Check Your Authority
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.
Documentation
Meeting Your Forecast Budget Spend Rate
Problem: Some projects have budget allocated to them, rather than being funded by a purchase order or contract or similar. This is particularly the case with internal projects or government …
Evidence for Late Completion
Problem: If not properly managed, some projects you are managing will end up being completed late. Even though there may be legitimate reasons for this, it is your responsibility as …
Confirm Details of Verbal Conversations
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) …
Specify the Due Date
When submitting any document for review (such as a design, invoice for payment, report, etc.), specify the date a response is due (perhaps 10 business days). For contractual related items …
Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) and Records
It is important to keep a good record of the things you do to meet your stated goals. E.g. Goal to improve safety – keep a record of all the …
Make Project Policies, Procedures, and Forms Easy to Find
For projects to run efficiently the team members need to be able to find and use policies, procedures and particularly forms easily and without having to spend time looking for …
Control of Documents
Keep good control of formal documents. When writing a set of documents, plans, etc, make sure that final production is coordinated by one person, or that the file storage is …
Datum Differences
Be aware of datum differences when doing coastal projects. Coastal/ocean datums are different to land datums and if not specified correctly could cause problems on a project. You don’t want …
Evaluation of Tenders
When requesting and evaluating tenders make sure your specifications are very clear about what is required. Also check that the tenderers clearly describe what they offer. When accepting and signing …