Now that you know about the importance of Benefits in the Project as well as creating them, let’s talk about the most important stage of the Project Lifecycle, the Execution stage. 

 

Once the project plan is prepared and approved, the project is now ready for execution. The Project Manager has the responsibility in ensuring that the project is successfully delivered to completion.


The important tasks of a Project Manager include: 

  • Ensuring the project delivers to baselined scope, schedule, budget and benefits 

  • Manage and resolving exceptions (risks, issues, actions, dependencies) 

  • Leading the delivery team and ensuring stakeholders are informed 

  • Ensuring change control governance and quality process are in place 


Throughout the execution phase, the Project Manager monitors progress status against project baseline and take appropriate actions to ensure deliveries are on track. Project sponsors and other stakeholders are to be kept informed, and decisions are made within the framework set out in the governance process.


It is important that the project plan is comprehensively prepared during the planning phased of the work so that the direction of the project is well set when it enters the execution phase, providing best chance of delivery success. 

 


So what are the benefits of having a well-documented Project Plan? 

  • Delivery scope, budget, schedule, benefits are agreed (baselined). 

  • Potential risk are assessed and mitigation plan in place. 

  • Resource demand and allocation, including internal and external, are planned. 

  • Vendor contracts are agreed. 

  • Dependencies are agreed. 

  • Confidence in delivering project milestones and deliverables) is fully assessed. 

  • Governance and reporting structure are established. 

  • Outcomes and benefits ownership are agreed. 

 


During the planning phase, it is important to complete the planning requirements checklist, and to set up the “Project PMP” within Focus HQ. This involves reviewing the Project Settings module that is taken from the Default Settings of the selected Project Type template.


The Project Manager’s task is to review and configure the project settings to reflect the project governance and reporting application for the project, such as: 

  • Core PMBoK modules relevant to the project execution phase (eg. Schedule, Risk, Issue, Report, Benefits, Quality, KPI, Budget, Activities) 

  • Access to project data and update permission 

  • Project reporting calendar and report templates 

  • Project roles and team members access 

  • Notifications and escalations


To know more about each part of the Settings module, you can check this walkthrough video:
 

 


In addition to the Project Settings, the Project Manager needs to complete the checklists as indicated in the Planning Setup page and submit the project for Review. Once Approver reviews and approves the Planning project, it will be moved to the next stage, Execution. 


To know more about this, you can check this walkthrough video:


 


Please also visit the Focus HQ Support Portal for more details: 

Feel free to start moving your Planning project to the Execution stage. Start completing your Automated and Manual Checklists. Go to the Project Planning Setup page and see what items are needed to be done.  

Once done, click the Submit for Review button. Have an Approver to approve your Planning project to be moved to the next stage.
 

If you have any other questions, you can reach out to us via the Focus HQ Help or send us an email to support@focushq.com.  We’ll be happy to guide you in navigating through these and provide other valuable support links when needed.