Entry Software Corporation
Entry
Project management timing is everything, right? That’s how you succeed in most of life’s pursuits. “Where the rocky road of preparation intersects the freeway of opportunity.” This is a great way to think about education, preparation, practice, discipline, and work ethic. It is not always the best way to prioritize work. Why not use management, instead of timing, to set priorities?
Is the lack of customer involvement a good thing? Sure, we’d all appreciate it from time to time if our customers would stay out of our hair. It would make our jobs a lot easier if we could work on the project without phone calls, questions, and demands from the customer, right?
But what are the downsides? While a project free of customer involvement and interference may sound enticing, let’s look at what problems this scenario can potentially cause:
[Read more…] about How Much Customer Participation Do We Want?
No one ever likes to admit they’ve taken on too much. No one ever wants to say, “I just can’t do this.” No one wants to quit. No one sets out to fail. But there does come a time when you may need to throw in the towel – maybe not just that the project has failed beyond the point of saving. Maybe it’s us – maybe we can’t handle this project. It could be technology. It could be the team. It could be the fact that we’re trying to manage five active projects at once and they’re all in the same stage of activity at the same time – like maybe all in fire drill mode. Let’s look at three situations where you might find yourself, as the project manager, in over your head and how to deal with each situation.
The simple mindset on a project in terms of budget is … we have a budget, we manage the project daily, we try to stay on target (and by target I usually mean 10% either way), and we manage scope so we aren’t giving work away for free and causing budget overruns. Sound familiar?
Why do we set up practices and structures in our organizations?
Why do we standardize processes and procedures?
What’s with continuous improvement anyway?
Is it for show…are we trying to ‘look’ good?
Doubtful. We’re trying to make money. That’s what ‘for profit’ business is all about. Make money so that we can stay in business, keep our good employees, and keep seeking out more business. It’s called capitalism and it’s a good thing.
So we generally try to engage in activities that align with our goals and mission of our organization. You know what I’m talking about – those things that are officially in place to help guide our organization down the path of profitability. We tend to seek business and engage in practices that line up well with the goals and mission of our company. If what we’re doing doesn’t line up with those – then we won’t in business very long. [Read more…] about Is Your PM Practice Giving You a Competitive Advantage?
Depending on the organization and the project, some project managers have a lot of input in how they plan and execute the project to define project management success. There are often key decision points and planning inputs that can make a big difference. Here are some to consider.
Thoroughly reviewing the statement of work and identifying the right skill set for each key project team member resource is extremely important for the overall success of the project. Requesting too many resources or too high of a skill set will result in higher resource costs for the project. Requesting lower skill levels that are inadequate for the tasks can result in poor project team performance. Neither is good for the project as one is a budget concern and the other is a quality concern.
Customer engagement can often be a challenge. Most project tasks will be assigned to delivery team members. The wise project manager assigns several ongoing tasks to the project sponsor and their team to keep them engaged in the project and accountable. Making them get involved and do actual project work means less micromanagement by the customer. Keeping the project sponsor busy with project tasks keeps them in close communication with you, helps ensure that they regularly attended the weekly status meetings, and also can mean they are more available to you throughout the project engagement.
Small projects don’t necessarily detailed rigorous task planning or required documentation. Even if you choose to create multiple versions of every project planning deliverable or if your customer requests them, they won’t need to be 75 pages for a 3-month project. Use the project budget wisely and look for places where deliverables can be scaled while still providing the necessary quality to the customer.
Every project – big and small – needs risk management. Upfront risk planning and identification and ongoing risk monitoring, mitigation and avoidance should be practised…no matter what. The project manager and team who choose to ignore this critical practice are setting their project up for failure.
We can’t guarantee project success…but we can routinely make good choices and they are really the same fundamental choices on every project no matter the size, budget, or duration. or complexity. Good choices and good decisions on how we manage our projects are all just part of basic project management best practices.