Use Project Standards to Make your Projects Successful

Projects have failed because there is no standard for the project team to follow. Without project standards there could be chaos and demoralization on the project. This will lead to budget overrun, inconsistent project results and eventually failure. Project standards establish a benchmark for the current and subsequent projects to follow. A typical project methodology that can help to create a project standard is the Project Management Institute (PMI) methodology. The PMI methodology has been used for projects in various industries many times and has been successful.
So, how do we create project standard? The important steps to be considered are: Define Terminology, Use Life Cycle, Have a Guideline in place, Careful with your choice, and enforce conformity.

Define Terminology: Stakeholders (anyone with vested interest on the project) on the project need to understand each other. Therefore, creating terminology that everyone understands is very helpful. After all 90% of project management is communication. It is a good idea to agree on Glossary of Terms that everyone is trained to use on the project.

Use Life Cycle: It is mandatory that project standard considers life cycle. A typical PMI project life cycle is as follows:
• Initiation – Create authoritative document to get the project approval and select the stakeholders going to work on the project.
• Planning – Plan the project that includes requirements, budget, resources, quality, risk, and schedule.
• Execution – Implement what is planned appropriately.
• Monitoring and Controlling – Ensure that all work is going on according to requirements and plan, and if not corrective action need to be taken.
• Closing – When the implementation/Execution is completed and accepted, it is time to bring the project to a closure.
It is important to let the project team understand the adopted life cycle in use. These standards must be used with subsequent projects. It is important that one life cycle is used at a time to keep sanity and confusion within the project environment.

Have a Guideline in place: Initially culture training may be useful to indoctrinate the team to follow standard guidelines. Standards must be adhered for everyone to be in the same tune. This avoids chaos and confusion on the project. Continuous training on the project can enforce the team to follow guidelines.

Careful with your choice: Standards may be changed slightly to fit into the company standards and culture. It is possible that certain standards of the PMI methodology may not be compatible with the company culture.

Enforce conformity: It is almost useless to create standard and no one follows it. Frequently, the teams must access that the standards put in place are being followed to expectation. This check creates conformity and lead to project success.