Project Management Learning

I had previously been trying to write once a day about project management for a while now, and what I have learnt from it. As I come to the conclusion of this project, I need to take some time to reflect on those things.

• Getting requirements from business reps is hard, hard work. No one ever knows what they really want until it's shown to them, so the key is to get as much prototyping done as early as possible
• Saying "no" to people just makes them angry. Deflect in other ways e.g. tell them to put it in the request list and we'll review.
• Writing snarky emails does not help, even if the business rep is saying something stupid! Never be negatively emotional on a business email, as it just looks unprofessional and you sound like a whinger.
• Tailor the information for the audience, focussing on the "what's in it for me" slant.
• Schedules are wrong the moment they are saved. However, milestones are a good way of focussing people on what needs to be done.
• If there are no business rules for a functionality, chances are that the functionality won't be used properly. Make sure someone can explain why people should do certain things.
• To become a good PM, you have to get out of the "one-project" mentality. Otherwise it's too easy to lose oneself in the detail
• People are never consistently poor, so it's wrong to expect the worse of someone all the time, even if they have stuffed up before.
• I still suck at estimating costs and schedules.
• Learn from those around you as much as you can! There is always an alternative to consider

That's probably the tip of the iceberg. As long as I keep writing and recording these things, surely something will stick! For any budding project managers out there, there is a book I thoroughly recommend called "The Art of Project Management" by Scott Berkun. It's gold!