Many of those who are involved in startups do not truly understand the value that can be had from project management. But when it comes to startups there is little room for errors to be made and project management skills and tools can make a significant difference to the success of the project. It is never to early for any business to consider the usefulness of project management and how it can help them to streamline their processes in order to achieve a better end result.
Of course finding the righty project management methodology for a startup can be difficult. You will need to carefully consider what will work for your business model and what won’t. After all, a method that works successfully for someone else may not always be the right choice for you.
Picking the right project management methodology
Project management does not have any right or wrong, the thing that you need to consider if what your exact needs are. Consider the following:
- What is your business structure?
- What size is your company?
- What goals do you have?
- What is the complexity of your project?
- What do you want to see from final deliverables?
- Does your client prefer any methodology in particular?
Choosing the best methodology and taking care of your needs is the most important step you will take in the journey of your project. One you have selected the most appropriate methodology, there are some tips you can consider helping you plan to excel in your project.
Set goals that are realistic
As project management courses will teach you, It is not enough to simply set goals; they need to be good goals. They should be realistic for that the setting and achieving of them can boast your project. In order to do this you need foundations that are strong, and you can do this by identifying your clients and the developing a project plan that is solid but allowing yourself some flexibility if needed.
When you set achievable goals, you will feel like you are making progress.
Change setbacks into success
You are in charge of making your own decisions. It is important to consider how you will deal with any issues you encounter in your project, what you will do to overcome them and how you can change the problems that will occur in your project. When you write your project plan you should consider where these problems may occur and formulate some plans to overcome them.
Consider your motives
Being an entrepreneur is a journey and if you want to succeed you should think about your motives. Consider why you are doing what you are doing, is it for the money, or do you have an idea that you believe in and want to see through to completion. If you are purely motivated by the money side of things, then you may struggle to excel on your project. If, however, you have a belief in what you are doing, then this will help to push you to make a success of your project.
Plan for milestones
Milestones mark an important step in your project. Marking each one is a great way of showing your project team how much you have achieved and exactly what point in your project you have reached. Let your team know just how important each milestone is.
You should breakdown your project to a list of deliverables, identifying any risks and highlighting those dates that will be important. You should also ensure that you have clear requirements and objectives in your project and most importantly be ready for the project to last a considerable amount of time.
Communicate
The single most important thing that will help you to excel on your project is communication, and great communication at that. Effective methods of communication will result in better project management. Set up regular check-ins with your team members and ask for feedback on how things are going. This will allow you to see where there are issues you hadn’t anticipated and deal with them before they become big problems that can cause problems for your project budget or timescales. Remember communication refers to emails and listening as much as it does to talking.
Set your budget, timescale, and scope
Called the triple constraints, these three things are vital for the success of any project. Timescale is essential when you are looking to complete your project and get your product or service out there. You need to consider how long each part of your project might take so that you can track how on schedule you are. There are project management software’s that can help you to do this.
Scope looks at those requirements of your project that you cannot leave out if you want to complete your project to timescale and not go over budget.
You need to set a cost baseline by cost budgeting. All too often startups fail as a result of a lack of funding so you should set out how your available funds will be used throughout the duration of the project so that you do not run out of funding part way through. Again, there is project management software that can help with this.
Make sure you have a good team
Consider the skill set that you will need in order to complete your project. It is really important when building a team to ensure that you have created a team that includes all of the skills that you will need. It could be a disaster if you get to an important point in the project and realise that you simply do not have the necessary skills to progress to the next stage. Finding someone within a timeframe that will allow you to continue your project on schedule and to your original budget could prove to be incredibly difficult.
Do not think that you alone have all of the skills that will be needed and that you can go it alone. When you do not have a strong team working on your project you are setting yourself up to fail before you have even begun.
