| Managing a project can be daunting. Whether planning | | | | progress. You will need progress reports from |
| your wedding, developing a new website or building | | | | project team members. You should record variations |
| your dream house by the sea, you need to employ | | | | between the actual and planned cost, schedule and |
| project management techniques to help you succeed. | | | | scope. You should report variations to your manager |
| I'll summarise the top 7 best practices at the heart | | | | and key stakeholders and take corrective actions if |
| of good project management which can help you to | | | | variations get too large. |
| achieve project success. | | | | You can adjust the plan in many ways to get the |
| Define the scope and objectives | | | | project back on track but you will always end up |
| Firstly, understand the project objectives. Suppose | | | | juggling cost, scope and schedule. If the project |
| your boss asks you to organise a blood donor | | | | manager changes one of these, then one or both of |
| campaign, is the objective to get as much blood | | | | the other elements will inevitably need changing. It is |
| donated as possible? Or, is it to raise the local | | | | juggling these three elements - known as the project |
| company profile? Deciding the real objectives will help | | | | triangle - that typically causes a project manager the |
| you plan the project. | | | | most headaches! |
| Scope defines the boundary of the project. Is the | | | | Change management |
| organisation of transport to take staff to the blood | | | | Stakeholders often change their mind about what |
| bank within scope? Or, should staff make their own | | | | must be delivered. Sometimes the business |
| way there? Deciding what's in or out of scope will | | | | environment changes after the project starts, so |
| determine the amount of work which needs | | | | assumptions made at the beginning of the project |
| performing. | | | | may no longer be valid. This often means the scope |
| Understand who the stakeholders are, what they | | | | or deliverables of the project need changing. If a |
| expect to be delivered and enlist their support. Once | | | | project manager accepted all changes into the |
| you've defined the scope and objectives, get the | | | | project, the project would inevitably go over budget, |
| stakeholders to review and agree to them. | | | | be late and might never be completed. |
| Define the deliverables | | | | By managing changes, the project manager can |
| You must define what will be delivered by the | | | | make decisions about whether or not to incorporate |
| project. If your project is an advertising campaign for | | | | the changes immediately or in the future, or to reject |
| a new chocolate bar, then one deliverable might be | | | | them. This increases the chances of project success |
| the artwork for an advertisement. So, decide what | | | | because the project manager controls how the |
| tangible things will be delivered and document them in | | | | changes are incorporated, can allocate resources |
| enough detail to enable someone else to produce | | | | accordingly and can plan when and how the changes |
| them correctly and effectively. | | | | are made. Not managing changes effectively is often |
| Key stakeholders must review the definition of | | | | a reason why projects fail. |
| deliverables and must agree they accurately reflect | | | | Risk management |
| what must be delivered. | | | | Risks are events which can adversely affect the |
| Project planning | | | | successful outcome of the project. I've worked on |
| Planning requires that the project manager decides | | | | projects where risks have included: staff lacking the |
| which people, resources and budget are required to | | | | technical skills to perform the work, hardware not |
| complete the project. | | | | being delivered on time, the control room at risk of |
| You must define what activities are required to | | | | flooding and many others. Risks will vary for each |
| produce the deliverables using techniques such as | | | | project but the main risks to a project must be |
| Work Breakdown Structures. You must estimate the | | | | identified as soon as possible. Plans must be made to |
| time and effort required for each activity, | | | | avoid the risk, or, if the risk cannot be avoided, to |
| dependencies between activities and decide a realistic | | | | mitigate the risk to lessen its impact if it occurs. This |
| schedule to complete them. Involve the project team | | | | is known as risk management. |
| in estimating how long activities will take. Set | | | | You don't manage all risks because there could be |
| milestones which indicate critical dates during the | | | | too many and not all risks have the same impact. So, |
| project. Write this into the project plan. Get the key | | | | identify all risks, estimate the likelihood of each risk |
| stakeholders to review and agree to the plan. | | | | occurring (1 = not likely, 2 = maybe likely, 3 = very |
| Communication | | | | likely). Estimate its impact on the project (1 - low, 2 - |
| Project plans are useless unless they've been | | | | medium, 3 - high), then multiply the two numbers |
| communicated effectively to the project team. Every | | | | together to give the risk factor. High risk factors |
| team member needs to know their responsibilities. I | | | | indicate the severest risks. Manage the ten with the |
| once worked on a project where the project | | | | highest risk factors. Constantly review risks and |
| manager sat in his office surrounded by huge paper | | | | lookout for new ones since they have a habit of |
| schedules. The problem was, nobody on his team | | | | occurring at any moment. |
| knew what the tasks and milestones were because | | | | Not managing risks effectively is a common reason |
| he hadn't shared the plan with them. The project hit | | | | why projects fail. |
| all kinds of problems with people doing activities | | | | Summary |
| which they deemed important rather than doing the | | | | Following these best practices cannot guarantee a |
| activities assigned by the project manager. | | | | successful project but they will provide a better |
| Tracking and reporting project progress | | | | chance of success. Disregarding these best practices |
| Once your project is underway you must monitor | | | | will almost certainly lead to project failure. |
| and compare the actual progress with the planned | | | | |