| It is important to have basic project management | | | | The key thing to remember is to record everything. |
| knowledge before getting started. For many us, we | | | | Following is a checklist of what should be recorded |
| became project managers accidentally. Whether your | | | | daily: |
| project succeeds or fails, however, will be no accident. | | | | - Write down how the project is progressing. |
| Successful project managers don't need to know | | | | - Review the work completed by the project team |
| everything, but they know enough to get started and | | | | and make notes of any quality issues. |
| learn as they go. In its essence, project management is | | | | - If there is a problem, write it to a problem log. |
| preparing, executing, and closing. By the end of this | | | | - When new risks arise, write those down as soon as |
| article, you will have the basic foundation on the | | | | you think of it. |
| project management steps. | | | | - At the end of the day, record anything you learned. |
| The first step is preparing. When it comes to preparing, | | | | The last point may seem trivial, but it will make your life |
| your focus should be on answering the basic | | | | easier in the closing step. |
| questions. Writing a project charter is a great way to | | | | In addition to logging information, you will also conduct |
| get started. The reason is because it answers the | | | | meetings. These are essential and an effective way to |
| important question: why are you doing this project? A | | | | follow up with everyone and to get things done. |
| project with a weak purpose will go no where. In | | | | Notably, you'll get information from your team and |
| addition to giving the project a reason, it will also say | | | | make sure everything is on track. If not, this is when |
| what are the expected benefits. The most common | | | | you make adjustments to your earlier forecasts. |
| benefits are making more money, saving money, and | | | | Depending on the complexity of the project, the |
| saving time (by making things more efficient). | | | | executing step may be longer or shorter than the |
| Another tool to help you in preparing is to speak with | | | | preparing step. You will know the executing step is |
| the people who are affected by the project. These | | | | over once you present the final deliverable mentioned |
| people are referred to as the stakeholders. Getting | | | | in the plan. That does not mean the end, however. The |
| their feedback will help you focus on what's important. | | | | last step is the closing step. |
| This is commonly known as the scope. It is equally | | | | Closing is a controlled way to end a project. |
| important to write down both what will and will not be | | | | Specifically, this is where you find out if you did a good |
| achieved. You want to make sure you know what the | | | | job. You will look back at the project plan and see if |
| stakeholders are expecting. | | | | the objectives were met. Was everything in-scope |
| The next component of preparing involves writing the | | | | completed? Just as important is to ask the |
| project plan. This establishes the ground rules. The plan | | | | stakeholders if they feel the project was a success, |
| will detail what will be delivered and when, who is doing | | | | and why or why not? You will also provide a lessons |
| what, and how will things be done. For example, the | | | | learned report. What did you feel went well? What |
| communications section will let everyone know when | | | | could you do to make things better? What steps can |
| and where they can find status updates. Setting | | | | be combined or omitted? If you've kept a daily lessons |
| budget and deadlines will give you a target. | | | | learned log, this step will simply be compiling everything |
| Remember, a project is temporary. Therefore, every | | | | you have already written into a report. |
| project has an ending and finite resources. | | | | You now know the basic project management steps. |
| The plan doesn't need to be perfect, because it will | | | | They are preparing, executing, and closing. While |
| change throughout the project. More important is that | | | | project management is not easy, you have the basic |
| you have a plan. Once you are done preparing, it's time | | | | foundation. The best way to learn how to manage a |
| to execute. | | | | project is to get out there and start managing projects. |
| Executing is where the rubber meets the road. All the | | | | Don't forget to have fun along the way. If you aren't |
| work done in the preparing step is used to guide you. | | | | having any fun, it isn't worth doing. |