Top 10 "Do's" for Successful Project/Program Management

All project managers worth their salt know they should manage to the scope-schedule-cost triangle, set up a baselined project plan, track to bite-size milestones, report status, and so on. B ut to manage projects successfully in a consulting context requires additional seasoning.

Below we’ve listed some of the top 10 "Do's" based on Edgewater Technology's experience over the past 15 years while managing thousands of projects:

1. Know your customer – Speak your customer’s language, know their business and understand their culture.
2. Know the project objectives, scope, requirements, and commitments, and understand the ROI for the customer.  Then think like a customer when faced with project issues.
3. Make sure the project team understands the business reasons for the project, as well as the project commitments, requirements, scope, schedule, approach, and tasks.

4. Treat the customer as your partner – Engage your customer in the project, and make an agreement on how key aspects of the project (communication, scope, change, and acceptance) will be managed.  Then manage the project that way.
5. Tailor your approach for the needs of the project.  Projects are not "one size fits all."
6. Set expectations early and often.  Both customers and teams can take the hurdles better if they know they are coming.
7. Communicate, communicate, communicate.  Which often means listen, listen, listen.
8. Trust and verify.  Empower your team to be successful, and apply quality measures to ensure that they are.  And learn from your mistakes.
9. Share risks with the customer.  Everyone wants a successful project.  By not sharing risks with the customer, you eliminate the one person who may be in the best position to mitigate them.
10. And, yes, manage to the scope-schedule-cost triangle.  And then think outside the triangle.

At Edgewater, our project managers guide our clients through all phases of Program/Project Management.  To learn more about our Project Management Services capabilities, click here or contact us at 800-410-4014.