For those interested here are some tips from my project management book… Enjoy!
Communication
Generate Detailed Status Reports
What: Publish detailed status reports with relevant information for your stakeholders to guide their decision-making and help them take the right actions to improve the success of the project. Status reports should not only be published during the project but should continue to be produced for the supporting organization on an ongoing basis after the project goes live.
How: A detailed status report should contain the following key elements:
- Executive Summary
- RAG (Red, Amber, Green – i.e. the traffic light system) Status on at least Overall Status, Schedule, Costs, Resources, Timeline and Budget. Your RAG coloring should follow standard guidelines, e.g. Amber means X% below a certain KPI (Key Performance Indicator).
- Get to Green Plan listing what needs to be done to get the project back to green if the Overall RAG Status is amber or red.
- Last Week’s Achievements listing all the achievements from the prior week.
- This Week’s Priorities listing all the key actions due this week.
- Priority RAID items listing all the top risks, actions, issues and decisions for the week.
Methodology
Cross-Functional Integration Management
What: Cross-Functional Integration Management is a project management concept that involves the coordination and management of interactions and dependencies between different functional teams within an organization to ensure the smooth execution of projects, particularly in cases where multiple teams are involved.
How: Nominate someone in the team or find a dedicated resource to support integration management, e.g. ensuring that any overlaps between functional teams are managed, communicated and planned for.
People
Develop Squads and Task Forces
What: A squad is a team that is usually put in place for the long term and addresses various project topics on a daily/weekly basis, e.g. a PMO squad for managing the project methodology. A task force is a temporary team intended to tactically address a problem on a project until a resolution is reached.
How: Select key stakeholders with varying skillsets to be part of your squads or task forces. Typically these include the best and brightest in your team that can move efficiently and quickly.
Process
Develop an Escalation Model
What: Put in place an escalation model that defines who to escalate issues and risks to and how.
How: Ideally you should have an escalation process for each function in your project and a stakeholder, normally someone from the steering committee, who can manage the issue or risk and give guidance on how to address it.
Technology
Develop Prototypes and POCs
What: Before embarking on a full-scale project implementation you should develop prototypes and Proofs of Concept (POCs) to demonstrate that the technology is fit for purpose.
How: This involves clarifying objectives, defining scope, allocating resources and planning the design. You should then execute the prototype or POC, collect data, analyze the results and refine the concept as necessary.
Other
Embrace Wabi Sabi
What: Wabi Sabi in Japanese means “a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.” Although you should aim for perfection, you should learn to accept imperfections in certain areas and be pragmatic enough to move past them and focus on what is important.