When assembling the project team, several questions should be answered, including:

• What expertise will be needed—departmental, technological, operational, financial, legal, etc.?
• What information will be needed?
• What skills will be needed?

Key members of the project team should be identified and recruited based on varying criteria, including:

• Expertise, competency, and experience in critical areas of the project
• Access to or personal retention of crucial information
• Support skills, including persuasion, negotiation, research, and written and verbal communication

Team members may not each bring the same level of commitment, reliability, or competency. In most organizations, the top performers usually get tapped for multiple important projects. Recruiting these people to the project team may require defining the benefits of being on the team (recognition, professional development, etc.), as well as reallocating their time from ongoing job responsibilities and other projects.

Developing the project plan

The initial team meeting should create an open environment where team members can offer input to produce a more efficient plan. The goals of this start-up meeting should include:

• Review the project's purpose, parameters, goals, objectives, organizational benefits, deadlines, support (organizational "champions").
• Identify key elements and break them down into manageable parts (tasks, activities, and responsibilities) and/or process segments.
• Make individual assignments.
• Anticipate needed resources.
• Identify potential problems and obstacles.
• Determine the time needed for each segment and establish a project schedule.
• Establish accountability criteria for team members.
• Establish reporting mechanisms and schedules.

This plan development meeting enables team members to define what they are going to do and to give definitive feedback. Team members should be directed to report on the feasibility, risks, resources, and time frames of their assigned tasks in a subsequent meeting.

Development of the project process is based on the identification breakdown of the identified segments, milestones, and parts (tasks, activities, and responsibilities). Analysis of the interrelationships between tasks identified by the work breakdown structure, which defines the dependencies of each task, can be illustrated in chart form for easy ongoing review and updating.

A Project Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) chart assembles work tasks in the logical, most effective order. PERT charts, often called flow charts, illustrate the anticipated flow of completion and relationship(s). Critical path analysis (CPA) can be used in conjunction with PERT analysis to identify critical tasks in the project.

Gantt charts, which are named for their inventor, are bar charts that display the project status and results of PERT in a format that can be readily understood by those not involved in the details of the project.

Implementing the project

It is the project team that delivers the implementation, not the project manager. The project manager's role is to guide the plan process and ensure that it stays on track and meets the performance requirements stated in the project definition and goals. Scheduled, ongoing progress reporting should be initiated when the implementation begins. Regular review of outcomes for the work being done and a comparison between the work completed and the established objectives should be monitored.

It is imperative that the project manager be available to provide support for the team members when issues arise, such as overcoming internal obstacles, obtaining external resources, and buffering resistance.

Closing the project

When satisfactory delivery of the desired outcomes (products, services, etc.) has been completed, formal closing of the project prevents it from developing into another project, and it ensures that the work of the project team is acknowledged.

Formal recognition of the project team members, whether in a dinner or lunch celebration, an article in the company newsletter, or another type of "thank you," serves to reinforce that the organization really does appreciate their efforts and contributions. Some type of recognition event or "thank you" that is consistent with the amount of time and effort required should be included in the project budget. Often, one or two team members will stand out from the rest in their contributions and efforts. It is okay to recognize those efforts. Other team members are usually aware of the amount of time and effort each one is contributing to the project.

In some cases, the project may not conclude as anticipated. Projects get canceled midstream, swallowed up by other initiatives, or fail to reach completion through no fault of the team. The members should still be made to know that their efforts are appreciated.

Review

A review of the project offers an opportunity to assess what was learned, what went well and what didn't with every aspect of the project. A succinct project report can provide information to management, including measures of the relative success as well as the lessons learned.