Keeping Your Project On Track

The ultimate goal of any project is for the project team to deliver a successful outcome that is on-time and within budget to its client. Projects may have varying requirements, challenges and outcomes. However, proper planning and communication are always paramount in ensuring that a project is not derailed.

Planning

Sound planning starts with a clear and accurate Project Statement Definition document that lays out the agreed upon requirements of the project. The importance of a clearly defined project scope communicated in this document between the project manager and the executive sponsor, cannot be underestimated. It allows for a more accurate project timeline projection and keeps project expectations aligned.

Another sound planning practice is building in slack time along the critical path to absorb any unexpected occurrences throughout the project. Additionally, it is important for the project manager to competently match tasks with team members of suitable skill sets. This prevents delays caused by staff learning curves. It is also a good approach to have a contingency plan for each stage of the project wherever feasible, as well as to set up proper change management procedures to prevent “scope creep” issues.

Communication

Throughout the project, proper communication between team members is absolutely critical. The use of agile project management software tools to effectively keep team members and stakeholders abreast with the latest updates is key for good communication.

It is an excellent idea to involve the appropriate team members in acquiring good time estimates for scheduling; this can gain their cooperation and accountability from the outset for meeting set deadlines. Team members should also be allowed to diligently work on their allocated tasks without micromanagement that can build frustration, resentment and ultimately conflict which, left unchecked, can impact the deadline of a project.

Monitoring

Adequate monitoring of the project will spot conflicts among staff, as well as any obstacles or complications that may prevent the project deadline from being met. Regular team meetings with stakeholder involvement when necessary, is a good technique to monitor and gain feedback regarding project progress. Team celebrations for milestones achieved should be held along the way. This is a great strategy for boosting team morale and keep everyone working together toward a common goal – project success.

Risk Mitigation

As far as possible, risks should be identified before the project is impacted to the point of crisis. However, when challenges arise that threaten to derail the project, there are many project management methods and tools that can be used to recover and avoid or limit delay penalties. Recovery methods include crashing, fast-tracking and de-scoping, for which client approval should be sought if used. Crashing adds more staff to the project to tackle those tasks causing delay. Fast-tracking starts tasks earlier than planned, thereby overlapping with its predecessor. De-scoping reduces the scope of deliverables. The project manager in collaboration with the executive sponsor must determine which of these recovery methods is best to regain control of the project. All changes must be logged and tracked according to established change management procedures.

In conclusion, when sound project management methods are practiced along with the use of efficient software tools, projects can remain on track. This involves proper initial project planning, continuous monitoring, risk mitigation and good team and stakeholder communication. Fundamentally, the objective is to anticipate as well as limit or avoid complications that can cause the project to go awry. Consequently, achieving a successful end result for both the project team and its client.

Contact Excalibur Information Solutions – let us discuss how we can assist with your business enablement, value creation and results improvement.

Jules S. Batson Msc, MCPM, PMP

Project Management Director & Solutions Consultant

Excalibur Information Solutions Inc.

Tel: (778) 433 4644

Email: jbatson@SolutionsConsultant.com

URL: www.SolutionsConsultant.com