3 - communicate the project plan to your team

This serves two purposes: it informs people what's happening, and it obtains essential support, agreement and commitment. If your project is complex and involves a team, then you should involve the team in the planning process to maximise buy-in, ownership, and thereby accountability. our project will also benefit from input and consultation from relevant people at an early stage. !lso consider how best to communicate the aims and approach of your project to others in your organi"ation and wider networ#. our project 'team' can extend more widely than you might first imagine. $onsider all the possible 'sta#eholders' - those who have an interest in your project and the areas it touches and needs to attract support or tolerance. Involvement and communication are vital for cooperation and support. %ailing to communicate to people &who might have no great input, but whose cooperation is crucial' is a common reason for arousing suspicion and objections, defensiveness or resistance.

4 - agree and delegate project actions

our plan will have identified those responsible for each activity. !ctivities need to be very clearly described, including all relevant parameters, timescales, costs, and deliverables. (se the )*!+T acronym to help you delegate tas#s properly. )ee the delegation tips and processes. (sing proper delegation methods is vital for successful project management involving teams. ,hen delegated tas#s fail this is typically because they have not been explained clearly, agreed with the other person, or supported and chec#ed while in progress. )o publish the full plan to all in the team, and consider carefully how to delegate medium-to-long-term tas#s in light of team members' forward-planning capabilities. -ong-term complex projects need to be planned in more detail, and great care must be ta#en in delegating and supporting them. .nly delegate tas#s which pass the )*!+T test. .ther useful materials to help understand team delegation are the Tannenbaum and )chmidt $ontinuum, and Tuc#man's group forming/performing model. The 0ohari ,indow model is also an excellent review framewor# for 1uic#ly chec#ing or reminding about mutual awareness among team members in large complex projects, where there is often a ris# of project fragmentation and people 'doing their own thing' in blissful isolation - which seriously undermines even the best planned projects.

5 - manage, motivate, inform, encourage, enable the project team

*anage the team and activities in meetings, communicating, supporting, and helping with decisions &but not ma#ing them for people who can ma#e them for themselves'. '2raise loudly3 blame softly.' &a wonderful maxim attributed to $atherine the 4reat'. .ne of the big challenges for a project manager is deciding how much freedom to give for each delegated activity. Tight parameters and lots of chec#ing are necessary for inexperienced people who li#e clear instructions, but this approach is the #iss of death to experienced, entrepreneurial and creative people. They need a wider brief, more freedom, and less chec#ing. *anage these people by the results they get - not how they get them. -oo# out for differences in personality and wor#ing styles in your team. *isunderstanding personal styles can get in the way of team cooperation. our role here is to enable and translate. %ace to face meetings, when you can bring team members together, are generally the best way to avoid issues and relationships becoming personalised and emotional. $ommunicate progress and successes regularly to everyone. 4ive the people in your team the plaudits, particularly when someone high up expresses satisfaction - never, never accept plaudits yourself. $onversely - you must ta#e the blame for anything that goes wrong - never 'dump' &your problems or stresses' on anyone in your team. !s project manager any problem is always ultimately down to you anyway. (se empathy and conflict handling techni1ues, and loo# out for signs of stress and manage it accordingly. ! happy positive team with a basic plan will outperform a miserable team with a brilliant plan, every time.

6 - check, measure, and review project performance; adjust project plans; inform project team and others
$hec# the progress of activities against the plan. +eview performance regularly and at the stipulated review points, and confirm the validity and relevance of the remainder of the plan. !djust the plan if necessary in light of performance, changing circumstances, and new information, but remain on trac# and within the original terms of reference. 5e sure to use transparent, pre-agreed measurements when judging performance. &,hich shows how essential it is to have these measures in place and clearly agreed before the tas# begins.' Identify, agree and delegate new actions as appropriate. Inform team members and those in authority about developments, clearly, concisely and in writing. 2lan team review meetings. )tic# to the monitoring systems you established. 2robe the apparent situations to get at the real facts and figures. !nalyse causes and learn from mista#es. Identify reliable advisors and experts in the team and use them. 6eep tal#ing to people, and ma#e yourself available to all.

- complete project; review and report on project; give praise and thanks to the project team
!t the end of your successful project hold a review with the team. 7nsure you understand what happened and why. +eflect on any failures and mista#es positively, objectively, and without allocating personal blame. +eflect on successes gratefully and

realistically. ,rite a review report, and ma#e observations and recommendations about follow up issues and priorities - there will be plenty.

! - follow up - train, support, measure and report project results and benefits
Traditionally this stage would be considered part of the project completion, but increasingly an emphasised additional stage of project follow-up is appropriate. This is particularly so in very political environments, and/or where projects benefits have relatively low visibility and meaning to sta#eholders &staff, customers, investors, etc', especially if the project also has very high costs, as I$T projects tend to do. I$T &information and communications technology' projects often are li#e this - low visibility of benefits but very high costs, and also very high stress and ris# levels too. 2roject management almost always involves change management too, within which it's very important to consider the effects of the project on people who have to adapt to the change. There is often a training or education need. There will almost certainly be an explanation need, in which for example methods li#e team briefing have prove very useful. ,hatever, when you are focused on project management it is easy to forget or ignore that many people are affected in some way by the results of the project. $hange is difficult, even when it is good and for right reasons. +emembering this during and at the end of your project will help you achieve a project that is well received, as well as successful purely in project management terms.

)omeone once said 89on't you love it when a plan comes together:8 It's true. !s project manager, to be at the end of a project and to report that the project plan has been fully met, on time and on budget, is a significant achievement, whatever the project si"e and complexity. The mix of s#ills re1uired are such that good project managers can manage anything.

amusing project management analogies

To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the project manager, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

! clergyman, a doctor and a project manager were playing golf together one day and were waiting for a particularly slow group ahead. The project manager exclaimed, 8,hat's with these people: ,e've been waiting over half and hour; It's a complete disgrace.8 The doctor agreed, 8They're hopeless, I've never seen such a rabble on a golf course.8 The clergyman spotted the approaching green#eeper and as#ed him what was going on, 8,hat's happening with that group ahead of us: They're surely too slow and useless to be playing, aren't they:8 The green#eeper replied, 8.h, yes, that's a group of blind fire-fighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime.8 The three golfers fell silent for a moment. The clergyman said, 8.h dear, that's so sad. I shall say some special prayers for them tonight.8 The doctor added, rather mee#ly, 8That's a good thought. I'll get in touch with an ophthalmic surgeon friend of mine to see if there's anything that can be done for them.8 !fter pondering the situation for a few seconds, the project manager turned to the green#eeper and as#ed, 8,hy can't they play at night:8 !nd this &than#s 4 5ee'... ! project manager was out wal#ing in the countryside one day when a frog called out to him. <e bent down, pic#ed up the frog and put it in his poc#et. The frog called out again, saying, 8If you #iss me I shall turn me bac# into a beautiful princess, and I'll stay with you for a wee# as your mistress.8 The project manager too# the frog out of his poc#et, smiled at it, and put it bac# into his poc#et. The frog called out once more, 8If you #iss me and turn me bac# into a princess, I'll stay with you for as long as you wish and do absolutely anything that you want. !gain the 2roject manager too# the frog out of his poc#et, smiled at it and put it bac#. %inally, the frog demanded, 8,hat's the matter: ou can turn me bac# into a beautiful princess, and I'll stay with you for ever and do anything you want. ,hy won't you #iss me:8 to which the project manager replied, 8(nderstand, I'm a project manager. I simply don't have time for a girlfriend, but a tal#ing frog .... that's cool.8