Leading a project to success is no small feat, and doing it time and time again takes experience, discipline, and lots of hard work. The project plan to completion can be a winding road. Whether you are just getting started with project management or are capable at the practice yet looking for possible areas of improvement, we are pleased to present 10 ideas to contribute to your success in project management.
- Reward Milestones. There are steps to every journey, and milestones to every project. Though some project managers keep their eyes focused on the finish line and sprint their project plan through completion, the best results are reached when the team members are motivated. Celebrating the little victories along the way goes a long way in this regard.
- Listen to someone new. There is no time too late for more education. While you may have learned the essentials of project management long ago, sustained growth requires continued learning. For example, you can sign up for a project management course and soak in some new ideas, approaches, knowledge, from one project manager to another.
- Establish clear expectations and deadlines. In order to achieve results, everyone on the team must understand what is being asked of them, and when it should be delivered. Having a comprehensive discussion about project plan expectations and deadlines at the start of the project (and later, if necessary) will have everyone working on the same page.
- Know the project inside out. At the very start of the project, taking time to learn about it, all that it will entail, what kind of work is involved, budgetary constraints, and stakeholders’ expectations will be essential for you to do your job well. As the captain of your ship, you must understand how it works and how to steer it.
- Setting up contingencies. No matter how well you plan your project, there are bound to be some unexpected changes, setbacks, and surprises. While you cannot plan for the unexpected, you can leave some room and time to spare for revisions and redoes should something with the project plan go wrong.
- Maintain regular communication. A great team works as a single organism, with each team member performing work connected to the work of another person. To keep the gears turning smoothly and in rhythm, you should make sure that regular communication is maintained, as long as it does not become distracting.
- Avoid micromanagement. When you have control over a project and decide its fate, it can be tempting to exert this control over the smallest things. However, team members also have their own ideas and results that they wish to bring to the table. Micromanagement only stifles this inspiration and limits the possibilities of your project.
- Harness modern software. The current era provides us with an abundance of software that gathers data and gives us statistics and totals in the output. You can also apply the software and get regular progress reports with minimal effort. There are great tools that help with managing the project plan.
- Build a good relationship with the team. While the single purpose and goal of a project go a long way towards uniting the team, you can expect a much better working atmosphere if you take the time to get to know and interact with the staff outside work.
- Keep team size manageable. Picking the right team size is not easy. You do not want to overextend yourself or leave some workers idle due to lack of timely duties, but picking the right number is achievable once you determine just how many you can handle
