According to me the most important 5 success factors are:
1)Agreeing on the project goals
2)Effective Communication
3)Develop clearly defined plans with assigned responsibilities.
4)Managing project scope effectively.
5)Making sure of management support.
So how are these factors individually important for a project?
These factors each contribute to the success of a project. For example, if a team is unable to effectively communicate than the project will not be done at a mannerly time and it would be difficult to coordinate roles and jobs. I recently finished a project, that involved working with another department. There was no effective communication between both teams which resulted in a major delay in the project.
I think that effective communication is very important throughout a project. Communication needs to be clear and effective in order to prevent setbacks. Members of a team need to make sure they can be reached when necessary and be prompt in their responses back. Making sure things are explained correctly for others to understand is important during a project. Agreeing on project goals is important but I think agreement is not as important as having the goals set sooner rather than later. As long as the goals are set, everyone should be working towards them. Developing clearly defined plans with assigned responsibilities is important for a project to ensure that tasks are not overlooked and that there is someone to hold accountable to make sure everything gets done. It is also important to make sure tasks are not repeated so resources are not wasted. Managing the project scope is important so the team doesn't stray off track.
I do believe that communication is key to the success of any project. However, one thing that I really liked, which you highlighted, was Number 3: Develop clearly defined plans with assigned responsibilities.
I think that goes absolutely hand-in-hand with communication. One of the worst ways that a project can fail is when everything but each individual's responsibilities are laid out. Therefore, small tasks that should have been done clearly are often left to fall through the cracks because Person A assumed Person B was responsible and vice versa. Therefore, as you stated, having clearly set responsibilities are a definite need for any project to be a success.
I would add to this, contingency plans. At the beginning of each project we usually have clearly defined plans with assigned responsibilities and then the inevitable happens when something unforeseen happens that falls out of the detailed plan and its unclear of what the next steps would be and who is responsible to address. This falls in line with your #4 Management of Scope and to avoid scope creep, the uncontrolled growth of the scope of the project when the project isn't properly defined, documented or controlled.
Agreeing on the project goals is crucial to get the project up and running. If the whole team is not on board, you can't continue with the project without it failing or just not producing good quality results. Effective communication is needed to make sure everyone is on the same page on working towards on goal in completing the project efficiently. Developing clearly defined plans with assigned responsibilities should be set early on in the project initiation phase to maximize the whole team's potential for the given project. Managing project scope effectively is the PM's responsibility and they should further provide support to the team throughout the progression of the project.
I would have to agree that out of the five listed, effective communication is key for any project. From my experience, alot of projects have teams that are spread across evenly throughout the world. Effective communication is key to allow everyone to be alignment on key deliverables as well as important changes to the projects. Having everything else listed is important but there could be numerous iterations or changes to a project throughout its course that can affect scope, plan, and objectives. Proper communication would allow all these changes to be understood and communicated to key stakeholders.
All five of these factors are critical for the project to be successful, but I think that the most important out of those is effective communication. Effective communication between all parties working on the project is required for all of the other factors for success to also work successfully.
Each factor has its own contribution towards a successful project completion.
1)Agreeing on the project goals helps the team have a clear idea of what is expected of them, and sets unanimity amongst the team members.
2)Effective Communication is one of the most important factors in a successful project. Lack of communication can lead to mismanagement and overlapping of work, or some part of the project left unfinished.
3)Develop clearly defined plans with assigned responsibilities. This is important to ensure that all the projects goals defined at the beginning of the project are met and that each team members are aware of their responsibilties.
4)Managing project scope effectively. This ensure that the project is completed successfully, is meeting all the requirements of the project.
5)Making sure of management support This is a necessary step in case any of the team members has an issue throughout the duration of the project, it provides a outlet for the problem to be addressed.
I think all the factors listed are very important for a project, and I think the most important thing is to Develop clearly defined plans with assigned responsibilities. For each task in thee project must be identified in your data management plan, and identify the skills needed to perform the task. Also, I think a successful data management plan requires that the appropriate staffing resources are available and trained. Also identifying specific tasks and responsible parties will help with budgeting, implementation, and preservation of the data resources.
Each of the five factors listed are extremely important when working on a project:
1. Agreeing on Project Goals - this step ensures that every member of the team has the same priorities when it comes to the completion of the project and the pace they'd like to work in.
2. Effective Communication - the point of a group project is to work together to get the project done more efficiently. Lack of communication will overall cause more work for the team members and result in project failure.
3. Defined plan with assigned roles - creates an organized structure and makes sure every part of the project is getting done.
4. Managing Project scope - meeting all the project requirements
5. Making sure of management support - ensures that the project is being carried out properly and any issues that arise are being dealt with accordingly
Agreeing on the project goals is important because the team needs to understand the purpose behind the project and what is expected to come out of their efforts. If every team members understands what the project goals are, they will better understand what is expected of them and what their roles are in the project. Furthermore, it helps keep individual members on the same page so that no one does less or more than what is expected. Effective communication is important for the reason that team members need to be able to convey their ideas and messages correctly concisely. The messages that are communicated must also be accurate, yet concise. This prevents people from getting confused or misinformed about the project tasks. For number 3, a saying that can help explain the significance is : "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Without a plan, the team can develop diffidence, which will affect their overall performance in the project. With a plan, the team can have confidence that they can moving forward and ultimately achieve the project goals. Assigning responsibilities to each member allows for individuals to understand their roles. This distributes the work fairly so that no one feels overwhelmed. The project scope needs to be kept in mind because the members know what to or not what not to do, given the constraints that the project team has (e.g. time, money). Without the support of management, there can be no project. Without an individual maintain order and organizing the entire effort, the project can fall apart any point in the process. Support from management is a must.
There are various success factors for a project like smart people in the team,smart planning, careful risk management,clearly defined plans and open communication . Clear planning is an important part of project success . All projects must have a plan with enough detail so that everyone involved knows where the project is going. A good plan provides clearly documented milestones and deliverables ,accurate cost estimate,resources requirements . Communication is the key factor. The team members exchanges their knowledge ,experience and experience. Responsibilities should be clearly assigned to team members it helps to boost the efficiency and sense of ownership and increasing team member efforts to create quality product. It helps to avoid personal conflicts and personality clashes. Management scope is a critical factor for a project. It helps in managing risks, making decisions, project resources ,funding.
These factors are individually important for the completion of the project successfully. Having the same goal is very important the goals should never contradict each other. Competing goals should be prioritized right from the beginning of the project. Effective communication with the team members is very important as it important to be in touch with the real challenges of the project, understanding the real issues within the team. Communication is not only speaking or hearing people it is about understanding about the complete message. It makes sure that the information flows in an expected way. Developing clearly the plans is done at the beginning of the project. It is developed after there is determined objectives. Managing projects is to make sure that the project includes the work that is relevant to achieving the project’s objectives. It is around controlling what is included in the project and what isn’t. Ensuring that there is management support to ensure that there is appropriate funding, secured resources.
I agree that all these factors are important for project success. Primarily, everyone in the project should be able to agree on the project goals. This is important because that way there is no discrepancies of some project members saying more or less could have been done. Communication is crucial in all aspects. From being able to build relationships with your peers, to being able to sternly communicate something. Communication is key. Developing clearly defined plans with assigned responsibilities I feel like it is a sub-category of the project goals, but nonetheless it is important. Managing the scope of the project is important because I think it is what keeps the project on track. Lastly, having managerial support is crucial because it does not only support that the company backs the project, but having support from a superior motivates team project members.