
Ask HN: Advice for new project managers on new projects - dagw
In a few weeks, I&#x27;ll be starting a new job where for the first time in my career I&#x27;ll be in charge of a project starting from scratch. This will not only be the first time I&#x27;m involved in a project which has literally 0 lines of code written when I show up but also the first time when I&#x27;ll be responsible for both structuring the whole project and actually telling other developers what to do.  Basically, it&#x27;s up to me to make sure the foundation everything will be built on doesn&#x27;t suck.<p>Any advice on things I should think of or obvious mistakes I should avoid would be great!
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dodgyb
Remember that you are not there to make decisions, you are there to help
qualified people make decisions in good time by presenting them with the
information they need, when they need it. Don't overload them with data
irrelevant to the immediate task.

Risk management should also be a major focus. Always ask what could go wrong.
I recently read an interesting proposition - in the project initiation stage
outline the goal and state that the project has failed. Then ask for reasons
why this could have happened. This will help the team identify assumptions,
constraints and risks to be avoided or mitigated. It also focuses the team on
risk management from the very start.

Herding Cats has put together a good outline of the subject:

[http://herdingcats.typepad.com/my_weblog/2017/08/risk-
manage...](http://herdingcats.typepad.com/my_weblog/2017/08/risk-management-
in-five-easy-pieces-with-apologies-to-jack.html)

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thomasconner
My general advice would be to plan, plan, plan. This could be using a tool
like Jira or Github Projects. Have whiteboard sessions to discuss the
architecture before you get started and make sure you plan it out well.
Communication is also really important so everyone knows what each other is
doing.

