Elements of Project Management

Elements Of Project Management – Checks and Tasks

CHECKS AND BALANCES

It doesn’t matter if you have employed someone to project manage or you are doing it yourself, you should still be asking the right questions to ensure that you have done your job and whomever you have employed has done their job.

The golden rule in dealing with the management of other people is ASSUME NOTHING.
However there are many other ‘rules’ and it is worthwhile to read them. If half of these are instilled in your subconscious then you are well on your way to project and risk management.

The Light Hearted Rules of Project Management

1. If anything can possibly go wrong, it inevitably will.
2. Absolutely everything takes longer than you think.
3. If you explain so clearly and explicitly that nobody could possibly misunderstand then somebody most definitely will.
4. The probability of anything happening is the inverse ratio to its desirability.
5. All delivery promised time frames must be doubled, manufacturers specifications of performance halved and sales persons claims of performance quartered.
6. Variables will not. Constants are not.
7. The simpler the modification appears to be, the greater the influence on the rest of the project.
8. Once you have exhausted all the possibilities and fail there will be a solution so simple and obvious and unfortunately more than obvious to all those observing.
9. There is never enough time to do it right the first time but always time to fix it.
10. The time it takes to fix it will be inversely proportional to the time it would have taken to do it right the first time.
11. The first ninety percent of the task takes ninety percent of the time and the other ten percent will take another ninety percent of the time.
12. The project will fill the time frame allocated no matter how long is allowed.
13. The simplest of ideas will be presented in the most complicated way.
14. The sooner and in more detail the bad news is addressed the better.

Always assume that in project management, something has or will go wrong until proven otherwise.

Check it yourself.
Check what is being done for you.
Check what is being done to you.
IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASSUME NOTHING.