Project Management Tips

The goal of Project Management Tips is to explain and clarify various core topics in project management and how they relate to the non-project managers. We want to make your projects work better, saving you heartache, money, and most of all, your sanity. Project managers can benefit from these articles as well, as they may shine new light on many of the project management techniques already in use with their organizations. The focus is on people actually doing projects and how to deal with the day-to-day difficulties of project management.

In business, project management is often taken for granted, and it's surprising how much fails as a result. Most people are not taught how to get projects done, instead, they're thrown into the office mix and expected to produce something of value and quality. This approach many times involves a shot-gun "let's get it done" mentality, which in the end has various negative results. Symptoms of "let's get it done" project management can include, worker burnout, eighty hour weeks, unreasonable expectations, many reworks, lousy moral and lot's of money wasted.

Even when basic project management techniques are taught to workers, they shy away from them because they fear it will add additional burden to their workload. This is comparable to having a thick piece of wood that needs to be cut, and not wanting to use the power saw because you're not sure exactly how it works. So you grab the old fashion brute strength tool and push your way forward. Project management techniques may appear complex and without purpose, but this is simply because no one ever explained them properly. We hope to explain how to use these powerful techniques in a clear and easy to understand format so you can free yourself of the "let's get it done" mentality.

• Centralize, Organize, Webatize
  Using web-based project management software
  
  
• Listening to the Committee
  How to manage projects through committees
  
  
• Killing the Voice Inside
  Handling criticism at work
  
  
• Money Can't Buy Good Beginnings
  Keeping goals modest and breaking down deliverables is key to success
  
  
• Adding Space, Makes An Easier Race
  Buffering project timelines to ensure project success
  
  
• Three is the Magic Number
  Three overarching phases to the project lifecycle
  
  
• The Ecstasy and the Agony
  Understand that mistakes happen, plan for them and accept them
  
  
• The Curve in the Road Must Always Bring Bumps
  Managing risk is essential to project management success
  
  
• Specifications and Documentation
  Proper documentation is a key stepping stone to project management