TIL/T&P Masterclass presentation by Gerard Martens (Arane) about project management. December 2011.

1. Projectmanagement
in
a
consultancy
environment
Gerard
Martens

2. Subject
! Projectmanagement
in
a
consultancy
environment
¡ seems
obvious
¡ but
is
not!
! NOT:
projectmanagement
methods
(like
PRINCE2):
in
complex
situaGons
¡ OrganisaGon
¡ Stages
2

3. What
is
a
project
! Advice
! Study
! EvaluaGon
! Managing
a
proces
! Concept
development
! SimulaGon
studies
! …
In general client wants:
• to answer specific questions
• achieve well-defined goal
3

4. Academic
environment
Different
kinds
of
studies
! Research
project
! Knowledge
development
! ExploraGon
→
develop
a
lot
of
skills
! (PhD
)
Students
are
able
to
assist
in
commercial
projects
with
these
skills
Risk???
4

5. Experience
! GeSng
the
right
product
! In
Gme
! At
the
right
expense
Risk? Yes!
5

6. Project
! Offer
¡ Plan,
approach
• Goals/quesGons/hypotheses
• Methods
• Stages
• Results
¡ Time
schedule
! No
big
difference
with
your
approach?
¡ Costs!
! Time=money
! Projectmanagement
=
Gme
management:
¡ Time
schedule
and
¡ Hours
spent
6

7. Risks
! Curiosity
is
a
good
academic
quality
and
essenGal
for
a
consultant,
but
7

8. Risks
! Curiosity
generates
bright
ideas,
new
quesGons
But
also:
¡ DistracGon
from
original
quesGons:
wrong
focus
¡ ‘Repair’:
Extra
hours
¡ Delay
8

9. Risks
! Experience
in
evaluaGon
study
¡ Extensive
plan,
based
on
hypotheses
¡ Well-­‐defined
output:
tables,
graphs,
staGsGcal
tests
¡ A
lot
of
data
with
a
lot
of
possibiliGes
¡ a
PhD
student
was
hired
for
dataprocessing
¡ Invented
his
own
graphs
and
tables
(He
thought
that..)
¡ Result
• Delay:
meeGng
to
discuss
results
was
cancelled
• Costs:
discussions
with
client
and
student
• Extra
Gme
to
be
spent
by
student:
at
his
own
costs!
9

10. Risks
! UnderesGmaGon
of
effort
¡ Your
risk?
• Extra
hours
• Night
work
¡ Risk
consultancy/client
• Delay
! Unclear
assignment
¡ Do
you
know
what
to
do?
! Problems
¡ Data
¡ Unexpected
results
¡ ‘Useless’
results
¡ Computer
crash
¡ ….
10

11. Risks
and
risk
management
! Simple
measures:
¡ SGck
to
the
plan!
¡ Regular
check!
• Progress
• Hours
spent
¡ CommunicaGon
• Ideas
are
sGll
welcome,
but
! Propose
a
change
of
plan
! With
moGvaGon
and
! Consequences
in
Gme
and
money
! The
consultancy
and
client
decide
• Contact
the
consultancy
in
Gme:
! Don’t
be
afraid
to
ask
quesGons
! Possible
delays
and
! Problems
! Your
control
measures
11

12. Ques=ons?
12