Skills and Tools for Project Success
by Sivaram Athmakuri
Founder & Director, LeaderGains Pte. Ltd.
+65 97322404
contactus@leadergains.com
www.leadergains.com

How many projects are successful?
• If Project Success is
15% Plus or Minus Scope/Time/Cost
• Out of 100 Projects Planned,
How much Percentage are successful ?

How many projects are successful?
33% 67%

WHYPROJECTSFAIL?

WHYPROJECTSFAIL?
Unable to understand
real purpose of the
Project
Scope Creep
(Uncontrolled
changes)
Lack of regular
feedback from
Customer and
Management

What is Project / Program / Portfolio
Project
A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique
product, service, or result.
Project Characteristic
Temporary
• Definite start date and definite end
date
• Duration of the project is finite

What is Project / Program / Portfolio
Program
A group of projects that are inter-dependent with a
common objective.
Program Characteristic
• Centralized management
• collective capability
• Managed in a coordinated way
• Resolves issues, resource constraints
& critical issues

What is Project / Program / Portfolio
Portfolio
A Collection of Programs to achieve Business Objective
and grouped to facilitate effective management.
Portfolio Characteristic
• Identify,
• prioritize,
• manage and
• control projects / programs
High Level
Portfolio
Low Level
Portfolio
Low Level
Program
Projects
Projects
High Level
Program
Projects
Low Level
Program
Projects Projects
Projects

1
3
2
Projects at Each level
Individual Projects
Corporate Projects
Global Projects

Projects at individual level
• Upgrade Skills
(Project Management / Change of
Technology / Six Sigma / etc)
• Get Certified
• Retirement Planning
• House Construction
• Vacation
• School/College Admission
• Marriage
• Starting a Company
• Birthday Party

Projects at Corporate level
• Implement New Systems (SAP/Cloud)
• Getting Investors
• Becoming 1 Billion dollar Turnover
• Becoming Number 1 in World
• Process Improvement
• Minimize Expenses & Improve
Profitability
• Introduce new Product
• Setting up a Smart Factory
• Big Data for Improving Business
• Digital Transformation

Projects at Global level
• Global Warming
• Gender Equality
• Surviving Natural Disasters
• Zero Hunger
• Aging
• Good Health and Well-being
• Etc.

Projects at Singapore
Award Winning projects (2018 -19)from different companies
• Proposed Reclamation Jurong Island Westward
Extension
• Micron Global Dispatching System
• Underpinning of Live MRT tunnels and Ground
Freezing at Marina Bay Station
• Redefining Safety through New Physical standard
Project Name Company Name

Projects at Singapore
Award Winning projects (2017 -18)from different companies
• Singapore Grand Prix project
• IT Systems implementation for Alexandra Hospital
• Patent Search and Examination workbench
• Project Link Automated Storage Retrieval system
warehouse
Project Name Company Name

1
3
2
Singapore Water Story
As demand for water continues to increase in
tandem with population and economic growth, we
will need to plan and implement water
infrastructure well ahead to secure an adequate
and affordable supply of water for the future
generations.
Three key strategies:
➢ Collect every drop of water
➢ Reuse water endlessly
➢ Desalinate seawater

Project Management Methodologies
1. Traditional
2. Agile
Traditional Projects are
• Plan Driven
• Predictable
Agile Projects are
• Value Driven
• Exploratory
• R&D

Ingredients for Project Success

Ingredients for Project Success
From 2014
NUS-ISS survey
results on
project
management
success
factors

Project Management as Career
Potential Project Manager jobs in Leading Sectors

Challenges of SMEs / Business Owners
• Cash flow Uncertainties
• Limited Resources
• Finding and Retaining Customers
• Motivating and retaining Employees
Five Ways Project Management Helps
Small Business
• Organization and Collaboration
• Reach Objectives Faster
• Cost Tracking
• Time Tracking
• Evaluation
Project Management
for SMEs / Business Owners

For Successful execution of strategy into action,
C- Suite need to
• Adjust strategies on a continuous basis
• Empower employees to make key decisions
on challenging projects
• Respond to ambiguity and uncertainty with
flexibility and speed
• View unanticipated change as an
opportunity for transformation
Project Management for C-Suite

Skills and Tools
by Sivaram Athmakuri
Founder & Director, LeaderGains Pte. Ltd.

THREESKILLS
Scope
Project's boundaries
In Scope & Out of Scope
Time
Timely Completion of
Project & Manage
Schedule Delays
Cost
estimating, budgeting
and controlling costs

THREETOOLS
XMind
XMind, a full-featured mind
mapping and brainstorming tool,
designed to generate ideas,
inspire creativity, brings you
efficiency both in work and life.
Project Libre
ProjectLibre is the
leading open source
alternative to Microsoft
Project used for Project
management software.
Templates
3 Point Estimation
(Time & Cost)
Stakeholder Register
Issue Log

Managing Projects
by Sivaram Athmakuri
Founder & Director, LeaderGains Pte. Ltd.

DIFFERENTASPECTS
Purpose
Why & What
People
Who & How
Process
Communicate &
Change

PURPOSE
Requirements Traceability Matrix
• Ensuring Scope is Done
WBS
• Hierarchical Scope Decomposition
Project Charter
• Real Purpose of Project

• Business Purpose
• Not a Technical Document
• Created by Sponsor
• Objectives and constraints of the
project
• Act as a contract between the
project sponsor, key stakeholders
and the project team
• High level Expectations
• Identities of the key stakeholders
• High level Business Risks
• High level budget and spending
authority
• Authorises the Project and Project
Manager
Project Charter

• Deliverable-oriented breakdown of a
project into smaller components
• Hierarchical decomposition of the
total scope of work
• Organizes the team's work into
manageable sections
• Team Building activity
• Provides detailed Cost and Schedule
Estimations
• Helps to identify Risks & Define
Quality
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

• Helps trace a requirement throughout the lifecycle.
• Helps trace requirements with respect to Business
Needs, Project Scope, Project Objectives, WBS,
Deliverables, Product Design, Product Development
and Product Testing
RTM consists of
• A unique identifier for each requirement
• Description of the requirement
• Rationale behind inclusion
• Requirement owner
• Source of origination
• Priority
• Version no.
• Current status
Requirements Traceability Matrix

People
Stakeholder Engagement Matrix
• Getting Buy-in
RACI Matrix
• Proactive Ownership
Issue Log
• Constructive / Proactive communication

• Gap between current and desired
state of Stakeholders
• Actions and communications
required
Stakeholder Engagement Matrix
C – Current Engagement
D – Desired Engagement

• Most effective means for defining
and documenting project roles and
responsibilities
• Helpful for cross-functional or
departmental projects and
processes
RACI Matrix

• Issue has already occurred and
hinders progress of project work
• Requires urgent action
• Escalate (if unable to manage
yourself)
• Issue Log
• Effective Communication tool to
formally track status and resolution
status
• Encourages Constructive discussion,
assigns ownership and enables Issue
Management
Issue Log
TCSPI is Total Complexity Severity Index

Process
Change Management
• Internal & External
Communication
• Who needs What
Scheduling Tools
• Timelines

• Project Libre
• Microsoft Project Plan
• Primavera
Scheduling Tools

• Project Manager spend 80% of effort
in communication
• Communication need to be tailored
for each Stakeholder
• 1/3rd of Projects failed due to poor
communication
Communication

• Changes occur due
• Customer requests
• Lack of due diligence
• Error or Omission in defining the scope
• Engineering design changes
• New Technology
• Scope change
• Lack of proper planning
• New regulation
• Changes that add value
• Change Control Board have authority
to decide on changes
Change Management

Topics covered in PMBOK
by Sivaram Athmakuri
Founder & Director, LeaderGains Pte. Ltd.

Five Process Groups
Initiation Planning Execution
Monitoring
& Control
Closing

Ten Knowledge Areas
1.Project Integration Management
2.Project Scope Management
3.Project Schedule Management
4.Project Cost Management
5.Project Quality Management
6.Project Resource Management
7.Project Communications Management
8.Project Risk Management
9.Project Procurement Management
10.Project Stakeholder Management
Project
Management

49 Processes
Process Group I
Knowledge Area
K Initiation Planning Execution
Monitoring
& Control Closing Total
Integration 1 1 2 2 1 7
Scope 4 2 6
Schedule 5 1 6
Cost 3 1 4
Quality 1 1 1 3
Resource 2 3 1 6
Communication 1 1 1 3
Risk 5 1 1 7
Procurement 1 1 1 3
Stakeholder 1 1 1 1 4
Total 2 24 10 12 1 49

Sivaram Athmakuri
Founder & Director, LeaderGains Pte. Ltd.
Expert Coach, Consultant & Trainer
Thought Leader
Executive / Leadership Coach
Agile Coach
Agile Transformation Specialist
Business Consultant
Chief Project Management Consultant
+65 97322404
contactus@leadergains.com
www.leadergains.com
I believe that spending more
time in listening to Customer and
understand unique strengths of
their existing environment as well
as limitations and constraints,
helps to generate meaningful,
measurable and long lasting
results with lesser friction.
Thank you!
Coaching helps Leaders and Organizations gain!
Our next KSS on 27th May at 3:00 pm
“Agile for Value driven Results”
https://www.leadergains.com/landingpage/kssagile/