Simplified Project Management Framework (SPMF)
The IT division of the Food and Agriculture Organization (CIO) aims to ensure that IT initiatives are innovative and transformative in support of FAO’s long-term strategy; demonstrate a positive sign of success and investment for the future and that TI-agreed project timelines, budgets, and performance (quality) levels are met. Recently, the IT division has been successful in implementing a simplified project management framework (SPMF) to achieve these goals.
The new Simplified Project Management Framework (SPMF) aims to provide a comprehensive framework using simple performance monitoring and control mechanisms that will enable measurement against industry best practice benchmarks through as the implementation is fully adopted and matures. The SPMF principles provide a core approach to project management that can be incorporated into any project management system with the required level of support, monitoring and reporting varying depending on the size, complexity and requirements of the project.
It is essential to realize that the project management process begins at the initial conception of the project, rather than after the “project financing” agreement when operational delivery begins. As such, SPMF provides project management support during the definition and planning phases of all projects. The entire life cycle can be described as a series of distinct phases, with work progressing from the conceptual phases through the implementation phases and into the operational and post-assessment phase. A key part of an effective project management process is the independent review of project progress at the end of each stage, which is expected to verify benefits and objectives before agreeing and moving on to the next stage, thus ensuring that the project owner project get the most benefit. strategic benefit of the project.
The right mix of planning, monitoring, and control can make all the difference in completing a project on time, on budget, and with high-quality results. The basic elements of the framework are five key phases during the life cycle of a project.
Phase 1: Scope and Approval (identification of a need)
There is a tendency for projects to shorten the planning process, with an emphasis on jumping right in and starting the job. This is a mistake. Time spent on proper project planning will result in reduced cost and duration and higher quality over the life of the project. The project definition is the main output of the planning process and describes all aspects of the project at a high level.
This phase mainly identifies whether the need has been investigated and justified; Is the project consistent with the strategy of the IT division and FAO? have considered and evaluated the various options for addressing the project; Has the cost and benefit to FAO been identified taking into account longer-term recurring costs, eg staffing, as well as shorter-term capital costs? the main opportunities and risks associated with the project have been taken into account; Are appropriate internal resources (including time, personnel, and/or skills) available to advance to Phase 2 and subsequent phases of the project? Has approval of the project been sought ‘in principle’ from the appropriate person(s)/agencies?
This phase is presented to the IT Board for consideration/approval, if approved, the process advances to the next phase.
Phase 2: Project planning
Once the project definition is prepared, the work plan must be created. The work plan provides the step-by-step plans for building the project deliverables and managing the project. During the development of the project work plan, the main elements that will be evaluated are whether the skills possessed by the project support team are adequate to successfully complete the project; Has a detailed project management plan been prepared with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Time-limited) objectives?
The result of this phase is a project initiation document supported by an IT work plan that identifies all elements of the project’s deliverables, schedule, resources, and costs. The approval of this work plan is a prerequisite for the next phase.
Phase 3: Start-up of the Project
To proceed to the start-up phase, the project must ensure that all people directly and indirectly associated with the project (including the independent reviewer) have a clear understanding of the project objectives and the impact it will have on them. Additionally, your responsibilities must be clearly defined and discussed with the independent reviewer. A simple communication plan should be developed to define quick and easy communication with project team members and other project stakeholders.
This phase should provide assurance that there are no significant time gaps between key milestones and that provisions have been made for appropriate mid-term reviews.
Phase 4: deliver the project
The main elements of this phase are to ensure that the project stays on track with respect to the project plan; all expected products and services are being delivered and objectives are being achieved; all scheduled project follow-up meetings have been completed; all project issues have been reported to the senior IT portfolio officer and/or resolved; and that all major project delivery elements such as “on time,” “on budget,” and “with quality” are met.
Phase 5: Close the Project
The SPMF requires the project owner to conduct an evaluation of the project, immediately after its completion, to assess the actual performance of the project in relation to the achievement of the original objectives, the success criteria and that the results delivered are as expected.
Lessons learned should be documented and used to improve management of similar projects in the future. In addition, the project development team should prepare a well-documented production handover and submit it to the operations team to ensure a smooth handover to operations.
The SPMF is a framework that is oriented for both “Waterfall” and “Agile” methodologies.
The waterfall methodology emphasizes meticulous record keeping where the client knows what to expect and what their program will do in the end (including project cost, size, and schedule). While Agile methodology follows an incremental approach that starts with a simple project design and then starts working in small modules. Work on these modules is done in weekly or monthly sprints, and at the end of each sprint, project priorities are assessed and tests run. The main impact on the SPMF in the Agile methodology is that the second through fourth phases of the SPMF are repeated for each sprint until final delivery of all modules is achieved.
Since the introduction of the SPMF in early 2015, the IT division has achieved over 85% success rate in delivering traditional projects and 90% success rate in delivering agile development activities. In the future, the IT division will propose an additional evaluation “Post Project Review(s)” planned for 6, 12, 24 months after completion.
