This week in our Process Improvement and Innovation class, we discussed best strategies and processes going through a project successfully. One topic point that stuck out to me was the Triple Constraint and balancing time, cost and scope for project. The concept had me wondering how I could balance and manage all three of these if I’m just a member of the project team but not the project manager? According to Forbes.com, there are four key skills you need to know not being a project manager, but being a member on a project team. These skills gave me a better understanding of how I could balance and manage the Triple Constraint even if I am just a project team member.
Skill #1 – Using Project Charters
This skill will help the entire project team by ensuring everyone is on the same page in regards to status updates and roles and responsibilities of team members. I like to think of project charters as a hub for the team to get all the information they need without having to set up hour-long meetings to go over project updates. Everything is in one central location with everyone’s updated information.
Skill #2 – Vetting Ideas to Weed out the Bad Ones
This must be done before any initial planning is set to take place and have goals, ideas and strategies aligned before anything else. In my current role at Temple University, whenever a project is set to kick-off we have a planning and brainstorming meeting. This is where we lay out our goals and ideas for the project and throw any bad ideas out the window after coming to an agreement of why it wouldn’t work.
Skill #3 – Conducting Risk Analysis
You must understand the risks, current and future, when going into a project and how they may hurt or help your organization. Risk analysis is used to help identify factors that could negatively impact the success of a project and or milestones within the project. Identifying and assessing factors can help a company or organization avoid or mitigate risks in the project life cycle.
Skill #4 – Debriefing Projects
When a project is completed, you should always have a meeting scrum afterwards to discuss what went right, what could use improvement, and lessons learned for the next project. This allows everyone to debrief their thoughts and strategies in an organized way and will only make the project and/or other projects more successful down the road.
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