Project Management Made Easy
I’m competent at project management, but it frustrates me to no end. The organization and customer deadlines are easy enough to deal with. Often though, I find myself frustrated with my own process of managing projects. I’ve never really attempted to analyze what may be the source of my grief, but after having read D. Keith Robinson’s latest post, I can safely say that I make it much harder than it really should be.
All of Keith’s points are written with years of experience (both positive and negative) and I for one can surely learn from them. Essentially, he boils project management down to a few key points:
- Don’t make it harder than it is
- Kick off strong and with clear documentation
- Stick to the high-level
- Always make sure expectations are set and understood
- Trust people to do their jobs
- Be a great communicator at all times
- Have a solid yet flexible process
- Use tools that work for you, not the other way around
Keith reflects on his own experience and goes into detail on just about each point. I know that it won’t be an overnight transition for myself, but he post will definitely help in ironing out the process a bit more.
“Don’t make it harder than it is”
Yeah, it happens every day with some co-workers…
I think you have to trust in your self to make a good job.
Carlos Eduardo Dec 14, 2006
Those are great key points. The sad thing is that no matter how much it’s talked about and how much it’s written about…things will never change and the worst of the worst will still be there managing project when they have no business doing so.
Terry Apodaca Dec 28, 2006
“If you have to, take you time and plan things out”
Brett Anderson Apr 13, 2007
Oh, if only I didn’t get over-excited and always forget to spend enough time with step 2. I always end up getting burned at least a little bit. :)
your advice is great though - I need to reread it several times to make it stick
Stuart Steel Jan 26, 2008