Injecting structure to support project health

hInjecting structure to support

project healthBy Sergey Soloviov

For Biggerplate Unplugged 2015

Leading projects since 2003

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Sector: Digital

Mind mapper since 2006

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nSpeaker

Practical examples from day-to-day

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Mind mapping + Project Management

Distinct purpose

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nOn the subject

kProject risks

Top Down Planning

Bottom Up Audit

gHealthy project is risk-free

oRisks come from grey areas

oEven more so in digital

(gazillion of tasks)

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Highly relevant(happens on very project)

dPeople struggle with risks

oDistractions(impacts our attention)

Emotions(excitement makes us

rush forward)

Skills(not all are

good communicators)

qStructure helps

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Techniques and Tools

Hunt downgrey areas

Eliminatemisinterpretation

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People struggle with risks

Healthy projects are risk-free

Structure helps

kProject risks

Top Down Planning

Bottom Up Audit

qGoal:

Itemised work(assignable work packages)

gConventional tools

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Whatever your project manager has at hand

MS Word MS PowerPoint MS Project

qRisks

oPoor knowledge of the subject matter

oUnclear ownership

dEnforcing structure

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Product Breakdown Structure (PBS)PRINCE2®

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Employs the principles of mind mapping: Visual diagramStrict hierarchy

No floating items

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Address risks: • Never miss an item

as you go top to bottom

• Avoid floating items easily

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Address risks: • Label owners • Reflect relationships

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Gain efficiency: • Moving around • Automatic formatting • Expand/collapse • Drill down/up • Relationships and group

notes

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Addresses the planning risks

PBS is effectively a mind map

Xmind suits better thanWord or PowerPoint

kProject risks

Top Down Planning

Bottom Up Audit

qGoal:

Information Architecture(Site Structure)

gConventional tools

Whatever your designer has at hand:Omnigraffle or Visio

Image from: graphicsketchpad.wordpress.com

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qRisks

Incompleteness

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Unclear hierarchy

Easy to make mistakes

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dEnforcing structure

oYou might start with card sorting

Image from: softwareontology.wordpress.com

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Floating items are evil

Familiar symbols are good for a reason

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Contains all details but condenses to one page if needed

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No silly mistakes

It formats itself as you make changes

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Your tools must enforce structure to effectively deal with masses of data

Sitemap diagrams often confuse hierarchy

Mind maps are dynamicyet they support much needed rigour

kMy use cases are about

recurrent tasks that benefit from structured approach

kYou could use it, too

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Let’s answer some questions

Sergey Soloviovwww.soloviov.ru – @soloviov

Biggerplate Unplugged 2015