The three most important criteria for project managers to utilize when assessing a developer's performance are working software, tasks that have been performed, and code readability. Project managers often blame the lack of clearly defined deliverables, followed by irrational expectations and estimates, as crucial reasons for project failure.
Getting projects done successfully, on time, and within budget may be quite difficult. You have to monitor and ensure that all tasks carried out by team members contribute to the project's outcome as a result of a detailed planning and execution strategy. Only 43% of organizations effectively complete their projects within budget, according to a survey. An expertly managed process flow is necessary to keep the project’s budget under control and give your clients the strongest quality system.
Your clients invest in a software project to develop an app or a better website for their organization– for which they expect a quality outcome. Therefore, to provide them with a quality system, you must comprehend the causes of most software project failures if you want to guarantee project success.
As a professional software developer or a project manager, it’s essential to have the capacity to manage stress and deal with problems successfully. The traits that are essential for a project to be successful are covered in the article that follows.
10 Important Factors for a Software Development Project
Experienced software development companies in Bangladesh, or anywhere else in the globe, have the capacity to quicken the pace of the country’s technological advancement, promoting industrialization and economic expansion. As a result, such development benefits the country’s security, health, and education, which can significantly raise the standard of living for its citizens.
The size, scope, and nature of the project will determine how smoothly and optimally it comes together. There have been many studies on software project management success criteria. However, it is evident that some repeating characteristics seem to be important regardless of the project’s setting. Let’s examine a few of them and determine their importance:
Checklist
Experienced Project Managers & Professional Developers
Every software development company must consist of a capable leader with the required technical and managerial skills if you want to ensure that your project is headed in the right direction.
In essence, a key role in the software development process is played by product owners, project managers, Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), software developers, and other managerial personnel, who use modern project collaboration platforms, such as Trello and messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or Gmail to plan, coordinate and manage the project. Currently, less than one in four software firms make use of any form of project management software, while most depend on Excel, paper, or a mishmash of systems with poor integration. Due to this reason, 54% of firms aren’t able to track the KPIs in real time.
Additionally, only 10% of developers can complete a typical software project with basic capabilities in less than two months. In order to ensure a project’s success, experienced and competent developers are required, who possess the technical skills required in software development and intuitive project managers that can map out the strategic plan and progress of the project. Additionally, the proficiency of good project managers is that they value the testing of software, in each stage, to minimize the risks and costs of any software project.
Clear Objectives & Specifications from the Clients
The cornerstone of a successful software project is clear communication and constant collaboration, which ultimately helps avoid confusion, delays, and blunders. Over 30% of projects fail because of poor communication, according to the Project Management Institute.
Therefore, listening, speaking– during meetings, and writing meeting minutes create logs and records that help organize and track specific tasks and project scope.
The meeting minutes should be kept for in-house meetings and client meetings as well, this creates a concrete and clear understanding between the team members and stakeholders. Using Google Sheets and Doc files are the most convenient ways to have records of the projects, as well as tools such as Airtable, ClickUp, and many more. Therefore, this allows the team members and clients to be aligned, and be it any type of software, it can be progressed with ease and success.
Proper Planning & Methodical Approach
Want a system to be delivered perfectly, with zero issues? Then do not err in this stage and spend enough time and resources to make meticulous planning and strategies for a seamless process!
It will enable team members to be aware of their responsibilities throughout the project if proper preparation has been done. However, there are times when project managers rush to the project execution phase without spending enough time on careful preparation– it deems failure, leaving the clients dissatisfied, and costing the reputation of your company.
Moreover, agile software development has gained traction among the leading software firms– and choosing an efficient project management technique is crucial for the project’s success. The framework is all about collaboration, client feedback, sprints, and proper detailed planning. Therefore, choosing an efficient project management technique is crucial for success.
Adhering to Best Practices
According to 42% of survey participants, their companies do not acknowledge the significance of project management. This is due to the need for better best practices in project management that don’t get implemented while developing and deploying an integrated software system.
The act of project management is critical and sensitive, therefore, when feasible you need to use frameworks and practice guidelines. When project management practices are used, projects are 2.5 times more successful. Instead of starting from scratch, learn from prior accomplishments and modify tried-and-true tactics for every step of the project. This will allow you to focus your resources on the truly unique aspects of your project that will truly make a difference.
Monitoring & Keeping the Project Under Control
“37% of projects fail because of unclear goals, which is the most frequent cause.”
-TeamStage
You must periodically monitor the project to stay aligned with the goals in order to ensure that it does not meet unfortunate failures. The statistics above show unclear understanding of software development projects results in failure.
Review your progress and the outcomes frequently. Use reports and key performance indicators (KPI) to rapidly determine if the project is on track. When something goes wrong, you’ll notice it early on and be able to stop it before more damage is done.
Nowadays, numerous essential features are being introduced for e-commerce websites or other software development systems. Therefore, monitoring enables every scope of a project to be developed smoothly.
Tracking Daily Progress
It’s crucial to be aware of the project’s overall and major stage completion dates in order to guarantee timely execution. Thus, daily task status updates ensure that all the stakeholders and everyone involved are aware of the project’s progress and the contributions that each team member makes to the final product.
The task-tracking software assists you in keeping track of critical dates and deadlines, such as the planned and actual completion dates for each short-term objective or project phase. Trello is the most optimum tool for defining and tracking your tasks.
Clients should be confident that they are choosing a software development company with a clear timeframe, a seamless procedure, and expertise in what they do. Therefore, tracking daily progress enables that proficiency and expertise.
Regular Communications
Teams with strong communication may see productivity gains of up to 25%. The foundation of a successful software project is a clear and consistent agreement, which ultimately helps to avoid confusion, delays, and blunders.
Therefore, an open channel of communication is essential for the success of a project. It is vital for the team to stay updated on every facet of the project when working to meet objectives within a set timeframe. Learn when to say no as well, and do not make commitments that cannot be kept. Thus, being transparent about what can be provided and when it can be delivered ensures success and a seamless system to a large extent.
Working with Committed Workforce
Software development companies in Bangladesh have been aspiring in the offshore market too. Flourishing their talents quite impressively and successfully. In a general context, the team consists of multiple, dedicated experts working on different software development projects.
Thus, it is crucial to have a team of capable and committed software developers to succeed in driving results. Unforeseen situations may arise anytime amidst the project. It’s essential to allocate qualified individuals to each project component and ensure their effective collaboration. Additionally, for the best outcome, the entire team needs to be fully aware and involved, therefore communication must be in line with everyone involved.
The best choice you can make is to make your project’s goals SMART. Therefore, you can create short-term goals once a project scope has been established. The following requirements must be met by every objective.
SMART breaks down to–
- Specific: The objective ought to be focused on a particular area for development or need.
- Measurable: The objective must be measurable or at least provide tracking of progress.
- Attainable: Realistic objectives should be set in light of the resources at hand and the current conditions.
- Relevant: To be regarded as worthwhile, the purpose must be in line with other corporate goals.
- Timely: The objective needs to have a set deadline.
Working with a committed force, developing websites with seamless features and functionality, or creating a smooth mobile application for a business becomes fun and easy. As collaboration plays a key role.
Careful Management of Risks
For every $1 billion invested in projects and programs, businesses now lose 109 million USD, according to PMI’s “Pulse of the Profession: The High Cost of Low Performance.”. Therefore, developing a risk record and plan of action for the project’s vulnerabilities is crucial during strategic planning– as project managers are aware that planned outcomes are infrequent.
However, if you can implement all the mentioned points to overlook a software development project, as a project manager, you are less likely to see failures. Even if something goes wrong, your team can deal with it quickly due to the established plan. This helps the customers feel safe about the progress of their project and offers the team confidence when tackling project hazards.
Conducting a Final & Post-Release Review
A proficient software company develops custom software with its target audience in mind. Therefore, thoroughly investigate the client experience before beginning development in order to comprehend the target market and its requirements. Don’t wait until the last minute to plan your release– you should test your system with the environment and relevant content presentation.
After you’ve done all of this and finished your final quality assurance, deployment is the following step. Customized software development projects entail customized deployment processes– your operations team must review, confirm, and approve all papers related to deployment. After the product has been released, you should assess it and think back on what went well and poorly throughout the project’s lifecycle. Every step of the software development life cycle comes with learning and scope for improvement, enabling your team to adjust performance and strategies for upcoming projects.
Conclusion
A project may continue to use resources if a strong closure for the developed software system is not achieved. The project team must be persistent and agree with the client that all essential success criteria have been accomplished. The delivery, testing, and release of the project must be confirmed, and both parties must agree and sign off on this. Customer satisfaction surveys are useful tools for recording information for later use, which should be filed away.
The aforementioned criteria, when put into practice, will result in a project’s success and foster positive relationships with stakeholders and customers. These elements also assist you in avoiding challenges encountered by project managers during the project development process.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are a few tips for project management?
Here are a few tips for a project manager– fostering efficient and transparent communication, setting specific objectives, keeping track of tasks, collaborating with skilled engineers, and inspiring the team members.
What are the 7 C’s in project management?
There are seven fundamental components that, if taken into account, will aid the organization’s decision-making process for projects. Customers, competitors, capabilities, cost, channels, communication, and coordination make up the seven components or 7 Cs.
What is the project lifecycle?
A project moves through a series of phases known as the project lifecycle. It includes– initiation, planning, execution, and closure.
Where is PERT used?
A project management planning technique called the Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) is used to estimate how long it will actually take to complete a project. Project tasks are planned using PERT charts, which makes it simpler to organize and coordinate team members.
