Essential Project Management Guidelines & Rules to Follow

The best project managers have one thing in common: they all follow the basic rules of project management. Whether they’re actively and intentionally following these practices or they’ve been instilled in their subconscious through prior training and education, the most successful PMs are able to hit their targets — and sometimes exceed them — by observing project management guidelines throughout the life cycle. Let’s tackle five of these essential rules.

1. Define scope and objective at the beginning of every project

Lakein’s Law tells us, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” As a project manager, you have to do the initial planning for the project and present that plan before the team. The first rule of project management is to clearly define the overall project scope, establish objectives, and set milestones that will guide the team to success.

Why is defining scope important?

Project scope establishes what the project is all about, what is involved and what is not, what needs to be accomplished throughout and by the end of the project, and what is and what is not needed to accomplish these. Defining the scope lets stakeholders know what is expected of them, helps manage their expectations, and also serves as the project manager’s guide when it comes to assigning tasks and allocating resources.   

Clearly defining the project scope at the start of the project also helps reduce the risk of scope creep. Also known as feature creep or requirement creep, scope creep is a project management term that refers to instances that occur when adjustments are made to the original scope and objectives or certain requirements are added to what was originally planned and agreed upon. It happens due to a variety of reasons, including lack of communication, disagreements amongst team members, or even project stakeholders changing their minds.

If left unaddressed, scope creep can lead to missed deadlines, budget overruns, and quality issues. 

How to prevent scope creep

There are a number of steps you can take to properly manage project scope and prevent scope creep, such as:

• Conduct a project kickoff meeting to go over the important details and answer any questions from your team.
• Ensure your objectives are measurable by team members and stakeholders alike.
• Utilize a legal contract that details team responsibilities, timelines, deliverables, milestones, and fees for every client.
• Have a backup plan (or three) in case something goes wrong.
• Make sure all project participants are in agreement before starting the project. This includes team members, stakeholders, and clients.
• Know when to say no to new objectives and evolving requirements.

2. Avoid micromanagement

No team member wants to have a manager who is constantly looking over their shoulder. You’ve taken the time to assemble the best possible project team based on their skillset, so it’s best that you give them the freedom to execute their tasks however they deem fit. 

What are the effects of micromanagement?

Per a recent poll by Monster, 73% of respondents consider micromanagement a red flag. Moreover, nearly half indicated that they would quit their job over the issue of micromanagement. Needless to say, micromanagement can drive talent away from your company. Those who choose to stay will likely suffer from low productivity, workplace fatigue, and stress. 

How to avoid micromanaging your team

Micromanagement has serious consequences and may even create a toxic work environment, making avoiding it one of the golden rules of project management. Here are a few tips for avoiding micromanaging your team: 

• Relay your expectations. Setting expectations reduces your involvement in how your team does their tasks. You don’t have to tell them exactly what to do, how to do it, or when to do it — you just let them know the outcome you expect to see. 
• Delegate with trust. You have a group of skilled people working together with you. Learn to trust them and their talent and leave them to execute their responsibilities themselves. What you can do is provide them the resources they need to get things done.
• Let go of your fear of failure. Most project managers end up micromanaging their team because they want things to be perfect. Open yourself to the idea that things may not always go as planned but that this is how your team can learn and improve.
•  Remember that you’re there to guide the team, not control them. As a project manager, you must be able to create an environment where team members can approach you for advice should something go wrong and not an environment where people feel like they’re being monitored all the time.
•  Establish open communication. Talk to your team. Nothing is more important than building a relationship with your team where everyone feels free to talk about things that matter.  

3. Drive communications

To be more efficient in project management, a project manager should be able to drive communications from initial project planning and conception to finalization. You are expected to not only stay in contact with team members, departmental heads, clients, and key stakeholders, but you’ll also need to be able to respond to questions or address concerns, troubleshoot bottlenecks as they occur, and in some cases, provide hands-on coaching to individual team members. In order to be a successful PM, it’s vital that you’re an approachable, amiable, and conversational type of person.

But this doesn’t mean that you always have to be agreeable. Team members, clients, and stakeholders might not always agree with your decisions, your actions, or your point-of-view, but it’s important that they respect them.

Consider a recent case study on Julius Berger, a construction company headquartered in Nigeria. After a thorough investigation of the firm’s day-to-day operations, the team at ResearchGate found that “communication plans and medium have a positive, significant effect on time of project delivery.”

ResearchGate’s case study also provides several recommendations regarding communications for Julius Berger and in project management as a whole, including:

• Utilizing comprehensive communication plans as a viable means of improving project performance across the board
• Documenting how to manage stakeholder opinions and actions within the communication plan itself
• Using the most efficient communication channel (medium) as possible
• Conducting studies regarding additional communication channels and mediums to improve performance even further

Consistent communication is vital in every relationship — including that between a project manager, their team members, and project stakeholders. Establishing clear, honest, and open lines of communication is one of the best ways to build trust amongst your project team and, as a result, maintain smooth execution of the project all the way through completion.

4. Set milestones (and reward your team when they reach them)

They said a goal without a timeline is just a dream. As a project manager, a large portion of your job revolves around turning these dreams into reality – and one of the best ways to achieve that is by setting goals and project milestones.

Project goals and milestones give your entire team something to look forward to. They provide a quantifiable measurement of progress and can be your metrics for project success — to help you gauge whether or not you’re on track to completing all deliverables.

Using project management tools to track milestones

Modern technology has made it easier for project managers to create and track project milestones. While many CRM (customer relationship management) and project management platforms offer goal-setting functionality, either natively or via third-party integrations, there’s a plethora of standalone options that can help you set goals for your team and track their progress. Some popular ones include:

• monday.com
• Databox
• ClickUp
• Lattice
• Asana
• Weekdone
• Engagedly
• Perdoo
• Goals.com
• Betterworks

With so many options available, you should have no problem finding a platform that works for you.

And when your team actually meets the established goals and milestones, don’t forget to reward them. Saying thank you or other simple words of acknowledgement will suffice in some cases, but you should consider something more tangible when your team reaches milestones that are particularly challenging. There are plenty of potential reward options to consider, from monetary like gift cards and cash bonuses to unique experiences and even company swag. If you’re ever in doubt, don’t hesitate to ask your team for their input. Most will be happy to provide their suggestions.

5. Be prepared to adapt and evolve

Another one of the basic rules of project management is to learn to adapt and evolve with the project. Take it from David Rockwell, who once said, “Every project is an opportunity to learn, to figure out problems and challenges, to invent and reinvent.” Based in New York City, Rockwell is leading a 300-person architecture and design firm, with satellite offices in Los Angeles, California, and Madrid, Spain, so it’s safe to say that he knows a thing or two about project management.

But we can learn these lessons from observing large-scale project management in the real world too. For example, let’s consider the project management processes during the NFL’s Super Bowl. First, it’s up to the project manager to assemble the right team for the job. Given the tight deadline, however, it’s important to get everything right the first time. If the designated PM can’t adapt to this timeline, they’re doomed from the start.

Now consider the Super Bowl’s infrastructure. It’s a huge project that needs to be planned in meticulous detail. Despite this, it still needs room to adapt to any last-minute changes that may occur.

Once all of the planning is in place, it’s time for the event to begin. At this point, the project manager needs to be ready to address issues on-the-fly. They also need to take a proactive stance in order to anticipate and forecast any potential bottlenecks, gaps, or shortcomings. In this sense, the PM needs to let their project plans evolve naturally over the course of time.

While it’s tempting to stick to the plan as strictly as possible, there will be times when you need to pivot to something else. Recognizing these opportunities and being able to make the decision between deviating from the plan and sticking to it is an essential project management skill, but it’s a skill that can only be learned through hands-on experience.

How is Successful Project Management Defined?

Successful project management is defined in a myriad of different ways and everyone — from project managers and team members to clients and stakeholders — likely have their own criteria in mind. When measuring project success, considering asking the following questions:

• Have you invested enough time in project planning and implementation?
• Are you meeting the established goals and milestones?
• Is your project currently on schedule and within budget?
• Have you performed the appropriate risk management processes?
• Are there any unaddressed gaps, bottlenecks, or shortcomings in your project?
• Do you know how to effectively adapt to new or changing project requirements?
• Are you maintaining open lines of communication with project team members?

There are a lot of factors that make a project successful, and so it is also difficult to establish a one true definition of what a successful project is. Nonetheless, you can trust that following the basic rules of project management is a step in the right direction. 

FAQs

Conclusion

While this list isn’t meant to be an all-inclusive outline of the guidelines, processes, and golden rules of project management, it is intended to serve as an introductory primer for new and novice PMs. Project management is a process that involves a lot of important decision-making, and it can get overwhelming when approached the wrong way. As you move on to your next work, take this list as your guide and be prepared to drive your project forward and toward success.