A4 TenStep Guiding Principles
(A4.P1)
The following statements represent a set of guiding principles for the TenStep Project Management Process and are reflected in all the subsequent content.
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Manage scalably. A project management process must be flexible and scalable, based on the size of the underlying project. The TenStep process refers to this concept as "small methodology for small projects, large methodology for large projects™". Scalability refers to the level of complexity of the project management processes, as well as the time and focus applied to them.
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Use on all projects. The TenStep Project Management Process is designed to be applicable to all projects, whether you are building a house, a circuit board or a computer application. Fundamentally, all projects deal with planning, managing issues, scope, risk, etc. However, you may see some particular reference or example that is software-related (for instance, a suggested metric for system response time). In these cases, just substitute a comparable example that is applicable for your project (like circuit board speed).
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Manage proactively. Projects must be managed proactively regardless of the size. Project managers that wait for things to happen most often get into trouble.
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Develop project team – client partnership. A successful project normally requires a partnership between the project team and the client. The project is at higher risk of failure without active participation from the client.
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Establish project management processes up-front. Project management processes must be established up-front, and understood by the project team and the client. Most processes require the involvement of multiple members of the client and project team. These people will not understand their role in these processes if the processes are not discussed with them ahead of time.
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Grant sufficient authority. Project managers must have a sufficient level of authority to be successful. If the project manager is responsible for the delivery of the project, yet he cannot make key decisions needed to manage the project, he will not be successful.
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