Don’t underestimate the politics that occur in a small- or medium-sized company.While politics also exist in large corporations, the interactions in a smaller company are stronger and more like those of a family–with deeper relationships and barriers. If the politics are too strong, the project may be destined for failure! and no matter what you try, you will nevermake someone change… But asking more candid questions up front to better ascertain any political obstacles and adequately address those concerns first will help you plan for anything else.After doing this, professionally and factually express the risk and project viability up front, not just the details about the tasks you’re about to throw yourself into. I have come to realize I tend to bury myself in debugging things asked of fellow employees of the Team and preparation of info to assist members of my Team with thier tasks more than I worried about the administration of presenting to the upline to a high degree powerpoint on what I was achieving for them. I have been doing a Word document, but I do not feel it is probably enough especially if that individual is not extremely tech savvy themselves.. You should not forget or short-change this item. This also can be used as good documentation of a successful contract - done as you do it along the road of production.

The change to using organized project management principles will be new and unfamiliar to many and can cause frustration. The best way to implement new project management processes is spoon feeding only a little at a time. Ween them on it and then once everyone adopts it, all can remain more accountable to eachother…

While team members and senior management understand that the PM function I provide is important (or else management would not have spent money to bring me in), sometimes they do not understand what it would do for them or the company. To help make this point, I always suggest to plave more focused energy into demonstrating shortterm, bottom-line benefits to the project, and hence, the company. I always demonstrate very positive gains in controlling scope creep, but sometimes those benefits are not seen until later.

So, focus on the changes that provide immediate, visible results. Then communicate them this aids in the demonstration ofthe benefits of PM early on.  Don’t underestimate the extra effort that must be made to communicate the project positives clearly and repeatedly to a staff that is too likely to attribute those positives to their ad-hoc processes. Most of these lessons I have learned boil down to education, patience, and communication. While none of these lessons should be surprising, the extent of their impact was.

Templated items I list ::.

 

Target Audience
Concept
Objective
Deliverables Index
Development Considerations
Featured Elements
Timeline

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to ___________ . I have enjoyed many challenges and rewards during my contract… Specifically, I have been involved in the following activities ____________________ which help prove that I am moving the “Business/Sales needle” positively and show the connection between the work we do and the revenue ___________  produces :