---
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