Project management according to the Project Management Institute is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. Their Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) identifies its recurring elements. The processes of Project Management are divided into 5 groups: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing. This blog will talk about the first process of Project Management, Initiating.
Running a project successfully requires a combination of a good team, knowledge, and preparation There is no doubt that a strong start is important to the overall success of a project. The speed and efficiency of the initial stages can set the tone for the rest of the project. Below we will discuss some ways you can help start your project effectively and efficiently.
CLEAR & VISIBLE GOALS
We’ve already looked at Goal-Setting to help manage time effectively in our blogs, goal setting is a highly effective way to ensure your team knows what they’re working towards. These goals must be made as detailed and specific as they can. After this is done, present your goals somewhere in a way and place that can be seen by your team. Workers are found to be 20% more efficient when information is displayed to them visually. Think about making a goal visualisation board and displaying it somewhere your team can see it, doing so can help show where you are going and what you achieve along the way.
EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF WORKLOAD
It can be tempting to go all out in the early stages of a project, think about it, we all have at one stage or another gone too hard at the beginning only to find ourselves stressed and burnt out unable to complete the task.
When we delegate work take into consideration what needs to be done when it needs to be done and who will be doing it. Knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of your team is imperative in project management. How you delegate the work and the pace you outline will help combat stress and burnout.
When these things are considered you can outline your project assignments, responsibilities, and daily workloads. When starting on a project emphasize the importance of a strong start to avoid last-minute work adding pressure to your team. Time tracking software like ours helps to give an outline of the progress and time spent by each employee on their tasks when reviewing the project.
OPEN COMMUNICATION
Productivity can be kept high throughout a project through good, open communication. How the team expresses ideas they have any doubts or problems they have encountered will have a large say in how the project flows. Open communication should be established from the beginning, explain to your team the lines of communication.
For you, as a manager, this could mean meeting with the team regularly to discuss the progress of the project and listening to the feedback and suggestions of the team as a whole, as well as individuals being able to approach you individually.
MONITORING PROGRESS
While this may sound like something that would come during a project, it is important to prepare how you will monitor your progress before you start. Create a layout to write down your progress, effectively monitoring your progress can make creating reports for those above you much easier and help to guide those in your team by regularly updating them throughout the project.
IN SUMMARY
Good project management requires preparation, to help initiate the project successfully. Starting your project effectively ensuring you maintain productivity throughout your project’s lifetime requires:
Clear & Visible Goals
Effective Management of Workload
Open Communication
Monitoring Progress
Following these steps will bring effectiveness to your project and help you make the correct decisions. Thanks for reading this blog! If you would like to see for yourself the benefits of 1Time you can avail of our 30day free trial by following the link.
