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4.0 Cisco IPT

Rule 6: Thou Won’t Try to Do More than Can Be Done

You must have an appropriate scope for the project. The scope of the project involves
more than goals. For example, the goal could be to build a two-story building on the
location of the back parking lot by next December. But the scope of the project could
range from putting up a prefabricated metal building with a cement floor to building a
miniature Taj Mahal for the chairman of the board. While the first scope is feasible, the
second is not. Make sure the objectives and the scope of the project are clear to
everyone if you want to be considered a success when the project is done.

Rule 7: Thou Will Remember that People Count

Sometimes, in focusing on the process of project management, you may forget that
projects are mostly about people. Project success depends on people, not on reports or
charts or even computers. To be a successful project manager, you must accommodate
people’s needs and priorities. People manage the project. People do most of the work.
People enjoy (or curse) the end results. Projects also put stresses on these people
because projects almost always involve new group structures, deadlines, and extra
work. If a project’s end results don’t serve people, then the project has failed. Another
way of stating this rule is: Do no damage to the people on the project! Don’t overwork
the staff; don’t demand the impossible; never lie to anyone (even if it seems like a way
out of a tight situation). Projects almost always incorporate built-in priority conflicts
between ordinary work and project work. The bad news is that you must eventually
satisfy people’s needs, priorities, and conflicts for the project to come to a happy
ending.

Rule 8: Thou Will Gain the Formal and Ongoing Support of Management and
Stakeholders

It’s obvious (or at least it should be) that you must have approval from management and
the key stakeholders before you initiate a project. This involves not only communication
skills but also negotiation skills. This rule is a lot like Rule 1, except that it means you
must add a formal approval stage to the general consensus you gained in keeping Rule
1. You need to get all the people who have to contribute resources (time or money) or
who may be impacted by a project (if it will change their job or life) to formally endorse
your project and to agree that the project is worth doing. You also need to get formal
agreement on some basic rules from the stakeholders for dealing with issues of
authority, changes in project scope, and handling basic communications.

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