In the dynamic and versatile landscape of project management, success isn't just an outcome; it is the journey itself, threaded with careful planning, resilient execution, and unwavering commitment. The success of the project relies significantly on how well you plan its execution, development, and completion. If you are planning to start a new project, jumping right in without a proper project management plan can cause problems in the later stages of the project lifecycle and lead to failure. Therefore, a foolproof project plan is the most important step to ensure completing the project on time while maintaining the utmost efficiency and effectiveness.
Proper project planning guarantees that the work is finished to the required standards, on time, and within budget. With the right project plan, you can understand the complexities and scope, fix realistic deadlines, keep the project on track, identify the risks, and avoid roadblocks to the success of your project. Whether you are a project manager or a newcomer to this field, understanding the basic project completion steps is crucial to ensure success. In this blog, we will shed light on steps to ensure project success, including practical tips on how to finish projects on time.
What is Project Plan and Project Planning?
A project plan is a blueprint of the project's goals, objectives, budget, scope, methods, procedures, milestones, and how a task will be carried out and completed in the desired timeline. It includes what, why, how, when, and who of the project, which defines its execution and completion. Project planning is the process of creating a project plan that map project objectives, project requirements, planning tasks, delegation of duties, prioritizing tasks, setting deadlines, facilitating effective communication, and ensuring that the project is moving in the right direction. Using a Project planner is the best way to create and keep the project plans in a well-structured, easily accessible, and understandable manner. The most crucial elements of a project management plan are:
Objectives - The end goals of the project that a business wants to achieve
Scope - List of tasks, duties, and activities to deliver intended outcomes and achieve the project's goal
Schedule - A timeline of project milestones, activities, dependencies, and deadlines to complete tasks on time
Quality management - Defining processes, metrics, and quality standards to ensure project comply with expected standards and regulations
Deadline - The time by which the project should be done after all edits and how to finish projects on time
Budget - The overall budget and its allocation for various resources, tasks, and activities
Assignment and Resources - Delegation of responsibilities as well as determination of time, money, personnel, equipment, and materials to execute the project
Risk Management - Identification of potential risks, their core reasons and impact, and developing strategies to avoid or minimize their impact.
Steps to Ensure Project Success: Effective Project Management Strategies
Project planning is an extensive subject that requires you to develop a well-structured, realistic, and effective project management plan that will ensure the timely completion of the project. Have a look at the most valuable project completion steps, or effective project management strategies that help you meet objectives and deliver high-quality outcomes with adherence to budget.
Define Your Project Goals and Objectives
Start your project management plan by defining your project goals and objectives. Identify the budget, purpose, desired outcome, methods, procedures, and processes to accomplish those goals and objectives. To do that, first identify the stakeholders, i.e., the people who can be affected by your project, like shareholders, creditors, customers, or end users. This allows you to establish desired outcomes and project objectives that are consistent with your stakeholders' expectations and provide value to them. Define the project goals and objectives in accordance with the business objective and ensure that the goals are SMART:
- Specific - Clear, concise, detailed, and well-defined to provide clarity to the team
- Measurable - Quantifiable and has, measurable criteria to define success
- Achievable - Realistic and attainable with the given resources, time, and expertise
- Relevant - Relevant and must align with the overall project and business objectives
- Timely - Specific timeframe or realistic deadline for timely completion
Determine the Project's Scope
Determining the project scope is the second step in project completion steps that refer to the defined boundaries and objectives that can decide and affect the budget, labor needs, and overall efficiency of the project. It outlines specific deliverables, functions, tasks, features, constraints, and deadlines that help you allocate resources to the right places and induce life to your projects.
By determining the project's scope, you can guarantee that everyone understands their job, eliminate conflicts of interest, and avoid setting unattainable expectations and demands. The best way to determine scope is to look at the project goals and objectives that define what is necessary and what isn't.
Collect all Project-Related Resources
Identify and collect all the project-related resources and the right people who can execute and complete your project with accuracy and perfection. For example - if your project is related to digital marketing, you need a complete team of digital marketers, including a content writer, an SEO executive, a social media manager, a PPC expert, and a graphic designer. When proficient and seasoned individuals engage in tasks aligned with their expertise, there are chances that your project exceeds the expectations by being completed with unparalleled excellence.
Besides personnel, there are many other things that you need to collect, including materials, tools, technology, Gantt charts, contingencies, manuals, machinery, documentation, infrastructure, plans, etc.
Create a Work Breakdown Structure
Work Breakdown Structure is one of the most important project management steps that plays a significant role in completing the project on time with perfection. WBS basically means breaking down a project into small and manageable components or tasks and prioritizing them according to their importance and deadline.
The best way to break down tasks is using a Kanban board or Gantt charts that include the project details in a visually appealing, readable, and understandable manner. WBS is one of the most effective project management strategies since it makes it easier to plan and schedule work, allocate responsibilities, monitor progress, prevent duplication, and ensure that the project will be completed on time.
Not only that, WBS allows you to set milestones against which the project's progress can be calculated.
Define Roles and Responsibilities
Here comes the most crucial part of the project management plan that will decide the satisfactory completion of the project within the stipulated time, resources, and budget. Evaluate the strengths of your employees and assign roles and responsibilities according to their skills and expertise to ensure timely accomplishment and positive results.
Role is the position a person holds in a team or corporation that determines their authority and influence inside the organization. Responsibilities are the specific tasks, duties, functions, and obligations associated with the role.
For example - suppose you are creating a project plan for a software development project. Here is the breakdown of roles and responsibilities for the effective project management plan for two roles:
Role: Project manager
Responsibilities:
- Define project scope, goals, and objectives
- Communicate with stakeholders
- Develop project plans, budgets, deadlines, deliverables, and schedule
- Assign tasks to the concerned employees
- Monitor the project's progress and ensure that there is no deviation
Role: Software Developer
Responsibilities:
- Writing clean and concise code as per the project's requirements
- Test and debug the code and ensure that it's free from any errors or bugs
- Document the code and handle other technical tasks
- Use version control to track and manage changes
- Stay updated on emerging trends and technologies
Similarly, there will be different responsibilities for a Quality Assurance Engineer and UI/UX designer, who are important resources for a software development project.
Identify Risks and Constraints
As no project is risk-free, identifying risks and constraints is one of the most crucial steps to ensure project success. When you develop a project plan, identify all the potential risks and constraints that can arise during the project lifecycle and develop effective strategies to mitigate them. This helps you avoid the risks or minimize their impact on the project's success if any occur. Risk Analysis involves the following steps:
Identification of risks - There are different types of risks like technical risks, resource constraints, scope creep, organizational risks, external risks, quality risks, communication and collaboration constraints, and risks of unrealistic expectations.
Risk Assessment - Once you identify the risks, assess them to determine their likelihood, impact, and consequences on the project.
Risk prioritization - Prioritize the risks based on their impact and likelihood of occurring. Give the highest priority to the one that can cause the highest impact on your project and disturb its completion.
Risk Mitigation - Develop effective plans and strategies to mitigate them or at least reduce their impact. This includes implemented preventive measures and contingency plans to reduce their occurrence chances and minimize their impact if they occur.
Monitor Progress and Communicate Effectively
The project plan's main aim is to ensure the project's success within the specific time. To do that, it's crucial to monitor the progress from time to time, find deviations, analyze their cause, and provide effective solutions to manage them. Deviation is the difference between actual project performance and outcomes and initially planned performance and outcomes.
Set a time every week to review the project progress and ensure that all the resources are utilized to their fullest potential to attain the final goal. If there are any issues, it's best to communicate with the team, understand their concerns, and help them come up with effective solutions.
To ensure proper communication, establish a communication plan, use an effective communication method like video calls, phone calls, etc., share information, receive feedback and keep them informed about the project details and required improvements.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that project planning and following a project management plan helps you ensure the success of your project within the stipulated time and budget. When you follow project management steps, you get a clear idea of project goals and objectives, the process and methods to achieve them, and will be able to identify the risks to avoid any deviations or disruptions during the project lifecycle. Besides that, monitoring progress against the set goals and objectives, milestones, and metrics allows complete utilization of personal and other resources, which ensures the project's timely delivery and satisfactory completion. By embracing these steps, any business can unlock the full potential of its projects and drive innovation, growth, and success.
