Best Practices for Electronics Project Management [Part 2]

Welcome to the second installment of “Best Practices for Electronics Project Management.” This time, we’ll focus on knowledge management and customer requirements – two critical areas for successful project execution. Moreover, at the end of this post, you’ll find a summary of key best practices for electronics project management for hardware engineers. Give them a try to improve your workflows and results. And if you haven’t read part one of this blog series, be sure to start there!

Knowledge Management

In engineering project management, efficiency, consistency, and collaboration are essential for success. Teams often work on complex, multi-phase projects where knowledge gaps, lack of standardization, and poor information sharing can lead to costly mistakes, delays, and redundant work.

Implementing structured knowledge management helps teams reuse proven solutions, streamline design processes, and enhance collaboration – ultimately reducing time-to-market and improving project outcomes. Knowledge management can be divided into two key areas:

1. The “Know-How” Approach
2. Knowledge Sharing (within project teams and across the organization)

Knowledge Management: The “Know-How” Approach

The “know-how” approach ensures that essential building blocks – tested and refined over years of development – are consistently used in device designs. By leveraging proven solutions, teams can streamline the design process and reduce time-to-market. Some key examples include:

• ADC subcircuit with matched voltage reference that meets the high-accuracy acquisition
• PCB antennas for optimized performance of the RF module
• DC/DC converter implementation for low noise and good EMC performance

Cloud-based design environments (or any shared platform with version control) enhance this approach. They improve the review process for reusable building blocks and can be integrated with internal documentation systems. Companies may also benefit from deploying wiki-style platforms, which combine cloud-based designs with structured documentation.

Knowledge Management: Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge sharing focuses on enhancing skills and collaboration within the team. Key strategies include:

• Training, Lectures, and Webinars – Learning opportunities can take various forms, such as online sessions with industry experts (e.g., Altium Academy on YouTube), access to technical documentation and white papers, or on-site training sessions.
• Shared Wiki Space – A centralized platform for documenting solutions to recurring challenges in a multi-project environment.
• Community Support – Leverage both internal (within the company) and external (industry forums and platforms) communities to exchange knowledge and solutions. Community-driven projects, such as those shared on Altium 365, can be a valuable resource for addressing your challenges.
• Synchronization Meetings – Held ad-hoc or biweekly, these meetings should always be followed by a Minutes of Meeting (MoM) document to capture key decisions and further steps of product development.

Customer Requirements Management

Another aspect of engineering project management is management of the customer requirements, which define the functional, technical, and regulatory expectations for a project. Electrical engineers must ensure their designs align with these requirements to deliver a fully functional, compliant, and cost-effective product according to the customer expectations. But how should customer requirements be managed? 

It largely depends on the quality of documentation provided by the customer or internal teams for in-house projects. Typically, these requirements are shared via text files or Excel sheets. Using an SMPS power supply project as an example, essential details should include:

• Project Scope – What type of device is being designed? Is it a complete power supply unit or just a controller? Where will it be used (e.g., home appliances, industrial, automotive, aerospace, medical)? Each market has distinct design considerations.
• Basic Functionality – Number of inputs/outputs, protection circuit requirements, dimensions, weight, and appearance preferences (e.g., shape, enclosure material).
• Technical Specifications – Defined metrics such as efficiency, output power, voltage ripple, and input voltage range.
• Regulatory Compliance – Required CE/FCC standards or specific industry regulations.
• Timeline & Target Price – Expected completion timeframe and the target price for the finished product.

Before finalizing documentation, a kickoff meeting is typically held where the customer explains the project scope, shares references to similar designs and addresses initial questions. This is an opportunity to clarify expectations – ask questions! If your organization has a requirements engineering team, they should attend to document customer needs accurately and translate them into internal documentation. Using cloud-based tools like Altium 365 Requirements & Systems Portal can support this process by centralizing documentation, maintaining version control, and ensuring traceability.

Requirements engineers play a key role in your team, reducing the workload and development risks for hardware and software engineers by analyzing requirements and understanding customer needs. Their role is even more critical in large-scale projects that require tailored designs to meet cost constraints and time-to-market goals (e.g., white goods development).

If the documentation is clear, project execution can be planned. However, no documentation is perfect, and questions will arise during the design phase. To address this, a designated customer contact should be assigned to provide clarifications and recommendations as they emerge throughout development.

Key Takeaways

To wrap up this two-part series on electronics project management, here are some key best practices I use daily. I encourage you to create your own list and share it with your team.

1. Tackle the hardest tasks first: Start with the most challenging tasks, as they often impact the project scope.
2. Apply the Pareto Principle: 20% of your efforts drive 80% of results. This rule applies to your team as well. Combine this with the first point to prioritize tasks effectively.
3. Work in intervals: Use techniques like the Pomodoro methods to maintain your focus and energy. Encourage your team to adopt structured breaks for better efficiency.
4. Start your day with a quick team check-in: A 2-3 minute update with each team member helps track progress, surface blockers, and keep projects moving.
5. Perform analytical analysis early in the design phase: Techniques such as accuracy analysis, dynamic range estimation, or power budget calculations can save you significant time and prevent wasted effort on products that don’t meet customer expectations.
6. Prioritize library management and component reviews: Well-organized and thoroughly reviewed component libraries reduce design flaws and improve overall project quality. Always verify new components before use.

Conclusion

Success in electronics project management isn’t about following rigid rules. It’s about adapting best practices to your unique workflows. Whether it’s optimizing knowledge sharing, improving requirement documentation, or refining daily work habits, small improvements can have a big impact on project outcomes.

I encourage you to reflect on these insights, create your own set of best practices, and share them with your team. Continuous improvement is at the heart of great engineering, and refining how you manage projects will enhance collaboration, reduce errors, and drive better results.

Want more insights on electronics project management? Check out our additional resources for expert tips and best practices!