What It Takes To Create Successful Software Development Projects
Throughout
20-plus years of my career, we’ve had the opportunity to manage and work on
over 50 software development projects across different verticals, ranging from
Fortune 500 companies to venture-backed tech startups.
Some of these
projects have succeeded admirably in their own right, and some haven’t.
In this post,
I’ll go over the consistent factors I’ve noticed that determine the success
rate of most custom software development projects.
Some
Dream, Others Do
Business
success has nothing to do with IQ. If it did, many of the most successful
entrepreneurs would never have been able to pull off their projects.
You don’t
need a fancy degree. What you do need is an impeccable work ethic. When you get
out of bed, you should feel excited about the opportunities before you. Know
what you want to accomplish and how to gauge your success. Specifics are the
building blocks of good project management no matter what department you work
in or what type of business you run.
If you don’t
strategically design your days to move you forward in life and business, you’re
wasting your most precious resource: time.
You don’t
have to burn yourself out. Working 20 hours a day doesn’t make you a successful
entrepreneur or employee. On the contrary, working a smart eight
to 12 hours per day will get you much farther. In fact, research demonstrates
that clocking more than 50 hours per week results in a steep plunge in productivity.
When you get
up in the morning, figure out exactly how you’re going to move the needle. On
some days, you might finish a task you’ve left on your plate too long. On other
days, give your best presentation in a meeting or meet with a member of your
team who has shown tremendous promise.
According to
37% of respondents to a recent PMI study, project management fails most often
because there aren’t any clear goals. If you don’t know what you’re
trying to accomplish and can't figure out the steps that are necessary to get
to the finished product, you can’t articulate those things to your team.
Consequently, the project fails.
Habits And
Goals
Each evening,
take a quick inventory of what you accomplished during the day. Write in a
journal, record your own voice or talk it over with a loved one.
But don’t
stop there. Create a plan for what you’ll tackle tomorrow. Be specific. What
can you accomplish that will move you closer to realizing success?
Once you
create this habit, it’ll become the catalyst that takes your measurable output
to the next level. Other positive habits will follow. For instance, instead of
watching mindless television, you’ll spend your time taking notes and
strategizing. And when you need the latest Netflix special to serve as your
guilty pleasure, you’ll watch both for entertainment and to pluck from it ideas
about storytelling for your business.
Master the
small things first: the habits and goals. Then tackle the bigger items on your
to-do list. Don’t just talk about your big idea -- get up off the couch and
make it happen. You need to take that first step if you’re going to succeed.
It’s like building a stronger body: The hardest part is going to the gym and
starting on day one.
Whether
you’re marketing a mobile app or building a new time management solution for
your company’s accounting division, divide up the projects into steps. Use checklists
to keep yourself on track (they never go out of style).
The Clock
Matters
When you’re
late for a meeting, interview or workshop, you send one message to everyone
else: “I don’t care about your time.” And in the case of meeting with
employees, you let them know that they can also run late if they feel like it.
Unless a job
candidate faces a life-altering event, don’t hire that person if he or she
arrives a single minute late to the interview. You know that the pattern will
continue.
When
companies run on a predictable schedule, more of the heavy lifting gets done.
Everyone works in sync. Nobody waits around for the stragglers. Tardiness
can become systemic. If one meeting starts 15 minutes late, every other meeting
gets postponed. There’s a ripple effect.
You’ll find
that in certain corporate cultures, bad habits fester throughout the company,
causing standards to fall and team spirit to diminish. You can tell by how much
blame is passed around at the next failed deadline.
Start your
meetings at the top of the hour. That’s easy. Not a minute before and not a
minute after.
Timing
matters in every aspect of business. If you don’t have the right timing for
push notifications, for instance, fewer members of your target audience will
click to learn about your latest content.
Live by the
clock when you want your project to succeed. Meet deadlines, and show up on
time -- and require your team to follow suit. You’ll create an accountable team
that shows up ready to contribute.
Remember that
technology isn’t the solution to everything. We need committed, reliable people
on our teams if we want our projects to succeed.
Final
Thoughts
Developing a
new project with Vietnam software development company requires time, expertise and diligence. If you’re not willing to
put in the legwork, even if it requires after-hours logistics, you’re setting
yourself up for failure.
The best project
developers in business today think like entrepreneurs. They take responsibility
for whatever’s on their plate and execute accordingly.
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