Managing Projects Successfully
Posted March 5, 2009 · by lrichardson · in professionaldev
As we have begun planning for our annual LEARN NC conference, I want to tell you about some of the strategies I learned in the HR class I took last week, “Managing Projects Successfully.” These strategies may seem obvious, but they are all important and sometimes overlooked.
1. Define the project and its requirements. When given a project, ask questions, make sure the purpose and goals of the project are clear. With the supervisor or sponsor, discuss who the project team members should be. Determine the resources that will be necessary to have a successful project. Make sure that your sponsor is totally committed to the project. That person needs to give you the authority to make changes in the project if necessary. The supervisor supports and empowers the project manager to get the job done.
2. Define the stakeholders. As the project manager, you are a major stakeholder, but there are many stakeholders including the sponsor, the people who are involved in the project and those that will be affected by the project. This even includes vendors that provide supplies for the project.
3. Create a statement of work and define the goals and objectives (deliverables). Objectives need to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.
4. Create a work break-down structure including timeline.
5. Create a risk analysis (the pitfalls) and have a contingency plan.
6. Develop a project budget which includes performance and administrative costs.
7. Hold scheduled team meetings and have a communication structure in place to make sure that all members are on the same page and aware of where the project is on the timeline. All team members must have buy-in to the project. Communication is critical.
8. Evaluation of the project doesn’t just come at the end. You must evaluate all aspects of the project throughout the life of the project so that changes can be made if necessary along the way.
9. At the end of the project, summarize the major accomplishments or deliverables, review the budget variances, assess the team’s performance, prepare and present a final report, and make recommendations for future projects.
10. Most importantly Document everything!