The Solarity Group Blog

Many projects start without a lot of definition or planning. It's usually not because of any malicious intent...people just want (or need) to start working. The result is that "extra" work on the project pops up at the last minute, which can cause schedule slips, budget overruns, and a lot of fire fighting.

One good way to reduce this phenomenon is to spend time up front defining the deliverables. "If you can't write it, you don't know it," a friend used to say to me quite often. It's true. We all have a great idea of what we are creating in our heads, but putting it on paper makes us articulate those thoughts so that other people can see them.

We need to involve other people in verifying those deliverables, and then outline the work required to acheive them. In formal Project Management we call this "decomposing the work" into a Work Breakdown Structure, but it's really just good common sense. The more clear you can be with the deliverables, and the more affected people you can share the information with, the more information you have about missing work, possible resistance, or other misunderstandings.

Identifying those misunderstandings or missing work early helps to create a more realistic picture of the time, cost, and resources necessary to accomplish the goals.

 

So, be sure to take the time to clearly define your deliverables, write them down, and keep them in front of everyone throughout the project. You'll be amazed at how much it can help you control the scope of your project.

For more information, or for classes on other Project Management techniques, contact us at 888-272-4494 or visit The Solarity Group.