A kick-off is not a project milestone

[reposted from my yahoo 360 blog 12/6/05]

There are a lot of misconceptions in Project Management. Here's a short list of some of them:

• A kick-off is not a project milestone. Milestones do not have durations in them. Just like milestones in the real sense, they are merely markers of what you've done so far. This is why when you put in zero duration in MS Project, it automatically treats it as a milestone. (Btw, "Project Kick-Off done" is a milestone).
• The MPP file is not the Project Plan. More often than not, PM's tend to refer to their MS Project file as the "Project Plan". Although it does contain a lot of information, it is only at best - A Project Schedule tool. A Project Plan in the real sense is a document that contains all the information regarding how to perform the project. It contains the scope of the project, the schedule of the project, the cost of the project, and other subsidiary items such as the communications plan, risk management plan, quality management plan, et al.
• The Gantt Chart is not the WBS. Although there are similarities between the two. The WBS is more important and should be the basis of what needs to be done in the project. Note that a WBS does not have a schedule in place but is rather similar to an Organizational Chart of what needs to be done in the project. Btw, the Gantt Chart in MS Project is not a Gantt Chart in the real sense as well.
• The Project Plan is bound to change. Don't let anyone fool you otherwise. Unless the Project would take a day to complete, something is bound to happen. This doesn't necessarily mean that the PM did a bad job in doing the plan, it only means that the project is progressing.
• There's a lot of value in the Project Charter. People often just rush into projects and often think about why they're doing it as hindsight. That is Very Bad! Sooner or later (or sooner than you think), you realize that management does not give a hoot as to why you are doing that project, or that other functional departments don't support your project. Even worse, mid-way in the project the budget gets cut! All these could have been more manageable if there was a Project Charter in place. For one thing, Project Charters give the PM the authority to start a project since charters are initiated by Senior Management. It is THE document that says "Hey, I can use XX resources because this charter says so!"

So there. I've put in a few stuff off-the-bat regarding common misconceptions in Project Management. I'll be posting some more as soon as I finish my Initiation Review (aka "Rites of Passage") with our CIO.