The Value of Independent Project Management Reviews
As a project manager, I look at project management reviews as an opportunity to show my
peers what I am doing, to learn something, and to get some help where I need it. I don't have
the opportunity to compare notes with my peers very often, and project management reviews
give me that opportunity. When I review the project management review findings, I always
learn something new.
Project management reviews are also a great opportunity to get some support to help me solve problems I might have that cannot be solved any other way. Don't wait for external QA reviews to report urgent problems! On one of my projects, I could not get the skilled resources I needed; they were not available. After QA identified the lack of resources as a problem, the priorities were changed and I was able to get the resources I needed.
Preparing for the project management review takes time. But the preparation is usually updating documents that should have already been updated, getting those final approvals, or filing the latest status reports. All of that work needs to be done anyway, and the project review just forces it to be done sooner.