Business Owners
Engage business owners early in process to obtain understanding and buy in
Entrust them with roles, responsibilities and authority to get job done well
People/Participants
Embrace people with the right knowledge, experience, expertise and drive (leadership)
Use high-powered people and allow them to “carry the ball” as far as possible
Planning and Schedule
Establish and maintain master schedule of important tasks; use proactively to monitor progress
Aggressively question tasks that fall behind, assure they don't endanger the entire effort
Issues Management
Establish issues management and escalation processes early; keep them simple
Diligently record and track each issue, and follow to closure
Share issues log with PMO and steering committee at each PMO and SC meeting
Scope Management
Establish scope change and escalation processes early; keep them simple
Diligently record and track change requests, and follow to closure
Share scope change log with PMO and SC at each PMO and SC meeting
Leadership
Makes the entire effort happen; ensure your key participants are leaders
Meet needs, anticipate expectations
Communications/Follow-Up
Communicate clearly, often and honestly
Engage professionals to help with planned and ad hoc communications needs
Deliverables
Need to meet timeframe and budget, at appropriate quality and performance levels
Define standards and help teams plan to meet them; insist they be met
Measurement
“What gets measured gets done”
Establish and use appropriate measures to monitor and assure progress toward goals
Risk Management
Establish risk management and escalation processes early; keep them simple
Diligently record and track each risk and follow to assure mitigation
Share risk management list with PMO and SC at each PMO and SC meeting
Testing
Don't overlook importance of assuring quality in everything that happens
Question everything; look at everything from “outside the box”
Understand impact of tasks, technologies, resources, etc. with milestones and deliverables
Invest the time to test, test, test