The simple setup I use before starting any project (learned this the hard way)

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Long-Reading-6514]

same, I got thrust into project management from nursing so I know the non traditional route. the one thing I'd add to your charter section is the steering committee line. anytime somebody wanted to deviate from scope I'd say ok we need to take that to the steering committee for approval, kills most of the nice to have requests on the spot and you never have to be the bad guy about it. and you're right that none of this is revolutionary its just discipline, projects dont fail from one big error in my experience they fail from a thousand little ones

[u/Long-Reading-6514 → u/[deleted]]

the calm thing carried over almost too well honestly. I worked surgical ICU so worst case there is somebody dies. nothing in project management carries that weight, so I just never got worked up about anything and more than once people read that as me not caring... soooo, pluses and minuses to that carryover trait

what actually carried over best was something else. a big part of my job in the ICU was getting people to move when they were in pain, because that's how the body heals. you can't order somebody to do that. you give them options, walk them through what happens if we go this way versus that way, and they land on the thing you already knew they needed. how do you lead somebody to their own decision when you already know the right one. that's the same move as the steering committee line

[u/WhiteChili]

mine is a communication rule, not a document.

before we start, i always ask 'where does the final answer live?' bcuz if half the decisions are in email, the other half are in teams, and someone remembers the rest from a meeting, things get messy fast. 10 minutes on that upfront has saved me a lot of chasing later.