10 steps to successful project management
Are you planning a project? In this article, you will learn how to successfully plan, implement and complete a project. Good project management helps you to formulate goals, plan routes, avoid obstacles and actually achieve the goals you have set. If you want to delve deeper into the subject after reading, you can find even more knowledge about successful project management in the "Successful project management" learning map.
Characteristics of a project
- Is usually carried out for the first time
- Has a certain uniqueness at the time
- Pursues a specific goal
- Carries a certain risk of failure
- Reveals a certain complexity in the implementation
- Must take place within a certain time and/or financial framework
- Does not yet have a predetermined solution
The phases of a successful project
Projects always follow specific project phases:- Project initiation
- project planning
- Project implementation
- Project management and control
- Project completion
All measures that control the various individual activities in the respective project phases and include the application of knowledge, skills, tools and methods to achieve the project objective are summarized in the term "project management".
10 steps to successful project management
- Clarify the requirements and document them in detail.
- Give the project a name.
- Clarify roles and responsibilities at an early stage.
- Ensure that all necessary resources are available at the start of the project.
- Do not plan the project alone - use the knowledge of the team, the client and the project participants.
- Make sure that the client and sponsors are also involved in project management.
- Involve the client and sponsors in the project in a targeted manner.
- Consciously plan time and money for project management.
- Ensure formal and informal communication.
- Provide information about small and large successes.
First phase: Project initiation
- Get to know the motivations that led the client to the project idea.
- Understand what the project is about.
- Formulate SMARTE goals.
- Discuss what must NOT happen in the project.
- Identify the client's expectations of the project, the process and the result.
- Define all framework conditions such as budget, quality, deadlines and resources.
- Name the project participants and those who are affected by the project (stakeholders).
- Define the project environment in terms of organization, supporters, impediments, opportunities and risks.
- Clarify the information and communication channels.
- Agree the roles and responsibilities of the project manager, the client, the sponsor and other stakeholders as specifically as possible.
What are smart goals?
S specific: Objectives must be clearly defined.
M measurable: Objectives must be measurable.
A appropriate: Goals must be achievable.
R relevant: Goals must be significant.
T time-bound: Each goal must have a clear deadline
Second phase: Project planning
- What steps need to be taken (activity and process planning)?
- What knowledge does the project team need (competence planning)?
- Who can do the work? Who is needed when and for how long (resource planning)?
- What effort is involved in the individual activities (effort planning)?
- What deadlines are realistic/necessary (time planning)?
- What will the project cost (budget planning)?
- What risks do I already see today for the implementation or the result (risk management)?
- Who do I need to coordinate with and when (communication planning)?
Third phase: Implementing the project
Once all the preparations have been made, the team needs to be informed, motivated and won over to the common goal. A kick-off meeting, in which the objectives and all agreements are presented, provides the ideal framework for this.
Fourth phase: Project control
Projects often fail because deviations from the plan are recognized too late and course corrections are no longer possible. For this reason, every project needs an independent watchdog to monitor time, costs and quality.
Fifth phase: project completion
Project completion is often not the end, but the starting point for a new project. It is therefore important to look to the past in order to bring the project to a formal, administrative and commercial conclusion. It is also important to look to the future and make the results and experience available.- Initiate the official acceptance of the project results.
- Hand over the results to the company organization or the client.
- Analyze the project from a business perspective (post-calculation).
- Terminate all contracts with external service providers.
- Conduct a final project meeting with each team member.
- Dissolve the team in consultation with the respective superiors of the team members.
- Archive all project-relevant documents.
- Communicate the project result and success.
- Look back on the project together with the team and project participants (moderated lessons learned workshop). Answer the questions: What went well? What did not go well? What was surprising? What should not happen again?
- Dismantle the infrastructure that the project may have used (licenses, hardware, etc.).
- Document everything important from the project in a final report.
- Celebrate the success and the end of the project.
Acquire even more knowledge about successful project management: Order the "Project management" learning map in the Neuland Shop
