Clearly define the project

This first step is also a critical one. Too often it is dismissed as a bureaucratic exercise only to be surprised later that different parts interpreted the scope and the goals of the project in different ways. It is a small investment to create a clear project charter and (try to) agree on it. If there is disagreement it is better now rather then months into the project. This will also help you to prevent mission creep and back you up when later disagreements arise.
Set up the governance structure

Put some thought into this to define who needs to be in the core team (which is driving the day to day work) versus the Steering Committee where progress gets reported to the sponsors and larger decisions get made. Especially for the Steering Committee you need to think about who needs to be on board to be able to get the decisions needed versus who just needs to be informed.
Identify the work packages

This depends very much on the project. In some cases it is very clear cut while in some others it is needed to first work together with the organization to identity all of the areas that need to be included. In both cases one should group related smaller sub projects together into larger work packages. Depending on the number of work packages it can be helpful to segement them into several work streams that are chaired by senior managers.
Create tracking mechanism

There are many tools available to track project status. From more or less sophisticated Excel models to highly specialized project management software. This really depends on the specifics needs of the project. Personally I like tools that require little work to update and are easy to understand and manage also by the organization.
Develop phased plan

If you have a big project with many activities, work packages and work streams you will also need substantial organizational resources. Often it is just not feasible to start everything at the same time. It is important to think about the priorities and then develop a phased plan that has a fair chance of succeeding because it also leaves enough time for the normal day to day work everyone will have to do as well.

Agree on needed resources

It happens to often that projects get started without a clear agreement on what is really needed resource wise to make it succeed. this is an important discussion to have before the project gets kicked off. If you dont get the resources needed this will give you the opportunity to agree on the changes in timelines or a change in goals with the reduced resources.
Start project

Make it public, make it big and create some excitement around it. When the team commits itself publicly it helps everyone’s motivation to pitch in to actually make it succeed instead of having it wither away.
Periodic project reviews (Coreteam + StC)

Schedule your project reviews so that the core team is slightly ahead of the Steering committee assuring alignment ahead of the Steering committee. This also allows you to reduce preparation time instead of having to redo everything if there are some weeks in between them.

Close out project

When the project is finally done give it a proper send off. Celebrate the work that you have done together as a team and what has been achieved. Make an “after action review” to identify what worked and what did not so it works better the next time.

Clearly define the project

This first step is also a critical one. Too often it is dismissed as a bureaucratic exercise only to be surprised later that different parts interpreted the scope and the goals of the project in different ways. It is a small investment to create a clear project charter and (try to) agree on it. If there is disagreement it is better now rather then months into the project. This will also help you to prevent mission creep and back you up when later disagreements arise.

Set up the governance structure

Put some thought into this to define who needs to be in the core team (which is driving the day to day work) versus the Steering Committee whereprogress gets reported to the sponsors and larger decisions get made. Especially for the Steering Committee you need to think about who needs to be on board to be able to get the decisions needed versus who just needs to be informed.

Identify the work packages

This depends very much on the project. In some cases it is very clear cut while in some others it is needed to first work together with the organisation to identy all of the areas that need to be included. In both cases one should group related smaller sub projects together into larger work packages. Depending on the number of work packages it can be helpful to segement them into several work streams that are chaired by senior managers.

Create tracking mechanism

There are many tools available to track project status. From more or less sophisticated Excel models to highly specialized project managementsoftware. This really depends on the specifics needs of the project. Peronally I like tools that require little work to update and are easy to understand and manage also by the organization.

Develop phased plan

If you have a big project with many activities, work packages and workstreams you will also need substantial organisational resources. Often it is just not feasible to start everything at the same time. It is important to think about the priorities and then develop a phased plan that has a fair chance of succeeding because it also leaves enough time for the normal day to day work everyone will have to do as well.

Agree on needed resources

It happens to often that projects get started without a clear agreement on  what is really needed resource wise to make it succeed. this is an important discussion to have before the project gets kicked off. If you dont get the resources needed this will give you the opportunity to agree on the changes in timelines or a change in goals with the reduced resources.

Start project

Make it public, make it big and create some excitement around it. When the team commits itself publicly it helps everyones motivation to pitch in to actually make it succeed instead of having it wither away.

Periodic project reviews (Coreteam + StC)

Schedule your project reviews so that the coreteam is slightly ahead of the Steering committee assuring alignment ahead of the Steering committee. This also allows you to reduce preparation time instead of having to redo everything if there are some weeks in between them.

Close out project

When the project is finally done give it a proper send off. Celebrate the work that you have done together as a team and what has been achieved. Make an “after action review” to identify what worked and what did  not so it works better the next time.