How to Deliver Your Projects Successfully

These 5 tips will give you a head start:

Be honest

Always be totally honest and upfront with your customer right from the start. Tell them if their project is not feasible or if you don't have all of the resource, money and time needed to deliver it successfully from the outset. Set their expectations by telling them what you will deliver and by when. And if it eventuates that you can't deliver on your promises, then tell them about it immediately. By having an "open book" policy, you'll gain your customer's trust. If you involve them early enough, they will be more supportive for your project.

Manage through delegation

Managers often fall into the trap of believing that they can do things more efficiently than staff. Of course in many cases they might be right, but the problem is that they don't have the time to do everything themselves. So a smart manager always tries to delegate as much as possible to staff. It gives them the time needed to monitor the project and support their team. It's a tough ask, but even if you know you can do a task more efficiently than others, delegate whenever you can anyway.

Expect the unexpected

Always expect things to change and be ready for it when it occurs. People have ideas, your customer may want changes and the industry and technology change over time as well. It's not the change that's important, it's how you react to the change that counts. Always embrace change, but be wary of it. Question every change request and only when you're certain it's for the best, then implement it.

Become a great leader

When you save time by delegating your tasks, you have free time for leading and motivating your team. Do this by regularly communicating the project vision to your team, rewarding them for progress and recognizing their achievements. Gain their respect by showing them you care. Build team spirit by taking them to lunch regularly and talking about what they achieved together.

Work smart, not hard

Never start from scratch.

How to Kick Start Your Project

How to Kick Start Your Project

Most Projects Managers get tired at some point in their project. After all, managing people, money and time is exhausting. But if you're not at the top of your game for the whole length of the project, then your team can get stressed and timeframes can start slipping. So here are 5 tips for kick starting your project to rejuvenate it and give it a new lease of life...

Tip 1: Stop and get a grip
Projects are always ahead in some areas and behind in others. Stop and take the time to get a firm handle on the project progress. Make a list of all of the areas that you're behind in. Then prioritize the list and calculate the amount of effort needed to get them back on track. Are there any tasks that can be completed by others outside your team? If there are non-critical tasks that you can outsource, then now is the time to consider it. Use whatever resources you can find to complete these late tasks as soon as possible.

Tip 2: Rework the plan
Once you've caught up, revisit your Project Plan. Update every task in the plan and recreate your schedule ahead. You need to revitalize your team and to do this, you need a newly worked project plan that shows how you're going to deliver the rest of the project on time. This will boost motivation and enthusiasm for completing the revitalized plan. Especially if your team can see that it's actually achievable.

Tip 3: The Road Ahead
Now that you have a crystal clear plan ahead, you're ready to get the team behind it. Take your team out for lunch. Walk them through the remaining challenges and the timeframes in which they must be achieved. Try not to talk about the prior period or any failures to date. Instead, be positive and focus on the road ahead to gather their support. If possible, ask a customer to come along, to impress on your staff what it is that they need to deliver and by when. Tell them you're proud of them and what they're capable of achieving.

Tip 4: Individualization
The trick now is to make each person feel like they are a critical cog in the wheel. Meet them individually, reward their successes and recognize achievement whenever you see it.

Tip 5: Quick wins
A winning team like to know they are winning right from the start. Focus on delivering a couple of critical tasks early, then shout about the success. Then get more quick wins under your belt and shout out about your successes again. This creates the feeling of achievement and it creates momentum in the team. Sure, the project may not be finished until you've crossed the finishing line, but half the fun should be in getting there.

How to Fail your Projects

Take these 5 tips to deliver your project OVER time, OVER budget and make your customers miserable along the way...

Step 1 - Never Plan: "What's the point of planning when no-one follows my plans anyway? My plans get printed, forgotten and put on the shelf. I'm just going to roll my sleeves up and get stuck in to the project?" A wise man once said: "if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail". So planning is all about making sure that the right people work on the right tasks at the right time. Only if you plan can you be sure that you'll deliver your project on time.

Step 2 - Don't Communicate. "Why do I have to tell everyone what's happening all the time? It's pointless. All they have to know is what their daily task list is. Communication takes too much time. It's not worth it!" The reason you have to communicate is that it keeps everyone on the same page so they all know how each other are getting on, when they have to work harder and when they don't. For instance, if no-one knows that the project is slipping, then what chance have you got of delivering it on time if you don't communicate?

Step 3: Forget leadership, it's over-rated: "My team had better do their job or else they will get a kick up the bum when I come into the office tomorrow. You have to constantly crack the whip to get your staff to work effectively". While this approach may work in the short term, people need to be rewarded and recognized for their efforts long term, to be motivated. In short, they need to feel valued and only a true leader can do that. You need to always be positive with them, even when giving them a grueling. Apply balance. Be constructive. Think in their shoes. Great teams have great leaders. It's as simple as that.

Step 4 - Fall in love with Scope Creep: "Who cares if the customer has asked for more changes. If the project is late then it's their fault. If they want to constantly change the scope of the project, then I'm not going to stop them." Sure, your customer can change the scope when they want, but you have to control it because when the deadline has been exceeded and your project is still not complete due to all of the change requests you've allowed, then your customer's not going to be happy.

Step 5 - Forget your customer, once the project has started: "Once I have my customers approval, I don't need to hear from them until the project's complete. The less I involve them in the project, the less havoc they can wreak. If I don't talk to them then they won't hassle me." That approach might work, until you need their support. Then you're in trouble! If you need your customer to approve more time, money or resource, then you have to keep them on side at all times. They have to be informed at every step in the journey and feel a part of the project team, if you want their full buy-in.

Treat your customer as though they were your best friend. Shower them with love, talk to them often and ask favors when you need them. If you have their full support, then you'll get what you need when you need it.

We hope this refreshing view of projects helps you see what you should and shouldn't do to deliver successfully.

Quality Plan

It will help you to set quality targets for your project to ensure that the deliverables produced, meet the needs of your customer.

You can then use it to schedule quality control and quality assurance activities, to assure your customer that the quality targets will be met.

You can then use the Quality Plan to monitor and control quality by:

• Identifying the quality control tasks needed to control quality
• Creating a Quality Control Plan, by scheduling the control activities
• Listing the quality assurance activities required to assure quality
• Building a Quality Assurance Plan, by creating an activity schedule

Quality Planning is a critical part of any project. It enables you to agree a set of quality targets with your customer. It then helps you to monitor and control the level of quality produced by the project, to ensure that you meet the quality targets set. By using this quality plan template, you can set quality targets and ensure that your project produces deliverables which meet your customers needs, thereby ensuring your success.

What is a Quality Plan?

A Quality Plan helps you schedule all of the tasks needed to make sure that your project meets the needs of your customer. It comprises two parts; the Quality Assurance Plan lists the independent reviews needed and the Quality Control Plan lists the internal reviews needed to meet your quality targets. By using Quality Assurance and Quality Control techniques, you can create a comprehensive Quality Management Plan for your project.

When do I use a Quality Plan?

Creating a Quality Plan is essential if you want to provide the customer with confidence that you will produce a solution that meets their needs. The Quality Plan states everything you're going to do, to ensure the quality of your solution. The first section defines the Quality targets. The second section sets out a Quality Assurance Plan. And the third section defines a Quality Control Plan. By using this template, you can create a Quality Management Plan that gives your customer a high degree of confidence that you will succeed.

How to Initiate Projects Successfully

Did you know that a large percentage of projects are cancelled before they even reach the detailed planning phase? The most common reason is that they have not been properly defined and scoped, and as a result, they lack the sponsorship needed to ensure their success.

Therefore, it's critical that you initiate your projects as quickly and efficiently as possible, by taking these 6 steps:

Step 1: Develop a Business Case

The first step taken when initiating a new project, is the creation of a comprehensive Business Case. A Business Case describes the business problem / opportunity to be addressed by the project and the alternative solutions available. The potential costs and benefits associated with each alternative solution are also defined.

The Business Case becomes the foundation for the project as it fully documents the reasons for creating the project and the key benefits to be delivered. Once produced, the Business Case should be formally endorsed by the Project Sponsor, before funding is allocated to the project.

Step 2: Undertake a Feasibility Study

A Feasibility Study is completed to identify the likelihood of the alternative solutions actually delivering the benefits stated in the Business Case. Based on the results of the Feasibility Study and the Benefits and Costs portrayed in the Business Case, a preferred solution is identified and once again, is approved by the Project Sponsor.

If you can complete a comprehensive Feasibility Study, then you will greatly improve your chances of delivering your project successfully.

Step 3: Establish the Project Charter

Once the problem and solution have been identified, a new project is then defined to deliver the solution. The "Project Charter" is documented, which essentially describes what the project sets out to achieve and the boundaries within which it must achieve it.

The project vision, objectives, scope, deliverables, project organization and an implementation plan are all clearly stated in the Project Charter document.

Step 4: Appoint the Project Team

Now that the project is defined, it is time to appoint the team. The Project Board is established and the Project Manager is recruited to take on responsibility for the project. The Project Manager recruits the Team Leaders and they in turn help recruit project staff. Every team member is assigned a detailed Job Description, defining their role and responsibilities within the project.

Step 5: Set up a Project Office

The Project Office environment is then established, as the physical place of residence for the team for the duration of the project. This environment will provide the premises, equipment, materials, tools and processes required to enable the members of the project team to perform their roles successfully. A checklist is used to ensure that the Project Office has been set up correctly and will continue to support the Project as needed.

Step 6: Perform Review

Once the project has been defined and the team have been appointed, you're ready to perform a project phase review. A Phase Review is completed to ensure that all of the required Initiation activities have been undertaken and to provide formal approval to proceed to the next phase: Project Planning.

Let's initiate soonest !!!

10 Tips for Project Success

1. Starting out: Make sure that when you start out your customer defines their requirements in depth. You need to know exactly what it is that must be delivered, to who and when. Make it specific, write it up formally and get them to sign it off. This document will become the basis upon which to measure your success.

2. Customers: Involve your customers throughout the entire project life cycle. Get them involved in the analysis and planning, as well as execution. You don't have to seek their approval, just keep them informed. The more you involve them, the greater their level of buy-in and the easier it is to manage their expectations.

3. Timeframes: Keep your delivery timeframes short and realistic. Never agree to lengthy timeframes. Split the project into “mini-projects” if you need to. Keep each mini-project to less than 6 months. This keeps everyone motivated and focused.

4. Milestones: Break your project timeframe into "Milestones" which are manageable pieces of work. Add delivery deadlines to your milestones and try to deliver on every deadline, no matter what. If you're late, tell your customer about it as early as possible.

5. Communications: Make sure you keep everyone informed by providing the right information at the right time. Produce Weekly Status Reports and run regular team meetings.
   

6. Scope: Only authorize changes to your project scope if there is no impact on the timeline. Get your customers approval to important scope changes first and then get their buy-in to extend the delivery dates if you need to.

7. Quality: Keep the quality of your deliverables as high as possible. Constantly review quality and never let it slip. Implement “peer reviews” so that team members can review each others deliverables. Then put in place external reviews to ensure that the quality of the solution meets your customer's needs.

8. Issues: Jump on risks and issues as soon as they are identified. Prioritize and resolve them before they impact on your project. Take pride in keeping risks and issues to a minimum.

9. Deliverables: As each deliverable is complete, hand it formally over to your customer. Get them to sign an Acceptance Form to say that it meets their expectations. Only then can you mark each deliverable off as 100% complete.

10. Your team: Great projects are run by great teams. Hire the best people you can afford. Spend the time to find the right people. It will save you time down the track. Remember, good people are easy to motivate. Show them the vision and how they can make it happen. Trust and believe in them. Make them feel valued. They will work wonders.

GOOD LUCK brothers!

The Role of a Project Manager

The role of a Project Manager is to "Deliver the project on time, within budget and to specification". So in other words, you need to specify clearly upfront what must be delivered by the project, and then you need to produce it within the schedule and budget assigned.

But it's not that simple. You might meet this objective but totally fail as a "top notch Project Manager". We believe your role is much more than that. It is also...

1: To recruit the best

Great projects are delivered by a great team. Your role is to recruit the best people you can find and make sure that their skill sets are perfectly complimentary so that you have all of the experience you need to deliver the project successfully.

Only with a great team and everyone knowing what is expected of them, will you deliver a great result.

2: To motivate and lead

You need to be the one "cracking the whip" so that everyone knows what is to be done and by when. You need to be strict and make sure that every task is done on time and doesn't slip. If it does slip, then you need to identify the slippage immediately and have contingency plans so you can get back on track.

As well as cracking the whip, you need to be positive and supportive towards your team so they know you also care. You need to lead by example and motivate others to do the same. If you want others to work hard, then you need to work harder than they do.

Lead by giving them direction, motivating them to work hard and showing you care along the way.

3: To manage the finances

Every project has a budget, whether it's clearly defined or not. You need to ensure that you don't spend more than you're entitled to, or your sponsor / client will be dissatisfied with the end result. Manage finances carefully by listing every expense and ensuring that they are budgeted upfront. If unbudgeted expenditure takes place, tell your client as soon as possible to avoid complications down the track. If you need more budget, then don't be afraid to ask for it!

4: To control change

You need to be the one who controls all change to the project scope, tightly. "Scope creep" kills projects. Define the scope of the project upfront and then review it each week to make sure that you're not doing un-authorized work at any time. Your customer will ask for change throughout the project. Don't always give in. Stay your ground and when this happens, ask for more time or budget to cater for it. Remember—no matter how many changes they ask you for, they will still beat you up if you’re late or over budget. So control change when you see it.

5: Communicate

It's your job as a Project Manager to communicate the status of the project regularly. If people know it's on track it will motivate them. If they know it's late it will motivate them even more. But they will only know if it's on time or late if you communicate this to them.

You need to communicate the project status to your team, project sponsor and client every week of the project life cycle. Never miss a week. Always document the status accurately. Never exaggerate. Communicate the right messages t the right people at the right time.

GOOD LUCK and Prepare as New Project Manager!

Ramadhan Hari Pertama Terlampaui

Alhamdulillah..
Walau terpisah jarak dengan dua bidadari kecilku, walau terbentang waktu dengan ratu kasihku, walau tak sempat sua dengan kedua orang tua-ku..
Ramadhan hari pertama terlampaui sudah..walau kita tidak tahu apakah ibadah kita diterima atau tidak di sisi Nya..tapi suatu pengharapan dalam Ramadhan tahun ini, adalah lebih baik dari Ramadhan tahun sebelumnya..

Mau dibawa ke mana??

Armada - Mau dibawa ke mana..

Memang judul di atas identik dengan lagu yang lagi hits kala ini..kalo kawan2 Armada (band anak muda Palembang) lebih bermakna ke situasi percintaan..

SEDANGKAN untuk judul tersebut, saya tujukan bukan untuk masalah percintaan..

Memang seharusnya, pertanyaan itu sudah muncul dari awal dan jawabannya pun harus sudah ada.

Harapannya dengan jawaban tersebut, jalan yang dilalui akan tetap berada di dalam jalur yang benar dan tepat, sehingga cita-cita dapat teraih dengan mantap.