Telecom projects, like any other project, need special attention
if you want the project to be successful and done on a schedule.
One way to proceed on a telecom project is to hire a telecom
management professional to oversee the project. Another way is to
use a project management software program. There are many
software programs available that cover the many facets of project
planning including document management, workforce management,
time/expense management, client collaboration, custom forms,
knowledge management, and certified email. Either way, due to the
complexity of some telecom projects, it is vital to your success
to use one of these options.
Since telecom projects can involve things like site selection,
surveys, permitting, and a host of other things that have to be
done in a certain order, project management is vital to a
successful telecom project. If you are winging it, it is likely
that your work will be less than desirable and you may end up
with a bungled project and an unhappy customer or even worse - an
unhappy boss.
What exactly is project management? It is the managing of skills
and resources to accomplish a goal. There are project management
principles that can be put in place, like a template, and worked
through manually or you can opt for some great software that will
guide you step by step through the process. The most important
thing in managing a project is that everything needs to be in
writing and available to everyone on the team and all that
information needs to be updated constantly as events happen.
What's the Goal?
Let's take a look at what you are trying to accomplish with
project management. First, you want to make sure that you know
exactly what you and your workers are doing. Who are the
customers and what do they need? What do they want and most
importantly what do they expect? As a company with integrity that
wants a long and prosperous future, you want to make sure that
everyone is clear on these points. Getting a written agreement
stating exactly what your customer wants and what you will
provide would be a prudent move.
Assess Your Resources
Once you know exactly what your customer wants, you have to make
sure that you are prepared to meet their needs. By prepared I am
referring to having the time, resources and skills to give them
what they want. This is where project management really begins.
Your project management will include planning, monitoring and
following every activity involved in the project. You will
constantly be reexamining all tasks and activities to make sure
that you haven't missed anything important. This may sound
difficult but once you are rolling, you will see just how using
project management principles actually simplifies things. Also,
once you commit to this process, I can almost guarantee that you
will use some form of project management every time you work on a
new project.
Planning
In the planning phase all of the known elements will be put in
writing. Sound simple? Well, it might sound simple, but it is
really a complex, thoughtful job. You will be breaking down the
entire project into smaller segments or tasks. You will list all
tasks and then put them in the order in which they need to occur.
Then you will forecast scheduling of each task to the best of
your ability and give an estimated completion date for each task
and for the entire project. At this point you really need to look
at possible risks; meaning things that might come up that could
throw the schedule off. The planning phase really does need to be
comprehensive. The more thorough your plans are, the easier it is
to assess risks and forecast scheduling.
Scheduling
Hopefully, when you begin scheduling you will have a great team
assembled and ready to go. You need to know who will be doing
what and exactly when they will be doing it. Charting is
mandatory in this process. A line chart showing the task and who
will do it is effective here because you can put each objective
on a timeline and visually capture when it is completed.
Monitoring and Re-Assessing
When the work begins, you will be the one monitoring and
controlling the events. This is a crucial step that will save you
time, money and embarrassment. You will measure the progress on
your timeline and if you see that things are not occurring as
planned, you will need to go back and make adjustments. Maybe you
underestimated the time a task would take or maybe something
unforeseen came up that you hadn't figured on in your risk
assessment. If you are continually monitoring and adjusting, you
will find that the project will progress at a nice, predictable
rate and any customer would be happy with that. When all the
smaller tasks are finished, you will have completed a large
project with hopefully only a few problems along the way. Now
you're ready for the next big project to manage.
Nermine Shaker is a Partner at THE SYGNAL GROUP, a telecom
consulting firm that offers telecom expense management,
telecom auditing and VoIP management to businesses of
all sizes. Find out how to lower your telecom expenses
at http://www.SygnalGroup.com/ or visit our blog at http://www.TelecomExpertise.com/.
