Project Management
The Unbelievably Simple Ways You Can Keep Any Project On Track
When you run a business, you continually have to juggle your priorities. On the one hand, you have to take care of your day-to-day operations, ensuring that everything continues humming along. On the other, you know that they need to do things that move the entire enterprise forward. Sitting on your laurels is never a good idea in a fast-paced world, ripe for disruption.
Keeping projects on track, however, is a notoriously challenging endeavour. When something feels optional, it’s hard to muster the motivation to complete it. And you’re often so busy with your regular schedule that making changes happen requires monumental effort. Just running a company as it is right now is challenging enough, let alone trying to make it better at the same time.
If you feel like this, don’t despair. It turns out that there are some unbelievably simple ways to keep a project on track. And you can try them yourself.
Work Longer
Sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news, but if you want to complete a project, it pays dividends to work longer. Most people aren’t willing to consistently give up their evenings. It’s exhausting. But if you keep it up for a month or so, you soon find that you’re able to get on top of critical tasks.
Working longer is especially worth it if your project will help to reduce the overall amount of time you have to spend on the job. See it as an investment, if you can.
Track Your Projects Effectively
Companies can sometimes get into trouble when they believe that their projects are more advanced than they actually are. Firms can get the impression that they’ve made significant progress towards their goals, even when critical elements are lacking (and not about to come down the pike).
Fortunately, there are multiple solutions now available that help to take the mystery out of project progress. Jira dashboards, for instance, give managers a high-level overview of precisely where they’re at, increasing accountability. Software also makes it easier to divert resources to problem areas, helping to overcome sticking points and make progress.
Avoid Scope Changes
The best way to ensure that you don’t deliver a project on time is to make scope changes. If you continually move the goalposts, you often find that you have to change the basic parameters of the project. And that means that a lot of work goes to waste – not what you want at all.
When you go into a project, be sure you know what you want to get out of it. Avoid temptations to increase scope as you get into the project unless there are no logical alternatives. It is better to have a project that delivered 80 per cent of the value you want on time than 90 per cent with months of delay and additional costs.
Keeping projects on track is fundamental in business and a source of competitive advantage. Firms that can do it often find themselves the de facto market leaders – precisely where they want to be.
