6 Principal Rules of Project Management – If you are about to become a project manager and take on this responsibility for the first time, then it is perfectly understandable if you are a bit anxious.
6 Principal Rules – Even though there is a lot of pressure on you, there is still a way to ensure that your project management career goes really well.
The important thing to remember is that there are 6 principal rules to quality project management. By adhering to these principles, and by simply having them on your mind, you can ensure better success rates for your projects.
The Reason Behind the Project- 6 Principal Rules
Being a project manager very often implies coming up with new and the most profitable business ideas, and this is one of the principles you should always consider when thinking about any new project.
Basically, every project has a bottom line goal, and it is most commonly related to ROI. In order to come up with good ideas that can bring in cash, you should take some time and do a little market analysis. By analyzing the market and your consumers, you can create a more compelling case for the board of superiors.
Even if you do everything right and start a new project, it does not mean that things won’t change over its course. Considering how the main goal of the project is ROI, if this return is no longer possible, it is a clear sign to shut it down and salvage what you can. Do not be too disappointed, since these things can be caused by forces you cannot control, and by shutting the project down, you are actually saving money.
Distribution of Tasks and Roles – 6 Principal Rules
Organization and communication are two essential factors for successful project execution. As a project manager, you need to ensure that everyone has a clearly defined role and a deadline for completing his or her tasks. Everyone involved must have a purpose and they must know their responsibilities and what is expected of them.
Additionally, do not assume that everyone has clearly understood their role, so communicate and clarify everything again if needed. If you have two similar roles on a project, ask the participants if they know the difference between their tasks, so that they do not end up doing the exact same thing.
You can manage, communicate, and give out assignments much more easily if you use online project management tools. By imploring a project management system, you can also track the progress of the project, archive older jobs, and notify all team members if there are any changes.
These tools also give you more flexibility in terms of location and make it easy to collaborate with others online, if you are by some chance prevented from coming to the office. It is important to mention that you should pick an easy project management software, so to speak, because they are more user-friendly. This way, all of your employees will need very little time to figure out how the tool operates and how to use it.
Understanding your Limitation – 6 Principal Rules
Good management is all about knowing your limits and being calculated because those who overreach in this department end up with negative results. To be more precise, you should have a clearly defined project scope. You should define what you are going to do from the very start, and also what not to do. The project scope should be created in accordance with the budget you have at your disposal, and it should give you a clear deadline.
Make sure that all of your team members discuss the project scope and that you all agree on it. Once you give it a green light, there is no turning back. Changing things in the middle of the project can interfere with the deadlines and budget, and it can trigger a chain reaction that will either delay everything or even lead to failure. So, you need to know how to create a good project scope, and how to say “no” if someone wants to deviate from the plan.
Managing in Milestones – 6 Principal Rules
When you are in charge of a really large project, there is no need to be overwhelmed. Project managers usually divide large projects into more meaningful chunks, like milestones or phases. This makes management a lot easier; moreover, there is a better sense of progress and your employees will stay motivated.
This is also a safe way to approach projects because it allows you to terminate it before it is too late. If you cannot complete the first phase and it appears to be too much for you, you can immediately shut it down, or make the necessary alteration with the investor.
Risk Management- 6 Principal Rules
Risk management might seem like a lot of work, but once you complete it for the first project, you’ll be able to use an almost identical plan in the future. Basically, you need to ascertain how to proceed or who to address if one of the key team members is prevented from attending.
You also need an additional meeting place if the office you work in cannot be accessed. If you use project management software as suggested, and it is cloud-based, you can probably use the platform to store backup files, in case something happens to your hard drive.
Lastly, you need to identify the essential structures that need to remain intact. If one of them fails, the whole project will end up failing as well. As a part of risk management, you need to ensure these conditions of failure are mitigated.
Stakeholder involvement
Finally, you need to establish a connection with stakeholders and notify them of the project’s progress. You should not constantly update them, at least not all of them. Update those stakeholders that have a high interest and a high level of influence. As far as the other stakeholders are concerned, give them an update after each completed milestone.
So, these were the key principles of project management that you should have in mind. Now, you can start planning and organizing according to these guidelines and your success rate will definitely go up.