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What is the Difference Between a Project Manager and a Product Manager, Really?

Product vs Project Management

Did you ever watch The Patty Duke Show from the 1960s?

It was a sitcom that followed the misadventures of cousins Patty and Cathy Lane, both played by Duke, living together in Brooklyn Heights.

“They laugh alike, they walk alike, sometimes they even talk alike,” the intro song sings of the duo. “But they’re cousins, identical cousins.”

Although identical in appearance, the two girls really are quite different. Patty is the All-American girl next door, while Cathy is European-born, demure and studious.

You could probably write a corresponding show about a project and product manager. With only two letters differentiating the two job roles, and an identical “PM” abbreviation, at first blush the titles sound interchangeable.

It’s easy for anyone to conflate the two, and think they’re basically the same thing.

Just like the Lane cousins, however, the resemblance is only skin deep.
Although product and project management require many of the same skills, each is a distinct role with different objectives and duties.

Product management is about honing a specific product to serve a market need, while project management works in the realm of timelines and budgets, with a set goal in mind.

Just like two identical people, their surface similarities create no small amount of confusion. So let’s clear some of that up by first defining the roles of project and product managers, then looking at some of the similarities and differences between the two.

What is a Project Manager

What is a Project Manager?

A project manager is the “organizer in chief” for a defined set of tasks with a specific objective, budget and scope. Although anyone can come up with a task list, project management is about following a systematic structure with benchmarks and quotas that generates repeatable results.

A project manager plots a timeline, generates consensus amongst all stakeholders, facilitates ongoing communication amongst the team, and monitors a project through to its completion.

A Brief History of Project Management

Project management is an ancient discipline. It was utilized in building the Great Wall of China in 200 BC and in erecting the Egyptian pyramids over 4,000 years ago.

The beginning of modern project management is cited with Henry Gantt’s invention of the Gantt Chart. This chart, which plots tasks along a project’s timeline, was used by the US military in WWI to organize the deployment of troops to France.

It was also used in building the Hoover Dam in 1931 and in developing the modern US highway system.

The project management discipline really started to unfold in the 1950s. The Dupont Corporation developed the Critical Path Method for estimating a project’s timeline by using the least-flexible tasks as a guidepost. And the American Association of Cost Engineers formed in 1956, using sophisticated systems for estimating a project’s cost and schedule.

In the 1960s, the establishment of the International Project Manager Association (IPMA) in Vienna gave deference to the actual role of project management. IPMA helped to crystalize the position and its job duties.

The approach to project implementation and planning continued to evolve over the next few decades.

With the publication of his bestselling book The Goal in 1984, Eli Goldratt introduced the Theory of Constraints, which says that an organization must first look at its slowest or most difficult processes, and build its entire system around them.

And the 1980s marked the beginning of agile methodology, with the introduction of the scrum framework for software teams. This iterative approach to projects, that allows for constant change and pivoting, didn’t take long to catch on. A team of software developers wrote the Agile Manifesto in 2001.

As you can see, project management has come a long way since the Egyptians built the pyramids in 2500 BC. It’s become an established profession with very specific roles, systems, and methodologies, and several distinct approaches.

The Project Manager’s Objective

Essentially, the project manager’s benchmark for success is the completion of a project on time and within budget, with high attention to detail and quality.

The “scope, cost, time” triangle

The “scope, cost, time” triangle, which emerged around the 1950s, helps illustrate the constraints that a project manager works within to achieve this objective.

Whenever a manager makes a change to any one of these constraints, it affects the other two. When the scope of a project increases, this increases the budget and the timeline. However, if the budget decreases, the scope and timeline also need to decrease, or else the quality declines.

Roles and Responsibilities of a Project Manager

The duties of a project manager revolve around controlling, monitoring, planning and communicating throughout a project. The project must be determined to meet a business need.

Here’s an overview of some of the central duties of a project manager:

Establish Goals and Priorities

Establish Goals and Priorities

When a project’s goals are not properly defined, it creates huge problems in the long run.

When first receiving the assignment, a project manager meets with stakeholders to discuss the goals, budget and timeline. Oftentimes, they use a method called MoSCoW prioritization, which outlines all of the project’s musts, shoulds, coulds and won’ts.

In this meeting, the project manager seeks to establish clarity around expectations, and consensus around the project’s overall goals.

Assess Risks

Knowing and anticipating risks keeps costs low, and allows the project to keep to its timeline.

At the beginning of a project, the project manager lays all the project’s risks on the table, and creates a risk management strategy in collaboration with the project stakeholders. The strategy usually includes compensating controls, asset protection, and mitigating controls.

Plot a Timeline

After determining all of the tasks, and the desired outcome, the project manager plots the timeline. Using the Critical Path Method the project manager can create an accurate estimate by determining those tasks with the least amount of flexibility.

The Gantt Chart is an effective visual for plotting work that needs to be done at various points along the timeline. Throughout the project, the project manager continually monitors the ongoing tasks and updates the Gantt chart accordingly.

Communicate Constantly

Communicate Constantly

A project’s team is oftentimes composed of a hodgepodge of people, from all sorts of disciplines and cultural backgrounds, in various locations, some of them contractors and others employees.

This diversity poses a serious communication challenge, which translates into a huge risk to the project.

The project manager keeps everyone abreast of what’s going on by facilitating open dialogue. Sometimes this entails having a weekly scrum, where people discuss challenges and ways to move beyond them.

He or she also chooses a communication platform that easily allows everyone to correspond with each other daily throughout the project.

Control Scope

Handling scope creep is central to keeping a project’s cost, schedule and performance on track.

When an added task affects a project’s budget and timeline, the project manager establishes protocol for submitting the change for approval.

Evaluating each task individually allows the leader and the project manager to judiciously decide whether or not it should be approved.

Communicating effectively with the client is also an important aspect of scope creep. It’s good to address requests with some flexibility, while also keeping the project on schedule.

Meet Deadlines

And last but not least, a project manager’s role is about driving the timeline. Vigilant planning and monitoring, along with good communication allows the project to stay on track.

In sum, the project manager’s role is to motivate the troops, and then to synchronize and organize resources in order to complete a project.

Misconceptions About Project Management

Misconceptions About Project Management

It’s easy to make generalizations about project management, or to be fuzzy about the job role, and here are two common misconceptions.

It’s the Same as a Scrum Master

Roles like “scrum master” and “product owner” are part of the agile framework. The project manager role, however, is used in all sorts of disciplines and companies, and not exclusively in agile workplaces.

In companies that use the scrum framework, it’s generally not a great idea for the scrum master to be the same person as the project manager. A project manager continually monitors and moves the team along, whereas the scrum master facilitates an autonomous team by taking a “hands-off” approach to leading.

It’s Only Soft Skills

Project management is very much about having “people” skills. Although active listening and team building are critical to the role, a project manager also needs technical know-how in order to be successful.

For example, when project managers oversee a construction job, they should understand how to install drywall, even if they don’t plan to do it themselves. This allows them to hire a good contractor and inspect the job after it’s completed.

For this reason, a lot of project management skills are learned on the job, and it’s not easy for a project manager to jump from one industry to another.

Why is Project Management Necessary?

Project management is about creating structure for a body of work, and giving it a timeline.

Without this structure, it’s easy for a company to waste resources and time doing things with no coherent goal.

A project manager is like a disciplinarian who comes into a lagging workplace and whips things into shape and brings tasks over the finish line.

In sum, a project manager is about the “how” and the “when” of a project, not so much about the “why” and the “what.”

We really use project management in all areas of our lives: any time we have a task list with an end goal in mind, we’re a project manager. So we’re all experts at this, in a sense. However, a professional project manager takes a systematic and disciplined approach to a project, and develops skills and techniques in order to bring about the successful completion of a project over and over again.

What is a Product Manager

What is a Product Manager?

A product manager is dedicated to the financial and commercial success of a specific product. Products are anything a customer buys, including services. Oftentimes, a product is bundled with others, such as one module on an automobile.

The product manager uses market and customer research, as well as feedback from stakeholders to refine an existing product or develop a new one.

A Brief History of Product Management

Product management, to our knowledge anyway, doesn’t have prehistoric origins like project management does.

The position is credited to one Neil H. McElroy, who, while working at Procter and Gamble in 1931, outlined a new position called “Brand Men. This position was about assuming a “very heavy share of individual brand responsibility” that had until then been held by the District Manager and Sales Heads.

The brand men were to study a product closely, particularly one with lagging sales, and then improve upon it. Next, they oversaw the creation of all copy and advertising material for the product. Finally, after making these improvements, they tracked the results. Brand men offloaded clerical work to assistant brand men.

This envisioned position freed up Sales Heads, who would no longer have to “give up such a large proportion of their time to thought on how to bring up volume on a certain brand in a certain part of the territory.”

McElroy went on to work for Hewlett Packard, where he honed the position. “Brand Men” or “product manager” became about establishing a direct line between the product and the customer: the product manager identified the customer need, then created a product that solved that need.

In the 1980s, software companies started coming on board to product management, with Intuit leading the way. The agile methodologies of lean, scrum, and kanban that emerged in the 80s and 90s gave deference to the product manager duties by remaining hyper-focused on the end-user experience.

The Product Manager’s Objective

Essentially, a product manager’s measure for success is the development of a product that generates revenue for the company.

The Product Manager's Objective

As a happy customer is at the crux of financial success, a product manager’s role is the crossover between user experience (ux), the creation of the product (tech), and the business of the product.

Product managers research customer’s needs, and brainstorm creative ways to solve and address them. They also understand how the product is developed and created, even if they can’t do it themselves. And finally, product managers closely study competitors, markets, and development costs in order to create a profitable product.

Roles and Responsibilities of Product Managers

A day in the life of the product manager revolves around researching and possibly speaking with customers, as well as motivating and gathering information from all stakeholders.

Here’s an overview of some of the central duties of a product manager.

Assess Markets and Competitors

Although not marketers themselves, product management is very much about assessing the needs of the market. It looks at the big picture of a product’s timeline, and forecasts how the product might evolve as the market changes. It researches competitors and identifies its competitive edge.

Then, the product manager creates goals and strategies based on this knowledge.

Develop Product Expertise

Oftentimes, product managers oversee products that are bundled with others, and so they understand how the product interacts with everything else.

A product manager also understands how the product is manufactured or developed. For example, in a software company, the product manager understands the rubrics of writing code.

Know the Customer

Ideally, product managers talk with customers. They understand what the customer’s problem is, and brainstorm and collect information from stakeholders to solve this problem.

The product manager creates user stories and customer journeys to formulate the ideal product.

From this research, they advise the company on how to proceed with product development and marketing.

Lead and Manage

Management, naturally, is central to the role of the product manager. It’s about creating consensus around a product, which entails gathering and negotiating with anyone who has a stake in it.

The product manager leads a team to develop features and capabilities that address customer journeys.

Develop a Vision

Develop a Vision

Product owners develop an idea for the direction to take a product, with respect to design, production and marketing. They also know the customer problem that it solves.

This vision is developed through brainstorming, researching the market, understanding production processes, talking to customers, and listening to feedback from stakeholders.

Tell Stories

The position requires strong communication and persuasion skills.

Product managers take their customer research and user stories, and communicate the “why” of the product to the engineering or production department. They utilize the craft of storytelling and user stories to communicate the problem that a product seeks to solve.

Use Business Acumen

Generating profits for the business is central to product managers. They look at the impact of a product one or two years down the line.

Usually, a product manager competes with many others within the company for resources, funding, and marketing attention.

In sum, a good product manager is concerned not only with the company’s bottom line, but about the product and the end user as well. The position is about meeting the needs of the customer in a way that brings in revenue for the company, and about corralling stakeholders to move in that direction.

Misconceptions About Product Management

Misconceptions About Product Management

The product manager works in the balance between development, marketing and sales. This naturally generates confusion about the role. Here are some clarifications to common misconceptions.

It’s a Mini-CEO

Usually, a product manager is one among many in an organization, and so they certainly don’t have tons of power.

Although a product manager has opinions about a product, the role has more to do with communicating his or her perspective on where to take a product, rather than making decisions.

Product managers bring a lot to the table: a vision developed through research and feedback. However, the CEO has the final word in the direction and development of the product.

It’s a Product Owner

A product owner is a specific role within the scrum framework, which is an agile approach to project management. It’s a position entirely separate from the product manager, and is focused on the scrum team, and prioritizing the work to be done in the upcoming iteration.

Generally, the product owner and product manager wouldn’t be the same person. However, the product manager works very closely with the product owner to develop the user stories for the product backlog, and to determine test and evaluation criteria for deliverables.

It’s Marketing and Sales

Although the product manager understands the customer, they themselves don’t create copy and advertising, nor do they hit the pavement and knock on doors.

As McElroy said in his memo about brand men, the product manager, in part, is about taking the weight off the shoulders of sales teams by focusing on the improvement of the product and honing the marketing message.

Why is Product Management Necessary?

A cost-efficient and quality product is at the crux of a business’ success. Product management creates a clear line between the product and the end user, so it’s laser focused on serving this need.

As McElroy said of Proctor and Gamble in the 30s, when this crucial task of product management is deferred to sales and division managers, it gets lost among all of their other duties.

In sum, product management is the “why” and the “what” of a company’s production, and isn’t so concerned with the “how” and the “when.”

Product management allows a large company to have a small-company, entrepreneurial approach to the product. This individualized focus on the development of a particular product keeps a company in tune with the customer and allows it to turn a profit year after year.

Comparing and Contrasting the Project and Product Manager

Comparing and Contrasting the Project and Product Manager

As you can see, the product and project manager are distinct roles with their own objectives and responsibilities. The roles work in symbiosis and help each other accomplish these objectives.

To make a comparison, consider an orchestra. The product manager is like the conductor, who has a vision and leads the group to execute on it. Whereas the project manager is more like the producer, and is tasked with scheduling rehearsals, finding a venue for the performance, promoting the performance, selling tickets, and designing the program.

The product manager is focused on the overall vision, whereas the project manager is about carrying out the practicalities in order to realize the vision.

Let’s look a little closer at the differences and similarities between the two roles.

Key Differences Between Project and Product Manager

As the project and product manager are two distinct roles, it’s not too hard to find significant differences between the two. Here are some of the clearest ones.

Project Completion versus Satisfied Customer

The product and project manager have completely different criteria for success.

As discussed, the project manager’s objective is to complete and deliver a task within the constraints of the timeline and budget.

Product owners however, measure their performance by overall customer satisfaction with a product, as well as with the company’s bottom line.

Roles and Responsibilities Differ

These two positions are given ownership over completely different areas of a business’ operations.

A project owner’s work is centered around estimating the timelines, plotting tasks and budgeting resources. He or she also clarifies the project’s overall goals, prioritizes tasks and assesses risks.

The product owner, on the other hand, is concerned with the customer and identifying the customer’s problem. He or she researches markets and competitors, and also understands how the product is developed. The position is about solving the customer need with a lucrative product.

Agnostic versus Visionary

Project managers work in the realm of strategy and practicality. They’re given a vision and an objective, and their objective is to execute on it. They play no part in developing this vision themselves.

Product management, however, is more about creating this vision. Product managers develop strong opinions about the development and placement of a product, after they’ve completed customer and market research and taken input from stakeholders.

Long versus Short Horizon

The product has a long, indeterminate life span, whereas the project usually has a fixed, predetermined deadline.

When a project manager is given an assignment, the timeline is usually very specific. Their line of sight is from the beginning of a project to its completion. They look closely into the granularity of a project, and to the day-to-day duties.

Product managers, on the other hand, look several years down the pike, into changing markets and evolving consumer trends. They want to forecast and understand how to serve the customer need both now and in the short-term future.

Anywhere versus Specific

Another key distinction is that project management can happen anywhere. We’re always managing projects, even though we may not formally acknowledge it. Creating a grocery list and meal planning for the week is project management, as is planning and purchasing gifts for everyone on your Christmas list.

Basically, anytime you create a task list with a specific end goal, you’re project managing.

Product management, however, is very closely related to the functions of a business. It’s about addressing consumer needs in order to improve the bottom line.

In sum, the project manager and product manager are two very different positions. They work on a different timeline, have different responsibilities and different criteria for success. The two positions mutually benefit each other, however.

And they do share some common characteristics.

Key Similarities Between Project and Product Manager

Key Similarities Between Project and Product Manager

Both these positions are managerial, meaning that they require charisma, leadership and team building skills.

Here are a few commonalities between the two positions.

Technical Expertise

In addition to requiring soft skills like organization and team building, both the product and project manager require rigorous technical knowledge as well.

The product manager must understand the technical side of the product development, in order to make good financial decisions about design and production.

And the project manager needs to have a lot of know-how about all of the tasks on the Gantt chart, in order to hire the right people and determine if the job has been done well.

Negotiation Skills

Corralling a group of disparate stakeholders is part and parcel to both the product and project manager. This entails no small amount of negotiation skills.

A product manager needs to persuade a group to his or her vision regarding the best way to position and pitch a product.

And the project manager needs to keep the project within the constraints of the cost, scope, and timeline. This oftentimes entails convincing people to cooperate and give a little.

Team-Building Skills

Teamwork is at the heart of both product and project management. Both collaborate and communicate constantly with a variety of departments and disciplines, including the customer and client.

Each needs to know how to organize their thoughts and communicate to various departments using terminology that the recipient understands.

Building rapport within these disparate groups allows each to reach their respective goals: the project manager completes tasks with greater ease, and the product manager achieves greater cooperation and contribution toward building an excellent product.

In sum, while still being distinct roles, both the project and product manager require skills part and parcel to any managerial position.

Product & Project Management

They Sound Alike, But…

Just like the intro song to The Patty Duke Show, you certainly could say that the project manager and product manager “walk alike and sometimes even talk alike.”

Both are managerial positions, and so skills such as team building, negotiation, and communication are integral to both roles.

However, a product manager and a project manager are also distinct, and have completely different objectives.

The product manager is a “cheerleader” for a specific product, and seeks to generate revenue for the business by meeting the needs of the customer. While a project manager organizes and oversees an assigned task from beginning to end.

The relationship between the two is symbiotic: they dance around the office in the same milieu, perhaps sometimes stepping on each other’s toes, but with their eye on a different prize.

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Time Blocking – A Time Management Trick to Get in the Zone

Time Blocking Method

Everyone (even Oprah) has the same 24 hours in a day, so why is it that some people seem to accomplish an inhuman amount of work when you can’t even manage to reply to that one email?

No, it isn’t just you.

Time management is a hot topic these days for good reason and there is no shortage of books, articles, and blogs on how to hack the clock and be productive. It seems that we are all looking for the next big thing to help us manage the seemingly impossible task of our work and personal lives.

Look no further because you have found time blocking.

Time blocking involves breaking down your available hours into chunks and batching work in a way that makes the best use of your energy and attention. This technique allows you to focus on a single or batch of similar tasks by carving out a specific time in your day for that activity.

Some of the most productive people on the planet make use of time blocking to manage their incredibly busy schedules. If it is good enough for Bill Gates and Elon Musk, it is good enough for you.

Before diving into the specifics of time blocking, it is important to understand why it is such an effective productivity tool in your toolbox.

The Multitasking Myth

The Multitasking Myth

The main reason why time blocking is so effective is that it designates a time and space for you to focus on a single or related task. Contrary to popular belief, you do not get more done when you attempt to do more things at once – multitasking is a myth.

You may argue that washing the dishes and listening to a podcast is a great example of true multitasking and you would have a valid point. The difference in this scenario is that you are combining two low energy activities that require very little input from your brain.

How many times have you gone through the motion of washing dishes? Probably thousands.

This type of combo activity is more appropriately called “background tasking”. While your body is physically occupied doing the dishes that you have done a thousand times before, your mind is taking in some audio entertainment. The podcast may even make the dishes more enjoyable – nothing better than some true crime mixed in with the monotony of domestic chores, right?

However, the argument that you can truly manage two tasks at once loses its weight when it comes to managing work related tasks that actually require your full attention and input. If you try to answer emails while participating in a meeting, you will surely miss out on important information as you will be dividing your attention between two competing tasks.

Plus it is just rude.

While we may feel like we are being productive when we jump from our inbox, to a meeting, to our inbox again, the reality is that switching between these activities costs valuable energy and is more appropriately called “switchtasking”. Switchtasking is a sneaky thief that steals valuable minutes and hours from your day.

The truth is, no one is actually good at multitasking and your work suffers when you attempt it. Our brains do not work this way so when we try to take on more, the quality of our work suffers and we tend to make more mistakes. This defeats the purpose of trying to do more at the same time when both quality and quantity suffer.

Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman explains that multitasking drains your brain because it is not designed to handle more than one task at a time. She is a big proponent of single-tasking for productivity but also overall brain health and development.

The time it takes to shift attention between tasks can vary, but the general consensus among experts is that it takes between 20-25 minutes to fully switch between different tasks. This adds up quickly if you are constantly switching your attention, leaving you with very little productive time to produce good work. If you are a chronic multitasker, this will be a struggle but being aware of this cost is a great start and will help justify the switch to a time blocking system.

The Perfect Storm

Corporate culture as well as remnants of factory assembly line mentality created the perfect storm for our current time management crisis and the modern workplace makes it nearly impossible to be productive. With unrealistic expectations of what can be done in an 8 hour work day with 100 distractions and interruptions, most people are just barely getting by and burnout is higher than ever.

It isn’t all doom and gloom though, the global pandemic has caused a welcome shift in how we work and manage our time. With the largest case study in history, we are learning the conditions and systems that are most conclusive to productivity and discovering that less is actually more. There is a better understanding of how our brains work and the best conditions in which to produce quality work. Because of this, attention on time management and productivity is at an all time high.

Time Blocking Basics

Time Blocking Basics

While the concept of time blocking is a relatively simple act of blocking together similar tasks, it helps to break it down further into task batching and day theming.

Task Batching

The best way to start time blocking is to write down all (yes all) of the tasks that you may be required to perform for your work. This may sound like a to-do list but it is different in that you are recognizing the generic tasks themselves and not attaching a specific date to them, more like a “when” to-do list.

Let’s say that you are a freelance content creator, your regular tasks may include:

  • Blog writing
  • Website copywriting
  • Social media content creation
  • Bookkeeping
  • Invoicing
  • Regular client check in’s
  • Emails
  • Social media metrics review

While there are likely dozens more tasks, for simplicity sake, let’s assume that all tasks fit within these categories. When you look at this list, it is clear that some items can be easily batched together.

Writing and Creative Type Tasks

  • Writing and Creative Type Tasks: Blogging, website copy, and social media content creation all require the creative part of your brain and would make sense to batch in a half or even a full day of work. While they may be different tasks with different outcomes, they require the same skill set and allow you to focus your energy and truly get in the zone to complete the tasks.
  • Administrative Type Tasks: Bookkeeping, invoicing, and reviewing social media metrics can also be batched as they make the most use of the analytic part of your brain. Working with numbers is obviously different than working with words so blocking separate times for these activities will ensure that they get the attention they deserve.
  • Communication Type Tasks: Client check in’s and emails may form another category involving external communications. This category is often the most difficult to manage because our society has gotten used to being on call 24/7, answering phone calls on the weekend or checking email on the toilet (admit it).

While this is not an exclusive list of batch categories, you can use this list to start assigning your own to-dos to time blocks. Be sure to consider the time attached to the individual to-dos and whether they will fit in the allotted block of time. If they won’t, shift the to-do into the next available time block.

One of the most obvious and relatable examples of task batching is email considering the vast majority of people use it. It may seem counter productive at first to not answer emails as they come but it is important to understand the true cost of switching into email mode from a more important task. Start slow with batching emails for morning, afternoon, and end of day just to get in the habit of only checking at set times. If you want to manage your emails better, you can check out Endless Emails are Killing Your Time, Take it Back with These Email Management Strategies from fellow Teamly blogger.

Pro-Tip: include a block or two in your work week for catching up. This is a catch all space for anything that you didn’t manage to do in the designated blocks that day. It can also serve as a nice reward if you manage to get everything done, start on tomorrow’s work or take that time to relax instead!

Day Theming

Some people find it helpful to dedicate whole days to their task batches or blocks. Not only does this reduce task switching but it can also be helpful in managing your schedule. Using our freelancer example, you may see day theming that looks something like this:

  • Monday: Social media related work
  • Tuesday: Writing and content creation
  • Wednesday: Client check in’s and meetings
  • Thursday: Writing and content creation
  • Friday: Business related activities and development

While unrelated activities will inevitably find their way into your day and some meetings may have to happen outside of Wednesdays, having these themes will help keep you on track and focused on the main tasks. Communicating these themes to clients or team mates is also a great way to set reasonable boundaries and expectations of your time.

If full day themes are too broad to manage, it may be helpful to divide your days between morning and afternoon (assuming traditional hours). Say that our freelancer works five days a week, that would leave you with ten blocks which can be themed.

Are you a CEO? How Successful CEOs Stay Organized Every Day of the Year provides a great example of day theming for this position.

Setting Boundaries and Buffers

Setting Boundaries and Buffers

It is easy enough to block out your time in your calendar but to actually set and maintain these boundaries can be a struggle, especially if you have co-workers or a demanding work environment. It is important to make your boundaries clear and known and set buffers for when life happens. Let’s define the difference between boundaries and buffers, shall we?

Boundaries

How many times have you been derailed from good work by a knock on your office door or the ping of a notification on your smartphone? There are a number of studies that show people are interrupted multiple times an hour whether by co-workers or distractions in their surroundings.

Research from the University of California has found that, after an interruption, it takes about 23 minutes to refocus on whatever you were doing. Say your task was as short as finishing an email update to a client which would normally take you about 10 minutes. With a knock on the door and a quick conversation, that simple email will cost you at least 33 minutes of your workday.

How do we get anything done?

Short of putting a large “do not disturb” sign on your door, boundaries only work if you communicate them with others. You can do this by:

  • Including your estimated response time in your email signature
  • Having set office hours
  • Making your schedule known on a shared calendar

It isn’t enough to have boundaries, you need to respect them if you expect others to. If you say that you answer emails at 2:00 each day, do just that. Resist the urge to work outside of your time blocks and remind yourself that you are not saying no to an action, you are saying later.

As Parkinson’s law goes, your work will fill the available time. What this means is that there are external pressures added with the implementation of boundaries that will actually help you complete tasks in the designated time. Eventually, you will learn how much time a task actually takes you when interruptions and distractions are eliminated which will streamline your process.

An often unintended bonus of setting and committing to your boundaries is that it gives others permission to do the same. Everyone wins!

Buffers

Buffers between tasks will give you some wiggle room when life happens… and life happens.

Collectively, we are terrible at judging how much time we need to complete a task. More often than not, we tend to underestimate instead of overestimate which can make us feel rushed and compromise the quality of our work for the sake of a deadline. While the bigger issue here is learning how to better estimate the time it takes to do something, allowing yourself buffer space in your day will ensure that you can at least capture some of that underestimation until you learn better.

Ideally, buffers would not be used for work at all and instead be used to collect yourself and your thoughts as you prepare to transition between tasks. It may seem like a waste of time to factor in 15-30 minute buffer periods but remember, there is a time cost as your brain switches gears. You will pay for this switch with or without a buffer so it is best to count it as its own block than consider it part of an actual work one because that isn’t true work time.

As you learn how to better manage your time, you will spend less and less of it working in your buffer and instead make a more peaceful transition between activities.

Make Time to Make Time

Make Time to Make Time

Consistency is key. In his book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Cal Newport advocates for time blocking. Among other great productivity related advice, he admits to scheduling time in his day to schedule his time for the next day.

Yes, make time to make time.

A planning or scheduling block should be standard in every calendar, no matter what line of work you are in. Often, this planning block exists at the end of your day or week. If you work traditional hours, this may be your Friday afternoon activity. While it may seem as though you are taking time out of possible work related blocks, planning the following week will help you stay on task and be more reasonable with what you can accomplish.

This time is valuable for more reasons than one, it is also a great opportunity to review your previous week and develop a more reasonable expectation of what you can actually accomplish.

Benefits of Time Blocking

Benefits of Time Blocking

Reduced Disruptions

Remember your boundaries? By blocking your time, you are saying yes to what is in front of you and no to distractions and work outside the time block. Creating an environment where you can engage in deep and productive work is key and is made easier with this technique.

Unless you live in a vacuum, disruptions will happen but will be significantly reduced knowing that all of the tasks that you plan on undertaking live in a time block on your schedule.

Increased Focus

It happens to the best of us, you are working away and suddenly a thought pops into your head about another task that you will need to work on. When you time block, you can more easily resist the urge to immediately switch to that task because you know that you have set up a specific time to accomplish it. You are not forgetting it, you are reminding yourself that you have designated time already for this task and that it will get done.

Being able to easily dismiss these intrusive thoughts will help you stay on track and focused on the one right in front of you.

Increased Productivity

We now understand that multitasking is a killer of productivity. Not only does it take more time to do a single task, the quality suffers because your attention is pulled in multiple directions.

Initially, it will feel like blocking your time is stopping you from getting things done because you are no longer doing things as they catch your attention. Resist the twitch because (if you are being honest with yourself) you were not accomplishing as much as you think you were in your workday before you discovered this technique. Your to-do list may have been long but checkboxes were not being checked. Time blocking lets you focus and get things done, increasing your overall productivity.

More Realistic Expectations

Your time blocking system will always be under development as you learn what works and what doesn’t. In this process, you will inevitably develop more realistic expectations of what you can complete in a designated amount of time.

Time blocking will also help to set other people’s expectations of you. Once you have found a system that works, others will be impressed by your consistency and ability to set up boundaries that not only protect your time and attention but also ensure that good work is being produced.

Visually Prioritize

Using your email inbox as a to-do list is a terrible habit but most of us arrange our work days based on these and other notifications. In this case, priorities are determined by other people and the most recent ping or notification. Time blocking allows you to take these emails or notifications, turn them into a to-do and place them in the appropriate slot to be dealt with at a time that your brain is focused on similar tasks.

Sometimes, things will come up that need to be done right away. A website crashes and it is a priority to get it back online or there is a PR emergency that must be dealt with immediately.

Life happens.

That said, these are not everyday occurrences and will only disrupt your schedule on occasion. The rest of the time, you can maintain a time blocked and organized schedule.

Time Blocking Tips

Time Blocking Tips

Find Your Rhythm

Thankfully, workplaces are increasingly offering flexible hours giving employees more freedom over their schedules. This isn’t a completely selfless act on behalf of the companies though, they have learned that when people are allowed to work with their natural rhythms, they actually produce better work!

While you may already have some insight into the more productive times of the day for you, it is helpful to ask yourself:

  • When do I have the most energy and motivation?
  • What time of day do I see the fewest interruptions?

This will take some experimenting but finding this sweet spot will help you better arrange your time blocks for your most important work.

Be Realistic With Your Time

As humans, we constantly underestimate how long something will take, even worse we assume that everything will go perfect and nothing will derail us. The vast majority of time, things take longer than we expect and something is bound to throw us off.

To counter this, it is important to estimate the time something will take you and then add more time in your time block to account for the unaccountable. Eventually, you will be able to refine your estimates but it will never be an exact science. The trick is to always give yourself more time than you think you need.

It is important, however, to not give yourself too much time. Remember Parkinson’s law? You will fill the time that you have available so while you should be generous, you should also be reasonable to avoid wasting valuable time.

Schedule Personal Time First

It is important that you also make time for what is truly important like your friends, family, and personal interest.

You can avoid overscheduling work by starting your schedule with the non-negotiables, the first one being sleep. Yes, a full chunk of 8 hours, be sure to include any kind of wind down ritual you like. Next schedule in time to eat, be sure to include the time it takes to prep and clean up.

Don’t forget to schedule your breaks during the day and resist the urge to overschedule your time in an attempt to hack productivity because you now know that doesn’t work.

Plan a Week in Advance

Plan a Week in Advance

As suggested earlier, make sure to make time to make time, this usually looks like a dedicated block at the end of your work week. Once you have found your system, this will actually take very little time because you will only have to plug your to-dos into the appropriate time block.

It is important to start with a good planning system that you will actually use. While paper is great, it is difficult to properly block using traditional planners. Our friend Cal Newport, time management guru, has a great planner that was specifically designed for time blocking. When in doubt, a spreadsheet is a great place to start.

Decide Your Increments

This varies greatly between people but anything less than a 30 minute block is difficult to properly manage because of the time needed to switch between tasks. The most common blocks are at least an hour in length, giving you time to focus and enter the zone.

Communicate with Clients and Team

Ensuring that the people around you understand that you are undertaking a new time management system is important, especially if they are used to a prompt turnaround. Time blocking is a deviation from the unfortunate norm of being available at all hours so it may initially frustrate or confuse some people.

Heaven forbid they have to wait until 2:00 before you look at your emails.

Luckily, the results will speak for themselves. People will notice that you are more relaxed and focused, that the quality of your work is drastically improving. Eventually, you may inspire others to do the same.

Schedule Catch Up Time

While having a small block in your week for unfinished tasks was mentioned, it is also helpful to dedicate a full day a month to catching up on anything that may have slipped through the cracks. It is an opportunity to review the work you have done this past month and re-evaluate and refine your system to better work with your realities. This is a practice in being realistic and not working against your natural tendencies and flows.

Conclusion

With this technique, you can stop wasting time looking at your to-do list and trying to figure out how to fit it all in one day and instead get right to work. Time blocking will ensure that you remain focused and dedicated to the task at hand and protect your valuable energy and attention.

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The Ultimate Guide On How To Train A Virtual Assistant Successfully

How to train virtual assistant

With the rise of the internet and increased competition in the corporate and entrepreneurial space, hiring and training a virtual assistant has become increasingly popular and accessible. This development has led to virtual assistant coaching and training becoming a valuable asset to any company.

Growing a business takes a lot of work, and the repetitive tasks can become overwhelming as you continue working to expand. These often take up large amounts of your working hours, leaving you with little time to focus on tasks that provide high growth opportunities. When you delegate your lower reward tasks, you remove the pressure they put on your schedule and can refocus your energy on those that matter most.

This is where hiring a VA can become a highly beneficial step in your business, and learning how to train a virtual assistant becomes a valuable skill (we’ll tell you how in a minute!).

What Does A Virtual Assistant Do

What Does A Virtual Assistant Do?

The role of a virtual assistant will vary depending on their individual skillset and the needs of their client. To put it simply, a VA follows a predetermined system you have put in place for them.

The type of services they offer can come in 3 distinct forms. These include:

  1. Task-Based
    This is a VA who has been hired to manage very specific individual tasks behind the scenes. This can include sending emails, editing correspondences, or scheduling essential appointments.
  2. Project-Based
    A virtual assistant who has been hired to manage a specific project. They would have a more robust set of expectations that relate to one singular project. This could include creating content such as blogs, gathering quotes for upcoming projects, or curating travel itineraries prior to a scheduled trip.
  3. Ongoing Role-Based
    When you hire a VA who is taking on a specific role for you. They would be focusing on a more specialized area where you require continual support such as daily, weekly, or monthly tasks. These roles could be bookkeeping, supporting customers, data entry, or managing your social media across all platforms.

Overall, a virtual assistant is hired to make your day-to-day life less stressful. The goal is to free up your time to tackle the more valuable tasks that have a higher rate of growth potential for your company.

Benefits Of Having A Virtual Assistant

5 Benefits Of Having A Virtual Assistant

While hiring a virtual assistant comes with a range of benefits, there are 5 that stand above the rest.

  1. Increase Productivity
    Hiring a VA to manage the smaller, repetitive tasks of your day, allows you to focus on the most important aspects of your business. This will let you use your working hours more effectively, focusing on tasks that are aimed to grow your business.This not only benefits your working hours, but it can expand the functioning hours of your business entirely. Hiring a virtual assistant from abroad provides a unique opportunity for you to have work completed while you sleep. For example, you could hire a few VA’s who are in opposite time zones as the rest of your staff to allow for 24/7 customer support. This creates an opportunity for your business to provide services your competitors may not be offering.
  2. Reduce Costs
    Virtual assistants often work on a contract basis, removing the financial expense of hiring staff in-house to complete the desired tasks. This removes the requirement to pay for sick days, holidays, or lunch hours, as a virtual assistant is not a full-time employee. This reduces the overall cost of completing the assigned tasks.Additionally, VA’s usually work remotely. This is a growing trend across all workplaces, as remote work reduces the overhead costs of a business. Removing the need to provide a physical workplace also lowers your expenses.
  3. Reduce Stress
    Hiring a virtual assistant reduces your workload. When you delegate tasks you don’t enjoy, you naturally reduce the amount of stress you experience. This also occurs because hiring a VA frees up your time to take necessary breaks and recharge after long periods of hard work. This time can be spent engaging in highly rewarding activities, such as spending time with your family. Allotting yourself time to rest is essential in setting yourself up for success during your working hours.Better Scalability
  4. Better Scalability
    By hiring a virtual assistant you reduce your onboarding time when you require a role to be filled. Many VA’s are highly skilled in particular areas and usually work on a project-to-project basis. This gives you the flexibility to hire someone with the skills you require for a short period of time to complete a specific project. This is especially helpful when you have a sudden increase in work, or the demands of a project are changed unexpectedly.
  5. Higher Quality Of Work
    When you have a virtual assistant, you can offload undesirable tasks and create a work environment you enjoy stepping into each day. When you genuinely want to do the work you’re doing, you naturally apply more effort and increase the quality of your work.

Planning Before You Hire A Virtual Assistant

Planning Before You Hire A Virtual Assistant

Before you begin looking for a virtual assistant, it is important to consider a few vital steps.

  • Consider why hiring a virtual assistant would be helpful to you. Ask yourself questions like how a VA would help you, and what you would do with the time they would be giving back to you.
  • Research the average cost of a VA, either in your area or abroad based on your needs. It is important that you know your budget for this expense and can be confident in your ability to afford these services.
  • Define the expectations you would have for a virtual assistant. Consider repetitive tasks of your daily routine or those you don’t enjoy completing.
  • Take a deep look at your personality. This will help you know the type of person you would work best with. For example, if you struggle to release control of your workload or find it difficult to trust someone to meet your standards, a VA may not be a good fit. However, there are ways you can combat this if you want to work towards delegating effectively (more on this in the next section).
  • Make a list of the required tools and software you may need to provide a virtual assistant to support you successfully. This would include things like scheduling or management software, customer support tools, or editing software.

How To Train Your Virtual Assistant

Once you’ve completed your pre-planning and have found a virtual assistant that fits your needs, you’re ready to begin training them. This process is essential in setting your expectations and standards while helping them find success in your partnership.

Define Your Expectations Clearly

This step is especially important if you struggle to relinquish control over your work or trust others to complete tasks to the caliber you expect. The best way to do this is to curate a strict list of realistic expectations. Include both their role responsibilities and the quality of their work with key performance indicators in this outline.

A great way to ensure your virtual assistant understands these expectations and can successfully meet them is by providing examples. Create a folder that is specifically for previous work that you would like them to review to get a better understanding of your personal style. Include notes in these documents that highlight specific areas you want them to focus on and emulate in future tasks.

Communicate In Various Ways

Communicate In Various Ways

Everyone learns differently, and it’s important to consider that when creating your training material and during all interactions. The best way to do this is to incorporate verbal, written, and video communication methods to convey your task and expectations in a clear, concise way.

VerbalVerbal

A great way to include this in your training material is through audio recordings. Tone will play a big role in how your VA understands your expectations and their importance to you. This will help you quickly explain your needs and expectations while highlighting important aspects of the project.

WrittenWritten

When writing your training material or curating an email, try to keep the length of them to a reasonable amount. Walls of text can be overwhelming and can lead to your main points easily being missed. To avoid this, try breaking things down into bullet points or steps making them easy to digest and follow.

Ensure you include email as a form of communication. This allows you to answer in your own time while also allowing your VA the freedom to do the same.

VideoVideo

This is a great way to introduce yourself and make the initial introduction to you and your expectations more personable. By including video, you’re building rapport and allowing your virtual assistant to get a sense of who you are and connect with you on a different level. This is especially helpful for VA’s that are visual people, as you can emphasize certain aspects by including screen recordings of important information.

Break Tasks Down Into Specific Steps

When you provide a task with a clear breakdown of how to complete it, you make the process easy to follow. This also gives your virtual assistant a reference point for how you like things to be completed. If you’re assigning a repetitive task, this can also serve as a template for completing that task each time.

As an added bonus, when you break tasks down into steps, it can serve as a way to review your process and improve it for greater efficiency.

Create Checklists

When you first hire your VA, create a detailed list of recurring tasks for them to easily track throughout their contract with you. This will reduce the risk of tasks being left incomplete, and also provides your VA with a way to easily schedule and plan around them. This not only tells them you value their time but also provides an opportunity to review and optimize your repetitive tasks.

Give Feedback

Let your VA know how they’re doing on their various tasks. This will help them learn how you like projects to be completed, and adjust their style to match your own. Mistakes, large or small, provide great learning opportunities. If there is something that was missed, or that you would have preferred done a different way, share this information with your VA. This will influence how they manage any future assignments for you.

Conclusion

Building a business takes a lot of time, energy, and effort. The hours of your day can become filled quickly. A calendar that’s overrun with necessary but time-consuming tasks, creates a barrier between you and your business finding higher levels of success. When you hire a virtual assistant and train them successfully for your individual needs, you are better able to use your time. This will allow you to focus on the most important tasks and put your energy into taking your business to the next level.

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This Is What You Need To Know About Outsourcing To Romania

Outsourcing to Romania

Eastern European countries are becoming an increasingly popular resource for organizations needing to outsource their software development or IT services. Most notably, Romania, Poland, and Ukraine are among the top three countries within this region that boast a competitive pool of talent in the global outsourcing market. Aside from the unbeatable cost-saving benefit, outsourcing to Romania can give way to a wide variety of skills and experience, which can create a robust and well-functioning cross-cultural team.

But what about Romania in particular makes it a competitive country when it comes to outsourcing compared to other nations, especially when it comes to high-quality software development?

Here is what you need to know about outsourcing to Romania.

What is Outsourcing

What is Outsourcing?

Let’s first start with a refresher on the definition of outsourcing. Outsourcing is the practice of hiring a third party to complete services or other business functions that originally were done in-house by the company’s own employees. Outsourcing gives the company an opportunity to expand its global network and create streamlined processes that benefit the entire organization and its many operations.

Some of the most in-demand business functions that are most commonly outsourced include:

  • IT services
  • Software Development
  • Web Design and application
  • Customer Service
  • Financial Services/Accounting/Payroll
  • Administration
  • Data Entry
  • Chat Support
  • Banking/Insurance
  • Manufacturing

According to Fortunly, over 300,000 jobs get outsourced out of the United States each year. And over 44% of Chief Intelligence officers say that they are more likely to use outsourced suppliers than they were over five years ago. 51% of technology executives outsource their software maintenance and application, with over 40% outsourcing their data centers.

Outsourcing has become an essential part of how businesses operate on a global scale. While there are various advantages and disadvantages with outsourcing, it’s important to keep in mind the business needs and demands (or restrictions) must operate within a designated budget. However, outsourcing has proven to be an effective way of improving the efficiencies of an organization’s general operations, leaving the internal team to focus and deliver high-quality work. With its many benefits including saving time and money, opening up a more diverse pool of talent, and maximizing the resources available to them, outsourcing outside of the United States has become a cost-effective way to streamline certain business processes. Additionally, talent across the globe has access to state-of-the-art technologies that have the potential to bring innovative and novel ideas into the workplace, transforming how the core team works and operates. This exchange of ideas can elevate an organization to new heights.

Top Eastern European Countries for Outsourcing IT

Top Eastern European Countries for Outsourcing Software Development and Information Technology

These eastern European countries have been globally identified as the best destinations for outsourcing, especially within the IT and software development fields:

  • Romania
  • Poland
  • Ukraine
  • Belarus
  • Russia
  • Hungary
  • Czech Republic
  • Croatia
  • Bulgaria

The reputation of these eastern European countries is growing rapidly due to the high-quality services and level of expertise in their robust talent pool. Of course, there are a variety of factors that contribute to how an organization chooses where to outsource, despite geographical location. This includes:

  • Level of technical skill – This will depend largely on the business need of the company and the level of expertise needed in order to complete pressing assignments and projects.
  • Service costs – Organizations will need to research the average hourly rate of experts in their particular field outside of the US in order to get a clear understanding of what the overall cost will be to outsource their services.
  • Language barriers – Another area that deserves attention is the command of the English language. When outsourcing to another country, it’s important to keep in mind that there may be some cultural and language barriers the organization will need to work through. The team must be aware of such potential circumstances and exercise patience, extensive collaboration, cultural sensitivity, and effective communication to ensure everyone remains on the same page.
  • Time Zone – Companies also need to consider the time zone difference when they choose to outsource outside of the United States. Significant time zone differences can create difficult scheduling conflicts and availability issues. On the flip side, it also allows someone to be working on your business even while you sleep! This is a factor to consider in choosing where to outsource depending on the demands of the business.
  • Reputation – An organization must do extensive research on the company and country they are considering outsourcing their services to. This helps build trust and fosters a sense of respect for the team the organization chooses to hire to support their operations. For example, HackerRank is used to identify and assess the technical acumen of developers on a global scale. For example, the HackerRank for Romania currently sits at 81.9%.

All of these are deciding factors in choosing the right resource for the company. With eastern European countries quickly on the rise in the global market, let’s dig into why outsourcing to Romania has proven to be a smart and fruitful endeavor.

Why Do Companies Outsource to Romania?

Why Do Companies Outsource to Romania?

Romania’s IT industry has been growing rapidly over the course of the last 20 years. During this period of time, Romania has earned its reputation of being one of the top custom software development, maintenance, and support services in eastern Europe.

As Romania has over 4,000+ technical universities, the country boasts more than 5,000 engineers and computer science graduates—this is supported by their growing and flourishing economy. The country has maintained its steady growth by the increasing number of companies that choose Romania as its number one destination for outsourcing. Romanian developers have strong expertise in the embedded software development, cybersecurity, and AI development sectors.

While Romania may not offer the lowest prices in the outsourcing market, its highly competitive technical proficiency and general soft skills are vastly superior compared to surrounding countries. The country’s geographical location also lends a hand to its economic growth. Romania is at the center of three major markets: the Middle East, the European Union, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It’s the second-largest country in central and eastern Europe, a 3-hour flight from London and only a couple of hours ahead of Berlin. Investors typically find themselves in a vast pool of over 500 million consumers, which provides companies with unique advantages and opportunities to develop and grow.

Earlier this year, BalkanInsight reported that Romania is one of only six countries in the world (China, Chile, Australia, Lithuania, and South Korea) whose Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown despite the rippling effects of the pandemic. Major software companies such as IBM, Amazon, and Oracle have tapped into Romania’s growing talent pool of experienced software developers to support their operations since the competitive rates continue to produce high-quality results compared to other countries across the globe.

As Romania continues to reveal itself as a highly advanced technological hub with over 100,000 trained software developers and certified IT professionals, the country has become a hot spot for IT offshore/nearshore outsourcing.

The Advantages of Outsourcing to Romania

Advantages of Outsourcing to Romania

There are a number of advantages that exist when an organization chooses to outsource to Romania.

  • Robust talent pool – According to Rinf.tech, Romania produces the highest per capita technology workforce in Europe and also contains the top 5 technical universities. Over 68% of employed IT professionals in Romania received an advanced degree. By choosing to outsource to Romania, organizations have a plethora of various talents to use to support their team and bring innovative ideas to the table. While Romania is known for its superior IT and software development professionals, other essential fields include robotics, automotive innovation, and cyber security. Depending on the organization’s needs and projects, Romania can offer a variety of options in different professional arenas. Romania’s in-demand talent pool can also lend a very important hand in spreading gender balance in a largely male-dominated field. On average, 24% of tech graduates are women according to Romania’s Country Commercial Guide. Outsourcing to Romania can not only capture competitive skills and expertise, bolstering the company’s vision for the future but can also actively encourage inclusivity in the workplace.
  • Ripe Location – Romania neighbors many European countries, making the time zone difference minimal for those located in Europe looking to outsource their business operations. This poses little to no interruption for general communication and coordination between teams or with any travel plans as most surrounding countries are only separated by 2-3 hour distances. Put simply, Romania is easily accessible. For the United States, Romania remains about 10 hours ahead of the west coast, including the major city of Los Angeles. Although this time difference may initially sound drastic, Romania’s familiarity with US companies makes this transition as simple as possible. Maintaining constant (and effective) communication during vital company projects is always a pivotal piece of the project management process, no matter where the team is located. This is especially true in the case of outsourcing to countries outside of the United States. But Romania’s geographical location makes the process of outsourcing to Romania an easier experience and many find its high-quality services are worth the investment despite any time zone differences.Multilingual
  • Multilingual – Although Romanian is the primary language in Romania, the country boasts a multilingual culture. Most developers in Romania are proficient in English and are experienced working with a vast array of international clients. Their talent for language doesn’t just stop at English, however. Other languages include German, Spanish, and French. This is an incredibly valuable soft skill to have in today’s market. As more and more organizations begin to outsource their services, having a team that is adaptable to different languages is becoming a critical skill to stay competitive. And because Romania’s popularity continues to grow, their flexibility with learning additional languages becomes an attractive factor.
  • Cost savings – One of the most important factors for deciding to outsource to Romania is the cost-savings benefit. While the standard hourly rate for software developers is not concrete (this depends on a variety of subjects including the type of software needs that a company requires, relevant years of experience, and unique qualifications or specializations), on average, the hourly rate for a developer from Romania is anywhere between $15-$25. This is largely due to the country’s low cost of living and its economic conditions. Let’s compare this to the United States. For an entry-level position at a tech company, the average hourly rate begins anywhere between $40-$50. Let’s take a look at other notable examples. In India, the average hourly rate for a developer with 1-4 years of experience starts at approximately around $30, and in the UK, the same level of experience starts at $38.
  • Economic stability – According to Near-shore Romania, since becoming a member of the European Union in early 2007, Romania has become a safe and reliable nation to work with when it comes to business needs. As a central IT hub, Romania’s economic stability and growth, robust education system, and technological advancements make it easier for other countries to work with Romanian software teams.

Now that we’ve gone over the many advantages that come with outsourcing to Romania, it’s also important to consider some of the various challenges that may arise.

Challenges with Outsourcing to Romania

Challenges with Outsourcing to Romania

Many of these challenges are common pitfalls of outsourcing to countries outside of the United States. Here are the factors you need to keep in mind:

  • Misalignment of values – Bringing in an outsourced team can be tricky. It’s important that a company performs extensive research on the team they’re looking to bring in. In some cases, the prospective team may have conflicting values that don’t support the company’s missions. This could lead to difficult and awkward interactions for everyone involved and can have a proud effect on the company’s culture. While disagreements are common in the workplace, misalignment of essential values can come at a cost later down the road.
  • Remote team – An increasing number of organizations are switching to a remote workplace environment, which means that communication within teams needs to be sharp. This is especially true for outsourced teams, such as the developers in Romania. Frequent updates on day-to-day progress are essential in making sure that everyone remains on the same page and can do the basic functions of their jobs without very little delay or interruption. In these cases, diligent project managers would play a pivotal part in coordinating the many players of a project from across the globe.
  • Communication – Because of the remote nature of outsourced teams, deadlines must be carved out beforehand and relayed to all relevant parties. It can become very easy for due dates to slip through the cracks or miscommunication to occur frequently between team members. This is an area that needs to be highly regulated in order for processes to be truly streamlined and cost-effective.
  • Unclear needs – One of the most important areas that a company needs to address is its own unique needs. If a company is unclear about the type of skills, experience, or expertise that needs to be brought in, it may end up hiring the wrong set of hands, ultimately incurring a heavy price. A company must review its internal demands, its goals, and the development team it’s looking to hire before going with its decision to outsource to Romania (or any other country for that matter!). Especially in the field of IT services or software development, it’s critical that a company thoroughly review the gaps in its own organization in order to make the best decisions for the team as a whole. Remember, the idea is to make the processes easier on everyone, to give the core team another area of support so they can perform at their best.

When you understand both the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing to Romania, you get a complete picture of what it may look like for you and if it’s the right direction for your company.

Biggest IT hubs in Romania

Biggest IT hubs in Romania

Romania is home to some of the biggest tech hubs in the world. And according to Romanian Journal, another one of Romania’s biggest cities has been added to the list of the fastest-growing tech hubs in Europe. Let’s take a look at some of the most vital Romanian tech hubs:

  • Isai – Ranks in the top 10 of year-over-year growth with its impressive number of members.
  • Cluj-Napoca – Often considered one of the best tech hubs in Europe and is known for producing the biggest pool of talent in software development.
  • Bucharest – Known for bringing in a steady flow of capital
  • Uipath – Was in the top 20 largest Venture Capital-backed fundraising deals, ranking third in Europe

In Conclusion

Outsourcing to Romania has a variety of different benefits. Aside from the lower cost of labor, Romania’s talent pool continues to produce innovative, efficient results that support an organization’s overall mission depending on its unique needs. While outsourcing in general (especially if it’s outside the United States), can lead to challenges that usually accompany remote teams, Romania has much to offer as one of the most reliable and effective outsourcing resources.

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How to Deal with Uncertainty in Project Planning

How to Deal with Uncertainty in Project Planning

A project schedule is never static, and all estimates are subject to uncertainty. A schedule is made up of a series of tasks that must be completed in a predefined sequence.

However, if you have many projects in progress at the same time or overlap in time, having a longer-term strategy that considers how they interact is necessary. This is especially true if some activities take longer than others because you can’t start working until another task has been completed.

If you try to create such an ‘overall plan’ without any consideration for uncertainty then things will get complicated, very quickly.

In this blog article, we’ll look at what uncertainty looks like in project planning and the many forms it might take, as well as how to deal with it.

What is uncertainty in project management

What is uncertainty in project management?

Uncertainty is when you lack the necessary information to make a decision. It can manifest itself in a variety of ways, and it poses a risk to your project’s success. It’s up to you as a project manager to ensure that you plan for uncertainty.

Zone of uncertainty in project management

The zone of uncertainty is the range of possible outcomes. For example, if there’s a 50% chance that you will deliver by February and a 90% chance that you will be done by April, then your zone of uncertainty is between February and March.

The zone of uncertainty is important to keep in mind because it can help you make decisions about your project. You should always be prepared for the best and worst-case scenarios.

For example, if you know that there’s a high chance that your project will finish on time but there’s also a small chance that it could take longer, then you should build some buffer into your schedule.

One of the most important tasks in project management is to identify uncertainty and map it out across your plan so that you can be prepared for what’s ahead in your project.

If there are changes, then be sure to update all of the downstream activities as well by updating dependencies between tasks. In this way, you can be sure that your team is always aware of the latest uncertainty and risk on your project.

Uncertainty takes many forms

Uncertainty takes many forms

The following are some of the most common sources of uncertainty:

  • Changes in customer requirements
  • Changes in technology
  • Availability of resources
  • Political and economic conditions

Changes in customer requirements

Changes in customer requirements are one of the biggest sources of uncertainty in project management. Customers often change their minds about what they want, when they want it, and how much they will pay for your product or service.

Changes in technology

Another typical source of uncertainty is technological change. For example, as a project progresses and new technologies are developed, it may not be possible to use the older versions for your product anymore. This uncertainty can result from any number of factors such as:

  • New regulations that require upgraded equipment or processes;
  • A change in industry standards;
  • New technologies that are more effective or efficient than the ones you’re using.

Availability of resources

Sometimes uncertainty can also come from a lack of resources, such as:

  • Insufficient skills within your team;
  • A lack of funding to pay for specialized equipment and expertise.

Political and economic conditions

Economic uncertainty can also cause problems for your project. For example, if the country you’re doing business in experiences a recession, your customers may have less money to spend, or they may switch to cheaper products.

Political uncertainty can also affect your project. For instance, if there is a change in government it could result in new regulations that affect your project, or the government may decide to fund a rival project.

How uncertainty affects your project plan

How uncertainty affects your project plan and what you can do!

Project uncertainty can cause your project plan to change in other ways as well. In this section, we will look at how uncertainty affects the project budget, schedule, team dynamics, and communication.

How uncertainty affects the Budget

The uncertainty in a cost estimate is determined by the range of possible outcomes and how likely you think each outcome is.

For example, if there are only two possibilities with costs at $100 or $200 then uncertainty would be great because it’s unclear what will happen.

However, if there are many possibilities with a wide range of costs then uncertainty is low because the chances are good that at least one of the outcomes will be within your estimated budget.

Here’s what you can do to account for uncertainty in your project budget:

  • Estimate the cost of each outcome and then multiply that by the likelihood of it happening.
  • Add a buffer to your budget to cover any unexpected costs.

How uncertainty affects the schedule

How uncertainty affects the schedule

Your schedule is also affected by uncertainty. When you don’t know how long a task will take, it’s difficult to put an accurate estimate on the duration of your project. Uncertainty means that your schedule is at risk of change.

There are three ways that uncertainty can affect your schedule:

  1. uncertainty in task duration
  2. uncertainty in the task sequence
  3. uncertainty in dependencies between tasks

In addition, uncertainty can cause schedule changes when tasks are delayed or fast-tracked. What to do if your project falls behind schedule?

If your project falls behind schedule, there are a few things you can do:

  • break down the remaining tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces;
  • adjust the schedule to reflect the new reality;
  • add resources to help you catch up.

How uncertainty affects Team Dynamics

When uncertainty is high, team members may become anxious and stressed. This can lead to tension within the team and a decrease in productivity. In addition, some members of the team may try to take on more responsibility to reduce the uncertainty they feel.

What to do if your team members are overwhelmed with uncertainty?

If you identify that some of your team members are feeling uncertain about their responsibilities, it’s important to ease the load. You can do this by:

  • Give your team clearer job descriptions.
  • Assign tasks based on skill sets or experience where possible.
  • Offer training and development opportunities.
  • Provide support and guidance.

How uncertainty affects communication

When there’s a lot of uncertainty in a project, it can be difficult to communicate effectively. This is because when people are anxious or stressed, they tend to become defensive and closed off. As a result, important information may not be shared with team members, which can lead to problems down the road.

What can you do to maintain effective communication in a project where there is uncertainty?

To keep your team informed and on the same page, you need to:

  • Clarify expectations.
  • Plan for regular updates.
  • Reduce distractions.

How to reduce uncertainty

How to reduce uncertainty

It’s unrealistic to expect uncertainty to be eradicated from your project plan. But there are ways to minimize the degree of uncertainty. Let’s say for example your project is to develop new software.

You can reduce the uncertainty by doing the following:

  1. Break the project into smaller tasks and milestones.
  2. Gather input from subject matter experts.
  3. Perform pilot tests.
  4. Building in contingency time buffers.

1. Break the project into smaller tasks and milestones.

For example, if you have a project to create a new website. Your initial plan might be something like this:

  • Build the home page
  • Create navigation menu
  • Add a blog section to the site

However, this plan is very vague. You have no idea how long each of these tasks will take. So it’s not possible to estimate your project duration or completion date. Let’s break down this project into smaller milestones and tasks, which will help reduce the overall uncertainty.

  • Build a wireframe for your home page
  • Create an HTML template for your main navigation menu
  • Add blog functionality to the site based on client requirements

This plan is much more detailed and specific, so it’s easier to estimate how long each task might take. This gives you a better idea of how long your project will take.

2. Gather input from subject matter experts

If you’re working on a software development project to create new features, ask for client feedback early in the process. This can help reduce uncertainty throughout your project’s duration.

For example, asking clients what their top priority features are at the beginning of a project will give you a good idea of what to build first.

3. Perform pilot tests

You can reduce project uncertainty by testing your deliverables early on with real users. This will help identify any issues or problems before they become bigger problems during the main project phase, which saves time and money in the long run.

4. Building in contingency time buffers

No matter how well you plan, there will always be some degree of uncertainty in your project. This is especially true for projects with tight deadlines.

To account for this, it’s important to build contingency time buffers into your project plan. This will help ensure that your team isn’t rushed and stressed out trying to meet a deadline they know is unrealistic.

Summary of section

Breaking your project into smaller tasks, gathering input from subject matter experts, performing pilot tests, and building in contingency time buffers are all techniques that can help reduce the effects of uncertainty on your project. By using these techniques, you’ll be able to deliver a successful project despite the inevitable surprises that come up during planning and execution.

Consider the following ideas to help you deal with uncertainty while preparing a project:

Ideas to help you deal with uncertainty while preparing a project

  • Assess uncertainty early on, if possible. If you are working closely with your customer or team members, they may already have some information to share about what is uncertain and how it will affect their work tasks. You should also ask them for their input on how uncertainty can be dealt with.
  • Include uncertainty in your project schedule so that you know what to expect when uncertainty happens, and how long it will take for uncertainty to resolve itself. For example, if tasks are on hold due to a lack of information or resources, you should allow time buffers between each task while the work is delayed. This will help you to create a realistic schedule.
  • Include uncertainty in your project budget so that you know what the potential cost implications are if uncertainty causes changes in work tasks or resource requirements for your project. This will help you determine how much flexibility is available within the overall budget based on any uncertainty that may happen during the planning and execution of your project plan.
  • Use risk management techniques to help you understand and manage uncertainty. For example, create a risk register that documents all of the risks in your project, including those related to uncertainty. This will help you track potential impacts on your schedule and budget as the project progresses.

Conclusion

Uncertainty is an unavoidable part of project planning. However, by following the suggestions above, you can reduce the impact that uncertainty has on your project’s duration and budget. By assessing and managing risk, building contingency time buffers into your schedule, and including uncertainty in your project plan, you can ensure that your team stays on track despite the unknowns.

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A Stitch in Time: How to Use Mitigating Controls in Project Planning

Mitigating Controls

Do you keep an umbrella in the back seat of your car? That is such an awesome fix for those times when you pull into a parking lot just as it starts to pour.

But an umbrella certainly doesn’t stop rain from falling (if only!). It simply lessens its impact on you.

We face risks everywhere we go, and have all sorts of approaches for preventing and mitigating them.

And project management certainly is no exception.

Any experienced project manager knows that the best way to to launch a project is by putting all known risks on the table, with every stakeholder standing by. Next, the team sets itself up for success by creating a strategy to manage each and every risk.

Using mitigating controls is a critical part of this strategy.

The umbrella is an example of a mitigating control: it doesn’t prevent you from being caught in a rainstorm, but it eases the impact, should the unfortunate incident occur.

Let’s go over what a mitigating control is, and then look at how it fits into the wider context of risk management for project planning.

What is a Mitigating Control?

Before defining “mitigating control”, let’s break it down and first define the verb “mitigate.”

According to The Merriam Webster Dictionary, “mitigate” means to make less severe or harmful; to alleviate.

An umbrella mitigates the impact of a rainstorm; a boss might use soothing language to mitigate the delivery of disappointing news.

A mitigating control, then, has to do with lessening the severity of a threat after it occurs. It’s not about preventing the threat from happening in the first place.

When you implement a mitigating control into a project strategy, you act as though an asset has already been lost or threatened. The mitigating control, then, directly addresses the threat, not the asset.

Examples of Mitigating Controls

Let’s look at a few examples of how a company would use a mitigating control in the workplace or in project planning, in order to alleviate risk.

A Firewall

Every company has hordes of valuable information stored on its computers, all of which could be wiped out within minutes by a cyberattack. A mitigating control against this terrifying threat would be installing a firewall to block viruses and untrusted networks from accessing the company’s servers.

A Succession Plan

A skilled team is probably the most important asset to any project. Losing any number of team members poses a risk to a project’s successful completion. A good succession plan is a mitigating control to alleviate some of this risk. This way, the company is ready in the event of an unexpected absence or departure.

An Emergency Budget

A successful project certainly needs to deliver a quality product to the client. This deliverable is dependent on highly skilled labor. If some team members aren’t sufficiently skilled, however, it means the delivery of a sloppy or subpar product. One way to mitigate this risk would be to set aside a portion of the budget in the event that some work is scrapped and has to be re-done.

As you can see, a mitigating control has to do with putting a plan into place for when a threatening event transpires. It’s not about preventing this threat from happening in the first place.

Mitigating Controls Within Risk Management

Mitigating controls are only one aspect of managing risk. Let’s look at some other methods of risk management, to see how it fits into the entire strategy.

Asset Protection

In addition to creating a “how do we back out of a dead-end” plan, it’s also necessary for a project to include strategies for not ending up at the dead-end to begin with.

For example, in order to retain a good team, a project manager can promise a bonus or another incentive to every one who stays on board with a project through its completion.

And in order to hire a skilled team of freelancers and contractors, a manager can have criteria for vetting potential hires, including reviewing previous work and soliciting references.

Compensating Controls

Risk management oftentimes requires additional resources, and sometimes these resources simply aren’t available. In these instances, it’s necessary to use something called compensating controls.

A compensating control is additional surveillance or protocol when a project doesn’t have proper segregation of duties.

Let’s look at an example. In an ideal scenario, a programming team passes on its code to another team for testing and peer review. However, when this second team doesn’t exist, the same team must test its own code. In order to lessen the risk of defects, a company would then use a compensating control, such as an additional management review of the code.

In essence, a compensating control is making up for a weak link in segregation of duties. Some other examples of compensating controls include second signatures on important documents, and detailed independent reviews of transactions.

In sum, a good project risk strategy not only includes mitigating controls, but also has compensating controls, as well as a plan for protecting assets in the first place.

Softening the Blow

Without a proper risk-assessment strategy, a project is sure to hit an impasse that prevents its completion.

A mitigating control is an important part of this strategy. It’s all about having a plan in place to soften the blow of an external threat.

We employ mitigating controls in our life all the time. Having some gas in the car if you’re ever stuck on the road with an empty tank, and using euphemisms when delivering bad news are two everyday methods for lessening the severity of a rough situation.

In addition to using mitigating controls, a comprehensive risk management strategy also uses compensating controls and asset protection.

This sort of “no strike out” risk management plan not only keeps the curve balls and fastballs from coming at you, but it allows you to make a hit, or at worst foul, every single time.

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A Leader’s Guide to Working with Introverts

Dealing with introverts at work

All people should be treated equally. However, when it comes to management, specific individuals may demand a different approach—and introverts are one such example.

Introverts are often misrepresented in modern society. They’re seen as isolated, shy, and unforthcoming, which is far from true. The fundamental difference between an introverted and an extroverted person lies exclusively in the types of settings that energize them. The former need short breaks from social interactions to recharge, while the latter need to socialize to liven up. However, it’s important to stress that these are gross oversimplifications of their identities.

As a manager or team member, it’s important to consider these dimensions of human personality when trying to bond with people and help them reach peak efficiency and motivation.

In today’s article, we’ll take a closer look at what you should know about introverts, what their needs are, and what managers should do to provide them with the necessary support at work.

What does it mean to be introverted

What does it mean to be introverted?

The first and probably most important thing that needs to be pointed out is that being introverted is by no means a deviation from the so-called norm. Every person out there is born with a temperament—a specific way they get energized and how that shapes their interaction with their surroundings. Extroversion and introversion are both innate temperaments that are predetermined by our genes. Basically, we’re all born with them.

Introverts typically prefer environments that aren’t too stimulating. The main reason behind this choice is that people with this temperament often find social events taxing and need some time alone to restore their energy levels. This behavior pattern is primarily due to introverts’ peculiar brain chemistry—specifically the way their brains respond to dopamine. Simply put, introverts are much more sensitive to this feel-good hormone, whereas extroverts can’t get enough of it. As a result, the former need to isolate for a bit after being zapped with a cocktail of hormones they have a low tolerance to. This is where the most common misconception about people with this temperament stems from—they’re generally considered shy, aloof, and even arrogant.

Dispelling common myths

Dispelling common myths

The misunderstanding of how introverts function in society has sprung a variety of myths about them. They’re often seen as arrogant, disinterested, and even stuck up. However, it’s safe to assume that very few introverts would agree with these descriptions.

They’re socially awkward

Introverts function very well in social settings and don’t really find it complicated to interact with people. In fact, according to a 2016 study, most US-based lawyers are introverted.

Plus, a study published in the Journal of Personality and Individual Differences suggests that extroverts and introverts a near-equal amount of time alone and socializing. More importantly, the same paper indicates that introverts experience the same bump in happiness during social interactions as extroverts do.

For introverts, social interactions are something they must balance continuously, and it would be unfair to say that they prefer solitude over communication. Too much solitude can leave them feeling insecure, while excessive exposure can make them feel overstimulated and tired. However, this shouldn’t be treated as a need to take a break from people. Instead, it’s a respite from stimulation.

They’re kind of arrogant

Social interactions are fairly taxing for introverts, which often dissuades them from engaging in casual cooler chatter—and this shouldn’t be interpreted as disinterest on their part. For them, social interactions need to be meaningful.

They’re rude

Given how sensitive introverts are to the dopamine triggered by social interactions, they may sometimes refuse to communicate with people, especially when they need to “cool off.” Rather than being offended by this need, it’s always best to give introverts some extra space. They’ll be much happier to chat when they recharge their social batteries.

Introverts are depressed and anxious

This is probably one of the most common misconceptions about introverts. However, that is not to say that it’s entirely false. To dispel this myth, we need to get into semantics for a bit.

In psychology, there’s a strong connection between extroversion and happiness. There’s an extensive body of research that suggests that people that are extroverted are less likely to be depressed. On the other hand, there’s plenty of research that suggests that people act in an outgoing and energetic manner when they are happy or feel good.

But there’s an important difference that needs to be pointed out—being introverted does not by default make you depressed or anxious. It’s critical that we distinguish between how people are and how people act.

The unfortunate part is that introverts sometimes lose control over isolation and tend to withdraw from their social circles for too long, indeed making them sadder and more disconnected.

How to work with introverts

How to work with introverts

Taking employee temperaments into account is an often overlooked facet of management in the modern workplace, and introverts are the ones who suffer most from this. While being thoughtful of their colleagues’ introversion or extroversion isn’t necessarily a manager’s obligation, it’s safe to say that everyone would benefit from a more mindful approach.

Failing to adjust to individual requirements can make some people feel misplaced and disregarded, making their life at work less and less comfortable.

On the other hand, making the necessary adjustments to accommodate introverted employees will only enable them to be more productive, accountable, and happy at work.

1. Tailor your interactions

A thoughtful manager should pay close attention to the temperaments and personalities of the people in their team. Introverts can often get overshadowed in social settings by their more extroverted peers, and it should be taken into account at all times. Interrupt an introvert a few times, and they’ll feel sidelined and will most likely be dissuaded from being part of the conversation in team meetings.

The transition to the work-from-home model has only underlined the importance of proper “temperament-conscious” management. Leaders can leverage a variety of tools to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard. A good example is the hand-raising feature available in most video conferencing tools. Plus, it’s always a good idea to wait a few seconds after a person has finished speaking to make sure that nobody gets cut off.

Another opportunity managers can explore is asynchronous communication. Introverted people or people with social anxiety will greatly appreciate the choice not to join non-essential calls and provide their input for the team’s daily standups via email.

2. Respect space

If your company has gone back to an office setting, this is a good opportunity to rethink how people use the space. Needless to say, open-space environments can be quite tiring for introverts, and having a dedicated “recharging” area where they can spend some time alone and in quiet would be extremely beneficial.

A few minutes of silence can go a long way for an introverted person and, to be extremely pragmatic, it would make them much more efficient, and it would be totally worth the investment.

Furthermore, introverts are known to be fairly independent. Therefore, making some small changes to your workspace that would allow them to function well will greatly impact their satisfaction and inspiration.

Be an ally

3. Be an ally

By now, we’ve established that introverted people tend to differ from extroverts in regards to how they feel about social interaction. Unfortunately, these differences can significantly impact their success at work. They often aren’t as fond of self-promotion, even if they have an excellent skill set and a wide array of relevant expertise. Typically, they prefer their work to do the talking, but that can often impede their growth within an organization.

That, however, does not mean that managers should speak for them or protect them in a patronizing manner. Instead, they should seek to allot them the time and provide them with the right conditions to express themselves.

Something that most introverts will find helpful is preventing interruptions. Being able to speak freely without being constantly cut off will allow them to flourish and provide valuable feedback. Another extremely useful thing to do is to gently encourage introverts to partake in conversations and reward them for doing so.

Some introverts feel uncomfortable being in the spotlight since too much attention to their person can be quite taxing to them. Unless interacting with large groups of people is their actual responsibility, it’s best not to force them to do so.

4. Provide opportunities to lead

Today’s work environment strongly favors extroverted people for some of their innate qualities—they’re outgoing and charismatic, they have awesome social skills, and they can get a crowd’s attention. While these characteristics are excellent for a person in a leadership position, that is not to say that people that don’t possess them aren’t suited for one.

In fact, introverts make great leaders as well, since they often have excellent listening abilities, they’re less competitive, and they very rarely engage in corporate politics. These qualities combined make a manager that is less interested in proving a point and is instead focused on achieving the greater good for the people in their team and the organization as a whole.

By providing introverts with the opportunity to lead, you can leverage the qualities that come with their temperament, along with their individual attributes.

Give time to think, plan, and prepare

5. Give time to think, plan, and prepare

A team and company will at some point experience a significant problem that demands a quick and well-thought-out solution. While there’s no ground to assume that there’s a difference in the quality of reasoning between introverts and extroverts, the former typically have more time to analyze all the ins and outs of the situation.

The same applies to meetings where important decisions are made—introverts often find it complicated to find solutions on the spot, so giving them a heads-up and expanding on the agenda of a meeting will help them generate better ideas.

Emergencies are just a part of life—both people and businesses can’t eliminate them entirely, but by giving introverts some extra time to think and prepare, you’re increasing your chances of addressing pressing issues in an adequate manner.

And I know what you might be thinking, “we can’t always afford to give certain people an extra day to ponder over extremely time-sensitive issues”—and that’s a fair point. But would you rather go with a half-baked solution or one that stems from a more analytical and calculated approach?

6. Be thoughtful about engaging them

Unfortunately, a lot of the things that engage extroverts could have a reverse effect on introverts. For instance, most extroverts would probably be happy to hear a peer or manager publicly show their appreciation for the work they’ve done. Introverts—not so much.

If you’d like to articulate the value that an introvert has brought through their work, consider sending them a personal and thoughtful email. Forcing them into social interaction with lots of people involved won’t necessarily make them unhappy, but there’s a possibility that it might intimidate them, so it’s probably a good idea to avoid doing so, especially if they’re relatively new to the team or their position.

The same applies to receiving feedback from them. As we mentioned above, introverts may not be the most vocal in a meeting. Still, if approached individually, you’ll most certainly get their well-thought-out opinion on the subject matter.

As a manager, you may also consider offering your help with social interactions. For instance, if your introverted colleague needs to deliver a presentation, feel free to offer to do it for them. Once they see that their work was received well, they may find it more comfortable with doing it personally the next time.

7. Don’t be harsh

Unfortunately, most introverts are their worst critics. Add some harsh criticism from a peer or manager, and that’s a recipe for a ruined day or week. One of the best qualities introverted people possess is active listening. Being too straightforward with them isn’t necessary and pretty much unproductive. If you’re looking to provide them with suggestions regarding their work or performance, do so in a one-on-one meeting and make sure to deliver the information thoughtfully. Approaching this task with patience is key.

More importantly, introverts tend to extensively analyze their interactions. Discussing pressing issues in a calm and honest manner will only provide them with more opportunities to find the solution to the problem at hand.

It’s important to take this into account when training and retraining introverts. They can sometimes need more time to process large amounts of information due to their analytical mindset. They often need some extra time to understand all the details, peculiarities, and responsibility spectrum of their role.

And, last but not least, be prepared to answer lots of questions.

Reward them the right way

8. Reward them the right way

Introverts often dismiss public praise for the work they do. They appreciate it, but these things can draw more attention to their person than they’d like it to.

However, that doesn’t mean that we should just let their achievements go under the radar. As a manager, it’s important to understand how introverts prefer to be rewarded for the work they do. After all, all people need to hear good things about their efforts in order to stay motivated and accountable; and introverts are no exception. They need appreciation, just not the attention.

Ensuring that everyone on your team has their temperaments and differences taken into account will invariably help the entire crew grow into their roles, be happier and more productive.

It’s also important to underline that these principles aren’t meant for management only. Everyone on the team should take the time to understand their peers and how they can optimize their communication with them to ensure that everyone is satisfied and comfortable.

The bottom line

Managing a team of people with different temperaments can be challenging. However, with the right amount of insight and mindfulness, leaders can significantly improve the communication within their team, as well as increase their individual productivity and satisfaction at work.

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A Quick Guide to Identifying and Curing Workaholism

How to cure workaholism

The term “workaholic” is frequently misused nowadays. Simply clocking in a 50-hour workweek doesn’t qualify you as one. In fact, the problem is much more nuanced.

Often people need to work for one reason or another—debt, goals, dreams, and aspirations. Workaholism is less of a choice and more of compulsion, stemming from a wide array of psychological and neurochemical factors.

In this blog post, we’ll explore what it means to be a workaholic, what you should do about it, and how you can help your peers that suffer from it.

Let’s dive right in.

The signs of workaholism

The signs of workaholism

As we mentioned previously, working hard isn’t precisely what workaholism is. Instead, it’s a more pathological and unhealthy relationship with work. People who suffer from it often appear uneasy, impatient, and fidgety while living their life outside work. They typically find it hard to organize their life or even think about doing so. Another common problem they face is an unhealthy disregard for their quality of life and their relationships with friends and family.

That said, workaholics are not by default good at what they do. Because they tend to work long hours, very rarely choose to delegate work, and expend high amounts of effort, they aren’t necessarily as productive as one may assume. This professional perfectionism often makes them fairly inefficient.

While this phenomenon isn’t exactly well-defined in modern psychology, there are a few parameters that are universally agreed upon—the signs and symptoms of a workaholic.

Below, you’ll find six questions that will help you understand whether you have an inclination towards workaholism:

  1. Do you consider work to be the most important thing in your life?
  2. Does your mood improve at first once you start working?
  3. Do you feel like you work longer hours or achieve more to be satisfied?
  4. Do you feel uneasy or fidgety when you’re not working?
  5. Do you debate with yourself or people close to you about whether you are working too much?
  6. Have you ever tried working less but failed to do so?

Psychologists still debate over whether workaholism is an actual addiction. What is for sure is that it’s an unhealthy and compulsive behavior. If you happen to answer “Yes” to most of the questions above, it’s fair to assume that you may be suffering from a form of workaholism.

Work engagement vs. work obsession

Work engagement vs. work obsession

Being really passionate about work isn’t necessarily a sign of workaholism. It’s important to differentiate between people that are engaged with their work and those that are addicted to it—the two are very different behaviors.

Interestingly, in order to differentiate between the two, we have to direct our attention to the things that surround work. Both work engaged and addicted people can be equally productive. The difference is how their work impacts their quality of life. Simply put, workaholics suffer from a compulsory need to work. They aren’t necessarily driven by a healthy passion for what they do.

The modern-day conversation about workaholism is in an uncanny spot. On the one hand, this condition has been significantly watered down over the last few decades, in part due to the misuse of the term “workaholic” along with a wide array of other factors. As a result, this kind of blurred the line between healthy work engagement and an obsessive and destructive desire to work. On the other hand, research dating back to 1996 suggests that approximately one in four people show signs of workaholism. Both of these perspectives make talking about workaholism pretty complicated.

But there’s more: unfortunately, there’s no unified definition of what workaholism is from an academic standpoint. You may be thinking, “Okay, so how do I identify workaholism in myself or the people around me?”. The answer always goes back to observing their quality of life, the quality of their relationships with the people around them, and how their work deteriorates the two.

There are quite a few psychological tests one can take to identify a potential work addiction. Unfortunately, workaholics are often inclined to brush off the idea of taking one for a variety of reasons. However, if you feel like you might be suffering from this condition or you’re able to convince a potential workaholic to take one, you’ll find a variety of such tests in one of the sections below.

Symptoms of workaholism

Common symptoms of workaholism

There are a few common things that could help you identify work addiction in yourself and the people around you. Typically, these symptoms are the result of the inability to stop working—burnout, anxiety, depression, and a whole host of mental health issues.

There are different groups that are especially prone to this addiction, but the ones that stand out are people suffering from perfectionism and impostor syndrome. These issues often cause them to work very long hours until the point where their jobs are the center of their attention, and also the thing that causes them to lose sleep, both of which can result in a wide array of harmful consequences like irritability, guilt, and a sense of dread.

Tests and quizzes to identify work addiction

Tests and quizzes to identify work addiction

Please bear in mind that taking these tests on your own should not be treated as a definitive assessment. Ideally, they should be analyzed by and taken with a trained specialist. More importantly, some of these tests feature measures that lack a solid theoretical foundation and are still debated among professionals. Treat these as a personal assessment of your wellbeing and under no circumstances use them to confirm or disconfirm work addiction.

The work addiction risk test (WART)

The WART test is created around the typical symptoms that workaholics experience. This is a very straightforward, 25-item test that is based on the Likert scale (ranges from 1 to 4, where 1 is never true and 4 is always true).

The WART test revolves around the following factors:

  • Compulsive tendencies
  • Control
  • Self-absorption
  • Inability to delegate
  • Self-worth

The Bergen work addiction scale (BWAS)

The Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS) is a more recent addition and measures workaholism as an addiction. Grounded in general addiction theory, the BWAS includes seven items worded in line with diagnostic addiction criteria, scored on a 5-point Likert scale based on how often symptoms have occurred in the last year.

  1. Salience (“Thought of how you could free more time to work”)
  2. Mood modification (“Worked in order to reduce feelings of guilt, anxiety, helplessness, and/or depression”)
  3. Conflict (“Down-prioritized hobbies, leisure, activities, and/or exercise because of your job”)
  4. Withdrawal (“Became stressed if you have been prohibited from working”)
  5. Tolerance (“Spent much more time working than initially intended”)
  6. Relapse (“Experienced that others have told you to cut down on work without listening to them”)
  7. Problems (“Worked so much that it has negatively influenced your health”)

Scoring “often” or “always” on four out of seven components indicates workaholism.

Preventing workaholism

Preventing workaholism

There are multiple levels of work addiction prevention. In academia, they’re called primary, secondary, and tertiary.

Primary prevention focuses on reducing the risk of workaholism among people that aren’t suffering from this condition. Secondary prevention focuses specifically on people that are at risk of developing this addiction, while tertiary prevention revolves around minimizing its effects where possible. Let’s take a look at the first two.

Primary prevention

Primary prevention is necessary for work environments that glorify and even reward burnouts and a poor work-to-life balance. Often when organizations acknowledge behaviors that are conducive to workaholism, people are at risk of falling into this unhealthy rabbit hole.

The people that accept to be overworked are often rewarded with raises, praise, promotions, and positive attention, which contributes to the development of problematic patterns. For instance, employees that are susceptible to workaholism may at a certain point correlate the amount of work they do with their self-worth.

Of course, ideally, we should all be able to identify the development of these harmful patterns, but, unfortunately, not everyone will be able to. The primary responsibility for preventing work addiction falls on the shoulders of employers.

Instead of glorifying so-called “hard work” and achieving business goals, whatever the cost, organizations should be the ones reminding their employees about the importance of a good work-to-life balance by dissuading their workers from working beyond their regular hours or weekdays. Some research suggests that having the direct support of your leaders and managers in maintaining a reasonable work-to-life balance is helpful in preventing burnouts and correlated to higher engagement at work.

Fundamentally, to have a healthier, happier, and more productive workforce, companies should abstain from working them into the ground.

Secondary prevention

As we mentioned previously, secondary prevention aims to help people that are at risk of developing work addiction. Academic literature suggests that there’s a set of positive and often admirable personality traits that can contribute to people developing an unhealthy relationship with their work—conscientiousness, orderliness, need for achievement, etc. The unfortunate part is that many of these traits are desirable when it comes to being successful in your workplace—these are things people look for in new hires, especially for people in managerial positions.

The responsibility to prevent employees from developing this addiction also falls on organizations. A very effective way of assisting people in combating an unhealthy relationship with work is running training programs.

Workaholics tend to take on more work than they can normally handle and constantly accept tasks before they’ve completed the ones that are still in progress. To counteract addictive behaviors, organizations should look into running training programs that would help their employees manage their time and stress better. This would allow them to have realistic expectations from themselves and efficiently prioritize work.

It’s also essential that employees receive training in personal effectiveness and assertiveness that would encourage them to refuse to take on more work than they can realistically handle.

People at risk of developing work addiction should also be encouraged to decompress after a hard day at work and recover after it. Failing to do so will only continuously drain their resources, which will, as a result, lead to burnout, anxiety, depression, and other harmful symptoms of workaholism.

How to overcome work addiction

How to overcome work addiction

Earlier, we mentioned that there’s no single universally agreed-upon definition of workaholism. There is also no single surefire treatment for it. Fortunately, there are quite a few options to choose from—all with varying degrees of efficiency.

1. Workaholics anonymous

Workaholics Anonymous (also known as WA) was founded back in 1983, and its practices are based on the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) framework. This organization treats workaholism as a disease. Like, AA, WA developed their own 12-step program and hosts group support meetings throughout the United States.

When entering the WA 12-step program, a person takes on a series of commitments, like sleeping at least eight hours every night and not working for more than 45 hours a week. These programs also offer support in case of relapse.

2. Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT)

REBT is a type of therapy that aims to tackle irrational beliefs and substitute unhealthy and compulsive terminology (e.g., I must, I have to) and leverages role-play and pleasant imagery to mitigate unpleasant and triggering situations and emotions. As a result, it allows people to become more aware of how they feel and improve their ability to get through stressful situations more effectively.

Workaholics typically have a series of irrational beliefs regarding their performance demands, their coworkers’ approval, failure in the workplace, and control—issues that REBT allows to address consistently.

3. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

CBT is a well-established and very effective type of therapy that addresses a person’s behavioral addictions and has been proven to help workaholics tackle a variety of unhealthy behaviors like:

  • Distorted and automatic thoughts (“They’ll find out that I’m an idiot when they find those mistakes.”)
  • Compulsory semantics and rigid terminology that revolves around “having” to do something at work (“I have to do the work myself otherwise it won’t get done right.”)
  • Distorted beliefs about a person’s self-worth and fear of failure (“I can only prove my worth by working hard.”)

4. Motivational interviewing

Motivational interviewing is a type of therapy that revolves around the assumption that people typically go through a series of changes: pre-contemplation (being unaware of the problem), contemplation (becoming aware of the problem), preparation (outlining a plan for addressing the problem), action (addressing the problem), maintenance (changing behavior to resolve the problem), relapse (reoccurrence of the problem).

This method of counseling helps people create a detailed outline of their goals, as well as a plan of action that will prescribe how they will be changing their behavior.

This type of therapy is especially relevant for work addicts that are mindful of the problem they’re experiencing and are seeking help.

Family therapy

5. Family therapy

Family therapy is a very effective way of addressing workaholism by helping them understand the harmful effects their addiction has on their family members and their social circle. Similarly, this practice helps surface the sources or triggers that stimulate unhealthy work habits and encourage the creation of a support network to enable work addicts to develop new behaviors and a less harmful outlook on work.

6. Meditation awareness training

Meditation awareness training (MAT) is a technique that allows workaholics to adopt a more mindful approach towards their work and establish a reasonable distance between themselves and their work-related urges. It’s extremely efficient at developing self-compassion, which allows workaholics to efficiently address addictive behaviors.

Aside from helping people regain control of their lives and establish a reasonable work-to-life balance, MAT also allows people to engage with their work more, increase work satisfaction and even productivity.

In conclusion

Workaholism is an often misrepresented issue. Despite not being a very well-understood condition, it does affect a huge amount of modern-day workers. More importantly, the problem will probably get worse unless companies take the necessary steps to ensure that their employees don’t work in environments that will lead them towards this addiction.

If you feel like you’re developing symptoms specific to workaholism, it’s always a good idea to talk to a professional and enroll in therapy.

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The Value of Communication in Team Decision-Making

Communication and team decision making

To most of us, understanding the inner workings of decision-making may appear like a complicated task. How do you even do that with a process that’s so hard to measure or express in hard numbers? How do we know that we’ve made the right decision at the right time? Well, we can’t, just because there are so many things that can affect the outcome of a problem—organizational structure, past experiences, cognitive biases, and so forth.

However, that is not to say that there aren’t ways to confidently improve the quality of a team’s decisions. On the contrary, according to research, the path to better decision-making lies through effective communication. And this is precisely what this blog post is all about.

Let’s dive right in, shall we?

What is decision-making

What is decision-making?

The process of decision-making has been extensively studied by a wide array of disciplines, ranging from mathematics and sociology to psychology, economics, and beyond. Philosophers try to understand what our decisions say about us. Historians scrutinize how leaders choose to act in moments of pressure. Organizational behavior attempts to understand what people within a company can do to achieve better outcomes.

As employees, we make dozens and even hundreds of conscious and unconscious decisions on a daily basis that have a massive effect on a company’s success and overall performance.

There’s also great diversity in terms of the types of decisions we make. On the one hand, we can categorize decisions based on the effects they have in an organization—they can be strategic, tactical, and operational. The first are the ones that set the course of a company. The second has to do with how things will be done. The third are the ones that employees make to keep the organization running.

On the other hand, we can think of types of choices based on the way they are made. Some people like to follow their gut, which pretty much relies on intuition to guide them through a complicated situation. In contrast, others choose a more analytical, thoughtful style of business communication and decision-making.

And it’s fair to say that both have their merits and shortcomings. When people follow a more intuitive path, they often fall prey to cognitive biases, logical fallacies, and so forth. However, an analytical and calculated style may not at all times be applicable, especially when people find themselves in situations with no precedent—this is where leaders should follow their gut and make choices that “appear” right.

The point of this post, however, isn’t to defend or attack any particular type of decision-making. Instead, we’re interested in bringing the people that surround a leader to the front and underlining the value of effective team communication while deciding upon important outcomes as a collective.

And to make a stronger point, we’ve got some research to back it up.

What does research have to say

What does research have to say?

Dan Lovallo and Olivier Sibony are behavioral economists who have conducted a five-year study that documented and analyzed 1,048 business decisions and how they affected the organization’s revenue, profit, and market share. The main idea behind the study was to understand how people approach making complicated business-related decisions and surface the kinds of biases managers are most susceptible to.

More importantly, this study didn’t take into account minute issues like the line of stationery a company should buy—these choices revolved around critical problems such as whether a company should expand into a new country, make changes to the organizational structure, or release and develop a new product or service. The study also thoroughly analyzed the outcomes of this decision and how they impacted ROI, profit, and a variety of other essential parameters.

The researchers also tried to understand how managers made important decisions and what the process was like.

A few questions they asked the participants of the study were:

  • Did managers consider more than one viewpoint?
  • Were managers open about the things they were uncertain about or the things they did not know?
  • Did they request the participation of people that had opposing viewpoints on the course of action or outcomes?
  • Were they open-minded about seeing evidence that contradicted their standpoints?

The findings

The study found that while a more analytical and data-oriented approach is always useful, having a well-optimized decision-making process typically yields far better business choices. Basically, high-quality data and experienced leaders are an awesome combo. Still, it’s not enough if the decision-maker didn’t challenge their biases and hear a broader spectrum of opinions that differed from that of their own.

Bias seems to be a severe problem that harms the quality of a business’s decisions. The main reason is that having access to a diverse set of opinions will allow a team to surface low-quality analysis. The reverse, however, is not true. The highest-quality analysis is pretty much useless if differing opinions aren’t given a chance. Fundamentally, as a manager, if you refuse opinions that are different from your own, you’re creating an echo chamber that will most likely harm your organization in the long run.

And most likely, there’s no way to overcome the tendency to jump to narrow or reactive conclusions without consulting a broader group of specialists. This is typically the best way to overcome the so-called “recency bias” that often lures managers and decision-makers into putting a stronger emphasis on recent events and losing sight of the big picture.

It’s safe to say that mere openness to hearing differing opinions isn’t enough. Managers should seek to have their opinions or decisions challenged by asking a variety of questions that will aim to disconfirm their standpoint like:

  • What could go wrong if we do this?
  • What is the biggest potential obstacle you can see in the solution we have proposed?
  • If you follow my proposed approach, what might happen that we haven’t thought about?
  • What haven’t we considered? What are we missing by taking this approach?
  • If we follow this plan, what problems might arise?

Improving your team’s decision making

Improving your team’s decision making

We recognize that saying “just hear differing opinions” might be a slightly simplistic strategy when it comes to making critical decisions that have a massive impact on an organization and its bottom line. Here’s a more detailed breakdown of how managers can counteract echo chambers and open up to better choices.

Focus on the problem first

Superior communication and team decision-making starts with proper framing of the issue at hand. Often, the way a problem is presented to a team happens to be presented in a way that boxes people into a small number of solutions.

Research suggests that nearly three-quarters of the time, management teams only explore one alternative before making a decision while having more than one would dramatically improve the outcomes.

Normalize disagreement

As social animals, we’re inclined towards agreeing with what our peers or superiors say. This bias is often very harmful to the quality of the decisions made in an organization. It’s essential to normalize critical thinking and active participation in conversations for professionals of all seniority levels.

Back in 2011, Larry Page returned to his CEO position at Google, and one of the things that he intended to change as soon as possible is the so-called “consensus culture” and, as a result, boosting the efficiency of decision making. An important part of this strategy was to ensure that every meeting has to have both a decision to be made and a designated decision-maker; otherwise, the meeting shouldn’t happen at all.

The reasoning behind this is rooted in the idea that overarching agreement typically makes things rather slow. While taking more time to make a decision does provide you with a more analytical and in-depth view of the problem, it also opens you up to missing opportunities, especially in fast-paced environments.

Therefore, the best way to approach complicated business decisions is opening up to a broad spectrum of opinions, assessing the benefits and downsides of each, and doing so reasonably quickly.

Tools for group decision-making

Tools for group decision-making

Using a framework or model for decision-making can help your team reach an informed, actionable decision while avoiding some common obstacles.

The ladder of inference

As we mentioned previously, removing bias from decision-making is absolutely essential, and it’s much easier to do this when you have a framework available. A great tool that will help you achieve better group reasoning is the ladder of inference. This method allows you to structure problem-solving in a sequence of steps that range from receiving data to drawing conclusions. Here’s a brief breakdown of the process:

  • All the participants of the meeting should analyze the problem through the data that is available to them, both qualitative and quantitative.
  • Each person should identify data points that they find important or that simply grab their attention and, for the time being, ignore everything else.
  • All the participants should aim to interpret the data that caught their attention.
  • As a result, you’re able to draw conclusions that step from these interpretations.

This is an excellent framework that will both reduce the amount of bias the decision-maker is exposed to, as well as help them gain access to a broader range of opinions.

The nominal group technique

An excellent tool for including all the team members in the process of decision-making is the nominal group technique. It’s a brainstorming method that enables all the people in a collective to participate in problem-solving and express their opinion on the importance or validity of particular solutions.

Basically, all the participants of the meeting should come up with a solution to a problem that needs to be addressed. All the decisions are then voiced, discussed, and voted on. It’s important to mention that you can always tailor and adjust this technique to suit your needs.

The RAPID model

The RAPID model enables teams to distribute ownership over different facets of the decision-making process. There are five roles assigned to different employees:

  • Recommend
  • Agree
  • Perform
  • Input
  • Decide

The bottom line

Good decision-making lies at the heart of a business’s success. While managers are responsible for the decision they make as a leader of a team or department, that doesn’t mean that they have to disregard their colleagues’ input. Being afraid of hearing opposing opinions will only hurt the organization’s bottom line in the long run and prevent them from making good choices.

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What Is Free Float in Project Management? Everything You Need to Know

Free Float in Project Management

Float is a useful metric for project managers to effectively look after projects and juggle tasks without causing delays to the overall project. Unfortunately, delays are a part of life and even the most considered plans can experience unexpected issues. A good project manager will be able to manage any delays and keep projects progressing smoothly, this is where understanding “float” comes in handy.

There are two main types of float that project managers need to be aware of: total float and free float. Total float is more commonly referenced than free float by project managers. It is the total amount of time any task can be delayed without impacting the delivery date of the project.

Free float, on the other hand, is the amount of time a task can take before it impacts the next task of the project. In this article, we’re going to look in-depth at what is a free float in project management.

Understand Free Float

Why You Need to Understand Free Float

Sometimes referred to as “slack,” understanding how much allowance you have in the float makes managing delays much easier. It’s good to share this information with your team or outside contractors so they are aware of the time constraints they must adhere to. You will be able to offer soft and hard deadlines which can help to ensure your project stays on schedule.

Knowledge of free and total float can also help with resource allocation and scheduling. There will be room to redistribute resources as needed within the limits of the float. By approaching projects with more flexibility you can avoid putting your staff under the pressure of crunch.

Work Out the Free Float in Project Management

How Do You Work Out the Free Float in Project Management?

Now that you understand free float meaning in project management, how do you work it out for your tasks? Firstly, you’ll need to work out what the critical path for your project is. These are the tasks that have to happen, in order, to deliver the project to the stakeholders on time.

Alongside the critical path, you should identify the non-critical tasks that belong to the project. Depending on the complexity of your project there may be more than one critical path and overlap between tasks.

To calculate the free float for your non-critical tasks, there’s a simple equation you need to do. All you need to do is workout out the earliest finish date and subtract it from the earliest start date. This is your free float, the amount of time you have to play with before a project will be delayed.

Earliest finish – earliest start = free float.

How to Implement Free Float In Project Management

How to Implement Free Float In Project Management

Understanding your free float availability is beneficial to project managers no matter what project management framework you are following. Whether it’s PMP or Agile, free float helps to inform your project parameters and is something that should be shared with your team.

If you’re running Agile sprints for your project, you’ll be splitting projects into 2-week sections with hard deadlines. However, free float will let your team members know how long they can delay a certain task before it impacts the work their colleagues are doing. This can help to manage stress and allow people the time to ensure their work is perfect.

Unfortunately, there will not be any free float allotted to the critical path tasks, which means contractors and employees will need to prioritize the work on these. It’s the non-critical tasks that offer the flexibility of free float. As long as the critical tasks are being worked on according to the schedule, there is less stress for the non-critical tasks that need to be completed before the project deadline.

If you use things like Kanban boards, Waterfall, or Gantt charts you’ll be able to easily monitor the progress of your projects. Project managers can refer to these to be able to know exactly what state the project is in. For example, if a team member comes to you and reveals they need more time on a certain task, you’ll look at the Gantt charts and know exactly how much slack they have before there will be delays.

What’s the Difference Between Total Float and Free Float?

Free float is only really relevant when you’re dealing with the non-critical aspects of the project. By design, these tasks have more flexibility to them and are secondary to the tasks in the critical, although they still need to be completed before the due date.

Total float works the same way as free float but is about the overall project start and finish date. If you need more time to work on something along the critical path, you’ll need to look at the total float as there won’t be any free float.

Critical and near-critical tasks are typically dependent on each other. Team members won’t be able to start on the next task until the first task has been completed. Therefore, there usually isn’t a lot of slack offered with the critical path. However, if more time is needed, project managers will need to look at the total float to work out how to proceed without delaying the project due date.

Conclusion

Free float is the term used for how much slack there is around non-critical tasks. The available float reveals how much time the team has available to complete a task before the project will be delayed.

It’s useful to work this out at the start of the project to allow the team to stay agile and offer some flexibility when it’s needed. Free float is worked out on a task-by-task basis and helps teams to avoid delays to the start date of the next task.