To make a successful project the project team must follow some rules. There are some tips and tricks to make a project successful. Here, we will discuss 12 keys that will lead a project towards the success of the project and project manager.
Key 1: Take special attention to the three standards of the project’s success
In brief, the first standard is to finish the project in time; the second standard is to control the project’s budget in a certain range; the third standard is to obtain approvals from your company or your customers by achieving good product quality. A project manager must make sure every team member’s work follows these three standards.
Key 2: Plan before execution
From the point of view of project management, many experts and practitioners share the same opinion. The most important thing a project manager should devote to is planning. A detailed and systematic plan is the foundation of a project’s success. Team members must participate in the process of planning.
When an environment is not fit for planning comes to reality, the project manager should develop a new plan which can reflect the variation of the environment. Planning a strategy before and always improvising according to the situation is like the second nature of a good project manager.
Key 3: Deliver a sense of urgency to team members by own practical action
All projects must be finished within several constraints such as time, resources, and budget. The project manager should lead the members to pay close attention to the project’s goal and schedule. For instance, the project manager could inspect member’s work timely, or hold regular meetings, or post some kind of reminder on the wall.
Key 4: Identifying risks
A project manager must identify all the risks of a project. And he should always have a plan to manage those risks and divert the situation in the project’s favor. Taking risks is very important to a project’s success.
Key 5: Vividly communicate all objectives and activities of the project
The project manager and team members should describe the project’s objectives vividly since the beginning of the project. To make sure every relevant person can remember the project. All the team members must clearly know the project objective and all the decisions made regarding the project.
Key 6: Gradually achieve project’s objectives
If the project manager and team members try to achieve all the project’s objectives simultaneously, it would only cause repeated work which would waste both time and money. As the saying goes, you can not build up your constitution on one mouthful. Therefore, Project objectives achieved step by step. And performing evaluations after every achievement of every single objective would make sure the entire project is under control.
Key 7: Obtain precise approval of the project and execute only after sponsor sign
Obtain the stakeholders’ approval for the project at the very beginning is very significant for the process of achieving the project’s objectives. The project manager should see the signature and approval as the formal start of the project. The reason is simple: anyone with the authority of refusing or modifying the project’s objectives should examine and approve these objectives at the project’s initiation.
Key 8: A thorough analysis of the project’s objectives
Research has shown that project objective is very crucial to a successful project. The project objective should be aligned with recorded and well-known business requirements. Therefore, the project manager should adhere to the principle that sufficient evidence should be found for the project’s business value before the organization’s approval for the project.
Key 9: Responsibilities and power of project manager must be equal
Apart from power, there must be responsibilities for the project manager. The project manager is always responsible for the result of a project. On the other hand, the project manager should have the same amount of power to excite the whole responsibility. At certain times, power shows its importance. Like when the project managers have to obtain or coordinate resources or ask some relevant medium/small company to cooperate or make decisions that are valuable to the success of the project.
Key 10: Project sponsors and users should forwardly get involved
Most project sponsors and users can raise requests and perform their (partial or full) power of authorizing the project’s objectives correctly. But with this power comes the equivalent responsibility. Which is forwardly getting involved in every phase of the project. For instance, at an early stage of the project, they have to assist in determining the objectives of the project, and at the execution stage of the project, they have to evaluate the periodic objectives which have been achieved, in order to assure the project goes without any obstacle. Project sponsors also should assist in visiting relevant medium/small companies and members of target users with the project managers, and help the project managers to acquire necessary documentation which would help to succeed the project.
Key 11: Execution of project should follow the operating mechanism of current market
Most of the time, the project manager should consider himself as a seller. So, he can devote himself to finishing the job which the sponsors and users have handed over. Once the project plan has been approved, the project manager has to decide what business requirements team members have to meet. And how to meet those business requirements.
Key 12: Best candidates to be project team members
The project manager should choose team members according to relevant technical training and experience which need for that specific project. To the project, obtaining the best candidates usually can make up the disadvantages of schedule, budget, and other factors. The project manager can assure the best team result by creating a good work environment for the whole team. When the team is don’t have to worry about other problem then they can deliver the best result.
In summary, the 12 keys which would lead to a successful project cover the knowledge areas of project management. All this knowledge has been discussed in detail in PMBOK (Project Management Body Of Knowledge). Which is a standard textbook for the PMP exam. Therefore, study the body of knowledge and passing the PMP exam is crucial to a project manager.
