With every new project, it is easy to overlook basic steps that every project manager should have in their arsenal. You know to ask the important questions – budget, timeline, and resources. However, some businesses require a more assertive approach to their projects. Employees are removed from assignments. Timelines are stretched. Budgets are broken. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you develop your project.
What Application Is Best?
Managing individual tasks that make up the project can be labor-intensive. Most project managers lean on a project management software solution to help them stay organized. With advanced features coming out with every new software release, it is important to look for a Monday.com alternative. You may find tools or reports that meet your needs. Look for features such as dynamic reporting, progress tracking, and timeline alerts.
Who Is on the Team?
If you have the opportunity to select your team, be sure to prioritize your project. It can be easy to recruit teammates that have similar communication styles and work methods to yours. However, they may not always be the best fit for the project. Select employees that have the skills and knowledge necessary to stay on target. Don’t forget to review the soft skills of employees and make sure they work well together.
How Should I Communicate?
Effective communication is the highlight of every project manager. Be sure that all teammates and managers can quickly determine the status of the project. Consider the effectiveness of daily or weekly team meetings. Focus on your team’s productivity. If meetings, phone calls, and emails are taking away from their time to complete a project, you must monitor it.
Should This Be Done?
Don’t overlook the importance of the tasks and components of the projects. While it can be nice to integrate new features into the final product, it should not be done at the cost of the timeline or budget. Here are some things to ask when examining your process:
- Is this the best way to solve the problem?
- What challenges could develop if we proceed?
- How will it impact the timeline, budget, or team?
- What are the risks of proceeding?
- What are the costs of not proceeding?
- Should we postpone or abandon the project?
Should I Manage Management?
Even well-intentioned managers can damage productivity by asking teammates about features. This can send the employee down a path to work on a feature that has not been approved. Keep lines of communication open between management and yourself. Keep employees on track by monitoring their workload and asking questions.
When Is the Project Complete?
The project is not finished until you have completed a post-mortem analysis and communicated the results with your team. Evaluate the success of the project and acknowledge those that were responsible. Examine the challenges. Could they have been avoided, anticipated, or limited? Would an additional teammate have helped you meet a deadline? Use this information to make your next project more successful.
Taking the time early in the project to analyze your goals is an important step in project management. When you ask yourself these questions, you can develop a detailed plan. That plan will help you stay on track.
