project-management

Project Management Skill

Reusable workflow extracted from davide-project-manager expertise.

Purpose

Execute comprehensive project planning, tracking, and delivery using proven methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid) to ensure on-time, on-budget delivery while maintaining quality and stakeholder satisfaction.

When to Use

• New project initiation and planning
• Sprint planning for Agile teams
• Waterfall project execution
• Risk management and mitigation
• Stakeholder communication and reporting
• Resource allocation and optimization
• Budget management and cost control
• Project status assessment
• Project closure and retrospectives

Workflow Steps

1. Project Initiation
2. Define project objectives and success criteria
3. Identify key stakeholders and their roles
4. Establish project scope and boundaries
5. Document constraints (time, budget, resources)
6. Obtain project charter approval
7. Set up project infrastructure (tools, repositories)

1. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
2. Decompose project into phases and deliverables
3. Break deliverables into tasks and subtasks
4. Identify dependencies between tasks
5. Estimate effort for each task (hours/days)
6. Assign task owners and backup resources
7. Define acceptance criteria for each deliverable

1. Schedule Development
2. Create project timeline with milestones
3. Identify critical path using CPM
4. Build Gantt chart with dependencies
5. Calculate float/slack time
6. Define sprint cadence (if Agile)
7. Set milestone dates and review points

1. Resource Planning
2. Identify required skills and roles
3. Allocate team members to tasks
4. Calculate resource utilization (avoid >80%)
5. Plan for peak resource needs
6. Identify skill gaps and training needs
7. Arrange for external resources if needed

1. Risk Management
2. Identify potential risks (technical, schedule, resource, external)
3. Assess likelihood and impact for each risk
4. Calculate risk scores (Likelihood × Impact)
5. Develop mitigation strategies
6. Assign risk owners
7. Create contingency plans
8. Monitor risk triggers

1. Budget Management
2. Estimate project costs (labor, tools, infrastructure)
3. Create detailed budget breakdown
4. Establish cost baseline
5. Track actual vs planned spending
6. Forecast final costs regularly
7. Manage change requests with budget impact

1. Execution & Monitoring
2. Conduct daily standups (Agile) or weekly status meetings
3. Track task completion and update progress
4. Monitor schedule adherence (earned value analysis)
5. Review and approve deliverables
6. Manage scope changes through change control
7. Remove blockers and impediments
8. Facilitate team collaboration

1. Stakeholder Communication
2. Create communication plan (who, what, when, how)
3. Send regular status reports (weekly/bi-weekly)
4. Conduct stakeholder review meetings
5. Escalate issues and risks appropriately
6. Manage expectations proactively
7. Celebrate milestones and wins

1. Quality Management
2. Define quality standards and acceptance criteria
3. Implement quality gates at milestones
4. Conduct code reviews and testing
5. Track defects and resolution rates
6. Ensure documentation completeness
7. Validate deliverables against requirements

1. Project Closure
2. Verify all deliverables completed and accepted
3. Conduct project retrospective (lessons learned)
4. Document successes and improvement areas
5. Release resources and close contracts
6. Archive project documentation
7. Celebrate team success
8. Create project closure report

Inputs Required

• Project requirements: Goals, scope, success criteria
• Stakeholders: Sponsor, product owner, team members, customers
• Constraints: Budget, timeline, resource availability
• Methodology: Agile, Waterfall, or Hybrid approach
• Tools: Project management software (Jira, Trello, MS Project)

Outputs Produced

• Project Charter: Objectives, scope, stakeholders, success criteria
• Project Plan: WBS, schedule, budget, resource allocation
• Risk Register: Risks with likelihood, impact, mitigation strategies
• Status Reports: Weekly/bi-weekly progress updates
• Gantt Chart: Visual timeline with dependencies and milestones
• Budget Tracking: Actual vs planned spending, forecast
• Retrospective Report: Lessons learned, improvements for next project

Sprint Planning Template (Agile)

# Sprint {N} Planning - {Date Range}

## Sprint Goal

[One-sentence goal for this sprint]

## Capacity

- Team size: {count} developers
- Sprint duration: {weeks} weeks
- Available capacity: {hours} hours
- Planned capacity: {hours} hours (80% of available)

## Stories Selected

| Story ID | Title | Story Points | Assignee | Dependencies |
| -------- | ----- | ------------ | -------- | ------------ |
| US-123   | ...   | 5            | Alice    | None         |
| US-124   | ...   | 3            | Bob      | US-123       |

## Definition of Done

- [ ] Code complete and reviewed
- [ ] Unit tests written and passing (>80% coverage)
- [ ] Integration tests passing
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] Deployed to staging
- [ ] Product owner acceptance

## Risks

- **Risk**: API dependency not ready
  - Mitigation: Mock API for development, parallel track with API team

## Sprint Ceremonies

- Daily Standup: 9:00 AM daily
- Sprint Review: {date} at {time}
- Sprint Retrospective: {date} at {time}

Risk Assessment Matrix

Risk Score Calculation

Risk Score = Likelihood (1-5) × Impact (1-5)

| Likelihood | Score | Definition | | ------------- | ----- | ------------- | | Very Unlikely | 1 | <10% chance | | Unlikely | 2 | 10-30% chance | | Possible | 3 | 30-50% chance | | Likely | 4 | 50-70% chance | | Very Likely | 5 | >70% chance |

| Impact | Score | Definition | | ---------- | ----- | --------------------------- | | Negligible | 1 | <1 day delay, <$1K cost | | Minor | 2 | 1-3 days delay, <$5K cost | | Moderate | 3 | 1 week delay, <$20K cost | | Major | 4 | 2-4 weeks delay, <$50K cost | | Severe | 5 | >1 month delay, >$50K cost |

Risk Prioritization

• Critical (20-25): Immediate action required, senior leadership escalation
• High (15-19): Active mitigation, weekly monitoring
• Medium (8-14): Mitigation plan, bi-weekly monitoring
• Low (1-7): Monitor, document, accept risk

Status Report Template

# Project Status Report - {Date}

## Executive Summary

**Status**: 🟢 On Track / 🟡 At Risk / 🔴 Critical

**Key Highlights**:

- {Major accomplishment this period}
- {Important milestone reached}

## Progress This Period

- Completed: {count} tasks ({X}% of sprint)
- In Progress: {count} tasks
- Blocked: {count} tasks

## Milestones

| Milestone | Planned Date | Forecast Date | Status        |
| --------- | ------------ | ------------- | ------------- |
| Alpha     | 2025-02-01   | 2025-02-01    | ✅ Complete   |
| Beta      | 2025-03-15   | 2025-03-20    | 🟡 5-day slip |
| GA        | 2025-04-30   | 2025-04-30    | 🟢 On track   |

## Budget Status

- Budget: ${total}K
- Spent: ${spent}K ({percent}%)
- Forecast: ${forecast}K
- Status: 🟢 Within budget / 🟡 Trending over

## Top Risks & Issues

1. **🔴 Critical API dependency delayed**
   - Impact: 2-week slip to Beta
   - Mitigation: Working with API team, created mock for parallel development

2. **🟡 Key developer on leave next sprint**
   - Impact: Reduced capacity
   - Mitigation: Cross-training backup developer this sprint

## Key Decisions Needed

1. {Decision required with deadline}
2. {Approval needed for budget increase}

## Next Period Focus

- {Key objective 1}
- {Key objective 2}

Agile vs Waterfall Decision Matrix

| Factor | Ag