It often starts out sweetly.
You have a great idea for a project. You find the best people to manage the various resources. You are responsible for overseeing the progress of everyone and delegating tasks.
You dream of your customers spending hundreds of dollars on it, so make sure you are ready.
As you get deeper into the project, things begin to go sour. You lose control.
Hold on to your dear life
Many projects start with a great idea and the basics down. When you are unable to handle the complexity and problems of the project, things can spiral outof control.
Great projects are often plagued by problems due to poor communication, lack of specific details, and poor supervision from the project head. Each project is unique and requires specific attention. These requirements will not be met and could cause delays in the project’s progress.
These issues should be addressed immediately.
The good news is that it is never too late to fix things. You can improve your project management techniques and routines to help you stay on track and stay focused.
Here are 9 easy ways to save your project and see it through to the end.
1. Establish a regular review schedule to assess the project’s scope, goals, progress, and set a time frame.
As you dig deeper into the project, you will discover new tasks and processes that are related to the project. This could lead to the project drifting out of focus.
Regrouping and reviewing the project scope, goals, and overall progress is the best way to find clarity.
This is more than a summary of everything that has been done. It’s a great chance for everyone to see where their priorities are, what they have done so far, and where they stand. There will be time for feedback and suggestions from all members to be heard.
2. Keep a record of the minutes of each agenda meeting.
Because there are so many things to be done in the meeting it is easy for important details to slip through the cracks.
This is where simple, yet effective documentation comes into play. This is a task that is often overlooked as we concentrate our attention on production.
This should be a routine that everyone follows. Designate a member of your team to take notes or highlight important points during each agenda meeting. Keep a copy of the minutes after the meeting is over in case you need it.
3. Clear and concise tasks can be rewritten.
One reason we put off a task is that it’s too vague and unclear. We don’t know what to do.
A useful tip is to make a list of actions steps, in which each task starts with a verb (write, edit, test). This will allow you to quickly decide what to do with the task.
Instead of “Logo redesign” and “Blog header”, you would rewrite them as: “Change primary colours of logo from red to bleu” or “Adjust blog header size to 450px.”
4. Get rid of the extra fat.
New processes bring new tasks. Sometimes these tasks are not in line with the project goals and scope. On the other hand, open tasks may not be in line with the project’s direction.
These tasks should be reviewed to determine if they are really necessary for the project. If there aren’t any dependencies, and they won’t have a significant impact on the project, you can remove them.
In other words, limit your team’s time to the essentials.
5. Take photos of your progress.
Have you ever found yourself scratching your heads wondering why your project went wrong?
