Rookie Mistakes

 

Over the last year, I've had the opportunity to supervise software developers who were, for their first time, responsible for project schedules. While I'm sure all of them put 110 percent effort in their project management duties, they all--without exception--made the same gaffes.

If you're new to project management, read on to learn from these rookies' classic mistakes. And if you're a seasoned veteran, read this article anyway. It might just bring back some old memories.

Gaffe #1: Underestimating the Impact of Change Requests
One specific developer who worked on a project managed by a rookie project manager showed up at every product demo and constantly suggested improvements for the product. Don't get me wrong. Feedback is important and you shouldn't discourage developers from providing it. But there is a time and place for everything.

Besides the fact that this developer kept taking the demo off track and wasting everyone's time, his feedback, when accepted, had a huge impact on the project schedule.

"It's just a button" was his answer to every objection based on the project schedule. This guy always managed to convince Product Management that he could do it in five minutes. I'm sure he could add a button to a UI in five minutes, but this button had a lot of repercussion.

For one, this button needed an action attached behind it, which didn't yet exist. …

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