Review: Hacking Projects

Hacking Projects Images

What is a Project?
​A project is defined as a sequence of tasks that must be completed to attain a certain outcome. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), the term Project refers to ”any temporary endeavour with a definite beginning and end”. Depending on its complexity, it can be managed by a single person or hundreds.​

What is a Hack?
While it has a number of different meanings from writing to web development to horses! In this context it means: To apply a trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method to something to increase productivity, efficiency or ease. This model therefore is designed to enable you to develop and implement an easy to use project plan.

What are the benefits of Project Management
Projects improve your chances of achieving the desired result.

• You gain a fresh perspective on your project, and how it fits with your business strategy.
• They help you to prioritise your business' resources and ensure their efficient use.
• Projects set the scope, schedule and budget accurately from the start.

• Provide clear, organised plans improve team collaboration.
• Well-defined goals improve team effectiveness.
• Support increased and clearer communication across the project team
• Project management tools help increase efficiency

For your Project
Utilising this template there are a few sections to think about:

1. What is your Scope: What is the project? Why are you doing it?  
2. Who are your Stakeholders: These are the people who will help to deliver your project. Bear in mind it might just be you and you may want to put your life partner in the mix as well.
3. What is your Timeline: In this project brief we are suggesting at least three (30) months. It means that you can have tasks within the project building back from the end to the beginning. So if you want to build a Social Media channel that has a 100 followers in three months time, what would you need to do to make that happen. Arguably, (for example) a business Scial Media page on the platform you choose.
4. What are your Risks: In this example it may be 'You' as the small business owner. We are in a Covid world currently and yet businesses are still starting. A risk might be that life takes over... children are an example. The real question here, about identified risks, is what to do if it happens. This is called mitigation.

Tools & Methodologies

1. Project Tools: Project management tools are a set of software designed to help project teams to plan a project, track & manage the projects to achieve the defined project goals within the time. It also helps team members to collaborate effectively and accelerate the projects to meet the specified constraints. 
2. Project Management Methodologies: ​Here are some specific examples of project management methodologies – each with its unique advantages and limitations – including, but are not limited to 1) Agile, 2) Waterfall, 3) Critical Path, 4) Scrum, 5) Lean Six Sigma and 6) PRINCE2. For Rebel Business School we have focused on 'Waterfall'. Waterfall project management is a step-by-step process to bring a project through a series of phases and to completion.

Disclaimer: Bizezi Ltd, in providing this information, cannot guarantee the success of a project(s). The information provided, correctly implemented, will actively support the delivery of a project and identify any project risks.

Project Templates

​​​Click Here to see a blog on writing an effective  project plan.
Click here for hot tips running successful projects.
Click here for FREE tools to help deliver projects.
​Click here for descriptions of Project Management Methodologies.
For additional support please email: [email protected]

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