Start the race right!

Often times I've been faced with a situation that needed the project to be up and running ASAP. As project managers, you must have faced this situation all the time. Sometimes, its the sales pitch causing more pressure on delivery, sometimes it is a valid customer driver needing the product out faster. Regardless of the cause, the impact on the project is predictable - you may well get off the blocks faster, but like all marathon runners know- it may actually set you back in the race at the end. Remember that Finishing the race is always more important than starting it. The trick therefore is STARTING THE RACE RIGHT!

In no way is this list exhaustive, and I am the first to admit that I have only learnt from the numerous mistakes I have made! Looking back, here is a synopsis of things I could have done better and things I managed to deliver :). I purposely use a tactical style so you can easily relate it to your projects. The first thing to acknowledge is that there needs to be a plan for setup. However, do not expect it to be sequential. It is unreal to expect that you will get dedicated time to setup a project before it really begins. Reality throws the project at you and you will need to start some form of execution. Don’t worry about this so long as you keep crossing items from your project start-up checklist.

YES I RECOMMEND A START-UP CHECKLIST instead of a sexy project plan for managing the starting phase of the project. The rest of the process pans out much easier if you see it as items to knock off the checklist, rather than a plan/schedule with dependencies.