Here's my take on 10 essential IT project management rules

I am partioning out lots of "amen brothe" (s) to Computerworld's James Kerr on his latest article, "The Ten Commandments of Project Management." The article's title doesn't specify what type of "project management" is being examined, but it is IT-related.

Rather than give the store away by drilling down into an in-depth discussion of all of James' points, I thought I would offer you readers my interpretation of each top-line recommendation he offers.

Consider these IT project management best practices:Keep the project focused on a central goal, and quash tangents as they arrise.
Keep your team lean and mean but with adequate personnel to handle the job.
Insist that your business side participate full-time, and not just when it hits the fan. As it inevitably will, I add.
Establish project review panels with clear mandates and a disciplined meeting schedule and regimen. Every two weeks sounds good.
Rotate your staff on interesting and necessary assignments. Some necessary assignments, I add here, are not all that interesting. Doing this can prevent burnout.
Call in consultants as needed to help. But- and this is my thought- not to overrule.
Keep the drudgery away. Vested project team members should not have to deal with the paper-trail grubwork. Examples: keeping time sheets or (cough) taking minutes.
Use project tracking, workflow analysis and task management tools. Make them collaboratively available over your company Intranet.
Incentivize excellent performance. Extra vacation time, theater and sports events tickets work. And did someone mention financial bonuses?
Use workarounds, buit not shortcuts. Not unless these shortcuts are really and truly effective. Want to know why? Workarounds are one thing. I say, the first syllable of that word is "work." And both syllables of the word "shortcut" can have negative connotations.