by Walt Maclay, President of Voler Systems, a leading provider for electronic design and embedded firmware.

A great project manager is able to work with internal resources, vendors, and ultimately the client to deliver requirements that are on schedule, on budget, and to specification. Before starting a project, there should be a well-defined scope of work agreed upon by all parties. As projects progress, regular status updates keep all parties updated on milestones, deliverables, and any potential risks that could impact schedule, budget, or the overall deliverable. At Voler Systems, we provide weekly status updates until the completion of a project. Lastly, we strive to “over communicate” with the client’s team. Many of us, particularly engineers, have a tendency to “under communicate” and not give a clear picture of the project status. To compensate for this, at Voler we strive to accurately communicate the current status, including risks we have identified and our plans to manage them, as well as the current schedule and budget for completion.