Being a Project Manager is hard work!  It can be an extremely challenging undertaking – managing people, tasks, risks, issues,activities and deliverables.  Get it right and sometimes it may just go unnoticed – all part of the job.  Get it wrong, however, and you  can bet everyone will be watching!  Being in control of a large project is kind of like being in control of a large freight train that is hurtling down the tracks. Exhilirating and a little bit scary!

Project management success depends on the ability of the project manager to perform in a number of areas:

• Planning – the project manager needs to undertake a thorough and detailed planning phase that identifies the actual deliverable items of the project along with the development approach, the resources, time and tasks involved and the quality acceptance criteria.
• Manage stakeholders – the key stakeholders of the project should be identified and an appropriate engagement and communcation plan developed for managing the stakeholders.
• Manage teams – the project manager needs to lead a team to deliver the project products.
• Manage Tasks – the tasks of the project need to be identified, estimated in terms of cost, time and resource requirements and tracked through the project.
• Manage Scope – the scope of the project, or the quality and quantitiy of project product and function needs to be carefully managed throughout a project to ensure it stays close to the planned project outcomes and remains within the constraints offered by time and cost.
• Manage Risk – risks need to be identified, assessed for their likelihood to eventuate and potential impact on the project should they eventuate.   Actions to mitgate risks should be employed where appropriate and risks should be monitored and managed throughout the project.
• Manage Issues – similar to the management of risks, issues need to be identified, analyzed and managed through a project to reduce their negative impacts upon a project.
• Communicate – communication is a key part of project management.  The project manager is the central point of communication for all project stakeholders.  Communication needs between the project team members, the project manager and the customer.  Project meetings and project reports are often the key vehicles for project communication.
• Documentation – project documentation serves several purposes – it clarifes and solidifies what the project is about and who is responsible, it facilitates better tracking and management of the project and forms part of the communication of the project.
• Manage Delivery – ulitimately the project has to deliver something.  It is important for the project manager to remember that whatever else is going on, whatever reports need to be written, meetings that need to be held, risks that need to be monitored and so forth, the primary focus must be on delivering the goods!

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