Collective Wisdom from the Experts 89
give importance to the same things you, as a project manager, give impor-
tance to. If your focus is the full establishment of, and compliance with,
all the project management processes, that will be the focus of your team,
too. And then who will create the software?
• Virtual or geographically distributed team. If all of your team members
are not colocated, it may be very difficult to introduce and enforce manda-
tory procedures for them to follow. Their hardware and software, as well
as other technology, may make compliance with your demands difficult,
or even impossible. Narrow your expectations, if necessary, when having
remote teams deliver the products or services you need from their small
portion of the overall project.In the end, no project management book or methodology you feel compelled
to follow is more important than your good sense. You should go through a
product analysis, a contract analysis, a first approach to a risk analysis, and an
interview with your major stakeholders (client and sponsor), and then choose
your project management strategy.
Try to document it for yourself, with a statement such as “I plan to manage
the project this way because....” This will help you adjust your strategy in case
the root reasons for your decision change. Based on the needs of the project,
you can determine which processes are most important and should be imple-
mented thoroughly, and which processes might deserve a lighter approach.
In the end, a good project management plan is all about being effective and
keeping it simple.