As a project manager or senior stakeholder of a project team, you need to be keen on the project management plan. Project management entails the application of skills, knowledge, methods, and process to achieve an objective. To achieve this objective, you need to have a great plan. Moreover, project management entails coming up with final deliverables in a given timeline and budget. All this needs participation by all team players for a successful project.
For a project to be successful, there are essential processes for the management. This needs to be present This is why we have come up with this article to explain project management in a detailed approach. Besides that, we will look at the tips for a successful project including the need for a project management plan.
This article will help you get remarkable results in the next project you will take. Whether it’s a Custom WordPress Service or plugin development, these tips when included in the project will yield great results.
Phases of Project Management
Before we proceed to the tips for a great successful project. It’s good to learn about the phases of project management. A project with high-quality assurance should go through these phases. The phases are:
1. Initiation
The Initiation phase is the part of defining the project. This involves coming up with a project charter. In case the project needs some background research it’s all done here. Additionally, feasibility testing is key in the step. After doing due diligence the project stakeholders give a green light if it’s beneficial. After this is when the project charter will be prepared.
The charter includes the business case, stakeholders, business needs, etc. The Initiation phase should be simple without technical requirements.
2. Planning
Why planning in project management? You may think you got everything figured out only to realize you forgot something. This is why project planning is key. In this phase, the emphasis is to organize the teams, set a goal, and set up the resources. These resources should be for collaborative activities.
In this phase, the scope is introduced. Thereafter, the project management plan creation follows. The plan highlights are:
- Identifying the Cost
- Briefing on Quality
- A realistic timetable/ schedule
- Available Resources
The PM should define the roles to ensure all the team players know their duty. Moreover, the Manager may decide to come up with the Work Breakdown Structure. Moreover, the following documents are key in this phase:
- WBS – This is the outline of the levels and sublevels that break down the project into manageable sections.
- Scope Statement – It outlines the main deliverables, objectives, and key milestones.
- Gantt Chart – This is a visual timeline of activities and milestones.
- Communication Plan – This is for planning on communication between the Project Stakeholders and the team. When and how to communicate are the key concerns.
- Risk Management Plan – To brief on important measures in case there is a change. For example, unrealistic time and cost estimation.
The Planning Phase can be contrasted to the website quote in a website development project.
3. Execution
In this phase, the team starts working on the project and comes up with necessary subsequent deliverables. Throughout the project, the timelines and combinations are done to ensure everything is well. The team works on everything to ensure all the deliverables are ready. The execution of tasks like project management plans marks the execution/ launch phase.
4. Monitoring
Performance is important and the same is evident in any project. This is why we need to monitor the project to ensure the results align with the plan. The PM uses a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) to rate the project performance.
The common indicators are:
- Project Objectives
- Cost Tracking
- Quality Deliverables
- Project Performance
5. Project Closure
After completion, the team should wrap up everything in a formal way. This is to evaluate the progress and the challenges experienced. It is also a great time to hand over the project to the sponsors. Generally, meetings are done to discuss the success and failures.
It’s good to document everything here for future reference. Consequently, this will reduce the cost and time of undertaking a similar project. Additionally, the PM should prepare the report. After that store all the files in a secure place.
The tips for a Successful Project Management Plan
The goal of any team is to come up with great projects. Some tips help to increase the success of any project.
Let’s dive into it.
Communicate Clearly
Communication is the core of every successful project execution. Now what is more important is not only communication. But, clear communication. This is to ensure everything is understood by the team players. Communication ensures the stakeholders and team members update one another.
The two common occurrences of communication are vertical and horizontal. The vertical is when dealing with seniors. Horizontal, is when dealing with people in the same position but in different departments like an IT Project Manager. You need to communicate clearly with all these people.
Identify the key requirements for the project
Map all the requirements before the start. By mapping, you need to know where to source tools, software, or resources. You need to do this before the start of the project. Probably, in the initiation or planning phase.
The cool tip here is to list all the requirements. Then ensure they are available whenever the team players need them. In some cases, you can utilize external resources like outsourcing. For example, WordPress outsourcing when you are building a distributed system. Instead of requiring creation from scratch, you do the outsourcing.
Pick all the right tools
Having the right tools will make your project successful. A good tool will save you different resources like time and cost. This makes project management successful because the resources are useful elsewhere.
An ideal tool will ensure transparency by members. It is also a tool that will increase effectiveness. Tools offer the following key features:
- Resources Management
- Time Tracking
- File Sharing tools like slack
- Collaborative sharing e.g., screen sharing
- Instant Messaging
- Common storage access
Emphasis on Team Collaboration
Collaboration is vital for successful project management. It is an important component that ensures the project is done uniformly. This is to avoid different functionalities and features that cannot work together.
As a PM you should create an environment where members can work together. Conduct team-building events and integrate collaborative tools to help them. If a need arises you can group different team members to work together. Such motivation will lead to better results.
Make clear and manageable goals
A successful project needs to have clear goals. Moreover, they should be well managed. The best way to ensure this is to break down the projects into smaller tasks. Set goals that are achievable with the resources available.
This might need to break down some goals into multiple parts. On the other hand, it might mean combining some to create an executable goal.
Use Automation
Sometimes you will want to do some repetitive activities. The use of Automation is essential for the project stakeholders to undertake such activities faster. As the project manager Automation can be your friend to avoid unnecessary work. This is to help you concentrate on the important part of the work.
Automation may be efficient for scheduling tasks, updating information, sending reminders, or allocating resources. This makes it faster and on time to perform different activities. Automation will ensure there is progress when you are out of the office.
Conclusion
Project Management is an application of knowledge and skills that is important for any organization to achieve its objectives. It ensures projects are done in the best way from the start to the end. This is done by focusing on the goals and deliverables. For a successful project, some tips make it a success. Above are the tips you can use in your projects. In case of any questions, our team is always ready to help you with your projects.
