Making Project Management Work Better

  Communications Management   Manufacturing   Knowledge Shelf  

Starting a new project begins with the alignment and coordination of all the elements necessary for success. The sponsor is ready; the charter is complete; the statement of work is done; the resource matrix is complete; the communications plan is ready; risks have been evaluated; the funding is in place; the project budget has been approved; the milestones are accepted; pencils are sharpened (or rather, in these days the mouse finger is ready); the scope is clear (everyone please nod); and so on, and so forth.

Of course, there may be more things to get ready or maybe, sometimes, less depending on the project, but in general everything is ready! It kind of reminds me of my childhood when we played hide and seek and before we started, we shouted, “Ready or not, here we come!” Actually, that is a great segue into my topic. 

Chances are that despite your best efforts, the project is not ready to start. Go down the checklist again and see what is missing. If you do not have a line item that says “Project Management Training,” you may have missed the boat and may miss the goals of the project. Every project needs training at some level. You may have the same team of core contributors as the last effort, but somewhere, there is a key deliverable in the hands of a well-meaning, but uninformed project manager.

You ask, “How can that be? I am …

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