5 Phases Any Project Must Go Through To Succeed — Implementation

My personal favorite part in project management — acting, doing stuff! As well, it is the single most important phase. You may have the best plan in the world, massive research done, the super team assembled, but if your execution sucks — you will fail.

So, let’s put the plan into action. For PM’s this is the most gratifying phase because work actually gets done, but it is also the most frustrating. Even though doing the work is fun, it can also be, at times, overwhelming.

Monitor & control your stuff!

Whether you have a solid project control system & software in place or just do your own periodical status checks, you should always strive to maintain a big-picture view and be able to see all problem areas in one dashboard. There are so many project-management software systems that can help you measure your progress that it would take up a separate article to review at least the top five.

Apart from such classic well-known tools as MS Project & JIRA, I used other systems, which often can fit much better, considering team size, methodology, business model, industry & project specifics. I encourage you to check these out and give them a try:

Truly, there is no single solution for all projects. Yes, of course, there are fundamental things which any software should have, but what I mean is a system that’s right for some large project can easily bog a small one with unnecessary processes & rules, whereas a system that perfectly works for small projects won’t have enough muscle for a big one.

My main rule to implementation: keep things simple and do more. I never overcomplicate things. It is way better to give any plan or system a small try, do something with it, instead of trying to anticipate everything and plan for all possible risks in theory. Just do it and see how it goes (certainly, not a good approach for medical industry or rocket science :)

• One of the key things I do (as a project manager) is making sure there is a quick and appropriate response to changes as they come in. Secondly, I look for any early signs of problems so that I can initiate corrective action where applicable. Otherwise, all I am doing is monitoring, not exercising control.
• You should make it very clear to your team that your responses to problems that arise won’t do any good if you don’t get accurate & timely information from them. Although, do not rush to fix things too fast — allow your “soldiers” to work out small problems on their own. Micromanagement is something you want to stay away from as much as possible (unless you are an architect or a technical lead, speaking of the software industry).
• Cash is king. Make sure you have a full, fresh & detailed picture of the real numbers as they roll in. Figures should be matching the budgeted amounts as close as possible. Be ready to have a clear vision on the extra costs, so that you can explain why those are there and some of them are unavoidable.

Reporting is key to transparency

A large part of the execution is keeping every decision-maker aligned on the current state of things & the next steps your team is going to take. Stakeholders will usually expect regular updates and status reports from you. This is where your strategic thinking & analytical mind should kick in. Make sure to understand what exactly & how much info they’d like to see in those reports. Elaborating on the format helps a lot: PowerPoint, Google doc, spreadsheet, or just a short 10 min call.

Important! Do not hide or downplay issues as they come up. Try to catch problems early (before “sh..t hits the fan”) or they can quickly turn into a crisis. If you keep your stakeholders well informed, they may turn out to be good resources, prepared to jump on problems when those do arise.

Hold regular meetings

When you’re immersed in multiple project activities, it is very easy to get diverted from top priorities to small hustles that waste time. To stay focused make sure you have regular sync’s with your team member, at least once a week to align on what’s essential to success.

Before everyone arrives to the meeting — they should be aware of a clear agenda. Structure it around the project metrics, revenue goals, or whatever other indicators you’ve chosen to stimulate performance. Key point here is that everyone involved should understand and keep in mind at all times what are the goals we are trying to reach, keep people stick to them and feel responsible.

Keep the momentum going by following up with the responsible members each week on the to-dos. Connect them with the metrics for overall performance.

I always celebrate small wins with the team as we progress towards a large common goal. This rekindles enthusiasm & motivation.

Continuous management…

If someone tells me that some big project became successfull without management— I usually smile.

Projects require diligent control. But apart from that in large projects there are so many challenges on a daily, weekly and monthly basis which require constant review & action upon from a central figure. Many of problems have far-reaching consequences. We all know the most common ones: scope creep, quality issues, missing deadlines and people problems. PM is the one who should be able to integrate separate pieces into a whole picture and quickly direct the team into the optimal solution.

Another big part to the implementation phase is about people. Pay attention to signs of emerging problems, such as key team member’s increased tension & irritability, loss of motivation, or inability to make decisions. When you notice such signs, get to the root of a problem as fast as you can to deal with it. Try intercepting such cases early on to prevent them from growing into a disaster.

Well, if you succeeded at implementation, it is now the time to close the project.