Successful People Always Leave the Office on Time?
Atkins Appointed as Sustainability Adviser for Major Regeneration Project in the UK
Atkins has been chosen as the sustainability consultant to develop an environmental sustainability target for Old Oak Common, a £26bn urban redevelopment in London.
“Gentrification has profoundly influenced religion. In the context of Christianity, of course, gentrification takes on a new, existential dimension.”
At five times the size of the King’s Cross redevelopment, Old Oak and Park Royal is London’s largest opportunity area and urban regeneration investment project with an estimated worth of £7bn per annum to the UK economy. Old Oak and Park Royal has the potential to create up to 25,500 homes and some 65,000 jobs, constructing a transport hub to link Crossrail, National Rail and High Speed 2.
Atkins will create a set of sustainability targets to be used for the development in partnership with Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) and its cost control and project management advisor Faithful+Gould. The sustainability targets will be based on six core themes comprising urban form and public space, transport, energy, waste and materials, water, and access to nature, watercourses and green spaces.
Flexibility and adaptability will be a key focus area when developing the sustainability targets together with the combination of green infrastructure with urban planning and design, and the role of fast developing smart technologies.
“The Sustainability Targets Are Expected to Be Used for Anything up to 20 to 50 Years’ and Will Involve a Sensible Combination of ‘Open-Minded Thinking with Real-World Analysis.”
Sean Lockie, sustainability director at Faithful+Gould, said: “Old Oak and Park Royal is a massive opportunity for London to do things that haven’t been done before. “It means creating a vision which sets out clear goals, such as being healthy to live in, flexible over time, affordable, comfortable, and being energy and resource efficient, and then taking a systematic approach to delivery. “We’ll need to come up with some new business models to achieve this but in doing so we have a great opportunity to make a real difference in people’s lives.”
Atkins will lead stakeholder engagement workshops with the OPDC, designers and the local authority until August 2016 and is set to deliver its sustainability report to the OPDC in September 2016.
“Is urban regeneration about more than the material?” It’s about a piece of heaven on earth ”¦ where true expressions of what Jesus did or how he lived actually articulates itself into society.”
7 Secret Things You Didn’t Know About Successful Procurement Teams
Some senior members of staff see procurement expenses as a necessary evil and overlook any efficiency improvement methods for this sector. This is not an uncommon way of thinking, as procurement and the supply chain is a massive part of any company’s costs and can total up to 70% of an organisation’s total spend.
These managers are missing out on effective changes that can shift procurement to a significant supplier of growth and profit for any business.
Follow these 7 steps to improve your procurement team.
1. Embrace Change
It’s so important for procurement managers to embrace and invest in technology changes currently taking place in the industry.
Managers should hold a full assessment of deficiencies in their processors and search for technology that meets the needs of the business, rather than fitting the business around new technology. For example, if you are having trouble with historic and retrospective analysis, invest in predictive analytics.
2. Consider Outsourcing
Outsourcing may not be an avenue you have ever considered in regards to procurement, even though it happens all the time with HR and IT departments. Even so, many procurement managers are still apprehensive to apply it to their supply chain.
Outsourcing certain aspects of procurement can be a way of improving existing systems and processors rather than a cost reduction measure. It can also allow your business to access highly skilled procurement experts when it would be counter-productive to hire someone internally. These individuals are often very focused on delivering results, and if you plan outsourcing correctly, the increase in productivity will outweigh the costs of outsourcing.
If a procurement manager feels like there are areas in the business where costs can be cut, it might be worth bringing in a consultant. There are also outsourcing services that offer expert domain knowledge and vendor contact opportunities.
3. Ensure Your Supply Chain Is Properly Staffed
The efficiency of a supply chain is very much dependent on the quality of its staff. As a procurement manager, it’s important to ensure that the supply chain is staffed with highly skilled individuals, and that these staff have regular access to education and training.
Procurement professionals will be tasked with a wide variety of roles, including:
- Planning delivery timetables
- Ensuring stores have enough stock
- Overseeing the arrival of shipments
When hiring employees, it’s important to ensure they have skills such as communication, attention to detail and teamwork. They must also be willing to learn and improve throughout their career.
4. Create Risk Management Policies
One of the key ways of making a procurement team more efficient is to prepare for the unexpected. Procurement managers should establish proper levels of control to manage risk and ensure that all these policies are periodically reviewed. These risk management fail safes should include:
- The financial impact a risk might have
- The likelihood to the risk occurring
- A priority list for managing risks
All staff members should be aware of these risks, and the processes in place if the risks occur. For example, if a major supplier goes out of business, your staff should be aware that there is a process for contacting secondary suppliers so you are never left without stock.
5. Establish Relationships with Key Suppliers
Staff who deal with suppliers on a daily basis need to have brilliant relationship building skills. Procurement employees need to work closely with suppliers to try and keep communication consistent and amicable, even if issues arise at either end.
Suppliers can help procurement teams reach their performance goals, and they are often very knowledgeable, with expertise to share about their products. Procurement teams can learn a lot from them, like the audience, seasonality and key selling points of products; it’s worth working on these relationships.
6. Stick to Ambitious but Manageable Targets
If a team has a tough but not unattainable goal to work towards they can prioritise, measure and focus on their tasks with a clear end in mind. This helps staff members feel more motivated and gives meaning to their work.
There will also be a sense of achievement when the targets are met, bringing your team closer together and improving teamwork.
7. Efficiency Is Attainable
The creation of a brilliant supply chain depends on your company’s understanding of procurement, along with the procurement team’s estimation of the total costs associated with each supplier and their contacts.
With help from technology, outsourcing, a great team and strong relationship building skills, your procurement team should improve its efficiency and business impact.
How to Cope with a Mis-Sold Job
Everyone knows a story about a smart and talented professional who has lost his or her passion for a role, who no longer looks forward to going to the office yet remains stuck without a visible way out. Getting on the career ladder is a great thing, you start off at the bottom and work your way up, but sometimes you can get stuck and do not even realize it.
“One in Five Employees Claim They Were Mis-sold Opportunities When They Joined Their Organisation – Kelly Global Workforce Index (Kgwi).”
Commenting on the findings, Debbie Pettingill, Director, Kelly Services UK and Ireland said
“Employee retention will become an increasing challenge for employers as we move out of the recession. As we move into a more candidate driven market, this trend is likely to accelerate. Our findings indicate that this problem is being exacerbated by the misrepresentation of job role or company culture at the interview stage, leading to the dissatisfaction of new hires.”
Most of us know what we are trying to escape a “mis-sold” job resulting in a narrowly defined career, inauthentic or unstimulating work, numbing corporate politics, and perhaps blackmail including direct threats of being used as a scapegoat. A job where you are both overlooked and underappreciated. One may ring true for some of you.
“Fewer than Half of Uk Employees Are Happy with the Way Their Careers Are Progressing According to New British Research.”
Why Would A Company or Person Block Your Move?
Well, this could be because of his or her personal insecurity i.e. as the team works well, why rock the boat? Comfort zone: sometimes the team gets too comfortable? Golden child syndrome: you’re working your butt off and your sponsor or other senior is reaping the recognition from your amazing deliverables?
Working a job you don’t like can leave you feeling stuck, forgotten by God, and asking yourself questions like:
Why hasn’t God opened another door for me yet?
Why is God not moving?
Why would God leave me here in this job I hate?
But the truth is God has not left you. He’s not holding back on you. When you feel God is silent, that’s exactly when He’s moving! Your situation does not change God. He still loves you and is with you no matter what.
Instead of looking at our situation from a perspective of fear and worry, we need to look at it through faith and hope.
What Can You Do About it?
Don’t fret, you can handover your work or completely leave the organisation and still stay sane. You might worry that announcing your intentions will cause your company grief, but ultimately you have to do what’s best for you no matter what!
Think and pray long and hard about how you’re going to drop this bombshell as you will need to give notice. A sound method is required to overcome the assault and possible backlash – including of course more prayer and fasting.
So how are you going to approach it? What’s your reasoning going to be? How are you going to get them to understand exactly why you’re doing this? What do you need to do in order to prepare for the big day?
Easy, you’re going to read this guide.
Strategy 1 – Remote Working Arrangement
This could be a great approach if 80% of your work can be undertaken remotely. However, while there is a very logical argument to be made in favor of working from home, many people equate remote work to a lack of productivity and laziness. These people do not realize that the switch from an office to working from home can actually lead to significant increases in productivity.
Strategy 2 – What’s in It for Me?
What’s in it for me? That question sounds a little selfish, doesn’t it? Maybe you aren’t being compensated fairly, or you’re not happy with the effort vs return. When you know your client and team needs you and you’re willing to stay for a price, don’t mess around. Give them the real number or offer that will make it worth your while to stick it out for awhile.
Strategy 3 – The Budget Cut
The re-structuring. The downsizing. The dreaded budget cut. Whatever name you want to give it, this can be terrifying for a lot of professionals. However, if you’re already thinking about leaving, so maybe it doesn’t have to be such a scary thing. In fact, maybe it can be extremely positive for both parties.
Strategy 4 – The Ease Out
Still feeling weary about leaving the organization. Propose easing yourself out of the post. Pick a time frame, maybe four weeks or so, and come up with a plan for slowly taking yourself out of the position. This also allows you some time to slowly ramp down your time commitment.
Strategy 5 – Burning Bridges in the Industry
“Sometimes it’s about networking and being nice to people and not burning any bridges – but remembering to draw line where you must.”
There’s no harm in an early exit from a job you never plan to mention again or an interim role where you have clearly agreed on a start and finish date. But if your manager is well connected to your industry you should try to leave on a good note. Why? Because it’s a small world and the next hiring manager may put in a call to his or her former colleague (a.k.a., your new manager) to get the unofficial scoop. It happens, so if you’re going to leave anyway then try to fulfill your end of the deal.
Strategy 6 – Get Moving Fast
Imagine, for example, that you were hired to help the company manage multiple programmes and projects across the globe, but a recent change in leadership means all efforts moving forward will be focused locally.
If you’re spending your days just trying to find ways to be productive or are undertaking a role you never signed up for, you have every right to pursue new opportunities. Of course, the first course of action should normally be to discuss this with your manager to see if there are other roles you can take on. But if you know that this isn’t going to happen in the new world, get moving fast.
Strategy 7 – Your Dream Job Awaits
“When you’re being interviewed, always treat the interview as a 50-50 thing,” says Andy Dallas, a director at Robert Half International, recruitment consultants. “Ask what you can expect to be doing in your first week, month and three months. Ask what a successful year looks like.”
Dream jobs don’t come every day. So, if you have a chance at yours, take it quickly and congratulate yourself for being strong enough to leave when you were unhappy.
Strategy 8 – Remeber to Be Patient
We will not always be in a job we desire. Maybe you are fresh out of school and are working a job that has nothing to do with the degree you just earned. Maybe you are in a situation where you are working at a job where you are overqualified, overworked, and fed up. Maybe, for the most part, you love your job but get discouraged by the mundane tasks that take up time from doing the aspects of your job you love most.
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” – James 4:10 NIV
Here’s the thing: God will still use this season to grow, develop, and prepare you. Any season that humbles us is preparing us for what God has next.
Any thoughts to share?
You Were Never Made to Be ‘Productive’
Compared to people in other industrialized nations, Americans work longer hours, take fewer vacation days, and retire later in life. Busyness, once seen as the curse of the disadvantaged, has become equated with status and importance. Our work increasingly defines who we are.
“Godly rest (distinct from play, relaxation, or sleep) is inextricably tied to our identity as children of God.”
The solution perhaps is to be “Lazy Intelligent”? That sounds like something an unsuccessful, lazy slacker would say, isn’t it? Actually, it’s the opposite. One of America’s most influential and controversial science fiction authors Robert Heinlein uttered these words during his time. Despite his nod to laziness, Heinlein went on to pen hit titles such as Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land.
Productive laziness is not about doing absolutely nothing at all. It’s not about just sitting around and drinking coffee or engaging in idle gossip while watching the non-delivered project milestones disappear into the horizon. In fact, this behavior would lead to a very short-lived project management career.
Laziness Is Not Synonymous with Stupidity
Instead, productive laziness should be viewed as a more focused approach to management. Adopting this mindset means concentrating efforts where it really matters, rather than spreading yourself thing over unimportant, non-critical activities that in some cases don’t need to be addressed at all.
According to the Pareto Principle — Also Known as the “80/20 Rule” — 80 Percent of the Consequences Stem from 20 Percent of the Causes.
While the idea has a rule-of-thumb application, it’s also commonly misused. For example, just because one solution fits 80 percent of cases, that doesn’t mean it only requires 20 percent of the resources needed to solve all cases.
The principle, suggested by management thinker Joseph M. Juran, was named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80 percent of property in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the population. As a result, it was assumed that most of the result in any situation was determined by a small number of causes.
Rest Is at the Center of God’s Design
Every smart but lazy person should consider the 80/20 Rule each day. For managers, the principle is a reminder to concentrate on the 20 percent of work that really matters.
Contrary to belief, 80 percent of success is not just showing up. In fact, only 20 percent of what you do during the day will produce 80 percent of your results. Therefore, it is important to identify and focus on that 20 percent during the working day.
When genius and laziness meet, the results can be magical. Being just the right combination of smart and lazy can bring you to have a real edge over others. Interestingly enough, smart lazy people are generally better suited for leadership roles in organizations. These people make great strategic thinkers and leaders. They do things in a smart way in order to expend the least effort. They don’t rush into things, taking that little bit of extra time to think and find the shortest, best path.
They question, contradict, and show dissent against inefficient methods or unnecessary tasks.
“Whenever There Is a Hard Job to Be Done, I Assign It to a Lazy Man; He Is Sure to Find an Easy Way of Doing It. — Bill Gates”
Bill’s not the only guy, who believes that laziness doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. German Generalfeldmarschall Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke was the chief of staff for the Prussian Army for 30 years. He is regarded as one of the greatest strategists of the latter 1800s among historical scholars and is the creator of the more modern method of directing armies in the field.
Moltke observed his troops and categorized them based on their intelligence, diligence and laziness. If soldiers proved to be both lazy and smart, they were promoted to leadership because they knew how to be successful with efficiency. If soldiers were smart and diligent, they were deployed into a staff function, focusing on the details. Soldiers who were not smart and lazy were left alone in hopes they would come up with a great idea someday. Finally, soldiers who were not smart but diligent were removed from ranks.
Like Moltke’s army, the lazy manager is all about applying these principles in the delivery and management of work. You’re likely not stupid since you’ve landed the management position, but how are your lazy skills? Applying smart-lazy tactics will not only allow your work to be more successful, but you will also be seen as a successful individual and a top candidate for future leadership roles.
Think return on investment (time spent versus money earned ratio) rather than busy work and don’t restrict yourself to a certain way of doing things just for the sake of the status quo.
These people make great strategic thinkers and leaders. They do things in a smart way in order to expend the least effort. They don’t rush into things, taking that little bit of extra time to think and find the shortest, best path.
In the wise words of Bill Gate’s and American automotive industrialist Walter Chrysler, “Whenever there is a hard job to be done, assign it to a lazy man or woman for that matter; as he or she is sure to find an easy way of doing it.”
For an overachieving people-pleaser like me, thinking of rest as an innate part of who we were created to be—not as a discipline or something to be earned—is compelling. It is yet another form of God’s infinite grace, one that’s needed today more than ever.
Co-Author Peter Taylor
Described as “perhaps the most entertaining and inspiring speaker in the project management world today”, Peter Taylor is the author of two best-selling books on ‘Productive Laziness’ – ‘The Lazy Winner’ and ‘The Lazy Project Manager’.
66% of IT Projects Fail
Only one in three software projects will turn out to be successful. According to Standish Group’s 2015 Chaos report, 66% of technology projects (based on the analysis of 50,000 projects worldwide) end in partial or total failure. More surprisingly, these statistics have been the same for the last five years, the report shows. Furthermore, 17% of large IT projects go so badly that they can threaten the very existence of a company.
On Average, Large It Projects Run 45% over Budget and 7% over Time, While Delivering 56% Less Value than Predicted
Despite such failures, huge sums continue to be invested in IT projects and written off. For example the cost of project failure across the European Union was ┚¬142 billion in 2004.
It Projects Always Come with an Element of Risk, but There Are Huge Gains to Be Had If We Can Just Avoid Some of the Factors That Contribute Frequently to Project Failure
What makes a IT project successful, though?
According to the Standish Group, a successful project is on time, on budget and has satisfactory results (value, user and sponsor satisfaction, and meets target requirements). Other measures of success are widely known and accepted as true such as getting requirements right, providing effective leadership, and having full support and engagement from sponsors and users. Without these, it’s unlikely that any project would succeed.
But there’s more to success than what is widely known and, apparently, rarely followed. To reduce the risk of failure for your tech project, here are six key actions to take on the road to success.
1. Executive Vision and Involvement
Without a Executive Senior Sponsor Its Easy for Projects to Fail with the Organizational Resistance That Accompanies Large Change
Executive involvement is a primary variable in predicting the success of an IT project. Having a leadership team aligned across an organization articulating the purpose, value, and rationale for a project goes a long way towards getting stakeholders and end-users pulling the proverbial rope in the same direction.
2. Have a clear view of scope and timetable
Oftentimes, a tech project flops because its developers fail to plan and rush forward with an idea. However, some project managers plan so meticulously that they end up falling behind and lose momentum. The best approach is somewhere in between.
Interviewing team members, documenting requirements, prioritizing what is “mission critical” versus “nice to have,” getting agreement across stakeholders can feel like a never-ending cycle. As a result, requirement gathering has fallen out of fashion with many organizations in the past few years.
However, the ideal starting point for a successful technology project is to have a set of fundamental requirements with sufficient detail to develop against.
Requirement Gathering Is Labour-intensive and Challenging but Remains the Roadmap and Measuring Stick for Software Projects
This approach allows you to maintain sight of the business benefits as well as engaging stakeholders and responding to their feedback. In combination with a clear business case, a well-defined set of requirements also simplifies design and testing, two areas where projects tend to go sideways.
Ensure that requirements for the project are clearly defined and agreed upon among stakeholders and that you have a way to track, measure, and manage changes in requirements as appropriate during the project.
3. Define how you will deliver
When it comes to delivering a major project, one size does not always fit all. All products are customizable to some degree, so what might have worked in one company may not work in another company.
That being said, why reinvent the wheel if it’s already proven successful? Sometimes it can be more beneficial to use an existing off the shelf solution. Whichever direction you take, choose the delivery mode that works best for your company.
4. Risk Identification and Management
Every project has risk and there are many factors out of your control. People leave the organization, for better or worse, leadership changes, budgets get cut, however, many risks to projects can be mitigated or even eliminated with some forethought and on-going management. For example, do you have the resources you need to deliver the project (resource risk). Are project goals clearly understood and requirements clearly defined (scope risk). Do you have a realistic project plan and timeline (time risk).
Mitigating Risk Is a Combination of Science and Art, and Always a Balancing Process
5. Test your product again and again
A technology project is something that should overall support your business. It should not be something that dictates and forces you to change your operations. If this is happening, you should shift gears and focus on tweaking the technology, rather than lowering expectations and adopting less ideal requirements.
Adequate testing is a must for any tech project. While some features may be fine with automated testing, the best approach is to have a dedicated testing team. Testing activities should mirror those with the development team throughout the project’s lifetime. With thorough testing, a project should deliver with less design flaws or missing requirements.
6. Prioritize simplicity and performance
Developers often leave the external look and feel of a product to the wayside thinking these things are not necessities for the consumer to enjoy. However, user experience is absolutely critical to the success of the project.
Developers must consider things like storage, network requirements, processing speeds and overall performance in order to satisfy the customer. If users are going to have to wait for an extended period to allow information to load, there must be a good reason for the wait, otherwise they won’t return for future products.
Simplification and Improved Efficiency Is What Adds Value
Ultimately, using the product should be a smooth and intuitive experience. Additionally, tools and alternative routes must be placed logically without being intrusive. The process can be complicated, but the finished product should emit simplicity. After all, that’s what makes companies like Apple so successful. Simplification and improved efficiency is what adds value.
10 Motivational Quotes to Get You Through Your Procurement Woes
Is your procurement project stuck in a rut?
A well crafted quote, very much like good storytelling and can elucidate fuzzy concepts. For example, creativity” and “innovation” are not the first two words that come to mind when talking about procurement. However, According to Deloitte’s paper Charting the Course, this is where procurement’s destiny lies.
By transforming beyond today’s definition of “procurement as the sourcing of raw materials, and goods and services,” procurement can reach new heights.
Here are 10 quotes to help you find motivation and inspiration to make a positive change.
- All models are wrong but some of them are useful – George Box (Statistician)
- People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel – Maya Angelou (Writer)
- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them – Albert Einstein
- Opportunity arises for the prepared mind – Louis Pasteur (chemist and microbiologist)
- A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step – Lao Tzu (Philosopher)
- What gets measured, gets managed – Peter Drucker
- Leonardo da Vinci’s Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication – Dale Dauten
- Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength – Corrie ten Boom
- The best way to predict the future is to invent it – Alan Kay
- Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value – Albert Einstein
What are some of your favorite inspirational quotes? Share in the comments
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Manage Your Project More Effectively Now
There are a few who get project management right from the outset, but for many it’s a minefield. In theory, project management seems easy, but it’s not as straightforward as it seems. If you’re like the majority of people, you follow what seems like a simple project management process. You start by setting your budget, you choose the right people to join the team, and hope the project gets completed without too many hitches along the way.
But, realistically speaking, project management is nothing like this – it’s hardly ever so straightforward. Mistakes are made. You might choose the wrong people to complete the project. Your team might have no idea what’s expected of them or what the project goals are, or in some cases they might even receive conflicting information, which puts the whole project in jeopardy. Sometimes the scope of the project changes, and because of everything else that’s going on, your team is unable to fulfill the requirements and meet the project deadlines.
It happens, and you’ve got to be prepared for any situation while working together towards the common goal – successfully completing the project.
Don’t throw in the towel just yet. It might seem daunting, but there are few surefire tricks of the trade which businesses and project managers can implement to better their chances of successfully completing a project on time and within budget.
1. Know the Project Details Well
Before starting, you need to create a thorough project scope that outlines every single thing. This then needs to be approved by every stakeholder involved.
Your scope needs to have as much detail as possible such as the short-term milestones, deliverable dates, and a budget outline. It makes sense really. The more detail it includes will improve your odds when it comes to completing the project successfully.
What’s more, you’ll also improve your relationship with your client throughout the whole project process from the beginning right through to the end. Of course every project will encounter a few changes along the way – this is the norm, but having a detailed plan will help you manage your client better when something is off course.
Choose your Project Team Members and Size Wisely
2. Choose your Project Team Members and Size Wisely
Naturally, if you want your project to be a winner, you need the right people for the job, which includes having the right project manager on board. Keep your team as small as possible – size does matter; so don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.
The smaller the team, the better the communication. It also eases the stress and takes the pressure off the project manager. With a smaller team made up of the right people, the project manager will be able to organise their group without losing sight of all the details and work that’s needed doing. So, if you really want to have an effective project, limit your group’s size and only use those people and their skills that can benefit the project.
3. Highlight your Expectations from the Outset
You need to outline what you expect and what the client expects, which includes all the milestones, from the very beginning. Setting more milestones more frequently will allow you to follow the project’s progress more effectively. This way you’ll be able to jump on things quickly when they begin to go off scope, allowing you and your team to remain on target and on time.
Setting frequent milestones in a project will also allow you to review your spending and the investment thus far, which in turn will help you stay within the budget.
Milestones remove any ambiguity. They allow people to stay on target and there’s less risk of derailing the project.
Milestone setting should be a team effort. Everyone should be on board, so there won’t be any excuses later on down the line.
4. Does your Team Know what They’re Doing?
It may sound like a given, but it’s really important to be crystal clear from the beginning regarding people’s roles in the project. In other words, you need to highlight who is responsible for what, and what their deadline or deadlines are.
Things can get complicated with many people working on the same task. Sometimes things get misinterpreted or lost in translation. Avoid anyone being confused by clearly stating who should do what right from start, and make sure you enforce accountability.
You don’t need to worry about manually managing such tasks, as there are plenty of easy-to-use online task management programmes that can do this for you, so embrace technology and ease your pressure.
You may think it’s a waste of time spelling it all out, but this ensures that the full scope of the project is understood, people are clear of their role and individual and collaborative timelines. This is the key to keeping people on task and motivated.
5. Stop Micromanaging
It’s important to constantly touch base with your team members. However, there’s a fine line between supporting them and breathing down their necks. Give them space instead of micromanaging. Empower your team, trust them, and you’ll get their best work.
6. Use a Reliable System to Manage the Project
Communication is key. Most people rely on emailing, but when it comes to managing a big project with a number of different people working on it, this can hinder the project’s progress. Constantly referring back to old emails and previous correspondence is only going to waste precious time. Use software that keeps everything in one place from communication to any project information and updates. This will save you and your team a lot of time and money.
Motivate your Team
7. Motivate your Team
Everyone works better with positive reinforcement. Set milestones and reward when they’re reached. Your milestones will keep all people on track. Celebrate milestones together, but be sure to also recognise those who can’t meet them.
8. Frequent Short Meets to Stay on Track
It’s a project with many people collaborating, so holding regular meetings is a must. This is the only way to ensure that everyone and the project are on track. But you need to keep it short and sweet. Don’t meet for the sake of meeting. Have an agenda and stick to it. If you’re doing your project virtually, it’s even more important to touch base on a regular basis, so keep those communication lines open.
People do tend to go on at times when given the floor, so give everyone a set time to speak and make sure you all stick to it.
9. Allow Time for Change
No project ever runs 100% smoothly and specifications do change along the way. So to avoid the unnecessary stress and running around frantically, do some forward thinking, and set aside a certain amount of time for any changes in the scope – you’ll thank yourself for doing so in the end!
