How to Keep Your Projects Under Control

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When it comes to effective project management, there are plenty of resources and tools managers can use to maximise success and ensure everything runs smoothly. However, even carefully planned projects can spiral out of control if you don’t take the best approach to guarantee you can keep things in order.

But sometimes, you might realise things have gotten out of control too late, making your entire project feel like a waste. The best way to avoid this is to know how to stop things from getting to this point, so consider this advice to keep your projects under control, no matter how big or small.

Decide On Your Approach

Determining your approach is a key element of project planning and can help you establish the best way to solve problems and complete each step. While projects share many similarities, they all have unique quirks that make one project slightly different. It’s important to identify these differences when deciding the best approach to take. The project’s size will also have an impact as this could affect how quickly you move or work around possible time constraints without damaging the work’s quality.

Understand Your Team’s Strengths and Weaknesses

You will find more success if you designate teams to handle different parts of the project. Initially, these teams should reflect what they are best at, such as marketing or development. However, you can also look at their weaknesses to ensure you can get the best out of everyone and ensure no one sits around not contributing to the project. Don’t be afraid to mix up the teams after a few weeks to help everyone get the most out of the project and have the chance to utilise their skills.

Use the Right Software

Projects become much easier to manage with the right management software. You can use workflow processes, such as Trello or similar services to keep track of every stage and maintain productivity. You can also use ITSM, or IT service management, to keep your systems running smoothly and prevent disruptions and downtime. When working on high-value projects, every second counts, so having something that keeps your business running is a crucial piece of the puzzle.

Keep Track Of Your Progress

You can also find ways to keep track of your progress. Without this element, there is a significant risk of your project spiralling out of control, so highlighting every step of the project and being able to tick things off when you have completed them will keep you on track. Besides this, being able to tick steps off will boost your team’s attitude and help everyone feel like they are achieving something, which is especially crucial during long projects that can often feel like a slog.

Hold Meetings

While tracking software is useful for quick reference, it doesn’t always tell the full story, especially if someone forgets to update information. Instead, holding meetings will get everyone back on the same page and help you push through the project to get to the finish line. Meetings are a great way to ensure everyone refocuses but don’t take up too much time with these occasions as it often has the opposite effect and can cause unnecessary distractions within the office.

Set Goals and Milestones

Facing a substantial project can be overwhelming, but it becomes less so when you segment your steps and set realistic goals for the project’s success. Instead of only looking at the big picture, separating each stage into more manageable steps makes it much easier to manage the project from start to finish. Setting these goals and milestones can also give you something smaller to aim for, which makes everything more achievable and guarantees continuous productivity and passion.

Test Your Work So Far

While you shouldn’t test your work immediately, you want to ensure that everything you’ve worked on works well. The testing and support process is a crucial element of any project, so knowing that things work together will make a huge difference and can help your project succeed. This way, you aren’t faced with potential problems close to the end which could force you to go back several steps and you can maintain your productivity while building confidence in your project.

Keep People Engaged and Connected

Long projects can become tedious, especially when it continuously feels like there is no end in sight. This issue is why keeping your team engaged and connected is so crucial. The more people are involved in the project, the easier it will be to keep them pushing towards the end goal. Use office and project management software to keep communication straightforward and find ways to ensure everyone is engaged in their work. You can also recommend small demos from other departments to see what they have completed so everyone knows what is going on.

Avoid Overworking

Huge projects also bring the risk of overworking as you strive to get everything finished on time. This issue should not be too much of a risk as long as you have set up a suitable management approach. However, everyone knows that unforeseen delays can occur. As the team leader, understanding the signs of burnout is vital. You need your teams to be at their best, so knowing when to take their foot off the gas can give them the chance to recharge and provide their best work.

Celebrate Your Successes

As much as you want to get the project finished, you also don’t want to rush anything. Therefore, it’s important to know when to celebrate success to keep spirits high and avoid running through things too quickly. Celebrating every little win can be beneficial but it will also lose its effectiveness. Instead, celebrate successes during huge milestones, which you can measure by outlining your project at the start so you have something to compare your progress to.

Under Control

Keeping projects under control will ensure productivity and efficiency but it also keeps the team morale high because they do not feel their efforts have gone to waste. If you’re overseeing a tricky project, these tips can help you maintain order and guarantee everything runs as expected.