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Casual Articles - Successful Projects: It's Not Rocket Science
After crossing a river, get as far away from its bank as possible and move on. When an invading force of the enemy is crossing a river, never engage it in the midst of the river itself. Rather, let half of its force cross the river first, then attack it so that you can gain the advantage. If you are eager to attack an invading enemy, never engage him at the point where he plans to cross a river. For a commanding view and to ensure better chances of survival against the enemy, occupy high grounds. Never move upstream to engage an enemy. These are the principles for deploying troops in marine battles. - Chapter Nine, Sun Zi Art of War Above are the principles when engaging enemies in marine battles. Let us look at how these principles can be
The Solution:
The IT department must take time to understand the customers requirements before proposing any technical solution. Often IT is blinded by the latest, newest thing available and try to shoehorn the requirements into it. On the other hand, customers must devote the time and effort necessary to ensure a successful project by interacting with the IT department and making sure all requirements have been fully defined. Ensure you have spoken to all stakeholders to gathered their requirements and that they continue to work
Professional conduct starts before you enter the employer’s door. It starts before you begin to look for a job. It starts with you – your attitude.How you interact with other people can make the difference between enjoying your work or hating it. There are some basic tenets of conduct on the job that will provide you with a basis for behavior.Here are three for your perusal.First, remain calm in all circumstances. No one likes a hot-head and people who lose their tempers show a distinct lack of self-control. Respecting the needs of others and allowing for discussions of all kinds – even when it isn’t the best situation in your eyes – shows true character and a willingness to work with others. Employers are always looking for people who c
The trouble with these projects is that often you are doing something that hasn't been done before, is unproven or cutting edge. Customers expect a good result not excuses, even though these projects are frequently a journey into the unknown. If we take the construction industry, building a new bridge for instance, we have been building bridges for hundreds of years and know how to do it. We understand how things are going to happen, in what order and the expected result. This is rarely the case with IT projects.
Avoiding the common pitfalls of IT project management is not rocket science, it is simply a case of taking some sensible measures. Identified here are five killer mistakes of project management:
Who Owns the Project?
The Mistake:
The nature of projects is change and change often encounters resistance. People don't like change so they need to know it is necessary and what benefits it will bring. In order for a project to deliver change it needs the backing of senior management. Without it the project will proceed very slowly. The sponsor (senior management) is the person that drives the change forward and the project is the mechanism for change. A project without support from senior management will struggle.
The Solution:
Make sure you have the top down backing from senior management. There must be direct communication from the sponsor to the stakeholders. The message must be, "we are serious, this thing is going to happen so you are either with us or you are not" and beware those that are not.
Be careful as project manager to make sure the sponsor does not take the project over and become the de-facto project manager.
Getting Users Involved
The Mistake:
Lack of user input and involvement is the recipe for a bad project. This can either be because of the "we know what you want" mentality from the IT department or lack of interest from the customer. Either way it must be avoided.
The Solution:
The IT department must take time to understand the customers requirements before proposing any technical solution. Often IT is blinded by the latest, newest thing available and try to shoehorn the requirements into it. On the other hand, customers must devote the time and effort necessary to ensure a successful project by interacting with the IT department and making sure all requirements have been fully defined. Ensure you have spoken to all stakeholders to gathered their requirements and that they continue to work
Going to the local shopping or outlet mall has proven in these past years to be a favorite pastime for many. Often, people will buy what they need, what they must have, or simply dream about purchasing items through what is known as window shopping.In addition, like most things, there has been a continual change in ways that shoppers can shop. This metamorphosis has seen the shopper go from bustling downtown shops to enclosed malls.Now, through modern technology, the shopper can simply log onto the internet and shop countless stores for that particular item and at the right price. With the click of the computer mouse that product can be delivered without the person ever having to leave the comfort of their home.With this convenient way of pu
Avoiding the common pitfalls of IT project management is not rocket science, it is simply a case of taking some sensible measures. Identified here are five killer mistakes of project management:
Who Owns the Project?
The Mistake:
The nature of projects is change and change often encounters resistance. People don't like change so they need to know it is necessary and what benefits it will bring. In order for a project to deliver change it needs the backing of senior management. Without it the project will proceed very slowly. The sponsor (senior management) is the person that drives the change forward and the project is the mechanism for change. A project without support from senior management will struggle.
The Solution:
Make sure you have the top down backing from senior management. There must be direct communication from the sponsor to the stakeholders. The message must be, "we are serious, this thing is going to happen so you are either with us or you are not" and beware those that are not.
Be careful as project manager to make sure the sponsor does not take the project over and become the de-facto project manager.
Getting Users Involved
The Mistake:
Lack of user input and involvement is the recipe for a bad project. This can either be because of the "we know what you want" mentality from the IT department or lack of interest from the customer. Either way it must be avoided.
The Solution:
The IT department must take time to understand the customers requirements before proposing any technical solution. Often IT is blinded by the latest, newest thing available and try to shoehorn the requirements into it. On the other hand, customers must devote the time and effort necessary to ensure a successful project by interacting with the IT department and making sure all requirements have been fully defined. Ensure you have spoken to all stakeholders to gathered their requirements and that they continue to work
Did you know that an online business forum could pay significant dividends in customer service?Customer service is a very important aspect of your online business. Some businesses err on the side of too little interest shown to customers while others can be extremely overbearing and smother a new client until they consider a restraining order.There is a middle ground that can show your customers you care without pushing them to make an additional purchase. The struggle we all face in customer service is being able to adequately meet the needs of valued customers.Certainly one of the best things we can do is respond swiftly and in the consumers best interest if they have a complaint. Future sales rest on the success of your ability to manage
The Solution:
Make sure you have the top down backing from senior management. There must be direct communication from the sponsor to the stakeholders. The message must be, "we are serious, this thing is going to happen so you are either with us or you are not" and beware those that are not.
Be careful as project manager to make sure the sponsor does not take the project over and become the de-facto project manager.
Getting Users Involved
The Mistake:
Lack of user input and involvement is the recipe for a bad project. This can either be because of the "we know what you want" mentality from the IT department or lack of interest from the customer. Either way it must be avoided.
The Solution:
The IT department must take time to understand the customers requirements before proposing any technical solution. Often IT is blinded by the latest, newest thing available and try to shoehorn the requirements into it. On the other hand, customers must devote the time and effort necessary to ensure a successful project by interacting with the IT department and making sure all requirements have been fully defined. Ensure you have spoken to all stakeholders to gathered their requirements and that they continue to work
Most business owners look at the accounting system of their business as a necessary evil that doesn't contribute to the bottom line. Yet, it is essential for a successful entrepreneur to know how to set up an efficient accounting system that makes financial information readily accessible and contributes to always having enough money for your small business in the bank.ACCURATE FINANCIAL INFORMATION IS CRUCIAL The purpose of an effective accounting system is to communicate useful specific information about your business, that helps it function more effectively. You never want to be short on the cash you need to fuel your company's growth, or even run daily operations. You don't want be in a position to get a bank loan or use a small
Be careful as project manager to make sure the sponsor does not take the project over and become the de-facto project manager.
Getting Users Involved
The Mistake:
Lack of user input and involvement is the recipe for a bad project. This can either be because of the "we know what you want" mentality from the IT department or lack of interest from the customer. Either way it must be avoided.
The Solution:
The IT department must take time to understand the customers requirements before proposing any technical solution. Often IT is blinded by the latest, newest thing available and try to shoehorn the requirements into it. On the other hand, customers must devote the time and effort necessary to ensure a successful project by interacting with the IT department and making sure all requirements have been fully defined. Ensure you have spoken to all stakeholders to gathered their requirements and that they continue to work
Despite what many people may say, a job search does not have to be an unpleasant experience. There are those people who choose to take charge of the process, who actually find the process to be very rewarding and stimulating. Conducting a job search is in many ways a self discovery process and an opportunity to put your true endurance and attitude skills to the test.Here is the secret to experiencing job search success: Be Productive, Be Proactive, Be Positive, Be Persistent, and Be Polished. It is a very easy formula to follow: Do your homework on what you want to do and where you would ideally like to do it. Do more than you think is necessary before it needs to be done. Maintain a positive attitude, it will make all the difference in the world. Don’t g
The Solution:
The IT department must take time to understand the customers requirements before proposing any technical solution. Often IT is blinded by the latest, newest thing available and try to shoehorn the requirements into it. On the other hand, customers must devote the time and effort necessary to ensure a successful project by interacting with the IT department and making sure all requirements have been fully defined. Ensure you have spoken to all stakeholders to gathered their requirements and that they continue to work with you for the duration of the project.
Stopping Scope Creep
The Mistake:
Scope creep is the cause of more project failures than anything else. Not knowing exactly what a project is aiming to deliver or setting off in a fit of enthusiasm but little else, is a recipe for failure.
The Solution:
Ensure that the business case, requirements and scope are clearly defined and documented. Make sure the stakeholders understand them and sign them off. Stick rigidly to the scope and if changes are required then put them through a change management process where they are documented, justified and then agreed.
Managing Expectations
The Mistake:
Often there is an expectation that IT is like a magic wand you wave and suddenly a miracle occurs. During a technology project expectations can inflate to a ridiculous degree. It is the role of the project manager to manage expectations to a sensible level.
The Solution:
One way to avoid this is to break a project into smaller pieces or phases. I equate this to a sausage machine, where you feed in the raw material at one end and out it comes as small, perfectly formed, packages or sausages at the other end. The same can happen with IT projects where you take small packages of requirements and push them through the machine, producing several deliverables over the life of a project. This way you manage expectations by making frequent deliveries to demonstrate what the technology can really deliver. This approach ensures the project delivers to the customers expectations by giving them early visibility of what you are building.
Understanding the Lingo
The Mistake:
Have you ever stood next to a group of IT professionals and wondered what on earth they were talking about. It is like a whole new language and to non-IT people it often is. The pitfall comes when the customer and IT think they are talking the same language when in fact they are not. This leads to a problem when the IT department delivers what they understood the customer wanted and it turns out to be something different.
The Solution:
Communication problems are the hardest to resolve as often it is only looking back that the problem is identified. Regular comm
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