Project Management Better Practices

This article originated as an article of the same name prepared by Jennifer Tavis for the NGO Handbook.

While the work of NGOs is often ongoing, there are many cases in which a special project, of limited scope and duration, is undertaken. Such projects can be anything from a fundraising drive to a peacekeeping operation to the installation of a major software upgrade. This section provides a range of methodologies that can help to ensure that such projects achieve their intended goals and have a positive impact on the NGOs that undertake them and on the constituencies those NGOs serve.

Set goals

Projects undertaken by NGOs fall into two broad categories: internal projects, which affect the organization itself, and outward-facing projects, which affect the communities served by the organization. While many of the better practices described in this section can be applied to either type of project, there are certain crucial differences.

For internal projects, the stakeholders are generally the employees and volunteers of the organization. Examples are projects that focus on fundraising, strategic planning, administrative cost reduction or information management. These projects are undertaken with the aim of improving the operational effectiveness of the organization, and social, environmental, and political considerations generally don’t come into play.

For outward-facing projects, social, environmental, and political considerations are often central to the projects’ goals and structure. Special tools such as impact assessments are needed to ensure that any steps taken are actually addressing a need rather than wasting the organization’s resources or, worse yet, having a negative effect.

For any project, regardless of type, you should be able to answer the following questions:

• How does the project further the organization’s mission?
• Who are the stakeholders, and how are their needs served by the project?
• What does success look like?

Projects and the Organization’s Mission

Any project an organization undertakes should further its mission. Corporations often make decisions about projects based on the impact to the bottom line (that is, whether or not they bring in money), but it’s not so simple for NGOs. This is not to say that NGOs never make decisions based on financial considerations, but ultimately the money is there to serve the mission, not vice versa.

It can be challenging to balance the often conflicting input of various stakeholders — donors, staff, community leaders — but every effort should be made to ensure that projects are undertaken for the ultimate purpose of improving the organization’s success at achieving its mission. (This is obviously easier if the organization has a clear mission statement to begin with.) If a project doesn’t further the organization’s mission, either through serving the community or improving the organization’s ability to serve, then it probably shouldn’t be undertaken.

Meeting the Needs of the Stakeholders

If a project aligns with the organization’s mission, the next step is to ensure that it serves the needs of the stakeholders. The stakeholders are those who have major interests in the project and those who will be impacted by it. They could be the organization’s marketing department, rural villagers in Rwanda, or even manatees in the wild. Whoever (or whatever) they may be, it’s important to take the time to do some preliminary investigation to ensure the project meets the stakeholders’ needs.

Unfortunately, there are numerous examples of projects undertaken with the finest of intentions that turned out to be misguided at best, and at worst detrimental, to the populations they were supposed to assist. Take, for example, this description of failed aid projects in Tanzania: “A NORAD fisheries project employed expensive, inappropriate technology and was insensitive to local culture and needs. Sokoine Agricultural University, funded by DANIDA, trained students in modern veterinary techniques quite unsuited to the majority of cattle in the country. A Swedish project to build TAKWIMU, the statistical bureau, ‘lacked a strategic vision and definition of what exactly aid was intended to achieve’.” (Kelsall 2001, 337) Some initial investigation can help prevent these problems before it’s too late.

For outward-facing projects, an impact assessment can give you an initial sense of your chances of success. For internal projects, it can be helpful to reach out to stakeholders through questionnaires, meetings, or one-on-one consultations. The important thing is to have as much information as you can about the circumstances and needs of the stakeholders before you start solving their problems.

Envisioning Success

A vision of what constitutes success on a project can galvanize support and ensure that participants stay on the right path. Donors will be more willing to provide funding to a project if they can clearly understand the desired outcomes. Management will be more willing to allocate funding and resources, and the project team will be able to work together rather than at cross-purposes, if they have a shared understanding of what the outcome is supposed to be. There may be compromises and changes in direction as the project moves forward, but a shared vision at the outset that aligns with the organization’s mission and serves the needs of the stakeholders can significantly limit risk and create a solid foundation for next steps.

Plan Carefully

Once the vision and goals for the project have been established and agreed upon, it’s time to begin planning the details of the project’s execution. The steps in the planning phase should include

• assigning project management responsibilities
• defining scope, time and cost (conducting a cost/benefit analysis if merited)
• creating a plan that identifies resources and assigns tasks
• securing the necessary funding and resources

A careful delineation of scope and a thoughtful plan will be critical tools in moving the project forward and keeping it appropriately focused.

Assigning Responsibilities: Project Management Roles

For a project to succeed, roles and responsibilities need to be clearly defined.

Roles vary significantly from one project to another; obviously an environmental cleanup effort will require different roles from a fundraising campaign. Nevertheless, there are three roles that are nearly always necessary for the effective management of any significant project:

• The Project Manager is the leader who takes ultimate responsibility for overseeing planning and execution. No matter how big or small a project may be, it will need someone to take this role.
• The Project Sponsor ensures that resources are allocated to the project and acts as an advocate for the project within the organization. This person focuses on funding, communication with upper management, and oversight of expenditures. Generally sponsors are at or close to the executive level of the organization and consequently only have limited time and attention to devote to the project.
• The Steering Committee provides formal, coordinated oversight, which is necessary for any project of size. This role is similar to that of a board of directors within an organization. Generally the Steering Committee members will include the project sponsors and key stakeholders.

The Steering Committee’s chief responsibility is to ensure that the project stays on track in terms of timelines, budget, and goals. If the project starts to go awry, the Steering Committee has the power to adjust scope, reconsider funding, or cancel the project entirely. To ensure that the Steering Committee can provide independent oversight, its members should generally not be involved in carrying out the project. They participate strictly in an oversight and decision-making capacity.

The Project Management Triangle: Scope, Time and Cost

Traditionally, there are three constraints placed on project: scope, time and cost. Once basic goals have been established and basic responsibilities have been assigned, the project team can begin to devise a preliminary plan that defines these three constraints and their interrelationship.

Scope, time and cost are often represented as a triangle to demonstrate their interdependence. Decisions regarding any one constraint will generally impact the other two, and will certainly impact the overall shape of the project. As the delicate balance among these three constraints is delineated in the early stages of the project, all will need careful attention and regular adjustment.

Flexibility is vital. To ensure the success of the project, it is vital that at least one of these three constraints remain flexible to the end. Projects never go exactly according to plan, and if no flexibility is built in, the project will almost inevitably fall short of expectations or fall apart completely.

At the beginning of a project, the scope is like the project’s mission statement (for example, “We will launch a program to increase literacy among underprivileged children in the state of Bihar”). It is generally documented in a Scope of Work (SOW) statement that lays out project objectives, approach, major deliverables, and what is specifically out of scope, or outside the purview of the project. (If you feel that you need guidance or examples to compose your Scope of Work statement, USAID has some excellent resources.)

If costs outstrip the available funds, the scope must be reduced. To use the example above, one might launch the literacy program in one city rather than across the entire state of Bihar.

Likewise, if the time allotted for the project is shorter than desired, either the scope must be restricted or the cost increased so that more people and/or equipment can be brought in to accomplish the necessary tasks.

If funding falls short of expectations, the cost will need to be reduced, which means fewer resources can be dedicated to the project. Depending on how the funding is structured, it may be possible to deal with a funding shortfall by extending the time for the project so that its cost can be distributed over a longer period. (For example, instead of opening twelve child literacy centers in a big three-month push, open one literacy center each month over the course of a year.)

Project Management Tools

A variety of tools are available to assist with the complex tasks of project management, including:

• the project plan
• the cost/benefit analysis
• project reporting
• the issues list

Other important tools, which are addressed in a separate section, are the impact assessment and the risk assessment.

Project Plan: The project plan is one of the most fundamental tools of project management. This is where you lay out how you plan to get from point A to point B, delineating each task in the process.

It isn’t always necessary to lay out the whole project in detail, beginning to end, before beginning work; however, it is important to ensure that wherever you are on the project timeline, your next stage is fully planned. (For example, if you are in the planning phase, the execution phase should be laid out in detail.) Of course, you will want to have reasonable estimates in place for all phases from very early on. As the project progresses, details can be added and adjusted to reflect where things are actually going.

There is a variety of project planning software on the market, with Microsoft Project being the most commonly used. These programs make it easy to track dependencies between tasks and to manage resource allocation; however, if purchasing and learning specialized software is out of the question, it is possible to work without it. You can use spreadsheets (If you don’t have Excel, consider free options like Google Spreadsheet) or even a pen and paper. As long as you understand how to put the pieces together, it doesn’t matter what medium you use.

There are two main steps to developing a project plan:

• First, break the project down into detailed tasks.
• Second, assign those tasks to the people who will execute them.

First, break the project down into detailed tasks. Tasks have descriptions, lengths, and dependencies.

Descriptions should begin with imperative verbs (for example, “Draft a project plan”).

Task lengths should generally be one to five days. If a given task will take longer, it should be broken down into multiple tasks. This will make your work estimates more reliable and help to avoid surprises. If the task will take much less than a day, you may be adding more detail to the project plan than is necessary, making the plan more difficult to manage.

Tasks usually have dependencies on other tasks; that is, it is often the case that if a prior step is not complete, the next step cannot begin. (For example, the task “Assign tasks to staff members” is dependent on “Define tasks”; if the latter is not complete, the former cannot be carried out.) Dependencies should be recorded so that you can follow through the implications of changes as the plan is adjusted to reflect actual progress. To this end, it can be helpful to give each task a unique identifier such as a name or a numeric code.

Based on these dependencies, you can develop what is known as the critical path. This is the series of sequential or dependent tasks whose duration, taken together, defines the overall length of the project. Changes to any of these interdependent tasks will have a significant impact on the overall project timeline. (For example, if your project is to hold an international conference, inviting speakers, choosing a location and beginning visa applications are tasks on the critical path because they drive subsequent decisions and efforts and because their timing is critical to the success of the project. Deciding on the layout for nametags and the order of speakers are not tasks on the critical path because they have little impact on the timing or structure of other tasks.)

Also, make sure to incorporate milestones, which are generally major accomplishments or thresholds. These don’t have work associated, but instead mark progress. Typical milestones include the completion of a project phase, the completion of a deliverable such as a report or a project plan, or the completion of a decision process such as choosing a vendor. Make sure that milestones are clearly measurable so that there can be no dispute or confusion over whether they have been reached. (For example, in a project to improve staff morale, “List of Staff Concerns Fully Compiled” is a good milestone because it is defined by a tangible deliverable, while “Dialogue Opened with Staff” or “Staff Morale Improved” are less effective as milestones because they are harder to measure and open to dispute.)

Second, assign tasks. Assigning tasks involves identifying who will work on the project and what they will do. You may have to adjust timelines to take into account the actual allocation of people working on the project. Be careful not to over-allocate project resources, particularly if the people in question, in addition to their project workload, will be expected to carry out their usual job responsibilities, which are unrelated to the project.

Once you have identified and assigned tasks and have gone through the plan to ensure that no one is over-allocated, it becomes possible to assess the total work involved, and therefore how long the project is projected to take. At this stage, project planning software can assess dependencies and calculate the project end date on the fly as you make adjustments, allowing you to tailor your plan more effectively.

Here is a section of a sample project plan created in Microsoft Project:

Cost/Benefit Analysis: In the business world, cost/benefit analyses are used to determine whether a project will bring in more money than is spent executing it. This calculation is less crucial to NGOs, but can be vital for certain types of projects such as purchasing time-saving equipment or software or mounting a fundraising campaign.

In many cases, the benefits of NGO projects are not financial. Nevertheless, almost all projects have associated costs, so it is useful to understand the basic principles associated with calculating them.

Projects have two types of costs: hard and soft. • Hard costs are expenses that are paid out for services rendered or for items purchased. Hard costs are generally straightforward to calculate because estimates or prices are generally provided prior to purchase. It’s best to do some research to ensure that you are getting the most value for your money. Compare quotes from several providers to ensure that estimates are reasonable. • Soft costs are associated with the use of existing resources within the organization. It can be tempting to disregard soft costs because they don’t have a direct impact on the organization’s finances, but the time that people spend on projects is time that they can’t dedicate to other responsibilities. If the project workload becomes too much for the organization’s staff, additional people may need to be brought on board to pick up the slack. It is worthwhile to include both types of costs in calculations so that the full picture is visible.

In calculating soft costs, be careful not to leave things out. There is overhead associated with each employee beyond basic wages. There are benefits, taxes, facilities costs and technology costs. In addition to personnel-related costs, there may be maintenance costs associated with organization-owned equipment used for the project. It is important to consider the total impact on the organization of carrying out a project so that budget funds can be allocated appropriately.

A good practice when estimating project costs is to include some percentage above the base estimated amount as contingency money. This builds a cushion into the budget in case costs run over. There are always unexpected costs on a project, and it shouldn’t cause a funding crisis if you have to go a little bit over your initial estimates. To determine whether the contingency fund estimate is reasonable, do a sensitivity analysis by adjusting the numbers to show a worst-case scenario and a best-case scenario in addition to your baseline calculations. This will give you a sense of how much cushion might be called for. The actual amount of contingency money should be negotiated with the party allocating funds to ensure that it’s in line with what the organization can support.

As noted above, the benefits of many NGO projects cannot be measured in financial terms. In certain cases, however, the bottom line is the best measure of success. These include projects whose goals are to raise funds or to reduce administrative or operational costs. For such projects, a cost/benefit analysis is especially worthwhile.

For example, take the time to look at how much money will be brought in by a gala dinner versus what is spent. Consider financial goals when adding a new administrative or fundraising position. When considering compensation packages, take into account the cost savings associated with avoiding employee turnover. Make sure that productivity tools such as computers and software are providing benefits that outweigh the investment in them. The benefits from these internal calculations can be directed toward outward-facing efforts and allow the organization to be more effective in carrying out its mission.

Project Reporting: Throughout the project, the Project Manager and Project Team should report their progress to the Project Sponsor and, if applicable, to the Steering Committee. Weekly or biweekly reports on accomplishments, timelines, planned activities, budget, issues and risks can help keep the parties overseeing a project apprised of where things stand. If they feel that the project is going astray, they can give guidance. If the project needs their assistance for the accomplishment of a task or the resolution of an issue, they can use their positions in the organization to get the Project Team what they need to move forward.

Because projects don’t always work out they way you expect them to, it can be advantageous to plan stops at the end of each project phase to consider whether it makes sense to move forward according to the initial plan. The Steering Committee should assess progress and findings to date and make a decision about whether the planned next steps make sense. For instance, if during the “initiate” phase you find that the project is going to cost three times as much as you originally thought, serious consideration will need to be given to whether the project can move forward, and if so, where the funding will come from. If you come to the end of the “planning” phase and your initial research shows that the project will have a detrimental rather than a beneficial effect, the project team should either cancel the effort or overhaul the approach and goals.

Issues List: An issues list can be a powerful tool for managing problems that crop up over the course of a project. The list should have an issue identifier, an issue description, and the date an issue was raised. In addition, it’s important to assign an owner (responsible person) to each issue so that everyone knows who is accountable for taking next steps toward resolution. It can be helpful to track an estimated date for resolution in order to keep things moving forward and to create a sense of urgency regarding the issue. It may also be helpful to track next steps for a given issue so that everyone knows what action is being taken.

The issues list should be reviewed regularly by all team members. If you have a computer network (that is, you work in an office where the computers are connected to a document server), the issues list should be stored in a shared folder. If there’s no network, a particular team member should be assigned responsibility for managing and updating the list based on ongoing feedback from the rest of the project team, and updated copies of the list should be distributed to all team members at regular intervals.

As issues are resolved, track how and when they were resolved. This can become a useful reference as the project moves forward and people forget what was decided in the past. It can also become a repository of better practices as similar issues crop up over the course of the project or on future projects.

Funding and Resources Often one of the most difficult tasks during the early stages of a project is securing the necessary personnel and funding to carry it out. If you are lobbying for a particular project, it is best to know what other projects the organization may be considering. Often there are limited funds and personnel available, and choices will have to be made about which projects to carry out. Keep the big picture in mind when you negotiate for money and personnel for a particular project.

Whether the project is funded from an existing budget or from a special fundraising effort, be prepared to spend time on funding questions throughout the duration of the project. Competing demands for funding will continue to emerge, and part of project management is maintaining the proper balance between the needs of the organization and those of the project.

III. Manage the Project Once the project is underway, you need to keep a careful eye on direction, timelines, and expenditures. • The tools mentioned above can help you do so; of particular importance is the project plan. Continue to update these tools as you move through the project so that you have a relatively good sense of where you stand at any given moment. • Track expenses and hours spent on the project. To do so, ensure that there is a regular, easy mechanism that allows the project team to report this information. • Be clear about who needs to sign off on what types of expenses. Major purchases should not be made in a vacuum. • Check in with team members to make sure they have the resources they need to accomplish the tasks they have been assigned.

Balance Available Resources and Effectiveness to Stay on the Critical Path Throughout the project, focus resources where they will have the most impact.

For many project tasks, completing them sooner rather than later will not have much affect on the project overall. But certain central activities feed into each other and directly impact the outcome of the project. These tasks should have been identified during the project planning phase as steps on the critical path.

All of the project tasks must be completed to finish the project, but you can keep the project on track by making sure that your team doesn’t spend time on non-critical activities at the expense of critical ones. Be clear with the team about project priorities and keep an eye on the critical path.

If you have the tracking capacity in place, you may want to track effort against project activities. This allows you to manage budget and effort very effectively because you know when too many hours are being spent on a given activity. If, for instance, you budgeted 3 hours a week to project reporting, but you discover you’re spending 10 hours a week and having to short-change other tasks, you may want to simplify or reduce the reporting so that your valuable time is being used in the most effective manner.

IV. Measure Effectiveness A project’s success is determined by what happens after the project is over, not by the mere fact that the project was completed. While it is a wonderful thing to complete a project on time and on budget, an important and often overlooked consideration is that success is defined by your return on investment, even if the return isn’t calculated in financial terms. For example, if your project aimed to improve access to education by building five new schools, success isn’t just unveiling the new buildings, it’s seeing how many children are educated in them.

It’s important to have success metrics for the long-term effectiveness of the project, and those metrics should reflect the initial goals of the project, not merely its scope. Consider how to measure a project’s success as you move to implement it or carry it out — and afterward.

Take the time to look into outcomes after the project is complete. Generally, in business, one looks at the return on investment over a five-year period. In the NGO world as in the business world, a project’s returns are seldom realized by the end of the project. Make it part of the standard operating practice as an organization to look back on completed projects and to use predetermined metrics to measure their success at regular intervals over the years following the completion of the effort. (Generally, if you check in on project outcomes annually for five years, that should give you a clear picture, though you will want to consider what makes sense for your project.) Not only will this help you make smarter decisions about which projects to pursue in the future, but it will also help draw donations because you can demonstrate that money given to the organization has been well spent.

V. Publicize Success After the completion of the project, take the time to publicize accomplishments, and continue to publicize those accomplishments as you observe their ongoing impact over time.

This has a number of benefits. Donors like to hear about success and to know that their money is making a difference in the world. Potential beneficiaries of future projects will be more open to working with your organization and accepting the help you offer if they hear about the good you have done for others. And last but not least, your project team will appreciate the recognition. NGOs may not be able to offer financial rewards for going above and beyond the call of duty, but most people who choose to work for NGOs are not driven primarily by the desire to maximize their financial gains. Many people work for NGOs because they believe in making a positive difference in the world, and a meaningful way to compensate them for their hard work is to spread the message far and wide that they have made a real, measurable success at improving the world we live in.

Conclusion Anyone who has spent time in the world of NGOs has seen well-intentioned projects go astray for a variety of reasons, from poor planning to lack of funds, from disagreement over goals to disappointment at unintended results.

By incorporating the better practices described in this section, you can avoid many of these pitfalls and ensure that your limited resources are being used with maximum effectiveness. Clear, measurable goals help you design projects that make the right kind of difference. Through careful planning, you can be sure that you have the necessary resources to achieve the goals you’ve set and that all team members know their roles and responsibilities. Effective project management can keep your efforts on track as you traverse the critical path from planning through completion. By measuring effectiveness, you can learn exactly what has worked and what has not so that you can avoid mistakes and build on better practices for future projects. And by publicizing your success, you will make it that much easier to continue your NGO’s critical mission.

External Links: Wikipedia on Project Management: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management Harvard Business Review: http://www.hbr.com Free Management Library: http://www.managementhelp.org NGO Manager: http://www.ngomanager.org Project Management Institute: http://www.pmi.org/info/default.asp Techsoup (for articles and software): http://www.techsoup.org

References: Bennis, Warren et al. Business: The Ultimate Resource. Cambridge, MA: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2002. Drucker, Peter F. Managing the Nonprofit Organization. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1990. Harvard Business School. Harvard Business Review on Managing Projects. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Pub. Corp., 2005 Kelsall, Tim. "Lethal Aid: The Illusion of Socialism and Self-Reliance in Tanzania," Africa 71, no. 2 (2001): 337, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001040555. (accessed February 27, 2007) Kerzner, Harold. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2001. Kerzner, Harold. Project Management Case Studies. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003.