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By Christine Temple-Wolfe
Of course, there are many levels of project management. From basic excel spreadsheet schedules with responsible parties and timetables, to the in-depth reporting and tracking utilizing Microsoft Project. I am amazed how few people on the business side have exposure to these basic skills. And this will lead a company to flounder, waste money and move in conflicting directions all at the same time.
Consultants and business leaders alike- get on board and get training on these business practices.
Discovery- This helpful Q & A is an interactive discussion which helps stage the relationship and establish common goals and objectives. Sharing of vital past experience and expectations of the future, workflow processes, decision-making standards and management culture can mean the difference between a healthy or unhealthy project.
Scope- Outlining every task and key milestones is ideally a creative session among peers that provides you the opportunity to think of anything and everything you think is required to successfully meet your mutual goal. And while these are iterative, tasks help create a roadmap so that things get done. If not documented, then teams can spin helplessly in their own ideas without ever executing on anything. Laying out priorities what should be done first, middle and last help business owners and consultants allocate resources effectively and are the key to successful case study after case study.
Dates & Resources- While we all know schedules change, i repeatedly find clients that agree to a schedule and then can't meet a deliverable, pushing back on the consultant and refusing to adjust the schedule. This is why the skill of project management is so critical to the success of a project. Moving dates on a schedule must result in a push back date of the deliverable. No matter who the accountable party is for missing dates, you simply can't maintain a good relationship with your internal or external teams without honoring their time commitment.
Sign-Off- And finally, the sign-off process by both the service team and the client team is critical. No matter how good you are, you simply cannot hit a moving target. Drawing a line in the sand is a mutual decision and will help both sides to respectfully understand what is needed for all on the team to be successful. Remember, there is always more time after the project to redefine and make adjustments to areas you think could be better. Clients must be clear that sign-off is final and that agreement is a professional contract to be honored for the well-being of the project. If you must, create sign-offs at multiple levels of the organization. Let the client arbitrate their team internally and the consultant arbitrate his/her resources. Ignoring this key role, or trying to intervene as a project manager on your client's behalf can be dangerous and create confusion and even possibly ill will among team members.
Tracking- Whether you choose to formally or informally track your progress, tracking is helpful to all teams in understanding what could have gone better in your post mortem analysis. Teams will learn to function well together over time. And even though you may have an adjustment period where many meetings are required, the front-end work will certainly pay off later. Like any new relationship, working in teams can be challenging- but it shouldn't be awful either. At the end of each project, review what was delayed and why. Analyze the bottlenecks and provide team-based solutions how they can be avoided in the future. Without pointing fingers, what can all members of the team do to be more efficient? | 
