The right mix of planning, monitoring, and controlling can make the difference in completing a project on time, on budget, and with high quality results. These guidelines will help you ‘plan the work and work the plan.’

Given the high rate of project failures, you might think that companies would be happy to just have their project finish with some degree of success. That’s not the case. Despite the odds, organizations expect projects to be completed faster, cheaper, and better. The only way that these objectives can be met is through the use of effective project management processes and techniques. This list outlines the major phases of managing a project and discusses key steps, including:

• Using a project definition document
• Creating a planning horizon
• Monitoring the schedule and budget
• Staying alert for several specific warning signs
• Making sure scope change requests are approved by the project sponsor