November 7th is International Project Management Day, a day to honor the project managers who tackle the most complex projects and celebrate the methodologies they use to achieve good results of the task. Here are 8 core lessons for a wide range of programs and associations.
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- Establish A Structure
Even the most attentive and dutiful members of the project team will benefit from a fixed project structure. Creating a goal-oriented meeting schedule, a structured deliverables approval plan, a quality control process, and clearly defined roles and responsibilities are all great examples of enabling the team to focus on their specific tasks. Team members can become sidetracked, flounder or duplicate efforts without structure and clarity. - Get Your Investors Involved
Often project managers and teams concentrate on the desired outcome–a process, a specification, or something more concrete–rather than ensuring that the project’s people still want, need or value the end product. Over time, business needs and task outcomes are morphing and can become like a giant “telephone” game. Continuing engagement of investors in meaningful dialog is important. It is equally important to allow input from the investors to change the work of the project team to maximize long-term success. - Be Reachable
Email is generally the go-to form of communication in our digital world, but as a project manager, making yourself accessible is vital. It’s easy to move business ventures forward with real-time collaboration. Using a web-based task management system makes it possible to work together in a geographically dispersed community, keeping everyone up-to-date and on the same page. Using chat and instant messaging, safe exchange of files, and the ability to convert any event feed into a mission, the team can push business tasks faster and more efficiently and easily. Real-time collaboration is the core of company social networking technology. This unites team members across the borders of science and geography. You can win the confidence of your team members and key stakeholders if you are open, accessible, and an active listener. Decisions are going to be more educated and you can affect others more. - Shield Your Team
That plan has a moment in its life cycle when for the wrong reasons there is extreme exposure. Protecting the staff from unfair scrutiny is important in these circumstances. As a result, they would feel safe to move forward, stay motivated and focused. You are the “bus” captain of this venture and you want to point everybody in the right direction, of course. Without a driven and trusting crew, you will not be able to reach your destination. - Be Prepared, But Optimistic
Your job is to look for potential risks and roadblocks and do your best to assess and minimize them while you handle a task. Your task is also to trust that the group can complete the project irrespective of the challenges you may face. - Set Up Rewards
We are either moving towards rewards or escaping pain/punishment. If there are incentives along the way to encourage progress, the projects will be more successful. It might be dinner with the boss, wall map achievements, or money donated to a charity. Be imaginative and note that you also need rewards for yourself. - Plan And Be Ready To Jive
The secret to delivering the most successful projects is careful preparation, but you also need to be ready to adapt and change course if obstacles stop you from going forward as expected. - Think Past Your Project
Projects are seldom carried out in isolation. Just as knowing the history previous to your project is important, it is also important to take into account future implications of the results of your project.