Say what?
How are you going to communicate? Decide at the beginning how you should report progress, the frequency of those reports and who is responsible for them. Email is an excellent tool for all members of the project to keep one another abreast of progress, met goals, or setbacks.

Where are we?
Schedule project milestone reviews at the beginning of the project. It doesn't matter if the dates have to move. What's important is that the milestones exist, and they are on everybody's radar. It also motivates people to see progress and know where they stand.

What's the problem?
If you identify potential constraints at the beginning of the project, it removes the taboo of discussing problems. Potential constraints could be budget, staffing availability, equipment needed, other projects taking precedence, etc. Be honest about what they can be, and then you establish the fact that it's okay to put any other problems on the table.

What do you do when things change?
Determine how you want to capture and document change. If people aren't afraid of it, they will deal with it and not try to bury it. Whether you have a change form, change email, or special change alert area in the monthly report, make sure that change is part of the process.

Heed the words of Yogi Berra
Yogi Berra summed it up well when he said: "I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early." Planning is not just a good idea; it's a way of visualizing possible outcomes and working to avoid the bumps in the road. Take the time to ask the right questions at the beginning, and you'll be surprised at how your endings will change.

Diane Poremsky is the president of CDOLive LLC and a Microsoft Outlook MVP. She's author of Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours (Sam's, 2003) and coauthor of OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide). For questions or suggestions for future columns, write her at outlook@cdolive.com.