What’s the most important word in project management? Is it ‘requirements’? ‘deadline’? ‘documentation’? Here’s my nomination… enough. As in:
- only writing enough documentation. If you produce something that’s dozens of pages long (and lucky you, if you have enough time to do so!), I’ll bet nobody has enough time to read it.
- understanding enough about user needs to represent those needs as you speak to the programmers; and understanding enough about the technology to steer the user needs appropriately.
- spending enough time in meetings, and no more!
but perhaps most importantly of all…
- knowing when to say ‘enough is enough‘. It’s an essential project management skill to recognise when things aren’t working as they should be; and having the confidence to call a halt.