Be Successful at Projects in SMEs

The idea behind projects isn't complicated, but lots of projects still fail in both large and small companies. A project can be defined as bringing about change delivering something that you don't have now that is not business as usual. So far, so good, that doesn't sound that hard to do, how much could go wrong?

The truth is that there are a myriad of ways in which a project can go wrong. A lack of senior level ownership, no-one being held responsible for the delivery of the project, a continuously changing scope with very few requirements, nothing in place to show that the project has delivered what was required. The list goes on.

Then there's all those different methodologies that are supposed to enable you to deliver projects for you if only you follow them thoroughly, but in many instances they just add complexity to what should be a simple and easy path to follow. This is particularly the case within small and medium enterprises where a methodology would swamp the project and bog it down in red tape that really isn't adding value.

So, how do you up the odds on delivering a successful project? My company, GreenBOLD, has recently written a further one-pager in it's 10 Ways series which outlines ten ways to have a successful project. Nothing in there is rocket science, in fact some would say its common sense. If that were the case, why are all ten points so often ignored? It's not a guaranteed method for success, but at least by checking off the points it will make success more likely.

Ownership is first on the list, someone somewhere must own the project, orphaned projects are doomed to failure. There must be an interest in the project at a senior level, preferably someone on the board. Second on the list is Responsibility. Having someone responsible for the project is absolutely fundamental, they can then take responsibility for the rest of the items in our document.

Unfortunately projects are often given to people without the time to dedicate to delivering the project properly either through time pressures or through a lack of experience. This again most often dooms a project to failure. This is something that my company, GreenBOLD can help with: We provide as part of our service part-time project management services from people who have a wealth of project management experience in corporate and SME environments. Utilising a GreenBOLD professional will give you a far higher chance of success than anything else, check our website for details and tell us about your project via the contact form.