These days, project management can be a touchy subject, especially
when it comes to project failures. But, knowledge, strategy and precautionary
tactics can help project managers avoid serious project management pitfalls.
Here’s what leaders in the industry shared with Fierce CIO
recently about tips for avoiding project
management pitfalls.
Don't expect
immediate results.
"If you're a tried and true waterfall type of project
management shop and you go in and change to an agile shop, that's a big change…
in principles and also asking a lot of people to partake in that change. Some
folks are resistant to it, especially if there's not an immediate payoff. The
immediate impact will actually be less effectiveness, maybe less efficiency, but
you have to hold true to the fact that long term, it's going to pay off." -
Randy McGraw, SVP of technology and operational services at service provider
West IP Communications
Have a project leader
to provide feedback.
"You may know the technology and service inside and
out--but it is still important to have someone on your side who can actively
participate and provide insight and things of nature change management." -
McGraw
Don’t let deadlines
run your project.
"Let's focus on the right solution [first] and then
figure out how to get it done in the time frame we have to. Whether we have to
[divide it], phase it, or defer some work. Taking that approach of what's the
right end game and making sure you set your project and your approach up to get
you there ultimately is most important…Help people from falling into those
pitfalls of time-driven decision making." - Kevin Riley, CTO of Sonus
Networks
Approach project
management one step at a time.
"When you do these projects, they can be very complex
[and] you can get caught up in looking at the full body of work and all the
details, and it becomes hard to wrap your head around the plan.” - Riley
Stay detail-oriented and
streamlined.
"Make sure you minimize details, but also make sure
your plans around those [finite number of] details are perfect." - Bill Scudder, CIO of Sonus Networks
Avoid bureaucracy.
"I try not to have a lot of bureaucracy around project
management because I think that can actually slow things down." - Scudder
Provide feedback
throughout the process.
"We do start with a process where we have an exec
review board for large project. We call it the IPAC. IT project approval
board. They come and present the problems they're trying to solve, the
resources they need, etc. If they're stuck, we also do a traffic-light
review… so we have a funnel of large projects that go through that.” - Scudder
No comments:
Post a Comment