Best Practices in Project Management

There are ample studies to indicate that most large projects never complete

on time or even fail. This can happen due to delays, which in turn lead to cost

over runs that are multiple times the projected amount. This further causes

dissatisfaction and de-motivation amongst the team members who deploy it, and of

course the final users of the project. So whether you like it or not, missed

deadlines, cost over-runs and dissatisfied users are a part and parcel of your

life if you're heading a project. They come as a part of the package, and you

can minimize them by using the right project management practices.

Before we get into the practices, it's important to know that project

management practices are not the panacea to successful and timely project

implementation. Rather they help you build some predictability in your

execution. They're the map that would guide you from your starting point to the

final destination, so that you head in the right direction and are not

completely lost. Obviously, how quickly can you follow the map depends upon you.

This brings us to another important point. The main reason why a lot of

projects fail is bad planning. So your work starts by creating a proper plan.

Usually, this would comprise of the project's definition, a detailed workplan,

and how it will be managed. It's like setting up a network. You would start with

a broad definition of what kind of a network you want to setup, followed by a

detailed layout of the network map, and the process for laying it out. You would

then put in the necessary resources, define its scope, and allocate

responsibilities to the team that will manage it.

Understand your requirements



The most important ingredient for successful project deployment is a crystal

clear understanding of the requirement. What do you really want to achieve with

a project? What's the killer need for doing it? Moreover, you must also be able

to clearly articulate it in front of your management. Else you won't get their

buy-in. While there's no major revelation in this, it's actually easier said

than done. A good project head would easily be able to define the real

requirements for a project, no matter how large it is. Half your job is done if

you can define the real requirement for your project.

Define your project's scope



How many times has it happened that you expect one thing to be achieved by

your team, only to find them working on something totally different, because

somebody else told them that this is more important? This typically happens

either when you've not clearly defined your project's scope, or you've not

communicated it clearly to the team. Defining the project's scope is a critical

part of project management. You must define it, communicate it, and ensure that

people stick to it. If they don't then you need to provision for requests for

scope-change. Another common thing to watch out for are the small tweaks and

changes to project scope that happen without the key stakeholders knowing about

them. If there are too many such small changes, then they add up to create a

major impact on the project.

What according to you is the most difficult part in managing a project and how do you deal with it? At the start stage - Ensuring that the project has full buy-in including a sponsor. So get the sponsor tied in and define clear role. Ensure that the plan has been well documented not that the plan is prepared with a pre-given end date for the rollout. Ensure that the plan is tight and yet practical to consider the various constraints. During project phase -Getting right techno functional set of people in the team. Identify them early at the initial stage and ensure that they get to know the full picture. Ensuring project governance is fully complied with. So raise escalations fairly, ensuring periodic review happens seriously and documented with follow up plan. Srinivasan Iyengar Director-Information Technology & Change Mgmt, AEGON Religare Life Insurance What are some of the essential ingredients for successful project management? Stakeholder management Vendor treated as equal partner in the project Ensure everyone has the big picture (i.e. the full project objective) clear in their mind Timely Escalation and followup on resolution What are some of the best practices that you follow while managing projects? Be transparent on the project progress Plan well and build alternative option for risky activity Tell us one project management practice that has always worked for you in all the projects that you have deployed. Ensuring that the team has techno-functional skillsets Ensuring that the scoping i.e. foundation phase is done well Maintaining transparency with stakeholder & vendor.

Define the deliverables



A project is bound to fail if you can't work out the deliverables for it. So

besides determining the objective and project scope, it's essential for you to

know what your project will ultimately deliver. Will it provide business

benefits, social benefits, productivity gains, or something else? Further, you

would need to quantify the benefits to make it more appealing. This again is

easier said than done, but the more you fine-grain the deliverables, the better.

Obviously you're deploying it to gain something. The clearer you can define it,

the better.

While defining your project's deliverables, it's also important not to

over-commit. Be very clear about what can be achieved with your project, and

what can't be. Over-commitment is another reason for project delays and

dissatisfaction amongst users. If you make the expectations clear from the

beginning, you won't face problems later.

What according to you is the most difficult part in managing a project and how do you deal with it? People and Expectations Zoeb Adenwala CIO (Global), Essel Propack Ltd What are some of the essential ingredients for successful project management? Personal management Laying down project expectation and getting it approved by the sponsor What are some of the best practices that you follow while managing projects? In how much detail can various activities be laid down is one ingredient. Second is to have very clear timelines and responsibilities. Plus, there should be a backup plan for critical activities in case they fail. You must also use good project management tool, and finally, rigorous follow up is essential. Tell us one project management practice that has always worked for you in all the projects that you have deployed. I ensure we have a very detailed plan and that it's explained to the team. Plus, I have regular meetings to check the progress and do rigorous follow ups. I also have back up plans for key activities. People and expectations management is one practice that has always worked for me.

Teamwork



Another key ingredient for successful project management is teamwork. Unless

you have everyone chipping in, and willing to help out, the project just won't

take off. Therefore, you need to construct the right team for your project. You

must include all the key stakeholders in the project--customers/users, vendors,

peers, and the management. Users/customers would give you feedback and criticism

about the project. The management would help define the business benefits.

Vendors would help identify the requirements, and the Ops team would help you

put it all together. In order to ensure that everyone pitches in and does their

role, the project head must have the skills to motivate them in achieving their

goals. So you must know how to talk to different team members in a language they

understand.

Leadership



How well can you manage your team, mentor and guide them, and keep them

motivated? You must be able to build a real strong team, and the only way to do

that is to have excellent interpersonal equations with everyone.

Sanjay Gupta Executive Vice President, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd What according to you is the most difficult part in managing a project and how do you deal with it? The most challenging part of the project is to ensure that the project is implemented within the cost and timelines that are normally set for it. The few vital things that this depends on are requirements, clarity and comprehensiveness. This also means that the scope of the project in terms of delivery & implementation needs to be managed very effectively and smartly. There would always be changes to the original scope during the course of implementation, however IT has to play an important role to ensure that the original scope is well understood and validated to ensure atleast 90% comprehensiveness and provide for 10% changes in cost and project planning. What are some of the essential ingredients for successful project management? “What gets tracked and measured gets done”. For the project to succeed it needs to be ensured that the right milestones are identified and tracked. The tracking need not be at a micro activity level. It is important that the key milestones are identified and project team is given a delegation to work it within themselves and ensure that the milestones are met. There needs to be enough motivation which would ensure buy in and passionate attitudes are created to achieve the milestones. Tell us one project management practice that has always worked for you in all the projects that you have deployed. To ensure that there is sufficient buy-in and motivation to have a successful rollout, we ensure that the participation from business is throughout in any project. In our case, while the technology is responsible for designing and architecting the solution, project management, vendor management etc. the business part of the project team is responsible for requirements definition, testing, process documentation, training and rollout. This team also ensures that at the time of requirements finalization inputs from actual users is collected in form of pain areas, expectations etc. and incorporated into the requirements. It is even better when at the requirement gathering stage an excitement is created by sharing the benefits of the new development.

Business and technical knowledge



You need to have knowledge of both if you want to implement a successful

project. The degree of knowledge in both aspects could vary depending upon the

project. If you don't posses sufficient business or technical knowledge, then

you'll find it difficult to manage the project.

Therefore, it's recommended that you have strong knowledge of at least one of

the two domains.

K B Singh VP / Head IT (CIO) BSES (A JV of Reliance Infrastructure Limited formerly Reliance Energy Limited) What according to you is the most difficult part in managing a project and how do you deal with it? Managing a project is not as difficult as some might think. You need to understand the project in the right perspective, break it down into activities with intermittent milestones, plan resources and perform analysis on what can go wrong and what are the main hurdles with remedial measures to take. The most difficult part of the project isn't the execution of the plan at all. It's the conflicting priorities that businesses send your way. It's always a squeeze between the budget, the project scope and the time line. What are some of the essential ingredients for successful project mgmt? The first and foremost assignment is to take all stakeholders on board in favor of the project. This should give them a thrill and prompt them to be supportive whenever a need arises. Another most important part is the motivation and engagement of the project team with clarity in their roles. Have an official launch meeting to clarify the project charter and introduce project participants to one another; keep regular communications, meetings and social gatherings to keep players up-to-date and connected as a team; and behavioral norms to which participants adhere to. What are some of the best practices that you follow while managing projects? Steps that go into successful project management are not mysterious at all they are standard procedures that, if executed, will improve a project's chances of success. Projects fail because of poor planning and fuzzy requirements that cause a chain reaction of poor productivity. Regardless of size, good projects benefit from careful planning and active management. Follow the 20/80 theory: Increase your planning process by 20 percent, and you will reap 80 percent growth in productivity. Tell us one project management practice that has always worked for you in all the projects that you have deployed. Planning, persuasion and promulgating, ie open communication with required transparency and sincerity in approach, after all the project will benefit the organization and so all of us. "Plan before doing": so the ability to plan successfully is obviously the first important skill. However, to get something done, you need the people to do the "doing" and for that you need the skill to persuade people to do just that. And that, I think requires the third and ultimate skill, the ability to communicate effectively.

Commitment and involvement from team members



The skill sets that the team brings to the table are equally important,

because they'll be ultimately delivering the work. So it's important that you

choose the right members for it. How do you do that? What skills should you look

for besides technical expertise? One is that every member should be a team

player. Second, each team member must be completely dedicated and committed to

the job, ready to work over weekends, and under all kinds of stress. Fire in the

belly is a must. Unfortunately finding the right people is one of the biggest

challenges in project management.

Negotiation skills



Your ability to negotiate would be required at every stage of the project.

Whether it's negotiating with the management for budgets, or with vendors for

equipment cost and services, you need to have the expertise. A good negotiator

goes a long way in getting the best deal for the project.

If you don't have that skill, then you need to ensure that somebody else in

the team does.

Vendor Management



Proper vendor management is essential to managing projects successfully.

Most projects involve several vendors, so ensuring that they work together in

harmony is a key skill that every project head must have. The vendors should be

willing to walk that extra mile to support you. For this to happen, you must

ensure that all vendors deliver their part of the work, be it products or

services, on time. To find such a vendor is of course another task.

Risk Taking Capabilities



Every project involves some amount of risk, and you must be prepared for it.

You must identify the major risks in advance, and work out a plan to tackle

them.

Otherwise, you'll be caught by surprise, which can be extremely detrimental

for the project. Moreover, risk assessment should happen on a continuous basis

because it may not be possible to think of all the risks you're likely to face

over the course of the project. Some things might strike you only while working

on the project.