What does DONE look like? is the starting point for the 5 Immutable Principles of Successful Project Management. I came across a wonderful post with a notion that is usually lost in many projects that are struggling.
Bre Pettis says it all. Read this, print out the poster, practice the 13 steps.
Build a plan that says what DONE looks like, provide all the resources needed to get to DONE, remove all the impediments to DONE, measure progress toward DONE in units of measure meaningful to the decision makers - Physical Percent Complete, with Cost, Schedule, and Performance measures.
Forget all the touchy feely crap first, that doesn't say what DONE looks like, produce a Plan, provide Resources, remove Impediments, or measure Progress.
It is necessary but VERY FAR from sufficient for getting to DONE.
