WHY IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT IMPORTANT?

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a project handled badly? If the answer is yes, you’ll want to read our guide to providing shit hot project management.

Bad project management can simply make or break a project. It can not only damage relationships but it can make the simplest of projects stressful. With clever project management, your project can be successful and you can build lifelong relationships.

We’re only human, and more often than not, we’ll remember the times a project went horribly wrong, but we often won’t take stock of projects that went really well.

As a project manager, you’ve got the fun task of juggling the work schedules of your colleagues and your clients. It’s vital that you have a strong understanding of the different skillsets that your colleagues bring to the table. Understanding this from the off will ensure that you’ll never waste time. With a clear understanding, having processes in place, and objectives all mapped out, you’ve got creative freedom and your project will become no effort at all.

So, what should you bear in mind?

1. Planning
2. Communication
3. Allocation of work
4. Productivity
5. Flexibility
6. Quality control
7. Reflective learning

1. Planning

Getting a good plan in place builds solid foundations. If your foundations are wobbly, then you can’t build on it, can you? There are plenty of project management tools out there to help with this such as ClickUp, Trello, and Monday.com – heaps better than constantly trying to adapt that Excel doc!

2. Communication

So, you’ve got a project plan, you’ve got milestones and you’re on track! But how are you going to get to the end goal without communicating your plan to the wider team and your clients?

Everybody likes to be communicated with differently, it’s important you adapt your style to suit them. If you can keep the communication consistent, you’ll get feedback and your result quicker.

Some people prefer updates in the calendar, or tasks set on your project management software they can tick off, or regular chats to help flesh it out. You might even have to incorporate all of these! But remember, keep it friendly, keep it consistent (persistent even!) and the more practice you get the easier it will be.

3. Allocation of work

This is normally fairly straightforward, as it usually depends on the different job roles. The challenge comes when you’re waiting on one member to complete their task before another can start. This is where project management really comes into play. As the organiser, you can reinforce the deadlines that have been set or try to figure out a workaround. This is a process that the whole team is involved in, so we need to work together to ensure we meet our objectives.

4. Productivity

While this is an obvious one, people can sometimes forget about all the tasks that go on in the background of a project. Plus, if there’s someone managing time, priorities, and workloads, then there’ll be less for the team members to do. It frees up their time so they can focus their efforts on tasks they need to complete. A win-win.

There should always be agendas and action points from meetings and recap previous meetings too. This will ensure that everyone is getting the most out of the time.

5. Flexibility

Undoubtedly, you will run into some issues at some point. It might not happen on every project but it will happen and you’ll learn the tricks to bounce back. The best way to be flexible is to have your plan in place. From here you can assess what the issue will impact and if there are any work arounds.

Working in a smart and agile manner will mean that a small setback isn’t the end of the world!

6. Quality Control

This is an important stage that is sometimes overlooked if time is tight. We all know that it’s better to have a second pair of eyes on anything, just to make sure there’s not a silly mistake in there. The key to this is factoring in enough time. Build it into your plan! Pop in more time than you think allowing you to quality control your work before rolling it out.

7. Project Post Mortem (A.K.A Reflective Learning)

It’s not as grim as it sounds… we promise! Some may say this is the most important step, and unfortunately it’s often overlooked!  Taking learnings from the finished project will allow you to work out what went well, and areas that could be improved. Projects are a team effort, so it’s important to include the whole team in these exercises as each individual might bring something fresh to the table. Doing this each time will allow you to create the winning formula!

At Visions, we believe project management is vital to the success of any project. That’s why we’ll allocate you with a dedicated Project Manager to keep your project on time and on budget. Get in touch to discuss your project with us today.

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