BradEgeland.com #PMP #ProjectManagement #AI #Agile #IoT #cyber #security #machinelearning #cloud #tech #mobile #tech #lead #PMBOK #scrum
  • Welcome
  • Contact
  • Expertise
  • Blog
  • Software / Service Reviews
  • This Week in PM
  • PM Video Series
  • Webinars / training / demos
  • Clients
  • Professional Services
  • PM Forum
  • Books
  • Awards/Recognition
  • White Papers
  • Templates & Downloads
  • Past Survey Results

Startup Project Management

9/12/2010

0 Comments

 

What does it take to setup project management for a startup?  That all depends on the startup, the size of the startup, and possibly even the industry.  I’d like to say that PM is the same across industries, organizations, and organization size, but it’s not.  I’d like to say that PM practices need to be the same across all organizations regardless of their undertakings and project sizes, but that’s not necessarily the case.

Flex with the Need

I subscribe to the concept that PM practices are basically the same, but need to be ‘flexed’ to fit the organization, the need, the size of the project, etc.  But it still needs to happen.  Given that – assuming we agree on that for the moment – then what about the startup?  Does it need project management to see it through it’s first few customers or it’s first few internal revisions of it’s product offering?  Is it really necessary if the startup only has, say, 12 employees?  Yes!

The principles – the true needs of the organization to get a handle on what’s happening with the work they are doing – are still there.  The need to satisfy an external customer or produce a solid product so that there will still be paying customers out there waiting is still there.  The need to adequately manage the cost/budget, the resources, and the timeframe that is required to get the work done is still there.  And if that need is there, so is the need to report on those items – whether that’s a formal reporting to an external entity or a more informal reporting to a small team internally….the need for tracking and accountability is there. 

Poor Practice begets Poor Practice

It will always be there.  And if it is ignored, it will always cause problems.  As I’ve said before, you can sometimes get lucky and skate through on a very small undertaking or project.  But that can’t last and as your organization grows so do your projects and your customers and your staff size.  Those practices that got you to where you are will likely continue to be followed.  Poor practices and loose tracking early on will lead to poor practices and loose tracking later on and when your organization, projects and customers are large enough…and that won’t take long…then you’ll begin to experience the major issues that accompany disorganized project management and accountability.

Do it Right Early

What I’m trying to say – and what I’ve worked hard to instill in the startups that I’ve worked with -  is this….do it right NOW, and it will always be right.  Good practice will lead to growth, growth to profitability, profitability to more growth, more customers and more satisfaction for customers and your staff.  Avoid the frustrations that many startups go through by ignoring this concept in their early stages.

I’ve mentioned this before…one startup called me in to help them through the process of bringing their first three customers ‘live’ with their product offering.  They lacked any true project management oversight and the customers had lost all confidence as the revised go-live dates kept coming and going with no end in sight.  It wasn’t until I got them to step back, setup proper processes and tracking, and got the customers’ buy-in to the new processes that we were able to get those customers live and eventually push the startup organization over the line to profitability. 

Do it right early, setup processes that can grow with the organization, and many of those frustrations that arise trying to manage critical projects for a new startup will simply not occur.


I originally authored this article for the PM Tips website - the original post can be viewed here.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Search this entire blog:

    Authors:

    Picture

    Brad Egeland


    Brad Egeland has over 25 years of professional IT experience as a developer, manager, project manager, consultant and author.  He has written more than 6,000 expert online articles, eBooks, white papers and video articles for clients worldwide.  If you want Brad to write for your site, contact him.

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Use code BRADCCPM for 10% off training
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    March 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    November 2009

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly