Senior Program Manager
As Sr. Program Manager, Sudhakar leads various Task Orders for development support leading cross-functional and multi-disciplinary teams at the U.S. Coast Guard’s Operational Support Center.
What you’ll learn:
In the world of project management, a manager faces many challenges keeping projects both on track and within budget. They need to balance building a team, project requirements, deadlines, and more. Internal and external factors lie ahead, each with a threat of derailing the project.
Even so, by taking precautions and putting realistic, effective plans in place, a project manager can lead their team to success.
Here are five key elements (P’s) of project management that, when used in harmony, will set up your project to succeed:
Developing a project plan is the primary task of a project manager. Besides this, the project manager should also establish measurable and trackable success criteria, including:
Taking care of all the details initially is the key to laying the groundwork for your project’s success. Before the project starts, it’s important to make sure that it is based on a solid foundation and that the buy-in from all key stakeholders is secured. Understand their interests and expectations and be aware of how they may determine whether the project is successful or not.
The project manager needs to verify that the project goals are clearly defined, key activities are closely aligned, and the project scope is distinctly identified. Be sure to include the roles and responsibilities of the various project team members.
Once a strong project plan is in place, the project manager can start implementing it by assembling an effective project team. The team’s success begins with initial organization assembling and organizing available resources. Seek a team that can work together as a whole through the integration of their individual skills, talents, and personalities. The job of the project manager is to align those skills, talents, and personalities with the appropriate project needs.
Because the people on your team are working together for the success of the project, it’s important to create an environment that strengthens the team. Focus on building better teams through various activities catered to team building, enriching skills, and making team members a better version of themselves. These practices will keep a program fundamentally strong.
It is the project manager’s responsibility to make sure that each individual working on the project clearly understands their task and what they are providing upon project completion. The project purpose is the glue that keeps each team member sticking together with a common goal or objective.
The process is your project plan in action. Well-defined procedures greatly increase the chance of a project’s success. Keep your team accountable to the process by implementing project management tools such as spreadsheets or Kanban boards.
Developing and managing a process involves:
Making progress is essential for a successful outcome on a project. The project manager should ensure that project progress is tracked constantly and reported both effectively and consistently. Continuous project oversight—ensuring that a project is tracking properly against the original plan—is critical to keeping a project on track.
There is no one best way to manage a project or a program, but for every project—no matter the size or complexity—it is the responsibility of the project manager to guide it the entire time. When used in coordination, these five key elements (P’s) of project management can boost the success rate of your projects.
