Pretty much any project manager will tell you that the success of your project comes down to planning. This may take some effort initially, but in the long-run having a clearly defined project plan will save you time, money, and a lot of headaches once the project launches.
However, I would take it even further than that. Firstly, you must have the right people. This seems obvious, but it’s actually one of the major contributors to a failed project or one that runs over budget and delivery deadlines.
Running a successful tech project requires a lot of work, and some days you might feel like you’re not getting anywhere. This is why it’s essential to surround yourself with the right people. I’ve spent a lot of time in technical recruitment working on large and small projects and I’ve seen it first hand. Building the right team is critical.
So who are the right people?
The right people are those who exhibit similar intrinsic motivations and share your vision, but more importantly they have new ideas and experiences that sit outside your skills and experiences. They can add value and support you through their accumulated experience over the years. For instance, if you have a developer who has 10 years in the field, but their methodologies have always been doing it in “X” way and they are not open to change, it’s probably not going to work.
Part of this segue’s into cultural alignment and the ascertainment of team fit. This is also paramount at all stages, however its crucially important in the early stages of a project. Hiring the wrong person at the beginning of your project can have devastating effects on its success. Hiring people too junior, or people who don’t buy into the long-term goal will do more harm than good.
Communication is important.
You also spend a lot of time together working on very difficult and detail-oriented tasks, so you need to have a strong bond and ability to be open. Communication is incredibly important. Having the right tools and platforms is great, but its more than just delegating tasks and knowing what your job is. You need to collaborate and create an inclusive environment where everyone can share ideas. Ideas are the gateway to innovation and the creation of potential new and better ways of working.
Plan your budgets.
What about budgets? The financial aspect can be a problem and usually push you to cut corners or overload someone with work however, in most cases this ends up costing you much more. Your job as a project manager is so many things and understanding when to hire, when to spend the money and where to spend it is equally important and requires some strategic planning and advice.
Conclusion.
As a PM, there are so many constraints: time, money, energy. It can be easy to feel that you will never hit the date of delivery. I see this frustration all the time. I’m convinced that a lot of what separates the successful projects from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance and the ability to act on what is most consequential to the projects. This can sometimes mean; delegating, asking for help and knowing what you’re good at, but equally admitting what you’re not good at. A little humility and open-mindedness can be a major asset.
So, If you’re at a place in your project where you’ve just had enough of the struggle and need some advice or a technical team that can support your project, please reach out to us at Experience digital.
At Experience Digital, we have gathered a strategically selected group of subject matter experts required to support technical projects at various stages. Anything from concept and design to enterprise solutions.
Other offerings include; cloud services, data & analytics, IoT, digital marketing, web development, and technology consulting.
You can reach me at dillon@experience.digital or connect with me on LinkedIn, should you have any questions.
