated way (longer term)
+
+#### Project management is a process:
+- **Initiate:** conceptualize the idea or task
+- **Plan:** how will you actually complete the task
+- **Execute:** do the plan
+- **Control:**
+- **Close:**
+
+## Project Initiation
+How does your project get started?
+
+- Formal response to request for proposal (RFP)
+- Informal request to tackle a project
+- Cold call
+
+- **Mission:** why are you taking on the project
+- **Objective:** what are the goals of the project
+- **Deliverables:** what outcomes constitute completion
+- **Client/Customer:** who has interest in the project
+
+## Project Planning
+### Areas to cover:
+- Scope of project/tasks
+- Time requirements
+- Cost discussion
+- Known issues that need to be addressed
+- Risk management
+- Quality control requirements
+- Communications
+- Resource requirements
+
+### Helpful Artifacts
+- Work breakdown structure (WBS)
+- Project budget
+	- Bill of Materials (BOM)
+- Project schedule 
+	- Start and end dates
+	- How to fill in everything in between
+	- Major milestones
+- Responsibility assignment matrix (RAM)
+- Configuration change control process
+	- Know the cost of making a change
+- Risk management plan
+
+## Project execution
+How do you know if you are ahead or behind schedule?
+
+- Schedule tracking and status
+	- All planned tasks should be incorporated into some form of a schedule
+	- Advises number of resources and how to adjust if necessary
+- Measure Project Activities
+	- Amount of effort over time
+	- What happened or is happening?
+	- Report progress to client/customer
+
+# Work Breakdown Structure
+A product-oriented "family tree" division of hardware, software, services, and other work products which organizes graphically.
+
+- Hierarchical breakdown of products and services
+- All products and services required to complete the project
+- Consulting likely won't get to this level of detail
+
+- Budget
+- Master schedule
+- Organization
+- Contract Tasking
+- Risk management
+- Reporting
+
+# Change Management
+Depends on risk of change for each requirement.
+
+# Project Status Reporting
+Can be formal or informal, but ultimately up to the client or customer.
+
+- Informal tends to allow more open and honest communication
+- Still need actual metrics
+
+### How often to report status
+- Monthly is too infrequent
+- Daily can make it hard to assess and react
+- Weekly tends to be about right
+
+### Acceptance
+- Fully define some level of acceptance
+- How do you know when the product is acceptable
+- Clear criteria doesn't always exist
+
+### Approval
+- Who approves the project deliverables?
+- When is a project approved?
+- May require your client to seek approval if you are a sub-contractor