Project Management Model

Project Management Model:

When Project Management Isn't Your Day Job

There are numerous, comprehensive project management models in use. When you are a busy manager and managing a project as well, then often what is needed is a clear simple process to follow. The 4D model provides such a process. The model is outlined below and you can click on the links at the bottom of the page to look at each of the steps in detail.

The project may be something you have been given to manage, with little say in its definition, or it may be something you have generated yourself. Either way to arrive at a successful project, and be a happy project manager, spending vital time at the beginning to ensure that the outcomes are meaningful and worthwhile cannot be underestimated. So after looking at the overview of the steps below, click on the “project management guidelines” link at the bottom of this page for a guide to starting off on the right track.

Alice: “which road do I take?”

Cat: “where do you want to go?”

Alice: “I don’t know”

Cat: “Then it doesn’t matter!”Lewis Carrol

The 4 D Model

Managing a project is one of those situations where you have defined responsibility as the project manager to deliver something tangible in the organisation. You can make an impact both on your organisations performance and on you own reputation. So it is vital to set off on the right path.

Clarity in the aims, objectives and outcomes for the project are essential to start well and must be then supported by a well crafted plan.

Click on Project Management Guidelines to look in detail at the critical steps needed to define your project. Resist the tendency to jump straight in to action; time spent clarifying the aims, objectives and outcomes will save you much more time in the long run.

Make sure you are clear which way you want to go before you start!

You may also find it valuable to use a Project Management Checklist to help you think through all the issues when you start out on a project. This is particularly useful to support the 4D project management model when project management isn't your day job.

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