Restoration Project Management - Project Planning and Management for Ecological Restoration - page 25

1. Be a deliberate project manager; don't assume the project will adhere to your plan.
2. Projects are complex and unique goal-oriented undertakings requiring careful planning
and execution.
3. Take the time to plan at the beginning. It will improve the project outcome and will
reduce the potential for costly rework, which wastes resources and increases project costs.
4. Think ahead and anticipate that problems will arise. Have contingency plans prepared in
advance so you can put them to work immediately to reduce delays.
Simply knowing the tools and going through the mechanics of using them is not all there is to be-
ing an effective project manager. It also requires that you identify your stakeholder's needs so that
you can define the project requirements and build a project that achieves stakeholder objectives.
An effective project manager embraces the following responsibilities:
• Advocating for the project
• Managing the project team
• Working with the team and stakeholders to define the project and determine the schedule
and cost
• Tracking the project progress and managing needed changes
• Facilitating resolution of problems and other issues involving the scope, schedule, and cost
of the project
• Presenting project progress and issues to all stakeholders
• Receiving and evaluating stakeholder comments
• Coordinating a lessons-learned evaluation with the team
• Evaluating status and performance of team members and making changes where
appropriate
Establishing Project Requirements
A project's requirements are essentially the combination of (a) the stakeholders' vision of the com-
pleted project, (b) the goals and objectives for the project, and (c) the list of anticipated actions,
including all environmental permit requirements. Translating these inputs into clear and specific
project requirements is the first major milestone for the project development team. Project require-
ments are the “what” of the project, describing the actionable items to be delivered to the project
sponsor. This is truly one of the most challenging aspects of project development, as compromises
and substitutions typically are necessary. All members of the team should have access to the report.
When establishing project requirements, consider these guidelines:
1. Be results oriented.
2. State the purpose clearly and concisely.
3. Use action statements (e.g., using such verbs as create , develop , monitor , establish , install ,
and remove ).
4. Include known milestones (deadlines), such as start dates, end dates, and mandatory finish
dates.