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7

Executing the Project

Now that the project has been planned, it is time to implement it. If you’re
familiar with the S-shaped curve (Figure 7.1) that describes a project’s
progress over time, we’re now at the part of the curve with the steepest
slope—where we are expending resources at the fastest rate. There are some
additional aspects to consider now that your project has been greened, at
least in the planning stages. This is the time when your good intentions
are put to the test. A good place to start project implementation is with
the project team and the kickoff meeting. Many of the project stakehold-
ers have been involved in the project-planning process, but it is unlikely
that they have a view of the entire project. To this point, they have been
primarily involved with—and had the limited perspective of—their own
piece. Not only does the kickoff meeting help the stakeholders with the
broader view of the project, it is also a key time to reemphasize the green
aspects of the project and how they will be woven through the project’s
execution, especially considering that we are just at the “incline” of this
steep slope.

the ProjeCt team

A core subset of project team members, or in some cases the project man-
ager alone, has been working diligently so far to plan the project. That
plan includes identifying all of the tasks needed to accomplish the proj-
ect’s goal and objectives, understanding the dependencies of those tasks
and scheduling them, defining the resources and time needed to accom-
plish the tasks, and costing those tasks resulting in the project’s budget
and schedule baselines. Now is the time to secure the needed resources,

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