An existing project is a project that meets its requirements, costs and of obviously its deadlines. To meet the deadlines we can give you the following advices based on good practices in project management:

1. Complete the requirements and the high level architecture before programming.

It is natural behaviour for any engineer to be anxious to find the solution and to write the first lines of code as soon as possible. But anticipating too much the stage of software construction often ends up giving more problems than solutions. It is imperative for any project, complex or not, to follow the necessary steps and validate the requirements first, then the design so that the programing stage is easier, focusing on its own difficulties.

2. Do not underestimate the estimation task.

Yes, every software development project is unique, but it is not a reason to let it go to the unknown. Making the best possible planning allows a realistic execution and facilitates the control of the project. Estimating tasks is a task in itself that needs time and experience. There are different techniques to adjust the time of each tasks and to avoid being either an in pressure or in a relax mode.

3. Set clear and feasible review milestones.

We need clear, short-term goals to work well. Also to facilitate the control of the project it is essential to define concrete and feasible review milestones to achieve before moving on to the next one. Output products have to be defined for each task and plan to be reviewed (at east to be complete and consistent) as a project milestone.

4. Include stakeholders, especially the customer, in all phases of your project.

Waiting for the end of the project to verify if what we did was what the customer wanted is a bad habit in software development projects. The customer, whether internal or external, is an integral part of the project and has to participate in its important stages. The requirements, the deliverables and the delivery Instructions or the tests and their environment must be verified with the customer. Project reviews with the customer are also required on a regular basis and throughout the project to avoid bad surprises at the end of the project.

5. Complete but simple risk management.

Good risk management is a very crucial practice of project management to avoid extra costs and delays in the project. Although anticipating or even trying to avoid the risks of each project is often difficult and not always obvious nor possible, at least we must be ready to act in time to manage and coexist with them so that their effect is the least possible in the project.