Project management is the process of controlling the project lifecycle to deliver the best results in the least amount of time, earning maximum profits. It involves strategic planning, adhering to schedules, meeting deadlines, optimizing project resources, accommodating change, controlling costs, and maintaining quality benchmarks throughout the project lifecycle.
Perfectly controlled projects are the crux of a successful business. Project management is an amalgam of tasks, operations, and management practices needed to accomplish a successful project. Technology has simplified project management remarkably. Leveraging the right project management software tools enables businesses to streamline project management and upsurge profits at nominal costs.
Businesses today are more focused on enhancing project management. Reports reveal that employers will need 87.7 million specialists working on PM-related roles by 2027. Increasing competition is compelling businesses to deploy the best project management strategies to stay ahead in the race. Here are the top project management rules that businesses must follow to lead.
1. Time Is Money
Time management is the first and foremost in the top rules of project management as time directly impacts business or project profits. Delays in project completion result in increased costs. Projects typically constitute numerous tasks. Any task failing to meet the deadline can ultimately affect other tasks’ timelines, altering the project timelines and budget.
To control project timelines, project managers must first define realistic deadlines and aim at meeting these. People tend to complete tasks quicker if they are confident and good at it. So, delegate the tasks intelligently, keeping in mind the capabilities of your team members. Unproductive lengthy team meetings can be the biggest challenge in time management, so keep the meetings short and effective.
Create to-do or pending task lists and share the same with the relevant project team members. Also, set reminders for tasks and deadlines and alert the team beforehand. Be proactive in adding resources at the right time if you find that the project is running behind schedule.
Time management is complex. Using project tracking tools can enable better control over your team and processes and enhance overall project efficiency.
2. Planning Is Perpetual
Thorough planning is another core requirement for project management. The project plan defines the scope, tasks, schedule, resources, and budget for the project. Prioritizing goals and identifying deliverables are also significant elements or requirements of a good project plan. Additionally, a reliable project plan defines clear roles and responsibilities for various project stakeholders.
Planning is not a one-time task. The top rule in project planning is that planning should be ongoing. It must go on continuously throughout the project lifecycle because no plan is perfect. Remember, project planning is all-pervasive; it must exist at all levels and phases.
For successful project planning and control, project managers can set milestones or frequent targets. These will prove as guiding points for the entire team. You must track the project tasks and events regularly and change your strategies accordingly to accommodate changes in the plan due to budget and other unpredictable factors.
3. Communication Is the Key to Success
Mark Sanborn rightly said, “In teamwork, silence isn’t golden, it’s deadly.” Projects commonly fail due to a lack of communication and miscommunication within the team. With poor communication, teams cannot collaborate well and hesitate in sharing information, resulting in delays and errors.
Project managers need to focus on improving team communication at all levels. You must be available to the team members for guidance and support. Encourage the team to communicate more with each other . Seek their opinions and suggestions for project improvement. Socializing can be the best way to connect with your team and make them more communicative.
4. Risk Cannot Be Eliminated, Reduce the Loss
Projects routinely suffer from numerous challenges and risks related to schedules, costs, performance, and unforeseen circumstances. Thus, another golden rule for perfect project management that you must follow is that you cannot eliminate risks, focus on minimizing them and reduce the loss.
The way to manage risks is to get prepared. Perform in-depth risk assessment during project planning itself. Identify, analyze, and prioritize risks. Develop risk management plans and protocols. Invite opinions from industry experts. Assign ownership for various identified risks, respond in the best possible manner, and monitor the outcomes.
The top risk management software systems available in the market enable you to manage every aspect of risk management from a common platform. Deploy one of these tools to streamline the risk management process for your projects.
5. Be Agile
Agility is the most trending methodology in project management. The platinum rule of perfect project management is flexibility. With increasing competition and rapidly changing customer needs and interests, project managers may need to modify their plans at any stage. Things do not always go as planned, and one must always prepare for unexpected outcomes beforehand.
Project managers must formulate alternate or backup plans to accommodate such situations and be ready for a quick transition. The teams also need to accept such changes and implement these as necessary to deliver the best results. Train your team members to adapt to changes quickly. Develop an agile culture in the organization altogether.
To Summarize
As Albert Einstein once quoted, “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.” This quote works best for project management. Well-coordinated project teams, the right technology, and agile work culture constitute the ideal environment for flawless project management.
Adopt these top rules of project management, utilize technology, and accomplish seamless project management to take your business to new heights.
Lisa Brian is a Sr. Content Writer with GoodFirms. She has 5+ years of experience in content writing and marketing. Lisa loves to write about business, cutting-edge technologies, and emerging trends in the software industry.
Project management stock image by ESB Professional/Shutterstock
