New Project Checklist
The action points when assigned to a new project
Hey, fellow Leader 🚀,
I am Artur and welcome to my weekly newsletter. I am focusing on topics like Project Management, Innovation, Leadership, and a bit of Entrepreneurship. I am always open to suggestions for new topics. Feel free to reach me on Substack and share my newsletter if it helps you in any way.
Often, I compare the work of a Project Manager to that of a football coach. Both have a very strong Team Management aspect and need to focus on the objectives, strategy, and resources available to achieve said objectives, while keeping the team motivated in very challenging environments. Arriving on a new team with projects already in motion is particularly challenging, since every day counts and the margin for error is small. In contrast, if the coach arrives at the beginning of the season, there is more room to set up the team and the strategy that will be adopted for the rest of the season. In a way, Project Management is the same. In that light, there are some items that I have compiled in a checklist to ease a transition for a new project (beginning and mid-season).
As usual, as I was writing this article I noticed how big it started to be. To ease up the reading, I will split the article into three parts. The complete scope and its distribution are the following:
Team 1-on1s (Part 1)
Big Picture and Where Are We At (Part 1)
Manage Expectations (Part 2)
Confidence on Yourself (Part 2)
Know Your Environment (Part 3)
Teams 1-on-1s
This is especially true if a PM leads a team that has been already assembled. In the first days, the manager should get as much information about the project environment as possible, and the team’s feedback is a great way to have impactful perspectives. Having individual opinions and expectations is the fastest way to have a glimpse of what is the current status of the project and team. However, be mindful that Developers tend to have a partial view of the project and its context. Remarks should be noted but seasoned with a grain of salt. Some of those remarks are given with suggested actions and strategies. Every feedback should be noted and compiled until the Manager has the complete picture.
Depending on the state of the project, a developer may provide feedback the entire project should be revamped. This is far from a practical and realistic approach but is a sign the team is dealing with obsolete technologies or a bad system architectural design. Every feedback counts and should be addressed on the strategy to put forward. A realistic and practical strategy.
If the Manager is leading the team in the very beginning and is currently recruiting the Engineers to set up the team, he or she needs to be mindful that this is a very critical phase. I lost count of how many Engineers I have recruited for my teams, and casting errors is a harsh and painful reality. I prefer to take my time and recruit with more certainty, than handling a bad apple for months to come. Below are some articles about recruitment processes.
Big Picture and Where Are We At
For any project is important to maintain sight on what is the goals we are trying to achieve and how far is the team from achieving them. This is where the Manager needs to be creative on the dashboard’s design. A dashboard is a great tool to communicate project’s status.
Scrum, Kanban, Waterfall, or whatever methodology is in place, the team and the rest of the stakeholders need to be made aware of where the project is at. For example, in a release, how is the progress on the development, and when the testing should start? On a migration project, how many components are migrated and how many are left, with a view regarding complexity and the linked components? The team needs to deliver several features before a given date. How many are left, in progress, or delivered?
These dashboards can help the Manager to avoid scope creep. Is very common for the stakeholders to become very enthusiastic about the project and keep proposing to add scope. If these stakeholders have the big picture in sight and the change request impacts’ easy to visualize, these new scope proposals can see a refrain in enthusiasm. Or at the very least, it’s easier for the Manager to protect or negotiate the project scope.
That’s it. If you find this post useful please share it with your friends or colleagues who might be interested in this topic. If you would like to see a different angle, suggest in the comments or send me a message on Substack.
Cheers,
Artur