To make a success of the projects that are assigned to them, engineers need to strike a balance between people, techniques and the various economic and strategic issues. This means they will be faced with a series of factors that will certainly affect a project’s implementation like deadlines, costs, risks, technical requirements, cooperation, quality, creativity, innovation and so on.
Looking through manuals on effective project management, we find four major elements that will guide the engineer’s work – organisation, cooperation, anticipation and integration. They can be used as a basis for good practice.
10 keys to successful project management
Some of the following tips may seem obvious, but a small checklist always helps to jog the memory.
- Establish a set of common values within the team, ensuring that the implementation of the project matches the client’s expectations.
- Promote responsiveness if modifications are made while the project isstill running.
- Encourage cooperation by opting for synchronisation of roles rather than coordination of tasks.
- Use performance measurement as an aid to decision-making, not as an objective.
- Never lose sight of the challenges when assessing deadlines and costs.
- Seek continuous improvements going beyond the goal to be achieved.
- Anticipate the risks. Even if they are not always predictable, the more clearly they can be identified, the better they can be managed.
- Build in the project’s global dimensions – organisational, technological and socio-economic.
- Incorporate change right from the first outline, and actively steer the project.
- Take the costs of the integration process into account during the initial deliberations.
Anyone who has ever run a project knows that it isn’t always easy. It has to be brought to fruition while accommodating many different factors within a group of individuals. By following the few recommendations above, you will be well equipped to achieve your goals.
