文/Neal S. Gray, Judy N. Meadows 譯/趙克琛

開發(fā)一本項(xiàng)目管理指南來確保全公司范圍內(nèi)的流程可重復(fù)性、可靠性和由此帶來的附加利益。

大多數(shù)公司都希望在不扼殺創(chuàng)新的前提下遵守流程。從公司自己的觀點(diǎn)看來，一本項(xiàng)目管理指南（以下簡稱指南）描述了如何根據(jù)業(yè)務(wù)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和必要流程來設(shè)立、實(shí)施和控制一個項(xiàng)目，然后在項(xiàng)目不同的階段如何應(yīng)用指南。設(shè)計(jì)這些方法的目的是保證最大限度的遵守流程并且不過分強(qiáng)調(diào)細(xì)節(jié)的規(guī)則。

2001年夏，美國佛羅里達(dá)州環(huán)境保護(hù)部（DEP）面臨了企業(yè)應(yīng)用軟件的一次主要升級，此次升級設(shè)有激進(jìn)的目標(biāo)和固定時(shí)間的資金支持，他們決定用一種更為正式的方法來管理項(xiàng)目。

在顧問的幫助下，DEP開始著手于一項(xiàng)項(xiàng)目管理改進(jìn)計(jì)劃以期在信息服務(wù)局（BIS）內(nèi)部建立和實(shí)施項(xiàng)目管理的最佳實(shí)踐。全面的計(jì)劃包括用以監(jiān)控的項(xiàng)目管理培訓(xùn)、創(chuàng)建項(xiàng)目管理辦公室和開發(fā)一本108頁的指南。通過這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃，BIS提高了項(xiàng)目交付物的符合程度，改進(jìn)了與內(nèi)部業(yè)務(wù)客戶的工作關(guān)系。

以下是有助于創(chuàng)建項(xiàng)目管理指南的十項(xiàng)建議。

1.把開發(fā)項(xiàng)目管理指南的工作作為一個項(xiàng)目來管理。

項(xiàng)目管理指南是一項(xiàng)獨(dú)特的交付物，有它自己的開發(fā)歷時(shí)和預(yù)算。這個項(xiàng)目要有贊助人、項(xiàng)目經(jīng)理、已分配資源、實(shí)施計(jì)劃和變更處理流程。要開發(fā)一份工作說明書和項(xiàng)目計(jì)劃來定義流程以用于創(chuàng)建指南、交付物、交付日期和所需的角色和職責(zé)。

開發(fā)這本指南不需要一個很大的團(tuán)隊(duì)。實(shí)際上，一個人可以承擔(dān)管理開發(fā)指南的職責(zé)，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)一個由相關(guān)的主題專家（SME）組成的虛擬團(tuán)隊(duì)來提供輸入和評估。在DEP-BIS，一名關(guān)鍵的指南開發(fā)人員與由八九名專家組成的虛擬團(tuán)隊(duì)一起工作。

2.清楚地定義這本指南的目的和范圍。

你是否需要一本指南來保持項(xiàng)目的符合性、共享信息或者創(chuàng)建最低的行為標(biāo)準(zhǔn)？這本指南只適用于某個部門？事業(yè)部？還是整個公司？適用于軟件項(xiàng)目還是商業(yè)或建筑項(xiàng)目？

對指南首輪開發(fā)的范圍應(yīng)該盡可能的限制，僅覆蓋一到兩個關(guān)聯(lián)密切的部門。以后的開發(fā)應(yīng)逐漸擴(kuò)展范圍。在DEP-BIS，起初，指南的范圍關(guān)注在BIS的應(yīng)用開發(fā)和地理信息系統(tǒng)部門。此后，盡管還沒有將其他的DEP業(yè)務(wù)部門需求合并到指南里的近期計(jì)劃，他們也要求把指南應(yīng)用于他們的項(xiàng)目。

3.邀請公司最優(yōu)秀的人選參與開發(fā)。

你的主題專家通常是在第一線管理著項(xiàng)目的人。你需要他們提供信息以使指南可用且可信。

要讓這些專家更快地接受、使用和推銷這本指南，這樣他們就會有主人翁意識。在DEP-BIS，參與了開發(fā)工作的項(xiàng)目主管會鼓勵別人接受指南。

4.充分利用公司的最佳實(shí)踐。

通過記錄已有的最佳實(shí)踐，你可以很容易的向其他項(xiàng)目經(jīng)理推銷這本指南，因?yàn)槟阌凶C據(jù)證明在公司里這些方法可行。首先要識別項(xiàng)目符合指南描述的類別。然后，訪問項(xiàng)目的成員以確定那些有效和無效的流程和技術(shù)。獲取這些項(xiàng)目的項(xiàng)目計(jì)劃以確認(rèn)項(xiàng)目管理活動、所需資源和交付物。評估包括狀態(tài)報(bào)告和工作說明書在內(nèi)的項(xiàng)目交付物以更好的理解產(chǎn)出的結(jié)構(gòu)和所包含的細(xì)節(jié)層次。

DEP-BIS的一項(xiàng)最佳實(shí)踐是客戶提交和跟蹤系統(tǒng)變更請求的方法。盡管BIS內(nèi)不同的部門處理變更請求的方式有所不同，但他們還是坐到一起為指南定義統(tǒng)一且不乏靈活的流程。

5.應(yīng)用業(yè)界的最佳實(shí)踐。

商業(yè)世界總是充滿創(chuàng)意。在你的計(jì)劃里融入一些新的策略，特別是那些在其他地方被驗(yàn)證為有效的策略。如果不進(jìn)行這種傳播，公司的那些實(shí)踐會變得陳舊、遲滯和過時(shí)。但是要認(rèn)清公司的局限。在DEP-BIS，SOW很少用于應(yīng)用開發(fā)部門之外的組織，所以SOW的結(jié)構(gòu)和使用規(guī)則被適當(dāng)?shù)匕凑罩改系囊髮徍撕托抻啞?br>
如果你們公司沒有可觀的培訓(xùn)經(jīng)費(fèi)并且不能容忍突變的學(xué)習(xí)曲線，那就不要使用不熟悉的方法和技術(shù)來開發(fā)指南。相比較而言，采納那些已被有效使用的方法。

6.保持最初版本簡潔明了。

即使指南的范圍很小，你還是很容易在最初版本里過多的拘泥于細(xì)節(jié)。集中精力做那些必須完成的活動、任務(wù)和交付物。指南應(yīng)該全面地指明項(xiàng)目管理流程的范圍，但是詳細(xì)的“如何做”技術(shù)信息應(yīng)被指向其他參考資料、單獨(dú)開發(fā)的參考指南或并入后期版本。

使指南緊扣主題有助于盡快地發(fā)布最初版本。項(xiàng)目經(jīng)理可以更容易地理解本指南并為他們獨(dú)特的項(xiàng)目適當(dāng)修訂指南。一旦公司在這方面取得更多的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，基于使用本指南的項(xiàng)目反饋就可以作為額外的細(xì)節(jié)加入到指南里。

7.按照詳細(xì)的層次開發(fā)指南。

首先識別你想要包括的過程域和信息類別（參見附文《項(xiàng)目管理指南規(guī)程》）。一旦架構(gòu)定義完成，就要在描述活動之前澄清流程并取得批準(zhǔn)。

每一層次驅(qū)動下一層次并使其定型，在每一層次設(shè)立檢查點(diǎn)有利于專家和其他評審者為下一層次提供有價(jià)值的輸入和反饋。幾名經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的項(xiàng)目經(jīng)理應(yīng)該在他們的下一項(xiàng)目階段使用最初版本。這種方法提供了增量式的接受和批準(zhǔn)，并將費(fèi)時(shí)的返工減至最少。在DEP-BIS，指南的最初版本提及了項(xiàng)目管理檢查表和服務(wù)水平協(xié)定，然后更加詳細(xì)的檢查表和特定的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)在隨后的版本里加入。

8.迅速地部署指南。

要限定開發(fā)指南工作的時(shí)間。每輪開發(fā)工作不應(yīng)占用一到兩名專職人員超過一到三個月的時(shí)間。盡管首輪開發(fā)距結(jié)束還很遠(yuǎn)，此指南將成為實(shí)現(xiàn)計(jì)劃的良好開端。Standish Group在研究了諸多信息技術(shù)項(xiàng)目后給出建議：每輪開發(fā)時(shí)間持續(xù)較短（三個月或更少）的項(xiàng)目更有可能成功。

DEP-BIS的首輪開發(fā)時(shí)限時(shí)三個月。2001年6月首次公開發(fā)布，接下來又有兩輪開發(fā)。目前，DEP-BIS正在將指南轉(zhuǎn)移到內(nèi)聯(lián)網(wǎng)上，以減少打印版本的控制并提供實(shí)時(shí)更新和更廣泛的便利性。

9.將指南推廣到全公司。

創(chuàng)建了指南后，你應(yīng)該向公司推銷其實(shí)用價(jià)值，指導(dǎo)人們使用指南會帶來價(jià)值。確認(rèn)那些在公司里有影響力的人，從他們那里獲取接受，然后請求他們協(xié)助推廣指南。特別是當(dāng)指南使用了公司不熟悉的新技術(shù)時(shí)，確認(rèn)培訓(xùn)的需求并提供必要的培訓(xùn)。

最后，激勵人們使用指南的動機(jī)或者出臺一些使用指南的政策。在DEP-BIS，如果一名員工完成了項(xiàng)目管理培訓(xùn)并在當(dāng)前項(xiàng)目中成功地應(yīng)用了指南的新需求，那么在他/她的姓名牌上就會貼上一個標(biāo)簽以示成就。

10.建立改進(jìn)流程。

在已經(jīng)使用指南的項(xiàng)目里收集反饋和經(jīng)驗(yàn)教訓(xùn)。建立一種持續(xù)改進(jìn)的機(jī)制后，隨著時(shí)間推移，指南會向前發(fā)展以引入公司的最佳實(shí)踐。經(jīng)過第一年的幾輪開發(fā)后，指南會逐漸穩(wěn)定下來，然后每年評審指南并更新當(dāng)前的新內(nèi)容。

DEP-BIS目前使用一種比較非正式的流程：問題和變更請求通過電子郵件發(fā)給項(xiàng)目管理辦公室以收錄于一份問題清單里。在每兩星期舉行一次的會議上，BIS管理層決定那些必要的變更。

創(chuàng)建一本項(xiàng)目管理指南會引入創(chuàng)新和流程之間的均衡并為如何成為一名成功的項(xiàng)目經(jīng)理提供指導(dǎo)。


《項(xiàng)目管理指南規(guī)程》

目的說明。描述此項(xiàng)流程和步驟的必要性。同時(shí)還包括項(xiàng)目管理交付物的目標(biāo)。

輸入。羅列出此項(xiàng)流程和步驟的所有輸入。如果不被人熟知，此項(xiàng)應(yīng)補(bǔ)充簡要的解釋，包括出處及其重要性。

人員角色。指明項(xiàng)目管理流程應(yīng)涵蓋的人員角色。不同頭銜的人可能承擔(dān)同一角色，而某個人可能扮演不同的角色。

交付物總結(jié)。羅列主要的交付物及其組件，它們會包括在活動/任務(wù)和工具章節(jié)。

活動/任務(wù)和工具。通過一兩項(xiàng)確定的交付物來描述標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的活動。使用清楚的質(zhì)量流程工具和角色與職責(zé)定義將活動分解為特定的任務(wù)。

項(xiàng)目監(jiān)控和報(bào)告標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。描述應(yīng)用于項(xiàng)目中的所有標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。質(zhì)量保證審計(jì)要使用檢查表來評估是否符合標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。以下文檔的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)要完備：工作說明書及其定義文檔、項(xiàng)目計(jì)劃、預(yù)審檢查表和風(fēng)險(xiǎn)評估文件。

對普遍的問題的回答。回答那些反復(fù)提出的問題以幫助項(xiàng)目克服最普遍的缺陷。

圖表。詳細(xì)的圖表有助于闡明流程。

參考文獻(xiàn)。羅列所有有用的書籍、網(wǎng)站和出版物。此項(xiàng)要包含全文出版參考信息和相關(guān)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，如ISO9000、SEI-CMM和PMBOK等。

附錄。此項(xiàng)包含指南里未提及但對流程比較重要的深入詳細(xì)話題。附錄可以闡述如何開發(fā)SOW、項(xiàng)目評估技術(shù)和項(xiàng)目監(jiān)控工具等。


作者簡介：Neal S. Gray系美國馬薩諸塞州波士頓市的軟件開發(fā)和商業(yè)咨詢公司基恩公司的高級主任顧問。他曾主持過超過250場美國國內(nèi)外的研討會，涉及領(lǐng)域包括項(xiàng)目管理、評估、風(fēng)險(xiǎn)管理和項(xiàng)目管理資質(zhì)等。Judy N. Meadows系基恩公司的高級主任顧問。她是該公司培訓(xùn)中心的成員，負(fù)責(zé)用于咨詢公司提供軟件服務(wù)的方案開發(fā)。

原文：
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　By The Book

By Neal S. Gray, PMP and Judy N. Meadows

Develop a project management guidebook to ensure a repeatable and reliable process – and the fringe benefits that come with it – across your organization.

Most organization want consistency without stifling creativity. Using an organization’s own terms, a project management guidebook describes how to set up, implement and control a project according to business standards, including the required processes and how they apply at different project stages. The procedures are designed to assure the highest degree of consistency – without enforcing overly detailed rules.

Faced with a major upgrade to an enterprise suite of software applications that had aggressive targets and time-boxed funding in summer 2001, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the State of Florida, USA, determined that it needed a more formal approach to managing projects.

With the assistance of a consultant, the DEP embarked on a project management improvement program for establishing and implementing best practices for project management within its Bureau of Information Service (BIS). The overall program included project management training with mentoring, the creation of a project management office and development of a 108-page guidebook. As a result, BIS has seen improved project delivery consistency and better working relationships with internal business customers.

Here are 10 tips to help you get started on creating your organization’s project management guidebook.

1.Guidebook development is a project. Manage it.

The guidebook is a unique deliverable, often with its own time frame and budget. This project must have a sponsor, project manager, assigned resources, a plan of attack and a process to deal with change. Develop a statement of work (SOW) and a project plan to define the process that will be used to create the guide, the deliverables and their due dates, and required roles and responsibilities.

Development does not require a large team. In fact, one person could take responsibility of managing and developing the guide supported by a part-time team of subject matter experts (SMEs), who provide input and review. At DEP-BIS, one person was the key developer of the guide working with a part-time group of eight to nine SMEs.

2.Clearly define the purpose and scope of the guidebook.

Do you need guidebook for consistency across projects, to educate on best practices, to share information or to create a minimum standard of action? Is it for a single department or division, or is it for the entire company? Is it for software projects or is it to be used on business and construction projects, too?

The scope of the first iteration should be fairly limited, covering no more than one or two close organizations. Future iterations – and there will be others – can expand the scope. At DEP-BIS, the guidebook scope focused on BIS’ Application Development and Geographic Information Systems groups. Since then, several DEP business areas have requested copies of the guide to use on their projects even though there is no immediate plan to incorporate their specific needs in the guide.

3.Involve your organization’s best people.

Frequently, your SMEs will be the people in the trenches managing and working on projects. You will need their information to make the guidebook useful and credible.

You will get much faster buy-in by these people to use and promote the guidebook because they will feel ownership. At DEP-BIS, the project leaders that had participated in guidebook creation encouraged buy-in.

4.Take advantage of your organization’s best practices.

By documenting existing best practices, you can easily “sell” the guide to other project managers because you already have proof that these methods work in your organization. Identify projects in your organization that are of the type being addressed in the guide. Interview team members from those projects to identify processes and techniques that were effective and those that were not. Obtain copies of the project plans to identify processes and techniques that were effective and those that were not. Obtain copies of the project plans to identify the project management activities and tasks performed, the resources required and the deliverables produced. Review project management deliverables, including status reports and SOWs, to better understand the structure of the outputs produced and the level of detail included.

At DEP-BIS, a best practice was the way customers submitted and tracked system change requests. Although multiple groups within BIS handled project requests somewhat differently, they worked together to define a consistent but flexible process for the guide.

5.Apply industry best practices.

The business world is rich with ideas. Incorporate new strategies in your plan, especially if they have proven to be useful elsewhere. Without this cross-pollination, an organization’s practices can become old, stagnant and dated. But recognize your organization’s limitations. At DEP-BIS, because there was little or no use of SOWs outside the application development group, the SOW structure and rules of use were reviewed and tailored appropriately of the guide.

Unless your organization has a large training budget and tolerance for a steep learning curve, do not develop a guide using unfamiliar techniques and approaches. Instead, base your guide on a practical approach that can be used effectively by your organization.

6.Keep initial versions simple and concise.

Even with a fairly small scope, you easily can include too much detail in the first cut. Focus on the activities and tasks that must be performed and the deliverables that must be produced. The guide should comprehensively address the full breadth of the project management process, but detailed “how-to” information on techniques, for example, can be provided via pointers to other sources, a separately developed resource guide or incorporated into later versions.

Keeping your guide to the point will allow you to release the initial version quickly. Project manager will understand the guide more easily and tailor it to meet the specific needs of their unique projects. Once your organization gains more experience, additional detail can be added using feedback from projects that have used the guide.

7.Develop the guidebook by detailing layers.

Start by identifying the process areas and categories of information that you intend to include (see sidebar “Chapter and Verse”). Once the structure is defined, define and gain approval on the processes, for instance, before describing the activities. Each layer drives and shapes the next layer – having a checkpoint for each allows your SMEs and other reviewers to provide valuable input and feedback for the next layer. Several of your more experienced project managers should use the first cut on their next project phase. This approach provides incremental buy-in and approval and minimizes time-consuming rework. At DEP-BIS, the initial cut of the guide mentioned project management checklists and service level agreements, but detailed checklists and specific metrics were added in subsequent versions.

8.Deploy it quickly.

Timebox our development initiative. An iteration of the guide should take no more than one to three months with one to two dedicated resources. Although far from complete after the first iteration, the guide will be a good start toward consistency. In its studies of information technology projects, The Standish Group suggests that iterative projects with short duration (three months or less) are more likely to be successful.

The timeline for DEP-BIS’s first iteration was three months. Since the initial July 2001 rollout, two iterations have followed. DEP-BIS now is moving the guidebook to an intranet site to eliminate the need for printed version control and to provide more timely updates and wider availability.

9.Market the guidebook to your organization.

As you create the guide, you must sell its usefulness to the organization. Educate people on the benefits of using the guide. Identify and get buy-in from those in your organization that are influential. Solicit their help in promoting the guide. Identify training requirements and provide for needed training, especially if the guide introduces new techniques that are not well understood by your organization.

Last, implement incentives for using the guide or form policies requiring its use. At DEP-BIS, a sticker placed on a name badge signaled that an employee completed project management training and was a successful user of the new guide’s requirement in a current project.

10.Establish a process for improvement.

Start collecting feedback and lessons learned from the projects that use the guide. By establishing a mechanism for continuous improvement, the guide will evolve to incorporate your organization’s best practices over time. After the first year and several iterations, the guide will stabilize. Perhaps yearly, review and update the guide for current relevance.

DEP-BIS is using a fairly informal process where by issues and requests for changes are sent to the project office via e-mail to be included on an issues list. At a biweekly meeting, BIS management decides if a change is necessary.

Creating a project management guidebook will help bring balance and provide insight into the “how-to” of being a successful project manager within the bounds of your organization.

Neal S. Gray, PMP, is a senior principal consultant with Keane Inc., a Boston, Mass., USA-based software development and business consulting firm. He has conducted more than 250 U.S. and international seminars in the areas of project management, estimation, risk management and project management competencies.

Judy N. Meadows is a senior principal consultant with Keane Inc. She is a member of Keane’s Center for Excellence with responsibility for developing methodologies used by the consulting firm to deliver software services to its clients.

Chapter and Verse
Each project process should have several common sections.

Purpose Statement. Describes why the process or phase is necessary. It includes the purpose of the intended project management deliverables.

Inputs. Lists all inputs to this process or phase. If not commonly known, the item can be supplemented with a brief explanation, including where it comes from and why it is important.

Personnel Roles Required. Indicates which roles should be involved in the project management process. Many people with different titles may play the same role or a single person may play more than one role.

Deliverables Summary. Lists the major deliverables and their components, which are listed in the activities/tasks and techniques section.

Activities/Tasks and Techniques. Describes the standard activities with one or more tangible deliverables identified. Activities are broken down into specific tasks with clearly identified quality process and tools and roles and responsibilities.

Project Control and Reporting Standards. Describes the standards applied to all projects. Quality assurance audits use checklists to evaluate compliance. Standards for statement of work and defining documents, the project plan, pre-audit checklists and risk assessments are included.

Answers to Common Questions. Includes the many reoccurring questions and associated responses for this part of the project to help overcome the most common pitfalls.

Figures. Detail drawings or charts that help illuminate the process flow for this area of the project management process.

References. Lists all books, Web sites and publications that the project organization found useful. This may include full publication reference information to relevant standards such as ISO 9000, SEI-CMM and A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide).

Appendices. Further details specific topic areas that are important to the process but are not placed elsewhere in the guidebook. Appendices can illustrate topics such as how to develop a SOW, project estimating tips and techniques, project control and monitoring tools.

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