by Elizabeth Campbell

Created on: September 05, 2008

Succinctly describing the best project management practices is difficult at best. Although there are many facets of project management that remain static despite the application, there are some facets that vary or whose importance increases or decreases based upon the nature of the project. Regardless of the type of project there are four basic fundamentals of project management that should always be followed. These are planning, communications, change management and documentation.

The first and most important aspect of project management is to plan.
First you need to understand your project from a high-level. Start by asking yourself the basic questions. What does my project need to accomplish? What are the major steps (how) I need to follow to accomplish the project? Who is impacted by this project? Why is this project being completed; what is the purpose behind it? When does the project need to be completed by? Unless the project is very small or straight forward it is best to outline this information in a document, which then becomes your project plan. All of this information should be obtainable from the person who assigned you the project.

Now that the outline of your project is complete you need to determine more details in each area. You may need to solicit feedback from others to complete this task. Again you will use the basic questions, except you will be looking at it in more detail. For example, if your project was to build a house, in this next step you would detail more information out, pointing to the architectural plan, providing information as to what pieces you vs. the client is responsible for, timelines of major milestones (when will the basement be dug, slab poured, plumbers come in), what is your budget broken down into the various areas (lumber, carpet, siding, fixtures, etc.).

The second most important aspect of project management is communication. Communication starts in the planning phase, reviewing your overview and then detailed project plan with the appropriate stakeholders in your project. As a project manager, you need to coordinate via all the different team members, everyone the project touches, and make sure that everyone affected by each piece of the project is adequately notified and/or included in the decision making as appropriate. Usually, a regularly held meeting is an appropriate avenue to keep the primary stakeholders informed regarding the current project status, upcoming milestones, and to discuss any critical points.

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