Top Tips for an Effective Project Management

A project is any activity with a date of commencement and completion. Each project is made up of a series of tasks which ultimately have a single objective. Projects can be managed manually or using project management software.

How to complete a project

To complete a project, one need to take into consideration three things which are quality, cost and time. Technically, a project has five phases and each phase is made up of specific tasks that allow you to achieve the objectives relating to your project:

• Launching of the project
• Project Planning
• Execution of the project
• Monitoring and control
• Closure of the Project

What is project management?
Project management is simply the art of managing one or more projects by leading the task of a team to achieve the specified goals within a particular period of time. It is the main duty of the project manager.
The project manager is charged with the responsibility of convincing stakeholders, planning, managing of resources, and supervision of the execution of the project for a successful outcome and completion.

The project manager also define the scope of the project at the initial stage, demonstrates leadership, motivates other employee and team members, create budget and risk management.

Benefits of good project management
• Meeting the expectations of all stakeholders
• Bring order and clarity
• Keep a specific focus and objectives
• Optimizing resources
• Define a realistic action plan
• Guarantee quality control
• Managing the risks
• Ensure continuous monitoring
• Reduce the risk of failure
• Manage success and failure (and learn from it!)

Some tips on effective project management plan

• Document the scope of your project
You must meet all the stakeholders to discuss the needs, expectations and criteria for evaluating the project and this includes: perimeter, budget,and calendar
Make little promises but big achievement. Lay emphasis on the need declared by the stakeholders and try to identify the underlying benefit they seek. Your project must achieve this goal.

• Breakdown your project into phases, milestones and achievable tasks
Define the schedule of your project by placing them or ranking them according to how you want them to be carried out.
Multiple small tasks linked to each other can be grouped into larger milestones. Cutting a project into small, easily achievable batches keeps your team from feeling overwhelmed and allows for smooth execution.

• Estimate the resources required
Know the number of people and resources you need to complete the project. Make a list as realistic as possible: you should neither splurge nor underestimate your need. Both would jeopardize your project's schedule and budget.

• Assemble your resources
Once you've identified the resources you need, it's time to recruit the right people. Make sure everyone has the right tools for the job. Now you need to start grouping and organizing the different parts of the project correctly.

• Connect tasks to each other
Before you start planning your project, you must first identify the tasks that depend on each other, whereby the commencement of a task actually depend on the completion of a previous task.

• Establish a timetable
Take all the tasks and milestones relating to each phase of the project and order them in a precise schedule. Set strict deadlines for key milestones and deliverables.
If everything is important, then nothing is. Defining priorities is the key success factor for this phase of your project.

• Record absolutely everything
Documentation of every detail cannot be over-emphasised. Each member of the project team must be able to check the status of each task, milestone or deliverable for which they are responsible at any time.
And don't forget to keep track of the hours worked. This will allow you to better estimate deadlines and budgets when you have similar projects to carry out in the future.

• Good communication flow with team members and Leadership
The project manager should ensure there is effective communication with his team and stick to it religiously throughout the project. This as well will keep the team members on their toes to work efficiently and effectively.
You need to own and support the process whole heartedly if you expect to keep your team engaged and motivated and to deliver project success.
A good leader is a cheerleader too, so shake off the worries of the day and walk with a bounce in your step to maintain a positive attitude within the team.

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