Your Project Management Coach: Best Practices for Managing Projects in the Real World

Introduction

Projects come in all shapes and sizes — from monumental undertakings, such as building the Great Wall of China, to less grand endeavors such as developing a new product for your company, to smaller projects that can be just as satisfying, such as helping your beloved only child get into college and out of your hair. In days of old, when pharaohs and emperors could direct thousands of minions to do their bidding, managing budgets, meeting delivery dates, and using resources effectively might not have been as important as they are today. On the other hand, the consequences of failing to achieve objectives were probably grim.

Today, projects are more abundant than ever. But the business climate has changed and continues to evolve. Organizations want more work done more quickly or more benefits delivered for less money. Change is the only constant, but even the pace of change has accelerated. A haphazard approach to projects just won't do.

Common sense goes a long way toward getting things done in projects, even if you don't have formal training in project management. But, add in good project management practices and your projects will run more smoothly and deliver objectives more dependably. As you work on larger and more complex projects, project management processes become even more important. How else can you hope to achieve project goals while staying on top of thousands of tasks performed by hundreds of team members over several years?

Sometimes, a project might ...