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The project manager is something like Virgil in the Divine Comedy: this person connects worlds and serves the purpose of getting things done.

The art of IT project management is about planning and executing projects using time management, tracking, risk management, and troubleshooting. This process helps businesses get from point A to point B along the path of least resistance without taking unnecessary and costly detours.

Let's take a look at the ABCs of effective project coordination and management.

Key challenges of project planning

To some extent, starting a project is like sailing a boat: it looks easy thanks to the tailwind, and it only takes one person at the steering wheel. Reaching a wanted destination, however, takes a lot of discipline both while sailing and in the IT industry.

Here are six of the most common project management challenges and insidious obstacles you can face on the path of software development.

Poor goal setting
Firstly, you must define precise objectives and goals to start a project. Realistic and clearly defined goals are the first step on a treasure map of any task the team is creating.

Demonstrating how each action the team does advances you toward your objective is an additional necessary criterion. As a result, you'll be able to evaluate the contribution of the project's team and individual team members and make changes if necessary. Poor resource and client management can result from failing to create adequate goals and objectives.
Miscommunication
When there is effective communication

1. team members collaborate well and understand their areas of responsibillity
2. tasks are distributed effectively
3. stakeholders are kept up to date on the project's status

Miscommunication, however, is an antonym of the processes described, and it often leads to team conflicts. The team members must have sound communication, which alone is excellent for conflict prophylaxis.
Budget restrictions and changes
Changing and/or limiting the budget is frequently the most significant challenge that emerges in the progress of working on the project, and it poses a great milestone to overcome.

Budget changes naturally if the project's scope is broadening, just as there might be unexpected factors like receiving new data (marketing research results, for example) or even unplanned force majeure expenses.
Scope creep
Scope defines the work required in your project and outlines the boundaries of the effort. This high-level description is developed before work has started.

"Scope creep" is the tendency to add more features, business rules, or other requirements. This, in turn, expands resources: efforts, time, and budget.

Some scope changes are explainable and predictable, but others may be uncontrolled and un-managed. The last ones PMs have to prevent by
Mismatching team skill set
A skills mismatch is the difference between the skill set required to achieve a project goal and the skills of the employee holding the position.

An ill-matched team will struggle with project tasks lowering motivation, delaying deadlines, and causing issues and deadlocks.
Skipping Risk Management
Every project carries some inherent degree of risk. However, forewarned is forearmed. Project risk management isn't just a nice-to-have — it's an unskippable stage.

Ignoring it will open your project up to all possible potential disasters. A lot of business failures involved multiple risk management gaps.

Why is project management so important?

In a nutshell, project management is a link between an idea, its implementation, and a final product. The project manager doesn't babysit the team: apart from managing the workflow, PM is also responsible for setting clear deadlines, managing expectations, and other troubleshooting on the way, which there can be plenty.

While challenges can naturally arise in the work process, successful project management and owing preparation can still eliminate a significant percentage of all the possible risks. First of all, it includes:

Due diligence
Responsible financial planning
Accurate time estimation
Organizing teamwork

However, you can't measure a whole with a sum of its parts: a growing number of businesses worldwide are realizing the value of effective IT project management for improved results and content workers.

Project management process flow

1
Requirements Elicitation
The first step of planning is even the most error-prone. This stage suggests eliciting requirements and making a list of use cases. It allows you to focus on the project's vision and collect actionable requirements from stakeholders, who have a direct or indirect influence on the requirements, like product owners or end-users.

The elicitation process can comprise interviews, user cases, and scenarios. You need to consider the requirements of all stakeholders and get a detailed list of end-user needs, that will form the basis of the system requirement specification (SRS).
2
SRS Development
System requirement specification (SRS) development gives you more chances of meeting the budget. The following steps are done at this phase of the project:

1. Choosing your technology stack
2. Creating the project timeline
3. Building the development team
Freshcode Tip
To make this stage easier for you we described the best practices of building an SRS and performing requirements elicitation. Here you can find the Freshcode guide on how to create a software requirements document (SRD).
3
Project Estimation
The estimation part of project planning is another critical aspect. Estimate two timelines for every task: an optimistic and a pessimistic one.

After you have estimated the time necessary for every task, use Monte-Carlo analysis to estimate the likelihood of completing the project within the expected time frame.

You can also use the Gantt Chart to visualize the separate stages of the in-house or outsourcing development process over time and get a better understanding of its time frame. Based on the proper development timeline, you can estimate the project's budget accurately.
4
Scope Reduction
If the project estimation meets your budget and timeline requirements, you can skip this step and move on to step #5.

However, if you can't afford the time or money the project will take, go over the requirements and features one more time. You need to interview the stakeholders again and identify the major features the project can't go without.

A minimum viable product (MVP) can be a suitable option to choose from.

Once you reevaluate the project with a reduced scope, move to the next step.
5
Risk Management
Most software projects fail because of unforeseen risks, so risk assessment and management is a critical step necessary to ensure a positive outcome. To assess risk, use a premortem method. Unlike a postmortem autopsy, a premortem analysis is conducted at the outset of the project.

For every risk, evaluate the likelihood and impact, creating a risk matrix. Consult the project's lead developer to assess the risks. Do not discard the risk matrix after the project is complete; software companies store them in a risk registry extended after every new project.
6
Implementation Setup
This step allows you to have a clear picture of every development stage and prepare a management platform to stay on the same page.

1. Take care of setting up corporate messenger (like Slack or Google Meet), information storage (Google Drive, Dropbox), and software development tools (Jira or Trello).
2. Create the project implementation board by adding all tasks and provide a test plan for the task backlog.
3. Finally, introduce the team members and make sure everybody knows each other's functions and responsibilities.
7
Project Implementation
The core and most extensive step is the seventh one, which is project implementation. This is when the work is in progress and your job as a PM is to make sure everything goes smoothly and help the team navigate every step of the way.

At this stage, there are many processes under PM's control, including:

1. Ensuring that the team's scope is bearable and allows them to meet deadlines without extensive overworking.
2. Staying in touch with the team and maintaining a nurturing climate.
3. Bringing clarity into problem situations, clearing up misunderstandings, and solving (or better preventing) issues.
8
Post-Launch Maintenance
Post-launch maintenance can be perceived as a bonus stage. This period of time mostly emphasizes the need to stay in touch with the clients to provide support if needed and, if necessary, navigate developing new features if the client needs them.

Freshcode's project management best practices

Freshcode works Streetlogix

See case

Streetlogix is an asset management application that enables municipalities to manage roadway infrastructure more efficiently and sustainably.

Freshcode and Streetlogix cooperation started in 2020. The client came to us with the web development request for achieving scale. Over time we started working on the mobile development part. Together with the client, we've made the decision to rewrite the app using React Native. So, we moved from iOS and Android codebases to the cross-platform React Native development.

Let's look at this case through the prism of project management and outline the key tasks that were accomplished.

1
Input: lack of management
Starting with the Streetlogix case, we faced several management flow issues:
  • Lack of clarity in the requirements
  • Lack of technical documentation
  • Lack of mockups in the comprehension of functional requirements
These were crucial management pain points we were fixing first.
2
Processing: setting up
Considering mentioned management gaps we defined the next objectives as prior ones to achieve project goals:
  • Well-set-up communication
  • Transparent reporting
  • Complete technical documentation
Freshcode PM developed and implemented a plan on how to get all project teams and all stakeholders on the same page, where everyone is connected and gets information simultaneously.
3
Output: fine-tuned workflow
In collaboration with a business analyst, the project manager has implemented the following tasks:
  • Task management using Asana and Confluence
  • Setting approval management tools
  • Sprint planning: decomposing work into tasks and deliverables
  • Release schedule and release management plan
Every development step was coordinated with the client to prevent any omissions and miscommunications.
As a PM you pay attention to the mood of your team. It helps you to avoid cringeworthy moments, discontents, and possible various unpleasant scenarios you definitely do not want to handle.

Communication is a basis, but it's also important to be good with work on requirements, product designs, and sketchy, chaotically organized information.

Because our key goal is to turn chaos into order.Working with requirements is a must-have skill together with the ability to identify and understand clients' pain points and how we will cure these points.

РМ participates in all possible project iterations: starting with discussions of the initial idea with stakeholders to visualization of underhood operations and post-release procedures. That's why you should be well-observed to offer different solutions and approaches which will suit your specific project scenario best.
olekcii vorona
Oleksii Vorona
Project Manager
at Freshcode

The future of IT project management

According to the Project Management Institute report, by 2027, there will be 22 million jobs for project managers. There is plenty of reasons why this change is happening: for starters, it might be a simple outcome to the other prediction made by consultancy firm Bain & Company that by the same year, most work will be project-based.

Of course, end-to-end project management is a critical element in every business plan, but it's also an essential part of living in a society: we will require more employees with organizational, planning, management, and motivational skills as we collaborate more.

In the end, project management starts long before the developers begin coding. High-quality preparations, like requirements elicitation, scope assessment, and risk management, are invaluable for the project's success. If you are new to project management, don't leave your product to chance, let Freshcode's project managers help you ❤️

Let's talk about the thriving IT market and your product market fit. Fill out the form on our website or contact the Freshcode representative on Linkedin.

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With a keen understanding of the software development landscape, Alex implements best practices to deliver exceptional experiences for Freshcode clients.

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