How does a pm know what is going on in the project?

[Former Member]

Dear Experts,

I am new to R/3. Please bare with me for this basic question.

I like to know, if a project manager is not experienced in R/3 modules and he is managing the project, what does or should he look for to know that the project development is done correctly at any point in time?

Is this the job of functional team leads?

I mean, how can a project manager know what is really being done when his job is managing the resources, schedules , costs etc?

I hope you can share with me your insights.

sincerely

john

Edited by: johntivoli on Feb 19, 2010 4:50 PM

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Status reports and Time sheet

[Former Member]

Hi,

Some practical things:

1. The PM needs to know his team members in & out first.

2. Understand your client & the key people

3. Go thru' the blueprint to have a clear understanding of client's business

4. Study thru' the project plan, if its not prepared, prepare one based on the above.

With the above in place, its about managing people, processes & presentations.

The above looks quite straight forward, but trust me a person who is able to manage the above, should be able to get the project steam rolling.

Add to it, if the PM is well versed with the modules, then it becomes even better, as you can guide the team. The key task of PM is to ensure the project rolls smoothly as far as possible & the functional leads ensure that their individual modules are meeting their targets.

Hope the above was helpful.

Regards,

Vivek

[Former Member]

Dear Vivek,

Thanks for your response. Points awarded.

Can i know how can the pm know with certainty that the Scope meets the Requirements?

Thanks for reading.

sincerely

John

Edited by: johntivoli on Feb 20, 2010 10:53 AM

[Former Member]

Hi,

I guess that query would be ans'd by points 3 & 4 in my prev posting.

To elaborate a lil more, in real-life the scope would always be short of the requirements, simply because the requirements will keep changing & i haven't come across a project where the requirements have remained the same from beginning to the end. There will be several reasons for this.

So i believe one of the key things which PM needs to do is manage this expectation & ensure there is match between the scope & requirements. And it is important for the PM to get the sign off from client at key milestones in the project, to know that the scope is meeting client's needs & this is one way of ensuring that the project is on track. Ofcourse if the PM is well versed in various modules, then he / she can make a fair assessment if there is match between the scope & requirements.

Regards,

Vivek

[Former Member]

Dear Vivek,

Thanks for your reply.

Can i confirm that a project Business blueprint is the Requirements for the To-Be system ?

By this, does it mean the blueprint is created by the customer and not the pm?

I sincerely like to know how a business blueprint looks like.

Have a nice day!

Best regards

John

[Former Member]

Hi,

Refer to below link & most of your queries on blueprint should be answered.

http://www.abiss.ro/assets/Image/FAQ/What_is_an_SAP_Business_Blueprint.pdf

Regards,

Vivek