This document outlines success factors, areas, and best practices for successful projects. The key success factors are managing time, budget, quality, and deliverables. Project areas include stakeholders, objectives, schedule, roles, budget, communications, and tools/processes. Best practices for resources include ensuring executive support, a combined enterprise/bottom-up approach, and automating resource management. Best practices for collaboration include ensuring everyone works towards the same goals, having open communication, and using collaboration tools. Best practices for clarity include understanding objectives, roles, and the project plan as well as staying vigilant about potential confusion. Best practices for adaptability include observing changes, being willing to learn, anticipating issues, and accepting necessary changes.

1. SUCCESS FACTORS
TIME
Managing the time to meet finish date
BUDGET
Managing the budget for no cost overruns
QUALITY
Manage deliverables quality “fit for use”
DELIVERABLES
Manage the output (time, budget, quality)
PROJECT AREAS
STAKEHOLDERS
Identification of stakeholder’s needs
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
Develop S.M.A.R.T. project objectives
DELIVERABLES / MILESTONES
Define deliverables / milestones / timeline
PROJECT SCHEDULE
A detailed project schedule
CLEARLY DEFINED ROLES
Clear PM team roles and responsibilities
BUDGET
A budget for the project costs & expenses
TOOL & PROCESSES
A tool & processes to track project status
COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
A comms plan for status updates
RESOURCE
BEST PRACTICES
RESOURCE TIME
Resource time tracking with
planning reality
LINKED PROCESSES
Processes that project tracking,
budgets & resource mgt. linked
EXECUTIVE SUPPORT
Critical to gain sustained exec support
and commitment
RESOURCE MGT. APPROACH
Adopt a combined enterprise / bottom-
up approach for resources
NON PROJECT WORK
Make resources allowance for non-
project work (meetings etc)
ORG. MATURITY
Ensure resource mgt. reflects
org. maturity
AUTOMATE RESOURCE MGT.
Automate Resource Management.
(requests, assignments, approvals)
CLAIM THE RESOURCES
Project Mgr. needs to claim the
resources at planning stage
SPONSOR & PM ROLE
The Sponsor & PM focuses on gaining /
keeping project resources
PM TEAM & RESOURCES
The project team & resources focus on
getting the work done
COLLABORATION
BEST PRACTICES
ON THE SAME PAGE
Ensure everyone works on
the same project goals
SET EXPECTATIONS
The team / resources needs to know
why, what to do & when
HAVE OPEN POLICY
Be honest about project needs being
met / project status issues
SPONSOR & PM ROLE
Sponsor & PM collaborates to ensure
project needs fulfilled
PM TEAM & RESOURCES
The PM ensures team & resources
collaborate often and easily
COLLABORATION TOOLS
Use collaboration tools to
facilitate collaboration
EFFECTIVE MEETINGS
Hold effective project meetings with
aims. agenda and actions
METRICS & COMMS
Project Mgr. communicates metrics
early to stakeholders
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS
SME’s collaboration clarifies how best
work is to be completed
PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS
Collaboration to Stakeholders clarifies
what work to be done
CLARITY
BEST PRACTICES
CLARITY OF PURPOSE
Everyone understands why,
what have to do & when
PM CLARITY OF ROLE
The PM focuses on where to add value
(resources, collaboration)
PM TEAM ROLE CLARITY
The PM team focus only on getting
project work done
RESPONSIBILITY CLARITY
Each member knows exactly what they
have to do in the plan
ORGANISATION CLARITY
Sponsor maintains project clarity at
organisation level with leaders
CLARITY OF PLAN
Understand plan (Strategy,
Objectives, Results, Tasks)
REMOVE DISTRACTIONS
PM removes distractions by focus on
key project management areas
FOCUS ON THE PROCESS
Clarity is more about the process on
making project go forward
CLARITY VIGILANCE
A PM has to stay vigilant and monitor
team clarity / confusion
PROJECT BARRIERS CLARITY
A PM needs clarity of project barriers /
issues to overcome them
ADAPTABILITY
BEST PRACTICES
OBSERVE CHANGES
A PM needs to be alert to
changes, attitudes
WILLING TO LEARN
An adaptable PM is willing to learn from
everyone at all levels
AVOID PROCRASTINATION
Effective adaptability is taking action early
versus later
CHANGE IS EXPECTED
Set expectations with team that changes are
inevitable always
AGILE ADAPTABILITY
A PM needs an agile / iterative approach to
role and changes
PM ADAPTABILITY
PM needs to overcome doubts
to reset motivation
COURSE OF ACTION MAPS
For different scenarios, have a backup
courses of actions
BREAK BIG CHANGE DOWN
Break big changes into small goals / tasks
for easier changes
ANTICIPATE CHANGE / ISSUE
By observation / deduction, a PM may
anticipate change / issues
ACCEPT CHANGE
Accept change and change project plans
accordantly to go forward
ONE-PAGE MAGIC | No. 58 by Ken Martin Ken Martin
3 MAGIC
CONSULTING
Founder, Partner
TRANSFORMATION
PMO
CONSULTANT
​London,
United Kingdom
THE SUCCESS FACTORS, AREAS AND BEST PRACTICES FOR SUCCESSFUL
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