Project management is all about process, timelines, and collaborative work to achieve objectives. While time and your budget are usually the front-runners to index performance, every organisation will have its nuances. Meet these KPI’s, and your boss shouldn’t be complaining.
However, as you’ll know, meeting the minimum and impressing your boss are two different things. If you’re out for brownie points, we have some rules that’ll help you turn passable projects into great ones.
Communicate consistently.
And it sounds like the most obvious rule, but that’s why we put it first. Often projects become long, drawn out, and start to bog you down. When this happens, you’ll notice a loss of motivation and a desire to cut corners. The first corner to be cut is always communication channels, but you can’t let this happen! The ability to communicate is essential when it comes to project management – communicating is the core of collaboration.
So make sure you frequently communicate – communicate in the early stages, communicate during critical milestones, communicate when deadlines are coming up, even communicate how you want to celebrate when you’re done and dusted with your project. By now, if you haven’t picked it up yet, the key is always to share and exchange information, news or ideas in other words, communicate!
This also allows you to manage expectations a lot easier as well, by checking in frequently with others around you this will enable you to provide real-time statuses, updates and handle any issues that pop up more effectively.
Surprises are a hit or miss, but I can guarantee that your bosses don’t like surprises, especially if it means more work for them, so take the guesswork out for them and others around you.
Get the right resources behind you.
When managing a project, it’s usually not a one-man band running the show; you’re going to have to gather resources together to help you deliver your project smoothly and effectively.
But what your boss probably wants you to be able to do is take the initiative and source the right resources that can make your project delivery that much more effective, and by acquiring the right resources, this saves the business money as well!
As the saying goes work smarter not harder – so that means getting the right recourses to help you work more productively saving you time and money!
Always have something ready to deliver.
Dreamers are drifters, floating through with no real plans and when it comes to successful project management, it’s time to remove your head from the clouds and tackle the problems at hand with a real solution.
Most the time it’s great that your boss sees your ambition, and you have all these ideas, but if you aren’t taking steps to make these ideas happen, then it’s only ever a wish. Your boss isn’t a mind reader, and ideas won’t always cut it. Give them something tangible.
Remember that level heads prevail.
People are prone to freaking out when things go wrong, which can lead to defensive attitudes and excuses. This is made worse by an erratic project manager! Remember not all issues can be foreseen, and the unlikely can occur. Never panic, and always act within reason.
Take ownership, and address the problem at hand. Chances are your boss is going to appreciate that more than anything because some things are just out of your hands. The key is to take control where you can, minimise adverse effects of external factors where possible, and keep focused on deliverables at all other times.
Be the proactive problem solver.
As the saying goes, there are problem finders and problem solvers. Your boss doesn’t want you to identify a list of issues in your project and pass it over to him like a shopping list – for every problem they at least want to see efforts to address it.
As great as it is to have the ability to identify and find problems, it is no good if you can’t solve it. Your boss should be your last resource. Bring your problem to them when neither you nor your team can address it.
Chances are your boss is under enormous pressure that you’ll hardly ever see – so they will greatly appreciate anything you can do to make their life a little easier. When you can confidently bring solutions to the table, you are making everyone’s life a little more comfortable, and we can almost guarantee your boss is going to love you for it!
Got a question? The team at ProWorkflow are happy to help!