Infero Training – Business and Technical Courses

Projects are a big part of working life for many of us. But all too often, they end up failing to meet their deadline, their budget and their goals. As with many things in life, a successful project comes down to good planning. Here are five smart tips to put you in better control of your projects:

1.  Know and understand it

Sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many teams aren’t clear on the aim behind a new project. Yet this is vital to a project’s success – and the motivation and morale of a team. If your colleagues see the bigger picture, they’ll be much more likely to get fully involved and support that new project from start to finish. With a solid business case and the support of senior managers and your team, your project will be off to a great start.

2.  Keep it real

You know the feeling. Your team has taken on a brand new project. You’re excited and enthusiastic…then reality and challenges hit and you fail to meet your targets.

Research shows that this happens a lot. The prospect of a new project gets in the way of reality. That’s why it’s vital to have clear, realistic expectations for budget, schedule or scope. Start by estimating how long each activity will take – keeping in mind that most of us aren’t great at estimating!

Here’s a more precise approach to working out what your team is capable of. For example, you estimate your project task will take three days. Then you work out how confident you are that you can deliver in three days by using %, e.g. “I’m only 40% certain I can deliver in three days.” You should aim for 80%. And if you don’t think you can achieve 80%, then simply recalculate.

3.  Make roles and responsibilities clear

Ever been part of a team where people weren’t sure what their responsibilities were? It certainly makes it harder to get things done. Successful project management comes from having a clear role for each and every member of the team. Define who does what in the overall management of the project, document this on the PID, and outline each person’s role in a brief paragraph.

4.  Make the most of your Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Get to grips with your project right from the beginning by creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Listing all the activities you’ll need to complete your task, is a vital tool for staying in control. Your WBS gives you a complete overview of your project, showing the major deliverables in a chronological and easy to view format. Creating your WBS with post it notes on a flip chart or whiteboard allows you to move your project targets around easily, too.

Your WBS is also a great asset when it comes to project cost estimating and budgeting. By allowing you to view the project in smaller parts, you can budget more accurately by each deliverable – and add your estimates up for a more accurate project budget proposal.

5.  Communicate clearly

It’s important to stay in regular contact with all the people involved in a project. Create a communication plan and you’ll know who you need to speak to at exactly the right time. You can review your plan regularly and include it on your Gantt chart. Stay organised and stay in control of your project from start to finish!