We covered the first eight project management strategies in our last blog here. This week, we unveil the final eight things that every project manager should know … and do.
9. Don’t Be Afraid of What Might Go Wrong
Not all issues can be foreseen, and the unlikely can occur – so don’t be afraid of what might go wrong. Some things are simply out of your control. The key is to learn from mistakes by understanding what didn’t work and how it can be improved the next time around.
10. Praise Your Team for Accomplishments
Everyone likes to feel important, valued, and appreciated. Projects often become so involved that we forget about little things such as saying “good job” or offering a pat on the back. If you make it a priority to give sincere praise on a regular basis, you’ll have motivated, highly effective team members.
11. Time Management is Critical
Make it a necessary part of each day to plan for the next day. Keep your “to-do” list wherever you want (your iPad, your phone, your calendar, or in a notebook), but make it work for you. It seems obvious, but something as simple as this can help you identify top priorities and get rid of wasteful processes.
12. Capture Best Practices
A great way to ensure that best practices are captured is to commit your thoughts to paper (or computer) and share them with others. Find a way to keep track of best practices you’ve uncovered that are working for you, whether it’s on your tablet, on a network drive, or in file folders. This creates a record that you or someone else can reference in the future, and is a powerful way to get noticed when you can step up and explain process improvements that have saved you time.
13. Be a Strong Decision-Maker
Decision-making is an integral part of project management. Getting the right people involved and gathering their opinions is important; however, it may ultimately come down to you having to make the best decision for the project and the organization – even if it’s not the most popular one. You won’t achieve 100-percent consensus, so learning to accept tension between your own voice and the voice of other people will help you move forward.
14. Join a Group of Other Project Managers
Joining a group, network, or association with other project management professionals will put you in touch with others in your line of work, and:
- Keep you up-to-date on industry issues and developments
- Facilitate meetings with thought leaders who have great ideas and best practices to share
- Offer information about upcoming conferences, networking opportunities, and professional development opportunities
15. Formally Close Out the Project
There are important lessons to be learned through the project closeout phase. Projects can be mined for best practices, and lessons can be shared and leveraged across the organization. These insights should be documented along with any possible improvements for next time. The project closeout process is also an important time for recognition. The project team has spent a great deal of time and effort on the project, and so have the various stakeholders. So, it’s also time to …
16. Celebrate!
This is an important part of the project management process. If the project didn’t go smoothly, it’s important to capture lessons learned and give the team a chance to let go of the past so they can move on to future work. This may be done with the team at a small celebration ceremony or with individual members being rewarded for their contributions.
This information was gathered from Corporate Education Group’s Resource Center. The Corporate Education Group was originally founded at Boston University as the Boston University Corporate Education Center.
Photo by franky242