8 Key Factors for Successful Project Management in 2020
Successful project management is the difference between delivering value on time and on budget, and watching initiatives spiral into costly failures. Whether you are managing a software development sprint, a complex organisational transformation, or a multi-channel marketing campaign, these eight key factors provide the foundation for consistent project success.
At Growth Turbine, we apply these principles to every project we manage — from equity crowdfunding campaigns to comprehensive brand development initiatives. Here are the eight factors that separate successful projects from failing ones.
1. Select Appropriate Project Methodology
Waterfall vs Agile. Choose a methodology that is best suited to your project to ensure cost-efficient and effective project delivery; Waterfall is suited to projects where detailed planning work is required upfront, for example, physical objects. All steps are laid out, dependencies mapped and you move onto the next stage only after completing the one before it. Agile, on the other hand, is a fast and flexible approach based on principles of collaboration, adaptability and continuous improvement. Non-physical deliverables like software are often developed in an agile fashion. Unlike the orderly stages of a waterfall approach, agile is set up in quick, iterative release cycles.
Pro Tip: For marketing and fundraising campaigns, a hybrid approach often works best. The overall campaign strategy and regulatory compliance milestones follow a waterfall structure, while creative development, ad optimisation, and Facebook ad iterations follow agile sprints. This is exactly how Growth Turbine manages Reg CF and Reg A+ fundraising campaigns — structured milestones with agile execution.
2. Concrete Project Milestones
Milestones are the major checkpoints throughout a project lifecycle which should be achieved to reach success. These should be defined upfront at the start of the project and set in stone allowing the project manager to measure and report against progress throughout. As well as defining the milestones themselves, define the entry and exit criteria for each to ensure consistent project delivery. If your project is part of a larger programme, it is critical to define consistent high-level milestones across the programme to ensure equivalent measures of progress — this will assist in creating an overall programme plan.
3. A Detailed Project Plan
"Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." This famous quote by Eisenhower highlights that creating a plan is not a one-off activity. The project manager is continually responsible for updating the project plan with new information and targets as the project progresses — project team members should collaborate to provide relevant information to feed into the plan. Although the plan should contain enough detail for the project manager to know what tasks are scheduled on a weekly basis, planning activity should not impede actual project delivery.
The right project management software — tools like Jira, Smartsheet, or Wrike — makes maintaining and updating a detailed project plan significantly more efficient, with features like Gantt charts, task dependencies, and automated update requests.
4. Clear and Articulated Benefits
Ensure your project benefits align to the overall business strategy and ensure they will add value to the business early on in the project lifecycle. You should ensure that desired business change outcomes have not only been clearly defined but are measurable and provide a compelling case for investment. These benefits should be measured and reviewed throughout the project lifecycle as well as at project completion. Assign benefits owners to manage and monitor achievement of the benefits.
This principle connects directly to Business Process Reengineering — factor #1 (strategic alignment) emphasises the same need to ensure every initiative is connected to broader business objectives. For fundraising projects, use our startup valuation calculator to quantify the benefits of a successful raise.
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Growth Turbine applies rigorous project management to every equity crowdfunding and Reg D campaign. Clear milestones, detailed plans, and measurable benefits — delivered on time and on budget.
Schedule a Free Consultation5. PMO
In the deep midwinter, do you ever feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to manage your project deliverables? To keep on top of your risk and issues? To book rooms for all your meetings next week? A PMO (Project/Portfolio/Programme Management Office) can come to your rescue and help keep your project on track. As a central project hub, there are varying maturities of PMO, however, it is typically responsible for project governance, reporting, planning, quality assurance, change management, risk and issue management, communication, budget management and enforcing overarching standards. More advanced PMOs can even get involved with recruitment, evaluating project manager's performance and project prioritisation.
As we explored in our article on project health checks, the PMO is the heartbeat of well-run projects. When an effective PMO is placed at the centre of a programme, it rarely experiences health issues.
Pro Tip: Even if you cannot justify a full PMO, designating one person with PMO responsibilities dramatically improves project outcomes. This person maintains the risk register, tracks milestones, coordinates meetings, and ensures governance processes are followed. For startup teams running a crowdfunding campaign, having someone in this coordinating role is often the difference between a successful raise and a disorganised scramble.
6. Online Collaboration Tool
Ensure your project team have access to online collaboration tools such as Yammer and Lync to allow fast and efficient communication, leading to faster and efficient project delivery. To avoid costly rework down the line, stakeholders need to understand critical dependencies in workload and between other potential projects. Daily stand-up meetings work well for local project teams — do not let distance be a barrier. Conference calls or Skype are apt tools for regular project updates.
For a comprehensive look at the best collaboration and project management tools available, see our review of the 10 best project management softwares, covering tools from Jira and Wrike to Hive (with nearly 100 integrations) and Smartsheet (used by Fortune 500 companies).
7. A Risk and Issue Management Log
Ensure project risks and issues are recorded and reviewed on a regular basis and define a consistent system for scoring them — a "red", "amber", "green" (RAG) system often works well. This information should be shared with key project stakeholders on a regular basis to ensure all risks and issues are identified and fully understood and so that mitigations can be agreed. This tool will also form a basis for reporting to senior project sponsors — they will want to be informed whether there are any risks or issues posing a threat to the success of the overall project, for which their neck is ultimately on the line!
8. A Central Doc Repository
An online central doc repository like Sharepoint, JIRA Confluence or Google Drive allows all project deliverables to be stored in one place, accessible to all stakeholders at any time. It allows for only "one version of the truth". A PMO function can also upload "best practice" project templates for project managers to complete which allows consistency and aids the quality assurance process.
Pro Tip: The "one version of the truth" principle is critical for fundraising campaigns with multiple stakeholders. Investor documents, regulatory filings, marketing assets, campaign analytics, and financial projections should all live in a single accessible repository. This prevents version conflicts, ensures compliance, and makes it easy for account managers to provide accurate information to investors and stakeholders at any time.
Project Management Success Factors Summary
| # | Factor | Key Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Methodology | Choose Waterfall, Agile, or hybrid based on deliverable type |
| 2 | Milestones | Define upfront with entry/exit criteria; set in stone |
| 3 | Project Plan | Continually update; weekly task-level detail |
| 4 | Benefits | Align to strategy; assign owners; measure throughout |
| 5 | PMO | Central hub for governance, reporting, risk management |
| 6 | Collaboration Tools | Enable fast communication; daily stand-ups |
| 7 | Risk/Issue Log | RAG scoring; regular stakeholder reviews |
| 8 | Doc Repository | One version of the truth; best-practice templates |
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Growth Turbine brings structured project management to every engagement — from equity crowdfunding to brand development. We manage complex campaigns with the discipline of enterprise project managers and the creativity of a marketing agency.
Get Started TodayFrequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Waterfall and Agile project management?
Waterfall is suited to projects where detailed planning work is required upfront, such as physical objects. All steps are laid out, dependencies mapped, and you move onto the next stage only after completing the one before it. Agile is a fast and flexible approach based on principles of collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement, set up in quick, iterative release cycles. Non-physical deliverables like software are often developed using Agile.
What makes a good project milestone?
A good milestone is a major checkpoint in the project lifecycle that is defined upfront, measurable, and has clear entry and exit criteria. Milestones should be set in stone to allow the project manager to measure and report against progress. In programmes with multiple projects, consistent high-level milestones across all projects ensure equivalent measures of progress and help create a coherent overall programme plan.
Why did Eisenhower say "plans are useless but planning is indispensable"?
Eisenhower's quote highlights that a project plan is not a one-off document but a living tool. The value is in the ongoing planning process — continually updating the plan with new information and targets as the project progresses. The project manager must maintain weekly task-level detail while ensuring that planning activity does not impede actual project delivery. The plan evolves; the discipline of planning remains constant.
What does a PMO do?
A PMO (Project/Portfolio/Programme Management Office) serves as a central project hub responsible for project governance, reporting, planning, quality assurance, change management, risk and issue management, communication, budget management, and enforcing overarching standards. More advanced PMOs can get involved with recruitment, evaluating project managers' performance, and project prioritisation. As our project health article explains, a PMO is the heartbeat of well-run projects.
What is a RAG status in project management?
RAG stands for Red, Amber, Green — a visual scoring system for project risks and issues. Green means on track with no significant concerns, Amber indicates potential issues requiring attention, and Red signals critical problems threatening project success. RAG scoring should be applied consistently and shared with key stakeholders regularly to ensure all risks are identified, understood, and mitigated.
How do I choose the right project management methodology?
Consider the nature of your deliverables and the level of upfront certainty. Waterfall works best when requirements are well-defined and unlikely to change (physical products, construction, regulatory compliance). Agile excels when requirements evolve and rapid iteration is valuable (software, creative campaigns, marketing initiatives). Many organisations use a hybrid approach that combines waterfall milestones with agile execution sprints.
What online collaboration tools are best for project teams?
Effective collaboration requires tools for real-time communication (Slack, Microsoft Teams), project management (Jira, Wrike, Smartsheet), and document management (SharePoint, Confluence, Google Drive). The key is enabling fast, efficient communication and ensuring stakeholders understand critical dependencies. Daily stand-up meetings — in person or via video call — are particularly effective for keeping teams aligned.
How do I align project benefits with business strategy?
Start by clearly defining the desired business change outcomes and ensuring they are measurable and provide a compelling case for investment. Assign benefits owners who are accountable for monitoring achievement. Review benefits throughout the project lifecycle, not just at completion. This aligns with BPR factor #1 (strategic alignment) and ensures your project delivers genuine business value.
Can these factors be applied to marketing campaigns?
Absolutely. Every marketing campaign is a project that benefits from these eight factors: choosing the right methodology (agile sprints for ad optimisation), setting milestones (launch dates, spend thresholds, conversion targets), detailed planning, clear ROI benefits, PMO-style coordination, collaboration tools, risk tracking, and centralised asset management. Growth Turbine applies all eight factors to our performance marketing and fundraising campaigns.
How do I set up a risk and issue management process?
Create a risk and issue log (spreadsheet or project management tool) with columns for: description, owner, likelihood, impact, RAG score, mitigation actions, and target resolution date. Review the log weekly with the project team and share it with senior sponsors regularly. Distinguish between risks (potential future problems) and issues (current problems requiring resolution). A structured approach to risk management is one of the nine project health indicators we recommend monitoring.
