Summary of the project management session with Mr. Jean Jacques Cousty

On Friday October the first, we were glad to welcome Mr. Jean Jacques Cousty, a project manager at Renault. He spent a whole day with us and shared his international work experience.
From the very beginning we were separated into four groups in order to work in teams.
The objective was to link theory to practice using tools and methods for an efficient project management.
We were asked to act keeping in mind the respect of the other people present in the room: avoiding personal conversations, respecting the point of view of the others, switching off mobile phones, ...

Part 1: the knowledge we have acquired

We all have worked on projects in university, but for many of us, we didn't know what the exact definition of a project is. Three characteristics of a project are: unique, multiple resources and risks. Mr Cousty made us aware of the constraints and risks in a project, and told us that we have to grant great importance to managing the risks since, in most cases, they are the reason of a failure.
A company has to be competitive and innovating to offer products adapted to customers. The project management is very important to avoid delays or a drift of the project knowing that a project is delayed 1 time out of 4 due to bad specifications.

Different approach of a project
In a project, we have a team, with a representative, and an executive committee to which the team reports.
To reach the objectives, we studied a management tool called PDCA: "Plan" "Do" "Check" "Act". The aim is to structure the different tasks in a project, using debriefings.
Another tool was introduced: the FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis). It helps analyse the risks.
During a project, we have to know how to satisfy the customer, keeping in mind four criteria: Innovation, Quality, Cost and Delivery.
But to merge customer’s satisfaction with profitable growth, it is necessary to have a strategic