If you manage team projects, there’s no question that your time needs to be delegated carefully. Having to address so many issues at once, from a project’s timeline, to budget, to daily tasks, to overall goals, to specific employee roles – and being expected to have the answers all the time – would leave anyone feeling overwhelmed.
In order to avoid disorganization, minimize potential errors, and ensure positive results, consider these five actionable tips.
#1 The Company And Project Must Align
Before executing on a new project, always ensure that the project’s goals align with the company’s overall business goals. If you invest a tremendous amount of money, time, effort into a project that has not impact on enterprise’s objectives, the project will be pointless. Making sure that the two strategically align before you begin is crucial to your project’s efficiency, organization, and end results.
In order to make sure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to a project’s planning and execution, we recommend integrating an Enterprise Project Management system to ensure that all initiatives have clear benefits for the overall company. Having an organized, company-wide system in place keeps everyone engaged with the project’s goals.
#2 Practice transparency in your communication
Communication is one of the most prominent issues that teams deal with when managing simple and complex projects. In order to avoid having conflict with your team members and others who are invested in the project, practice transparency, positivity, directness. As a leader, you need to be someone who is 100% engaged with the project and addresses concerns before they happen. Being proactive with your communication is the first step to accomplishing that.
#3 regularly review your team’s structure
Constantly review your team composition and consider if its setup is having a positive or negative impact on the project’s progress. Often, the actual work and objectives aren’t the core issue, but the dynamics of the group are. Something that many teams struggle with is handling teams that are simply too large. Breaking them up into focus groups comprised of 2-3 people can make a world of difference in terms of team management, communication, receiving accurate updates, and task efficiencies (sometimes called the “one-pizza” rule). If one micro-team, for example, is responsible for addressing one issue, it will be solved much faster than if 15 people are tackling it together. Although it’s easy to get caught up in the work itself, it’s important to constantly check in with your team and make sure that the structure is aligning with its progress as well.
#4 Have the right tools in place to maximize your progress
When taking on big projects, it’s common for teams to communicate in various ways. Email chains start building up, phones are ringing non-stop, and dozens of apps are being used to track notes, tasks, and projects. When this happens, crucial things can easily get lost in communication. This is why it’s important to have the right tools in place for all team members to have access to. Having one place where everyone can review upcoming tasks, the budget status, general KPIs and issues that need to be addressed is necessary for ensuring that everything stays on track and everyone is involved in its progress.
In order to effectively plan for your team’s project goals, it’s crucial to be constantly engaged and always ready for the next step ahead of you. The most powerful way to achieve this is by including everyone in the process and practicing full communication. Make sure that you have the right team in place that’s aware of the project’s status and feels invested in its success, and you’re guaranteed to reach your project goals smoothly.
By Lena Elkins
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