Are you managing a project or is it vice versa?

There are different approaches to project management. However, each project manager has the same task in front of them: to plan a project and ensure that the goal is achieved at the specified time and in the most efficient way.

We're not going to focus on specific methodologies today, but on practical experience. Let's take a look at what your need to take into account for your projects to be predictable, manageable and especially beneficial for the company.

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The Project Times website drew attention to the following issues all project managers should take into account.

1. Every project must have one goal

A project goal should be clearly defined, feasible and measurable. If your project consists of more individual goals, each of which has its own benchmarks and risks, these are not goals but separate projects. It's not possible to compare the results of meeting goals with different benchmarks of success. Neither it is a good idea to combine the risks of differently linked projects with different goals.

2. Every project falls behind schedule

When projects are launched, there is a period of uncertainty and lack of clarity. Projects should be scheduled in such a way that most of the work is done in first half of the time allotted. You'll have the other half for the last 10%. That way, at the very least, you'll have a good quality project in the end.

3. Every project's value tends to decrease with the amount of paperwork

Complex processes and stacks of documents can't save poor projects. Great projects, on the other hand, often don't need too much paperwork. The results speak for themselves and it doesn't matter if you used a bad template during the course of the project.

4. Every project involves deviations from the original plan

You're working on something you haven't done in the company yet, so you can expect changes to come. Your project is built on assumptions using certain models. Models are very useful, but they can't always be accurate.

5. Projects should be managed by their creators

When projects are designed and planned by people other than those working on it, problems with understanding the overall vision and problems with motivation often arise. The best projects are designed and managed by the same people who guarantee a clear purpose of the projects for their companies from the very beginning and who ensure support from above, while sharing their vision with the project implementers.

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Article source Project Times - a US website and community focused on project management
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