Manage with contracts to improve your project success. Define scope and roles clearly. Putting a lot of the project work out to contract is one way, with the benefit of being able to control the schedule and cost by applying contract terms. Or contract internally.
Projects often fail because the project team members are not clear on their roles and responsibilities. Make sure your project team members know what they are supposed to do with defined roles, clear role descriptions and briefs of what they should be doing.
Ensure your request for offer and also your offer documents list a single contact person for contacting for further details or clarifications.
Do what you say you will do, and do it when you said you will do it. Report to the client regularly and clearly. Keeping people informed significantly reduces project problems. Be reliable.
Avoid problems later by checking early in the project who is responsible for what aspect of the project and who has authority to approve what. Document this.
Problem: Many instructions, requests or orders state the due date requirement as something like “due Thursday” or “by tomorrow”, or even “due October”. However, that is unclear. When the person …
Problem: Delays on projects are very common. Wet weather, delays in client review of designs, transport delays due to strikes, and lots of other things can cause delays that are …
Problem: In most companies, everyone is busy, and they don’t have time to be wasted. People need (and most people prefer) to see what is happening and when. Yet many …
Problem: It is very easy for team members, stakeholders or others to get confused over what different terms in your project mean. Some terms in one context can mean something …
Problem: Verbal conversations don’t leave a paper trail for evidence of the topic of discussion or agreement. I have often found that a verbal conversation (by phone or in person) …