Anticlue

Using what you know

The "not invented here" syndrome hits alot of different places in different ways. In managing projects, one of the very first steps should be to look at other previous projects for something similar. It just saves alot of time and headaches in learning from others.

The creation of and maintainence of a project repository is just very very useful. It also shouldn't be locked away from different groups. If you have a functional organizational structure, different groups should be able to see others projects.

What is in a project repository? Well it should contain the project plan materials items. A good items is to have the charter, risks and issuesl, the schedule with slippage, scope of work, work breakdown structure, the change control plan, how communications where handled, what the risks where, and the budget for the project. Any correspondence regarding the project should also be maintained within the repository. Also the estimates and resources needed for the project. One of the more important items, is the review of lessons learned from the project.

So once you have the repository in place, use it. Its best to start first thing in the initiation phase, look at what has been done and what worked. look at what didn't work and if applicable apply the recommendations to the new project.