You really can’t imagine it! Can you? Time runs so fast, and before I could say Jack Robinson I realized that I was late with my blog post for last week. Anyway, let me give it a go this morning, as I’m committed to ensuring that we have at least a blog per week.
So, today let’s take a quick look at projects. I know some people will wonder why we are bringing projects into this entrepreneurship thing. Don’t worry. I will keep it relevant and not too wide and complex. The reality is that entrepreneurs are oftentimes engaged in one project or the other, even without knowing that what they are involved in constitutes a project. For the big guys leading and controlling big companies this might not be new, but for small players in entrepreneurship this might not be the case.
A project is not routine. It is an activity that has a defined start and finish, also with defined scope and resources. A project is normally designed to accomplish a specific goal and clearly defined objectives. I’m not going into all the technicalities involved in the definition. I leave that to you in case you are interested in learning more about projects. The good thing is that in today’s world we have an information explosion through the internet, so you can get the missing link or close the gaps if you like.
Examples of projects include introduction and launch of new products into the market, installation and test running of newly acquired machinery, computerization of your enterprise operations, establishing a new branch in a new location or country. I guess you can name some more. Can’t you? But don’t tell me that your travel from home to office is also a project. Ok? It might quality for scope, definite start and finish, objective and goal (work) but it is disqualified because it’s routine. Do you agree with me?
Anyway, what are the top tips for project management for an entrepreneur? Why talk about project management? What are some of the safeguards to consider in managing projects? What are some of the best ways of managing projects? Project management poorly handled can be disaster, and can be so draining on human and other resources, leave aside total failure that makes your competitors laugh heartily, and the market terribly annoyed because of your inability to deliver. This is why you should not ignore good project management principles, such as those indicated below.
Good! Now I intend to conclude swiftly here. You might have noted that I left out the point of project review and evaluation in my top tips on project management. It is intentional. In my opinion, a review is simply a post-mortem, and I don’t see how it positively affects implementation of the current project. It will certainly help you in the future if you are wise and take advantage of the learning points. Additionally, there are very advanced project management methodologies and tools such as PRINCE2, PRiSM, Agile Project Management, Waterfall Project Management, Critical Path/Chain Analysis (CPA), SCRUM, PERT, Kanban, XP (Extreme Programing) etc. The big players know and use some of the approaches. I’m not going into these, but if you have a curious mind, you could proceed and get some ideas from those principles.
Thanks and bye for now.
Till then,
The Wise Entrepreneur