Keeping IT Project Management in Check
Project management is tough, and all too often we find ourselves fixing problems or addressing a crises rather than actually managing the projects. While there might be many reasons for the issues that arise, the fact of the matter is that most of these issues could probably have been avoided. While these problems might not necessarily be as a result of your project management skills, it is important to remember that by doing things a little bit differently next time you could avoid similar situations and crises from arising.
While experience is the best teacher you might ever have, it never hurts to have a bit of a head start, which is why we present a few simply project management tips to ensure that your project runs as smoothly as possible. It is important to
Tip 1 – Build a solid foundation
Get all the details about your project laid out before you start work. This is one of the most important parts of the project management process, and will determine how smoothly the project runs throughout the development process. Make sure that you have assigned deadlines and milestones to your project before you start. Having all of these details in place will allow for lees scope creep from the client, and will give your team definite targets to aim for.
Tip 2 – Pick the right team
Choosing the right team does not only mean that you need to put the right people in the right positions. While this is also a crucial step in your project management process, having the right people in place is only half of the job done. It is as important to have the right size team for your project in place as having the right people in place.
More often than not, too many people working on a project can lead to confusion among your team, while having too few people in your team will mean that you can expect your deadlines to be missed. The “pizza” team project management methodology used by Amazon.com suggests having no more than 6-10 people in a team, as this is the maximum amount of reports that a manager can effectively handle. This is why it is crucial to pick the right people for the job, and effectively manage those individuals.
Tip 3 – Define when and whom
As we have already mentioned, it is important to set your deadlines and milestones up front, giving your team a clear target top work towards. It is also important to not set only long term goals and deadlines. By setting frequent goals, you will be able to find out about any problems before it is too late.
The next step is to define who is responsible for which goals and deadlines. By assigning responsibility early on, you have a clear roadmap for the entire team, and everyone will have a clear picture of what is expected of them, and when their work should be completed.
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