Answer:
Step 1: Define the Project
When you define the real purpose of a project, things get clearer. Your mind starts buzzing with ideas. Knowing where you want to end up is especially important at this stage. Your vision for the most successful outcome helps you establish guidelines for keeping yourself and your team on the right path.
Step 2: Identify & Meet with Stakeholders
It’s important to remember that stakeholders aren’t only the people who hired you to manage the project; a stakeholder is anyone who’s affected by the results of your project. That includes your customers and end users, too. Make sure you identify all stakeholders and keep their interests in mind when you create your project plan. Meet with the project sponsors and key stakeholders to discuss their needs and expectations, and establish baselines for project scope, budget, and timeline. Then create a Scope Statement document to finalize and record the details of the project scope, get everyone on the same page, and reduce the chances of costly miscommunications.
Step 3: Set & Prioritize Goals
Once you have a list of stakeholder needs, prioritize them and set specific project goals. These should outline the objectives of the project — the benefits you hope to accomplish. Write out your goals in your project plan so it’s clearly communicated and easily shared.
Step 4: Establish measurable criteria for success
How can you know if your project is going to be successful if you don’t have any way of measuring success? You will need interim milestones, especially for an endeavor that will span a long time, so that you can determine if you are staying on track or straying from the project’s goals. You must have both internal checkpoints and client checkpoints. Never leave incorporating a client’s feedback until the very end of the project!
Step 5: Define Critical Project Milestones & Deliverables
Identify crucial moments throughout the project. You can provide a life cycle of the project by including the four main phases: initiation, planning, execution and closure. Perform a real evaluation at the end of each phase. Make sure to examine every deliverable. From parts of the product to the technical documents to the project plan, you will need all of the elements involved to ensure the product is meeting the project specifications.
Step 6: Select team members, and assign responsibilities
Gather your team members, and make sure that skill-sets align with required roles. This is an important first step: If you assign the wrong person to a task, you are reducing your chances of success before the project even begins. Make sure each team member is clear on what is expected from them and when. Clear and open communication is mission-critical.
