Project Management Best Practices

If you do any sort of project management, this post from Threadwatch is an excellent read. In part two of this series, Chris Garrett writes about thinking through your exit strategy, understanding the scope of the project, breaking it down into manageable sections and conquering the work, all while managing client expectations:

When I say the end, I mean the real end. everyone needs to agree when you are finished. In business I believe this is called an “exit strategy”. When are you finished and what is the final deliverable?

Say you were an engineer who has been asked to build a bridge. Is the bridge finished when it stands up on its own? When traffic can move from one side to the other? When they can collect tolls? Is there an inspection? Do they have a warranty period? As you can see it is quite important for everyone to be in agreement where you are going in a project and how you will know you are at the destination.

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In real projects you might also have a deadline, you might also have a fixed budget. The one part I find best to negotiate on is the scope. My preference is not to have a deadline, I would rather have a good quality deliverable, or rather deliver often small releases and bump functionality to other relases.

Good advice.