Today I was lucky to stumble on a pretty nice pile of project management advices - 100 Lessons Learned for Project Managers (actually there are 128 of them!).
Here are top 10 of my favourite project management tips from Jerry Madden:
3.The source of most problems is people but damned if they will admit it. Know the people working on your project, so you know what the real weak spots are.
4. Most managers succeed on the strength and skill of their staff.
14. Never ask management to make a decision that you can make. Assume you have the authority to make decisions unless you know there is a document that states unequivocally that you cannot.
16. Never make excuses; instead, present plans of actions to be taken.
21. Not all successful managers are competent and not all failed managers are incompetent. Luck still plays a part in success or failure, but luck favors the competent, hard-working manager.
27. Documentation does not take the place of knowledge. There is a great difference in what is supposed to be, what is thought to have been, and what the reality is. Documents are normally a static picture in time which is outdated rapidly.
29. In case of a failure:
- Make a timeline of events and include everything that is known;
- Put down known facts -- check every theory against them;
- Don't beat the data until it confesses, i.e., know when to stop trying to force-fit a scenario;
- Do not arrive at a conclusion too rapidly. Make sure any deviation from the norm is explained--remember the wrong conclusion is prologue to the next failure;
- Know when to stop.
33. Experience may be fine but testing is better. Knowing something will work never takes the place of proving that it will.
54. All problems are solvable in time, so make sure you have enough schedule contingency -- if you don't, the next project manager that takes your place will.
73. Today one must push the state of the art: be within budget, take risks, not fail, and be on time. Strangely, all these are consistent as long, as the ground rules, such as funding profile and schedule, are established up front and maintained.
What are your favorite project management tips?