Project management is essential for the success of your tasks. It is crucial to track your progress at all stages of the process and be prepared to make the necessary changes. But the management process can also be quite overwhelming and complicated, leading to delays or rushed results. So we put together this list of helpful tips for you to monitor and control your projects as efficiently as possible.
Project monitoring refers to the process through which a project manager gathers relevant information about the project. This can include logging the rate at which the project is moving forward, communicating with team members, analyzing potential risks, etc. Meanwhile, project control requires more active participation and involves making any needed changes or revisions to the project.
1. Clear Communication
As the project manager, you need to make sure that all team members are given relevant information. For the success and health of the project, everyone needs to be on the same page. This is why you need to make sure that no one on the team is left unaware. By making sure all team members are aware of current progress, any complications, etc. you can minimize confusion and encourage efficiency. You will find it easier to track progress and make any required changes by regularly providing the team with updates.
There are a few different methods that you could make use of for this purpose. Memos would be a convenient method to keep everyone updated. It’s relatively hassling free and makes sure that everyone has been provided with the details. Aside from these meetings would be the best option. By organizing meetings based on the needs of the project you can involve all team members and inform them at the same time.
2. Deal with Dysfunctional Team Members
Human error can occur at any stage of the process. As the one in charge, you have to identify which team members are likely to cause trouble. Whether they are inexperienced or have ego clashes with other team members, they are a problem that needs to be addressed. In some extreme cases, a dysfunctional team member can cause an entire project to be held up. So for the sake of streamlining the process, figure out which team members might cause trouble and deal with them.
Dealing with them could be as simple as talking to them and explaining the importance of the work. Or even keeping specific team members distanced from each other to prevent arguments. Regardless of the situation, you need to take action and make sure that dysfunctional team members do not jeopardize the project in any way whatsoever.
3. Trust the Team
Once problematic members have been dealt with, you should be willing to place your trust in the team. Since they are the people who carry out the project and have to do the “grunt work,” it’s important that you understand a separation between you and them. Ideally, the involvement of a project manager should be minimum. Because the team is doing all the work so they would have a deeper understanding of the work required by the project. Only concern yourself with active involvement if the management plan is being disregarded, or an overhaul is required to improve quality. By placing your trust in the members, you are also likely to boost their morale, proving to them that they are trusted to deliver positive results.
And by increasing their morale, the team is likely to work harder and invest themselves in their work more deeply. By establishing trust within the professional dynamics, it’s much easier to move forward with progress.
4. Status Reports
While it is something of an old-school method, relying on status reports makes controlling and monitoring projects much more straightforward. By creating status reports under the required parameters, you have a written record of the progress you’re making. Status reports have multiple uses and are helpful in terms of documenting all important details. Whether this is regarding incidents during the process or methods used to carry out a specific task. Thanks to the advancement of online tools, creating status reports is a lot simpler than it used to be. So you can acquire all of their benefits without much of a hassle. Status reports also make it easier to identify which aspects of the project are faulty if something goes wrong. So if you need to adapt and make changes quickly, a status report will be able to provide you with the information you need to make the necessary adjustments.
And generally speaking, it is always better to have dedicated logs which document your progress and methods. Whether you need to track the project or present information to stakeholders, etc. a status report is a valuable tool.
5. Don’t Use the Same Strategy for Everything
If your project is successfully completed without any problems, you might be tempted to apply that strategy more often. After all, the results speak for themselves, right? Well no. All projects are their beasts and require careful thought. It might be easier to use the same strategy for every project, but it would be impractical. All projects have their own needs, and it’s important to recognize that. Otherwise, you will end up implementing plans that decrease efficiency and end up creating complications. Even if it ends up being more work in the short run, organizing new plans and strategies always pays off in the long term.
No strategy can be used for every project to approach new tasks with an open mind. If you approach planning with the awareness that you need to adjust plans for every project, you will meet with more success.
6. Keep a Close Eye on Cash Flow
Budgets are made or break for any project. As the one responsible for managing the process you need to be aware of the cash flow at all times. If any money is being spent, regardless of how much, you need to log that information and keep track. You also need to regularly review expenses and guarantee that all costs are relevant to the project’s health. If expenses are being made, then they should all benefit the task at hand in some way. And in the event, you review expenses and identify something useless or unnecessary; you should immediately cut costs.
Managing your budget is of utmost importance. You have to be proactive and make sure that every expense matters.
7. Resource Allocation
This point is similar to the one about cash flow. Resources are limited, and you cannot squander them anywhere. Make sure that everything contributing to the project is being utilized as efficiently as possible. Only allocate resources as required by the project. This means that you should not allocate any resources until and unless you know that they are necessary. Otherwise, you run the risk of experiencing a shortage which can result in delays. In some situations resources cannot be restocked in time for whatever reason, this is why you have to make sure that you are only taking as much as you need and that your resources are not under capacity or over capacity in any way.
Every resource needs to be accounted for and needs to function at optimal productivity. There should not be any wastage whatsoever. And if any restocking is required, make sure it occurs before the resource in question is depleted.
8. Do not be Afraid of Changes
This point is extremely important. Sometimes you can devise the most effective and efficient project plan possible, but things go wrong somewhere along the way. While this can be a cause for stress and worry, it should not overwhelm you. The nature of project management is such that changes will be necessary from time to time. The correct response to these occurrences is to lean into the turns as opposed to resisting them. Be flexible and accept that there will be times where the current plan might not work out. So keep an open mind and begin thinking of changes instead of focusing on the stress of the moment.
By addressing the matter quickly, you can prevent long delays and still provide high-quality results. Having a vision is essential, but that should not turn into a stubbornness that compromises the entirety of the current project.
Conclusion
Project monitoring and control is not an easy task, but it is still possible. The eight tips we have outlined above would be the best advice that we can provide to project managers everywhere. These techniques are very simple and only require a little effort on your part. So they aren’t very complicated and guarantee that your project will be carried out smoothly.
By implementing this advice into your future project planning strategies, you will instantly feel a benefit. The entire process is more streamlined, and your workflow maintains a steady pace. Even if project management can be stressful and overwhelming from time to time, you can quickly alleviate some of that distress by regularly following the tips we have described.
