1. Set Expectations from the first day: Nothing will bring your project down more than wrong expectations from your staff or client team members. Make sure that everyone involved in the project understands the goals, deliverables, what is included and not included in the final solution. Client management should also understand the time and resource commitment they will be required to invest in the project. Successful projects require clients to provide feedback on deliverables within a reasonable timeframe, so make certain that this is communicated to the client team members at the beginning of the project. Your own staff must understand what is expected from them, how their performance is measured, and what they should expect if they achieve or miss their goals.

2. Manage expectations carefully: Setting expectations is useless unless you actively manage expectations during the project. There will be plenty of opportunities during the life cycle of the project to re-enforce expectations. If a team member does not deliver quality product or delivers behind schedule, then it is time to remind of the initial conversations you had with them in regards to expectations. If client team members are not able to make decisions in a timely manner, then it is time to remind them of the turnaround time expectations that were set at the start of the project.

3. Don’t start technical implementation until business requirements are defined: I have been on both multi-million dollar as well as one man projects that started technical implementation before design was finalized. And as many time as the scenario repeats itself, the results are usually guaranteed to repeat themselves: Disaster.

4. Manage project scope: Scope management is part art and part science. It starts with defining project scope and requirements in the initial discussions with the client. As the client changes requirements by adding or removing elements, the project manger must continuously update the plan to reflect these changes. You should also make sure to inform the client of the impact scope changes will have on both cost and time estimates of the project.

5. Keep clients informed of any major issues as you discover them: Problems may arise as you move from one phase of the project to the next. Whether it is the inability of a business process owner to make a decision or a problem buying hardware, make sure the client is well aware of any major issues that can cause project delays.

6. Deliver quality product on time: Nothing will help your reputation more than delivering high quality product on time and within budget. Close to 80% of software project are delivered behind schedule. Make sure your work falls within the 20% that is delivered on time. When I worked with Sapient, the company was able to deliver 90% of its project on time and within budget.

7. Don’t expect your team to work overtime week after week: Every project will have its crunch time. After spending the last 10 years in consulting, I expect my teams to spend anywhere between 40 to 50 hours a week working on a clients projects. If team members are consistently spending more than 60 hours every week on a project, then that is a signal of a struggling project that require management attention.

8. Limit meetings: Some people love to meet. They are usually the same people who love to hear themselves talk. There is nothing I hate more than other people wasting my time in a silly meeting that I do not need to attend in the first place. Daily status meetings are there to report status, they are not meant to discuss and resolve issues. My rule of thumb for meetings: if you can hold a meeting without a person attending it, then most likely that person should not be invited to attend in the first place.

9. Know when to ask for help: There is always a time to bring in the big guns. Just use them wisely. I always tell our project managers that I am available to support them at any point in time. Good project managers know what problems they need to get management involved in and what issues are too trivial.

10. Know when to walk out: Every now and then, you will be stuck in a losing project. Nothing satisfies the client, you are not able to finalize requirements, and you lose key staff members. Whatever the reason might be, you come to the conclusion that you will not deliver what you promised to deliver. It is time to walk out. Walking out on a project is not something to be taken lightly. You must also understand the legalities and issues that may result from walking away from a project.

I am sure I could have added more principles, so please tell me what I should have on my list.