No matter if you are a project manager just starting out or if you are a seasoned PPM veteran, each project or program that you manage is a reflection on yourself, and the results you deliver in your projects can have a significant effect on the future direction of your career.
Success of a project is measured not only by the quality of the final product or deliverable, but also by schedule performance and budget performance. Qualitative factors, like customer or team member feedback regarding communication during a project, can also influence perceptions as to whether a project was a success or failure. While every project will bring unique challenges, you can dramatically increase your chances of project management success by keeping a few key strategies in mind.
Watch Out for Scope Creep
Scope creep—the uncontrolled expansion of a project’s scope and requirements—is a project manager’s worst enemy. You can prevent scope creep by becoming thoroughly familiar with the initial statement of work, and using it to identify any proposed changes to what was agreed upon at the beginning of the project. When scope changes are necessary, following a formal change order process will help ensure that your project budget and timelines are adjusted to account for the additional requirements.
Monitor Resource Allocation and Utilization
Successful project management depends on putting team members in a position to do their jobs effectively. This can be difficult at the enterprise level, when most employees are required to work on multiple projects at the same time. As a project manager, you should monitor resource workloads to ensure that your team members will be available when you need them, and that they are not being overworked to the point where their quality of work might suffer.
Create a Culture of Purposeful Collaboration
Collaboration is essential for effective project management, especially when project teams are assembled from multiple business units or geographic locations. Encourage your team members to share their questions and achievements, not only within the team, but with employees who may be working on related projects elsewhere in the organization. It’s important to note that the collaboration should be directly connected to an outcome or ‘real work’ instead of collaborating for collaboration’s sake. So many light-weight social collaboration tools are now coming under fire for how effective they are in the workplace for making an impact to the business and moving objectives forward.
Use the Right PM Software
Using outdated project management software is hardly better than trying to manage a project using paper files and interoffice memos. In order to keep track of the wide variety of tasks, resources and reporting obligations that come with every enterprise-level project, you need to use a flexible, cloud-based PM solution like Planview AdaptiveWork. Not only does Planview AdaptiveWork allow you to manage your projects in your preferred project management methodology, it offers an abundance of tracking, reporting and collaboration tools that will help you steer your projects to success from day one.
