Effective project management can allow changes, improvements and developments within your business. In fact, even without being aware, you’re probably already using project management as part of your day-to-day work.
You may be in charge of organising the work night out, which will require an incredible amount of organisation and diary-checking – not a task for the faint-hearted! Or, perhaps you need to liaise across different departments to set short and long-term goals for the company. This will require many of the same skills it takes for project managers to create a successful and effective project.
Rather than viewing project management as a big leap into the unknown, you can use the skills you’ve already honed in order to pull off a great first-time project. For those new to project management, here are the basics effective project management; how to bring an idea to life and get a project on the go.
Build a team
The first step to creating any project is to plan what you’re going to do. For this, you need the perfect team behind you to help you plan, create and maintain an effective project. This may seem like common sense, but it’s surprising how many businesses fail to create a solid foundation to build their project on.
Without a good team, all sorts of cracks will start to show. Whether it’s a breakdown of communication between project managers or an unforeseen event which will lead to a negative reflection on your company, there are so many reasons why getting a good team on side should be at the top of your to-do list when creating a project.
When forming a plan, the easiest way to track your project is by breaking down roles as follows:
- Project Manager
- Consultant/Supplier Project Manager
- Project Administrator
- Systems Developer
- Programme Manager
Organisation is key when planning for a project, and will reduce the risk of unexpected issues, which is why giving your team such specific roles will allow a smooth sailing project.
Track progress
Once you’ve launched your project, don’t leave it to the will of the Gods to see how it will turn out. At each stage you should check up on progress and organise regular meetings with the team to maintain the project and analyse any areas which may need work.
Monitoring in this way will minimise the possibility of major slip ups, and if there are any, you’ll be able to handle them in a timely manner without causing too much disruption to the rest of the project.
Review
Once your project has been completed, don’t brush it away and move onto the next one without a backward glance. Instead, you should take a look back over the individual tasks and every component of the project.
Ask your team to create their own review of the project before the meeting so they have time to consider what went well. Once they’ve done this, everyone who worked on the project should meet in order to create a solid project plan for next time, based on this feedback.
Questions you may want to consider could include:
- What worked particularly well?
- Were there any unwelcome surprises?
- Did communication work well within the team?
- Did a team member let you down
- Was there anyone who excelled?
Address any concerns you had and note down where things exceeded expectation. If you remember these for your next project, you’ll have the ability to always run an effective campaign.
How did these basics of effective project management help you? Let us know in the comments!
