Accusing people of being 'demanding' could just as easily be answered with being 'whiny'. Really, accusations ( if that's what they actually are ) are useless in either direction. Suggestions and observations, however, are not.
Project Management methods are widely available on the ~www~ (I'd point to PMI's website, for instance, as a starting point ). As someone well versed in this particular focus of business, impact studies over the years reveal these following things to be true:
1) Anyone impacted by your project is considered a 'stakeholder'. ( Given the increased and immense competition for consumer dollars during recessionary times, it cannot be emphasized enough that even the slightest abrasiveness or apathy to stakeholders can kill the financial goals of any project ).
2) Spending time in Planning and Design is more likely to increase the success and seamless transition of Implementation. ( Failing to spend time during the Planning phase almost always results in stakeholders and the overall goals of the project being negatively impacted. )
3) Any project should have one, and only one, project manager.( While projects are built by consensus, they cannot be effectively guided by it to a successful conclusion. The close of a project is as important as the beginning and at the end of the day, when project success is analyzed and archived, there is one chief who will have been considered ultimately responsible for the health of the project. Every project manager should have a sign above their desk: The buck stops here. That also means accepting responsiblity for project failure as well as success and absorbing with grace both the positive and negative feedback one recieves from team members and stakeholders. )
4) Underestimating project impact on stakeholders, failing to communicate with stakeholders, and being apathetic or defensive towards stakeholders is a sure course to failure. If this mistake is made it is an immediacy to correct it early ( which of late has become obvious you are trying to do - which is encouraging )
I could go on but I'm sure for nearly everyone else not involved in project management it is a dry, boring subject. The point of mentioning it is only that many proven PM knowledge areas, strategies and uses, are ignored to the detriment of anyone involved in business. PM and business analysis are rapidly becoming cohesive disciplines whose previously seperate definitions are blurred. But learning what the experts know, without becoming expert, is possible and can be applied to any future projects you may have for this site to ensure success for everyone, particularly those who do the actual work ( team members ) of implenting it.
I hope my post is followed by someone with a smart mouth and sarcastic disposition to mitigate all that boring shit I just wrote.
