Step Up Your Project Management Game
Master The Art of Planning!
Project management could also be called the “Art of Planning”, at least that is my opinion😀. There are many tools around like Gantt charts, Scrum Method etc. to support you. However, tools can only support you, you will have to do the work and structure, plan and organize your projects.
Get started!
Most of the time you are busy with daily work while leading projects at the same time. Is that you? Then read this.
Is it a good idea to lead many projects at a time having daily business at the same time? No! However, in daily business it is unavoidable. Everything must be finished in time and budget. That makes planning essential and a great project plan indispensable. If you have daily business and lead a project at the same time, you must ensure that both gets done. Human resources must be aligned, so you get your project and your daily business done.
You’re not alone!
Setting up a project plan does not necessarily require that you must do it all by yourself. Take time and develop a detailed plan and a timeline. Involve your future team if you already know who you will work with.
First things, first!
Before you start your project plan, check who are your stakeholders, what do they expect and when do they expect it. It is all about reaching goals or meeting scope expectation, time and budget requirements. Finally, you have to ensure that you have employees to implement the project. So, get clear on that before you start planning:
· What is the outcome/goal or scope of the project?
· What is their timeline?
· What is the deadline?
· Do you have a fixed budget?
Choose a Planning Tool
After having clarified the above pillars, you can start planning. My recommendation: Choose a planning tool to support your planning activities. I have used JIRA and ASANA in the past for example. Both are a good option.
Planning tools include options to define milestones and split them into single task. A planning tool will support you to stay within time and budget and enable you to align your resources.
Planning your project will help you to reduce the risk of delays and mistakes. It will increase efficiency and productivity ensuring that any problems are identified and addressed early in the process. Identify obstacles early will also allow you to act instead of to react. It will enable you to change the task and again align with the availability of human resources.
Set Key Milestones and Deadlines
Break down your project scope into key milestones. Then break down the key milestones into task and set deadlines for each task.
Assign a team member to the task and check her/his availability first. Continue this process until you have assigned an employee to all the tasks. To set realistic deadlines it is key to make sure that the team member understands the tasks, is available and capable of getting the task done. To check the capability and availability with your future team is key to success. From my experience, if project members are involved in the planning process, they are highly engaged and an engaged team will more likely reach the scope or goal of your project.
Set Up a Budget
Having defined tasks and who is responsible, you’re able to evaluate the milestones and tasks. You will be able to anticipate how much the project will cost in total as well as what each milestone will cost. There are two main different ways how to set up a budget:
Agile & Hybrid Project Management Methods
In projects using agile methods like SCRUM, the budget is the only fixed component. If your project plan indicates that the way you planned the project, your budget will not be sufficient, most likely the scope of the budget must be adjusted. Always check with your stakeholders when that is the case, to see whether they want to increase the budget or reduce the scope of the project.
2. Waterfall Project Management Method
The Waterfall method has a fixed goal, deadline, and timeline. Evaluate your project by evaluating milestones and tasks to create the budget you will need to fulfil the project goal. It is important, as budgets are never endless, to align the budget with your stakeholders and your company’s consent to ensure the budget availability.
Stay Engaged with Your Team
One of the most important keys to a successful project realization is to check in with your team regularly. For example, if you use the SCRUM Method, this method suggests short daily meetings within the team and other meetings where you check in with your team regularly. Those are so valuable meetings, where you are able to follow up with the project progress and learn if there are obstacles to eliminate or problems to solve.
Establish a Reporting System & Process
Last but not least, keep your stakeholders updated. Establish a reporting system and a process. Reporting should include KPI’s, progress and budget expenditure (ideally clarified with your stakeholder beforehand), the reporting rhythm and the information your stakeholder need to understand the project progress.
I also recommend not only to report the topics and tasks which are on track. Sure, you will inform your stakeholders about your accomplishments. However, use stakeholder reporting and meetings to talk about the topics, which could not be solved yet. Present a solution to a problem, however, don’t conceal a problem. Let them know, ask for their opinion.
Let me know your experiences and thoughts in your comments!
