Communicate and define - Basic rules of any project
Project management can be a complex and stressful occupation, for those that visit here regularly you'll know I'm running a series of articles about how I address project management of digital media.
But for this article I wanted to simplify project management down to the bare bones. If I need to define the two things you should focus your energies on during any project it would be Communication and Definition.
If all you did during a project was communicate changes between all parties involved and then define your starting point and any changes, you'd probably find your project would be a success.
Start at the beginning, once a project has the green light, or, ever better before, sit everyone down and discuss what they project is going to involve, how you envisage it being delivered and then take on board feedback.
Communicate any concerns to your client/sponsor and feedback any of their concerns with your team. Then sit down and define what's been discussed.
Define what you're going to deliver, and when and how your going to deliver it. Communicate this to your team first for approval and then pass on this communication to your client/sponsor.
Work to this definition as the project gathers pace, communicating progress or issues throughout. If you hit any issues, communicate with your team to establish what the issues are and how you are going resolve them and then communicate this back to your sponsor/client.
Don't shy away from talking to them, this will only create further problems, but do ensure you are fully informed about the issue and suggested solution before you talk.
Once you've communicated any changes, follow it up with a new definition of the agreed work and any associated costs. Keep everyone informed of any changes to the time-line this might create and deal with any associated issues through further communication.
Define delivery dates during this process, preferably in the early stages, but communicate any delivery date changes. Communicate with your team as delivery dates/times approach to ensure on-time delivery.
If anything crops up that's going affect these delivery dates, sit folks down and see if you can reorganise resources to hit the delivery date by communicating the problem.
If it's not going to be possible, talk to your client/sponsor, tell them about the issue. 9 times out of 10, they'd rather the project over ran a little, than receive an inferior product.
Notice a pattern or iteration here around the words Communication and Definition?
Communicate and Define and your project should be able to evolve around the delivery timetable successfully.
This should be telling most project managers something they are well versed in, but I am still surprised at the number of projects that have issues by simply not following these simple guidelines.
I'll come back to similar short topics like this, focusing on project delivery, in the future. Particularly the subject of time management, managing expectations and delivery schedules.
But for the time being, if you concentrate your focus on these two matters, you should find most project delivery is successful.
But for this article I wanted to simplify project management down to the bare bones. If I need to define the two things you should focus your energies on during any project it would be Communication and Definition.
If all you did during a project was communicate changes between all parties involved and then define your starting point and any changes, you'd probably find your project would be a success.
Start at the beginning, once a project has the green light, or, ever better before, sit everyone down and discuss what they project is going to involve, how you envisage it being delivered and then take on board feedback.
Communicate any concerns to your client/sponsor and feedback any of their concerns with your team. Then sit down and define what's been discussed.
Define what you're going to deliver, and when and how your going to deliver it. Communicate this to your team first for approval and then pass on this communication to your client/sponsor.
Work to this definition as the project gathers pace, communicating progress or issues throughout. If you hit any issues, communicate with your team to establish what the issues are and how you are going resolve them and then communicate this back to your sponsor/client.
Don't shy away from talking to them, this will only create further problems, but do ensure you are fully informed about the issue and suggested solution before you talk.
Once you've communicated any changes, follow it up with a new definition of the agreed work and any associated costs. Keep everyone informed of any changes to the time-line this might create and deal with any associated issues through further communication.
Define delivery dates during this process, preferably in the early stages, but communicate any delivery date changes. Communicate with your team as delivery dates/times approach to ensure on-time delivery.
If anything crops up that's going affect these delivery dates, sit folks down and see if you can reorganise resources to hit the delivery date by communicating the problem.
If it's not going to be possible, talk to your client/sponsor, tell them about the issue. 9 times out of 10, they'd rather the project over ran a little, than receive an inferior product.
Notice a pattern or iteration here around the words Communication and Definition?
Communicate and Define and your project should be able to evolve around the delivery timetable successfully.
This should be telling most project managers something they are well versed in, but I am still surprised at the number of projects that have issues by simply not following these simple guidelines.
I'll come back to similar short topics like this, focusing on project delivery, in the future. Particularly the subject of time management, managing expectations and delivery schedules.
But for the time being, if you concentrate your focus on these two matters, you should find most project delivery is successful.
Labels: communication, definition, digital project management, project management
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posted by Ed Richardson at
11:57
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