Here are 10 tips from project-management guru Claudia Baca’s book, Project Management for Mere Mortals, published by Addison-Wesley Professional.
- Be clear about the business result that your project has been commissioned to produce.
- Plan the work the best way to get it done, then crash and fast track to get to the requested date.
- As you complete an iteration of planning be sure to test it against the previous iteration to verify you are still in scope.
- Build completion criteria for each task. Completion criteria will keep both the project manager and the person working the task clear about what “done” looks like.
- Team norms will help your team work together effectively.
- The effect of taking on a change request is not always equal to the number of days provided in the estimate. Be aware of the incremental effect.
- Build cost estimates for every task regardless of whether you are held accountable for a budget or not.
- Calculate the cost of quality at the end of the planning phase and several times during the execution of the project. Doing this will help hone your skills to deliver a better quality project.
- Build an effective plan to work with your executives the same way you work with your team.
- Have an attitude of success. It’s contagious.