Planning – One of the greatest reasons why projects fail is because they are not properly planned. Project plans must be organized, detailed, and have other peoples input. As the project progresses and issues arise, the plan should be redone to accommodate those issues.
Milestones – When looking at a new project, it may appear to be daunting to the project team. It is important for project managers to lay out good and realistic milestones. This allows the team to see the project as a series of steps instead of a massive undertaking.
Communicate Project Goals and Objectives – The Project Manager should clearly communicate all goals and objectives to the project team so that everyone is on the same page and understands the direction of the project.
Agility – Projects seldom go as we lay them out. There are always things that occur in the middle of a project that we didn’t foresee. It is important for a project manager to be able to take those issues that arise and respond quickly to them.
Micromanage – Do not micromanage a project. Project Managers should not be control freaks, but leaders of the project. When assigning tasks to individuals, allow them to do their tasks. It is easy for a PM to get bogged down in the details of a project instead of focusing on the big picture and reaching milestones.
Communication – It is important for Project Managers to have an open line of communication with everyone involved with the project. They should be encouraging everyone to voice their concerns, which should reduce risk and mistakes.
Manage Risk – It is important for project managers to identify the risks associated with the project and constantly minimize those risks. Open communication with team members will help minimizing these risks.
Improve The Process – As projects are completed, we should be reviewing them to see where we didn’t do well and improve the process. As technologies change in the industry, so should our project management and IT processes.
Manage Project Triangle – Properly manage the foundation to all projects: Time, Budget, and Quality. If any one of these factors goes off course, it has the potential of dramatically altering the other two.
Work with Urgency – It is important that when working on projects, we do so with great urgency. This should be done for two reasons. 1)Projects are typically done on tight time lines. By not working urgently on a project, we run the risk of going over the timeline. 2)Issues typically arise when working on a project. We want to give ourselves enough time to be able to work on issues that arise.
