Simple Project Management for Small Business. Christophe Boone's Primault

      

      Simple Project Management for Small Business

      Six Easy Steps to Success

      Simple Project Management for Small Business

      by Christophe Primault

      Copyright 2012 Christophe Primault

      All rights reserved.

      Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com

       http://www.eBookIt.com

      ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0908-5

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      ©2012 GetApp

      This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

      GetApp would like to thank the following people for their contributions to this book.

      

Eleanor Mayrhofer – e.m.papers

      

Elizabeth Harrin – A Girl’s Guide to Project Management

      

Josh Nankivel – pmStudent

      

Lyndsay Scott – Arras People

      

Peter Taylor – The Lazy Project Manager

      Introduction

      Much of the time when people hear the term “project management,” it conjures up a visual of huge projects that take hundreds of people, lots of money, and a good bit of time to complete.

      But the reality is, many projects are much smaller than those we imagine. Most small business owners juggle numerous projects at any given time. You may not think of the things that you do as projects, but consider this list for a moment.

      

Remodel your website

      

Develop a new marketing campaign

      

Create a new product offering

      

Hire an employee

      

Coordinate a joint venture

      

Plan a newsletter

      

Deliver client services

      Any of those sound familiar to you? These are just a few of the projects you might be involved in at any given point in time. And, most likely, you’re juggling multiple projects at the same time.

      That means you have to coordinate resources and manage deliverables for multiple items all at once. And the problem with that is things can fall through the cracks. How would you answer the following questions?

      

Do your projects get done on time?

      

Do your projects make money?

      

Do you track work as it gets done?

      

Do you monitor how much money and time is being spent during a project?

      

Has a customer ever said, “This isn’t what I wanted.”

      If you answered no to any of the first four questions or yes to the last one, it’s time for you to take a serious look at how project management can help your small business.

      What is Project Management?

      It’s likely you’ve encountered problems in your business that were tough to solve. Project management is an organized process that can help you solve those problems with the least amount of hassle. It sounds complicated, but it’s not. Have you had any of these problems in your business?

      

Miscommunication between team members

      

Client product delivery that had to be reworked when you thought it was complete

      

Overruns on client projects

      

Missed delivery dates on client projects

      

A recurring internal problem that just won’t go away

      You’re not alone. Many small businesses struggle with these very same issues. And most small businesses can’t afford to waste time and effort spinning their wheels to accomplish work. It can be the catalyst that puts you out of business. Using a project management approach in your business can minimize confusion, rework, errors and best of all, it can help you delight your customers.

      So what’s the “official” definition of project management?

      According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), which is known as the authority for project management knowledge and processes, the short definition of a project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service.”

      And here’s the long version:

      “Project management, then, is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects effectively and efficiently. It’s a strategic competency