VHQ® Project Management
How well you
manage projects can easily affect your reputation relationship. Do a good job
and you will make a profit and receive
valuable referrals, do a poor job and it will be your last.
Project
Management can range from simple organising to complex planning, but the
two key things you’ll need to manage are scope and risk. Changes
in scope will affect your ability to delivery on time and within budget
– all three are intrinsically linked – and the risks, if not tightly
managed, could be your downfall.
Professional
project management requires training and experience,
which is essential for large or high value or risky projects. However, for most
customer projects, simple planning, good organisational skills
and basic controls, together with a large dose of common sense, is
usually all that’s required to do a good job. Nevertheless, here are a
few things to consider before you contemplate starting:
- Write down the objectives, scope and what it is exactly you need to achieve
- Prepare a formal cost plan (ie. Budget) and a time plan (ie. a Gantt Chart)
- Be clear who the project manager is and the roles of others involved.
Managing
changes to plans and maintaining control of what’s going on is key. If
you are in control of costs and time, then you’ll be able to assess the
impact of changes and negotiate accordingly. Having the “full picture”
to hand means you’ll be able to spot things before they go wrong and
protect yourself – and here are a few specific good practices that will
help:
- Keep a single repository of all project documents with only one current version
- Controlled access to online project information (ie. documents, cost/time data, etc)
- Maintain a register of project Risks & Issues, indicating resolutions and plans
- Manage consultant/associate time & expenses tightly – keep project accounts
- Involve your customer – share information and collaborate where possible
Project management training and ongoing personal advice is all part of the VHQ® Business Management Advantage. However, success also depends on the quality of the people involved and how well they
work as a team. Collaboration technology can help connect people and
share information, but it can also put strains the team and you as
Project Manager. With VHQ® you get project management and collaboration expertise to back you up.
Contact
us now to find out more or take a look at how we help you to solve your
project management problems with a no obligation free trial of the VHQ® WebOffice.
|
