Starting a new project is an exciting part of your work life, but there are also several risks involved. Whether you are the team lead or a member of the team, the success of the project depends on how you play your part and how you serve the team.
Organizations are constantly investing in all sorts of different projects to help push themselves forward. In some cases, these are projects geared towards increasing sales, some might be to enhance research, some might be for optimization and others might be for human resource development. Regardless of the kind of project, these are a few things you will need.
- People
Unless you are undertaking a personal project, you will most likely need a team to help you accomplish the task. In this process knowing how to hire the right people is a critical skill. This could mean hand-picking a team from the existing workforce or hiring people from outside the organization. In either case, the better you are at putting the team together, the higher the chances of success and the less energy you will have to invest in developing team members.
- Assets
Projects generally require a mix of human assets and capital assets. In the modern workplace, this can often mean digital assets such as computers and software. Team management systems, CMS platforms, and larger frameworks including Oracle ULA require that you renew the service agreement periodically. Also, keep in mind that you might need to upgrade your existing license or buy additional licenses as your team expands. Investing in the right assets right from the get-go can make the process that much easier and more efficient.
- Funding
Assets aren’t cheap and hiring professional team members also costs money. There is a range of other expenses that you will incur throughout the project which you also need to account for. Knowing how to raise capital through investors or secure capital from a lender will be an essential skill for undertaking any project. Today there are plenty of options for raising capital and therefore it is much easier than it was in the past. However, since there is also more competition, you need to be able to stand out to get the investment you need.
- Knowledge
No matter what kind of project you are starting, there is a high chance it has been done before. Someone in the company might have tried it or you might find an external resource that has. In either case, looking into this case study will be very helpful. You will get a blueprint of the path you are about to take and you can save yourself a lot of time and money by anticipating and avoiding potential pitfalls. Invest in doing your research and gathering as much knowledge as possible.
Only a very small percentage of projects reach their goal because they are all lacking in one area or the other. It’s difficult to get everything exactly right, but the better prepared you are, the easier it will be to handle things when they don’t go your way. The work doesn’t start when you officially launch the project; it starts much earlier when you start putting together all the necessary components to make it happen.
