I was asked at a recent Project Management Conference what I thought were quick solutions for common project management issues. This is what I said in response to the rapid dire questions posed:
- Poor planning and estimating – Start with a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and then involve those people who are actually going to do the work
- Poor change control – document everything
- Poor scope definition – only do what is fully defined
- Poor communication – try and see through the others person eyes
- Demanding customer – listen better, document everything
- Stalled career – invest in training or experience for yourself
- Surprises keep slowing down the project – take time to do a risk register
- Lack of clarity about who does what – get everyone to contribute to and agree on a RACI chart
- No time for project closure – include it in the project scope of works and allocate time and cost to it
- Poor team morale – karaoke evening