Steps towards Effective Project Management
Do you know, as per a 2017 report from the Project Management Institute (PMI), 14 percent of IT projects fail and around 31 percent didn’t meet their goals and a shocking 43 percent exceeded their initial budgets?
But why a project fails? Amongst many reasons, one reason that everyone admits is the lack of effective project management. Still Read on to see my take on effective project management.
1. Treat all projects equally: I kind of made it a practice to ask the team about the plan before even I share any suggestions with them. And guess what, the two most common excuses I found are these.
“It’s a very small project and does not need formal planning as such”
“Our PM is very experienced and can handle the project without any formal plan”
Lame excuses, but strong enough to put a project in jeopardy. Remember, the ground-work for a successful project begins much before the project actually starts. Planning is one of the most important parameters for effective project management. A project manager must be an efficient planner to chalk down the Work Breakdown Structure and Gantt charts in a simple manner. And no matter what’s the size of the project, big or small, you must have a project management plan ready for you and the team to follow.
2. Identify the outcome: It’s very important to understand what you are going to achieve through the project. As you can’t run a project blindfolded without having any prior idea of the final outcome. The theory of agile talks about continuous adoption and implementation but then that also requires a definition of done. So before jumping in, understand the goal
3. Define project framework: Before starting the project or deployment of the project manager, few things must be ascertained as they are the foundation on which the project progress depends:
· Confirm the project stakeholders and beneficiaries.
· Expectations of the stakeholders and reason for their involvement in the project.
· Ascertain the ways by which these expectations can be implemented for project progress.
· Identify the level of deliverables and skill set required.
· Identify the project management Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
· Formulate a smooth and reliable communication plan.
4. Define the Project Requirement & Scope: All the project requirements and scope must be clarified to all stakeholders. This will increase their involvement in the project and avoid chances of project failure. A series of reviews and revisions must be accomplished keeping all stakeholders in the group. The project plan must be flexible in terms of requirements and resources and by utilizing the appropriate project management tool.
5. Select correct Project Management Tool: Project Management Tools and software helps in arranging all data at the place and make it available for review of all stakeholders. Use the correct Project Management Tool which is appropriate for your undertaking.
6. Proper planning of risks and resources: You must have a fool-proof risk mitigation plan and a schedule adhering to all the requirements related to tasks, resources, and deployment. A well-planned Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) comes handy in scheduling and risk mitigation.
7. Communication plan, Monitor and Control: The project must have a smooth and reliable communication plan in which all stakeholders, managers, and team members can rely on. This helps in proper monitoring of project progress and control any sort of mismanagement and ambiguities.
8. Finalize and review: Close the project after it has met with all the requirements and surpassed all stages according to the WBS and Gantt chart and review before final submission.
All these steps are a very integral part of the Effective Project Management process nullifying all reasons which can make it prone to failure. So, to wrap it up, indulge in having a proper, structured project management plan to avoid the potential risk of project failure or budget or timeline slippage.
