A golden oldie excerpt from an SDA member’s white paper published in 2012.
I’ve just been made a project manager. But now what do I do?
The first thing is to understand the key components of project management:
- A project needs to have a specific goal. You don’t just get together, do a bunch of work, and see what happens. Well, maybe you do, but that is why project management is needed.
- A project needs a time frame. Projects should have a beginning and an end. They shouldn’t continue on and on and on.
- A project needs a budget and resources. Resources may include skilled individuals, special equipment, information systems, or other items. You need to identify what resources you need.
- A project needs a plan of action defining what needs to be done, when, and by whom. Plans, procedures, schedules, and various systems for tracking the work that needs to be done are necessary to keep your project on course.
As a project manager, you need to put all the pieces together. You are the person responsible for the end result. It is up to you to ensure the project is completed on time, on budget, and that it achieves the anticipated goal. A good project manager is able to look at the big picture—they know what needs to be done and can assemble and motivate a team to complete the project. They can also see any shortcomings—or potential shortcomings—that must be dealt with to keep a project on track.
But I don’t have time to plan. Various studies on the subject show that as many as 80 to 90 percent of all projects fail. Many fail before they even start, and the greatest reason for failure is lack of planning. Planning is an absolute must. There is no way around it. Imagine dumping a lot of wood, paint, and concrete in an area, then telling fifteen people to build a house without talking to each other. How do you think the house will turn out? How much time passes before those people realize they need to talk to each other in order to get the house built? If you don’t have time to plan, you plan to fail.
Making sure everyone on your project understands the project budget and schedule, and their role, is one way to ensure the project will remain on target. Team members should be able to identify when they are working on something that is not in the budget or on the schedule. Those items should be targeted as additional services. By monitoring your budget and schedule regularly, you will be able to identify and hopefully avoid some of these budget busters:
- Inadequate budget estimates
- Inadequate resource costs
- Failure to include all the details of the contract and project
- Poor communication with team members about their responsibility to stay on budget
- Not addressing changes as they occur throughout the project and their impact on the budget
- Falling behind schedule and needing more time to meet the deadlines
But the plan isn’t worth anything if you don’t monitor your progress. Monitoring your project allows you to validate any decisions you make with regard to implementing changes. It also allows you to make any adjustments regarding resources. Regular monitoring helps avoid disasters. Ask questions while monitoring your project:
- Are we on schedule? If not, how far are we behind? Can we catch up?
- Are we over budget?
- Are we still working toward the same goal as when we started? Has the scope of the project changed?
- Do we have sufficient resources? Do we need to put more people on the project?
If your job now includes project management and you want to improve your skills, talk to successful project managers; read, staying current on management trends; and practice.
Author: Colette Adams (Portland, Oregon)
