4. Develop the modifications that lead to a validated improvement in your process or system.

5. Control: Establish plans and procedures to ensure that your improvements are sustained

Here’s some advice for creating an accurate process map:

1. Always ask why. While constructing an initial process map, find out why certain actions are being done. In many cases, the answer is “We’ve always done it this way” or “That’s the way they told me to do it.” The question “why” often reveals good places to begin improvement efforts. Be prepared to revise the process map. When you first complete a process map, consider it a rough draft. You won’t get everything right the first time around. In fact, the first few times you review your process map with line workers and management (which you must do!), new wrinkles in the process will inevitably turn up. When developing your first version of a process map, assume nothing is trivial. Document everything, including informal communications. The piece of information shared at the coffee machine every morning may turn out to be what keeps a certain process moving.

2. Beware of resistance. Feeling protective and even defensive is human nature, especially if someone feels that her job is at stake or otherwise threatened. Employees often view the mapping process and process-improvement projects as a way for company leaders to reduce payrolls and eliminate jobs. It is important to explain the purpose and benefits of the project before you start. The general approach could include the message that process improvement is necessary to keep the company competitive and that a company must be competitive to provide jobs. Be aware of possible resistance during the mapping process and carefully examine what’s occurring at each process step to make certain that what you’re being told is actually being done so that you can build an accurate map.

3. Create a hierarchy of maps. Process maps can become very complex, and creating maps with increasing detail may be important to some businesses. Start with a high-level aggregated representation of the process in question and then break down each operation until you reach a level where meaningful analysis can take place. Avoid making a single map that’s so complicated it’s difficult to understand and communicate to stakeholders. Determining what level of breakdown is necessary for a process can be difficult. A high-level map that references general activities is great for communicating with upper management, who tend to be primarily concerned with where handoffs occur between groups/departments or across reporting structures. More detail is important when a process map is intended to train employees or inform middle managers, who need to see where changes occur in resource requirements.

4. Document everything necessary to perform each task and the output of each task. A record that includes all resources and any information needed to complete a given task ensures consistency. Many people forget that the information an operation generates can be as important as the tangible resources. For example, on a process-improvement project, an operation was identified as non-value-added and eliminated, but it actually produced a vital report needed later in the process. When the operations management team members completed the initial process map, they overlooked the existence and importance of this document, so when they implemented the new process, the system broke down because of the lack of information in the report.

5. Solicit input from all levels of the organization. It’s important to obtain input from the range of people involved in the process. Conduct interviews with those on the line doing the actual work as well as with company leaders. We’re routinely surprised by how many managers don’t know exactly how work gets done in their firm. A fatal operations mistake is developing a process map with only management involvement.

6. Walk the process yourself. If possible, observe the process in question. Often, information from front-line staff, line workers, and managerial data is wrong or misleading. If what you see and what you’re told don’t match, find out why discrepancies exist. Through direct observation and follow-up conversations, you may discover critical insight into why a process behaves the way it does.

Deliver your presentation

• Relax.
• If necessary revisit your notes about how to relax yourself. Stress can be managed, and to a small degree it is part of the presentation experience. Butterflies are exciting and beautiful, even if they are not in perfect formation.
• You have prepared and practised, so your presentation will succeed and be enjoyable.
• Smile.
• The audience is on your side.
• Use a solid well-rehearsed opening, make immediate friendly impact.
• Use confident body-language, control, firmness, confidence, speak your audience's language, accentuate the positive (be positive and upbeat).
• Pause when you need to and don't apologise for it - pausing is perfectly okay.
• Use audience participation where possible, be clear, calm, close powerfully and simply and gratefully, and have fun

6. Check, measure, monitor, review project progress - adjust project plans, and inform the project team and others.

7. Complete project - review and report on project performance; give praise and thanks to the project team.

8.Project follow-up - train, support, measure and report results and benefits.

Here are 10 project management tips and tricks to help ensure your project will move along smoothly:

1. Nail Down Project Details.Before you ever start the project, make sure that it is based on a solid foundation and that you have the buy-in from all key stakeholders. Understand their interests and expectations and be aware of how they will determine whether or not the project is successful. You will also need to ensure that the project scope is distinctly identified, including the roles and responsibilities of the various project team members. Develop the project plan and verify that the goals of the key elements are clearly defined and closely aligned. You should also establish measurable and trackable success criteria, including accomplishing tasks on schedule, achieving budget targets, confirming product functionality is satisfactory to the customer, and ensuring government and/or industry regulations are met. Take care of all the details to lay the groundwork for your project’s success.

2. Identify Project and Team Requirements. Once you have a strong plan in place, you can start implementing it by assembling an effective project team. As noted in an article released by ITToolkit.com, “The project team is a working unit of individual parts, sharing a common goal, achieved through the structured application of combined skills.” The article also states that, “The first step to team success begins with initial organization: to assemble and organize available resources capable of working together as a whole through the integration of individual skills, talents and personalities.” As a project manager, you’ll need to align those skills, talents and personalities with the appropriate project needs. Make sure that each individual working on the project is clear about their task and what they are providing upon completion.

3. Be the Project Leader. A key role in project management is the project leader. In this position, you will need to cultivate good and positive team dynamics and act as a coach and/or mentor to all team members. You will also be the leader when it comes to getting input from the project team and major stakeholders, as well as getting their buy-in. As a project leader, you are essentially the captain of the ship. That means you will need to ascertain the rough waters that may be ahead. In addition, you will need to inspire your team to follow you through the turbulent times, as well as the calm times. If you don’t have effective leadership skills, you may not be able to prevail over the challenges facing your project. Take the helm and lead your team to success.

4. Define Critical Project Milestones. Identify defining moments throughout the project. You can provide a life cycle of the project by including the four main phases: initiation, planning, execution and closure. Perform a real evaluation at the end of each phase. Make sure to examine every deliverable. From parts of the product to the technical documents to the project plan, you will need all of the elements involved to ensure the product is meeting the project specifications. The product needs to be aligned with the quality your customers are expecting. These milestones will not only help you to eliminate project risk and monitor project change, but will also alert you to any continuing problems and ensure that each piece is correctly completed.

5. Keep the Communication Lines Open. One of the most critical steps in the project management process is to ensure that the communication lines are open. As the project manager, you will need to be the operator of this communications system. Keep a communications plan and stick with it. Throughout the entire project, communication should be consistent, open, honest and clear. Make sure you keep in touch with all key stakeholders and team members during the project process. Ensure that everyone has the information necessary to make decisions and proceed with the project. You can also keep everyone on the same page by creating status reports based upon the project information and updates.

6. Attain Pertinent Documentation. From the initiation of the project to the milestones along the way, you should have documentation signed by the stakeholders. A recent ConnectITNews.com article, recommended to “Make sure all documentation is in-line with your project management methodology of choice to ensure your project team is covered in terms of deliverables, and expectations.” Even with the best project management processes in place, it is not often that a project is completed on time and within budget, so you will need to have the appropriate documentation ready for the stakeholders and plan for any unforeseen events. However, you don’t want to overcomplicate the project management process with too much documentation that doesn’t add value to the project.

7. Manage Project Risks. There can be risk at any time during the project. Your project management experience with similar projects can help guide you so that you may be able to foresee when risk is imminent and when corrective action needs to be taken. By having open communication, you should be able to understand what, if any, risks are approaching and manage them before they get out of hand. You will need to identify and control project risks before they control you. Since a risk is only a potential problem, you want to take care of it before it becomes an actual problem. As one of the most imperative best practices in the project management process, risk management is essential to project success.

8. Avoid Scope Creep. Although some change is inevitable in any project situation, you will want to keep your project from creeping into chaos. In general, scope creep happens when new elements are added to a project that’s already been approved, but no consideration is given to increasing the budget, adding more time to the schedule and/or adding more resources to compensate for the revised project. If the project’s scope does need to be revisited, you can participate in the rescoping process. Make sure to have the proper documentation and have all stakeholders sign off on these changes before proceeding.

9. Test Deliverables. Deliverables should be tested at every critical milestone and the final product must meet the project requirements. Before moving on to the next phase of the project, you need to be sure that the product is coming along as planned. An ITToolkit.com article states that, “As a project evolves, various types of deliverables are produced to support project continuation, to measure progress, and to validate plans and assumptions … Results are expected and must be delivered at every stage of the project lifecycle.” At the end of the project, the deliverable must meet or exceed the customer expectations to be considered a success. The final phase of the project is closure. This grand finale is a sign of achievement for you as a project manager, as well as the rest of your team and stakeholders. Once the project is complete and the customer is happy, your mission is complete.

10. Evaluate the Project. What lessons have you learned along your project management process? Each project can be a valuable learning tool. You will want to review the project as a whole, as well as analyze various project components. What were the project victories? Where were there project disappointments? Make informed conclusions about the project’s quality and the product’s performance. Compare the planned return on investment (ROI) to the actual ROI as one way to understand the level of your success. You can use the lessons learned from each project to minimize future failures and maximize future successes.