JANUARY 2026 19GOVERNMENT CIO OUTLOOKPLANNING FOR SUCCESS IN YOUR PROJECTSWhile discussing everything, start making your plans. I firmly believe that the more time you spend on planning the project, the better the chance for success in the project. You need to plan all the steps, plan your equipment ordering and schedule the different tasks. There never seems to be anything as aggravating as having people scheduled to work on a project and having to send them home because the equipment wasn't delivered in time for the work. Recently I had a project in our department where there was a miscommunication of when the vendor could be on site to do their equipment install. Instead of walking into an empty room, they found themselves being asked if they wanted to join a Pilates class. It sounds amusing, but we ended up having to delay the installation of the equipment for three weeks due to this scheduling miscommunication. Double-check your tasks, double-check all communications and never assume that all parties understand. Verify and confirm everything.The two things I just talked about cannot happen without communication. Don't be afraid to talk to everyone about the project. If you have a question, ask it. If you have an insight or update share it with everything. There is no such thing as over-communication. I am always super happy when I get an email about a little aspect of a project. Even if it is not relevant to the tasks I am working on, it helps me understand the big picture of what is going on and helps me plan the scheduling of what I have going on. A project management application can help facilitate this communication and the tracking of what the big picture is. There are a ton on the market and I have come to find out that the bells and whistles don't matter as long as you are comfortable with it and it helps you accomplish good communication with everyone involved.In a nutshell, understanding, planning and communication can impact your projects more than most people think. I hope these thoughts help you be more epic, the good kind, in your future projects. Successful project management can be boiled down to just understanding not just the scope of work for the project but also the intended vision of what it will accomplish, planning and communication.
< Page 9 | Page 11 >