Want to Succeed in Project Management?

Well-designed projects proceed through four phases: definition, planning, implementation and finalization. Good advance planning, excellent communications, the ability to respond to the inevitable errors, and changes in process are all critical elements of good project management.

Phase I: Defining the Project

Consider assembling a group (sometimes called an "advance preparation team"), to help you evaluate the costs and benefits of a potential project by defining the:

1. Specific goals and objectives. What is the project supposed to achieve? What will have been added or improved once the project has been completed?
2. Stakeholders. Who is going to be affected by the outcome of the project? What will they gain?
3. Scope. How large is the project's objective?
4. Limiting factors. What are the parameters, constraints and risk factors?
5. Resource requirements. What resources would be needed in terms of time, money, technology, equipment, facilities, and material and supplies?
6. Feasibility. Is the project feasible? Can it be completed successfully?

Phase II: Planning

Some project managers prefer to continue working only with a smaller core or "drive" team during this stage, provided they have the expertise to define exactly what needs to be done, and how long each step will take. If they don't, it is possible to miss information that will affect your time line, budget, or ability to deliver.

Define the major segments of the project, when a "section" of the project must be completed (i.e. a milestone), and the individual activities that support each milestone. Order the activities (in project management lingo, the first activity is called a "predecessor/precursor" activity, and the second a "successor" activity), and estimate the time each will take. In doing so, you will be able to define which activities are dependent upon the completion of others. You'll also be able to identify some tasks that can be completed independent of others. Writing each segment, milestone and activity on a separate "Post it" note and moving them about until you've come up with a workable plan is an affordable, flexible method of project planning.

Diagramming, or charting your milestones and related activities against a timeline can create a great map for all personnel involved in the project. By visually representing the dependencies between the various activities involved, you will quickly be able to identify areas where a slippage in schedule will have a strong impact on other segments of the project's implementation. You can also assign activities to people.

Phase III: Implementation

There are a number of hazards that can derail even the best-planned project. As the manager, you'll need to tell (tell, and re-tell) project members all they need to know to get the work done, have a strategy for communicating progress, and be able to quickly address "showstoppers." Here are some helpful ideas:

Use a "kick off" meeting to orient everyone to the project goals and plan, introduce team members, and share information so everyone starts out on the same page.

Have a two-tiered plan for monitoring and communicating progress. At the first level, everyone involved in the project, including both employees and outside vendors, will need to have access to the level of information they'll need to effectively perform their activities. At the second level, your project team will need to keep you informed about the details of their progress. You can use this information to summarize and evaluate progress in your own reports to and communications with management and other stakeholders.

Recognize and respond quickly to problems. No matter how passionately you believe in a project, or how clearly you've spelled out a plan, there are going to be other people who lack your motivation, clarity of vision, skill set, etc. Have a plan for surfacing problems quickly. Take time to dissect them, implement a solution and follow up. No news is not good news when it comes to projects. No news means something might be amiss.

Phase IV: Finalization

Some projects are easier than others to finalize. If there is a specific, tangible result, everyone involved knows when the project is completed. Other projects, however, tend to linger on and on, with a myriad of little details that need to be cleaned up, etc. As a result, the project continues to use (and/or be charged for) resources that are no longer required or require resources that are no longer available. To manage this:

• Have a clearly defined "end" for different project team members. Ensure their contributions are recognized, they are properly thanked, and any notable accomplishments have been communicated to each project member's supervisor. Time spent on such efforts now will increase the likelihood of each person's participation in your next project!
• Prepare a post project evaluation, outlining and quantifying project successes, so that team participants (including you) receive credit where credit is due; noting lessons learned, so future problems can be avoided; and documenting tasks still in process/still to do.

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