A Beginners Guide to Project Management
A number of student-faculty IT projects kicked off this week, and it’s clear from the email that hit my inbox this afternoon that we have a chance to have a real impact on the quality of the work environment of students by helping them learn some of the basics of project management. Many of the tools and techniques that we take for granted within the technology world are as unfamiliar to our faculty as the biochemistry of genetics or the nature of subatomic particles are to me. If we can help our fellows and the students funded our grants understand the basic habits that lead to successful project management, we’ll provide them with some valuable for the future.
Effective project management requires consistent, effective communication. The consequences of poor communication have been well documented.
There are dozens of checklists to effective project management, but one of the best is at Lifehack with 16 Steps to Project Management. The specific steps may differ from project to projects, but there’s an underlying theme that is pretty clear. See if you can figure out what it is.
1. Determine the objective and specific desired outcome. Write it down.
4. Begin “brainstorming†and create scenarios on how to achieve the desired outcome (this may have be broken down into sub-tasks). Make a date when all this creative thinking will be finished and a written draft can be printed and shared.
6. Determine and identify the tools (capital, equipment, machinery), the people (administration, sales, suppliers, customers), and the time required to complete the objectives. Write this down.
12. The leader must follow-up on all dates and compromises. Make this information public to all others involved in the project. Communicate all deliveries of sub-tasks, or lack of delivery with the group.