How to Manage Small Projects

How to Manage Small Projects

So what is a "small project" vs. a "large project"? It's fair to say that small projects have:

A lower project budget
Very short delivery timescales
Less people and more limited resources
Lower risk and fewer project issues
More clearly defined deliverables

However small projects are not necessarily easier to manage than large projects! They may still be complex and involve a range of departments, resources, suppliers and customers to complete them.

So to boost your chances of success, we have set out here, the Project Life Cycle for managing small projects:

Step 1: Create a Terms of Reference

For small projects, the first step to take is usually the creation of a Terms of Reference. This document describes the project vision, scope, objectives, deliverables, timeframes and known risks for the project.

You need to get all of the project stakeholders to agree to this document, so that you gain a crystal clear view of what the project is to achieve. Without formal approval, projects suffer scope creep, lack of change control, poor sponsorship and communication problems.

Step 2: Appoint the Project Team

Thanks to your Terms of Reference, everyone agrees what it is that has to be achieved. You're now ready to appoint your team. For small projects, you will usually need to gain the support of senior management, to allocate resource to your project, from within the business.

You will probably have a very limited budget for appointing external suppliers, consultants and contractors. But if they are required, you will need to formalize supplier contracts at this point.

Regardless of the project role appointed, make sure you create a clear Job Description first, so that staff know exactly what's expected of them.

Step 3: Set up the Project Office

Even small projects need the support of a project office, who help with project reporting, risk / issue / change resolution, training and administration. For small projects, you will need the services of your project office to make sure that your project conforms with internal standards and processes, and to get project support when you need it.

Step 4: Create a Project Plan

The Project Plan is more than just a schedule of events. It describes the entire Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for the project by defining all of the phases, activities and tasks required to deliver it. It also sets out the project scope, milestones, effort, deliverables, resources and dependencies in detail.

For smaller projects, your project plan will become your "single view of progress for the project." By updating it immediately after your weekly project status meetings, you can ensure that you remain on track.

Step 5: Create a Quality Plan

With a clear view of the project plan, you now need to work out how you're going to ensure that you will meet the requirements of your customer. The Quality Plan will help you do this by defining your quality targets, complete Quality Assurance reviews and Quality Control.

Step 6: Create a Communications Plan

The final step in the planning process is to set out a plan for keeping stakeholders properly informed of the progress of the project.

Using the Communications Plan, you can define the communication needs of all stakeholders. You can then build a schedule of communications events so that you inform the right people with the right information at the right time.

Step 7: Build the Deliverables

Of course the largest amount of time allocated in your Project Plan, will be spent building the physical deliverables for your customer. Whether it's creating new products, deploying new services or re-engineering processes, make sure that you use a Deliverables Register to record the progress of your deliverables towards completion.

Step 8: Monitor and Control

While your team are building the project deliverables, your job is to monitor and control the critical elements of the project. This includes:

Time Management
Cost Management
Quality Management
Change Management
Risk Management
Issue Management


Step 9: Close the Project

Once all of the deliverables are complete, your job is nearly finished. At this point, you need to close the project by completing any outstanding items, filing project documentation, releasing suppliers, terminating contracts, re-allocating resources and communicating closure to the project stakeholders.

Step 10: Review Completion

Even for small projects, it's necessary to review it's completion. By completing a Post Implementation Review, you can gain an independent assessment of the level of success of the project, the areas for improvement and any lessons learned.

And that's it! By following these 10 steps, you'll boost your chances of delivering your projects on time and under budget.

Need templates to help you manage small projects?
Check out the Project Management Kit from Method123.com
If you want to download a Methodology for managing small projects, then download a free MPMM trial now...