Category Archives: Projectmanagement

Rules on internet project management: (15) Try to keep it fun

Category:Projectmanagement,Rules Internet Project management Tags : Projectmanagement Rules Internet Project management Series

A large Internet project can sometimes take months. Chances are that the project can get long and boring to the project members, whether they are suppliers or paying customers. That affects the performance. Therefore rule 15:

Try to keep the fun
It is a difficult rule on something that just does not let’s itself be controlled to easily. Keeping a project ‘fun’ can be done in many different ways. In any case you must try to continue to challenge the project members.

Rules on internet project management: (14) Keep account of lack of knowledge

Category:Projectmanagement,Rules Internet Project management Tags : Projectmanagement Rules Internet Project management Series
[lang_nl]Iedereen heeft zo zijn eigen specialiteit. Daarom werk je immers voor dat ene bedrijf of in die bedrijfstak. Een leverancier wordt ingehuurd vanwege diens kennis van zaken op een gebied waar de opdrachtgever geen of minder verstand van heeft. Regel 14 richt zich op het gat tussen deze twee:

Hou rekening met ontbrekende kennis
Het is moeilijk om je te verplaatsen in een ander. Het is nog moeilijker je te verplaatsen in de kennis van een ander. De neiging is er snel om maar aan te nemen dat een ander je begrijpt. Die neiging is niet altijd juist. Als jij denkt dat iets duidelijk is hoeft dat voor een ander nog zeker niet zo te zijn. [/lang_nl][lang_en]Everyone has their own specialty. That’s why you work for that specific company or in that specific industry. A supplier is hired because of his expertise in an area where the client has no or less expertise. Rule 14 focuses on the gap between these two:

Keep account of lack of knowledge
It is difficult for you to step into someone else’s shoes. It is even harder to picture the knowledge of someone else. The tendency is to quickly believe that the other one understands you. That tendency is not always correct. If you think that something is clear for the other it doesn’t have to be the case. [/lang_en]

Rules on internet project management: (13) Keep it feasible

Category:Projectmanagement,Rules Internet Project management Tags : Projectmanagement Rules Internet Project management Series

A project has a beginning and an end. In the intervening period the project has to be delivered. This means that there is an X- amount of time available for an X- amount of work. Too often this is not in line with each other. Therefore, rule 13 is:

Keep it feasible
A client would like to get as much as possible realized in the shortest possible time. A deadline is ‘hard’ and can often not change. Meanwhile, the demands have not become less and they even grow. The pressure from the client on the supplier will get very big.

The client may cut themselves into the fingers with this kind of behavior. By increasing the pressure on the supplier there is a bigger chance that a supplier will deliver a less good job. The supplier will want to keep the client happy and will try to handle as much as possible in the efforts to meet the demands and deadlines. But this will be at the expense of quality. Then, when deadlines are not met, the quality leaves something to be desired for or the price increases, the sponsor will get dissatisfied with the supplier. But that is not always justified.

A client must realize that there is only a limited amount of time and that within that time the most viable has to be achieved, but within the borders. Everything you ask for that is out of the boundaries will backfire, whether it is price, quality or time. The supplier also has its responsibilities. They should make clear what the limits of the possibilities are and be honest and open about communicating them. Keep it feasible: it will deliver a better product.