Project Management

Presentations

Often the project manager or members of the project team are called on to give a formal presentation. The audience may be representatives of the customer’s organization, the project organization’s upper management, or the project team itself. To prepare, first determine the purpose of the presentation. Is it to inform or to persuade? Also determine the audience’s level of knowledge or familiarity with the subject.

After determining the basics, prepare an outline of the presentation. Prepare notes or a final outline to refer to during your presentation. Also prepare visual aids and test them. Make copies of handout materials. Request the audiovisual equipment well in advance. Finally, go into the meeting room when it’s empty or not in use and get a feel for the surroundings.

When the time comes to deliver the presentation, expect a bit of nervousness; all speakers experience it. Be sure to know the first two or three sentences of your presentation. This will help you remain calm. For the presentation itself, use the 3-T approach in your presentation:

1. First, tell them what you are going to tell them (your outline).

2. Then, tell them (the body of your presentation).

3. Finally, tell them what you told them (your summary).

Some of the basics for quality presentations include:

· Speak clearly and confidently.

· Use appropriate gestures to help make a point.

· Do not read the slide. Elaborate on the ideas illustrated on the slide.

· Do not stand in front of your visual aids.

· Build interest in your presentation.

· Keep to the key points in your outline.

· When making key points, explain to the audience why they are important.

· Know your closing lines.

· When responding to questions, be sincere, candid, and confident.

Reports

Written reports are just as important as oral reports in communicating information about a project. Remember that reports must address what is of interest to readers, not the person writing. The two most common types of project reports are progress reports and the final report. A progress report is not an activity report. Progress reports usually cover a specified period, called the reporting period. This period can be a week, a month, a quarter, or whatever best fits the project. A project progress report might include the following:

· Accomplishments since prior report.

· Current status of project performance.

· Progress toward resolution of previously identified problems.

· Problems or potential problems identified since prior report.

· Planned corrective actions.

· Milestones expected to be reached during next reporting period.

The project final report is usually a summary of the project. It is not an accumulation of the progress reports, nor is it a blow-by-blow story of what happened throughout the project. The final report might include the following:

· Customer’s original need and requirements

· Original project objective

· Description of the project

· Degree to which the original project objective was met

· Actual versus anticipated benefits to the customer as a result of the project

· Future considerations

· A list of all deliverables provided to the customer

· Test data from the final-acceptance testing

Written reports, like oral communication, leave an impression—positive or negative—with the audience. Be sure to make your reports concise. Write as you would speak. Use short, understandable sentences rather than compound, complex, paragraph-length sentences. Put the most important points first. Use graphics where possible. Finally, pay as much attention to the format of the report as to the content.