Project implementations rarely go as planned, but the process can be built to maintain positive and focused momentum even in the face of various obstacles when there is a solid system in place.

Something always seems to come up in the process (whether internally within the team or with external clients) that requires the relevant parties to reexamine their current strategy in order to continue to deliver on the organization’s objectives. As important as it is to plan a project thoroughly and apply effective project management techniques from the beginning, it’s equally as valuable to ensure the project’s implementation process is given as much comprehensive review and attention.

According to the Pulse of the Profession 2020, 11.4% of investment is wasted due to poor project implementation. There’s much at stake when it comes to achieving the company’s overall goals, so it’s vital that we understand the basics of project implementation, why it’s important in the workplace, and how we can achieve success in our own processes.

What Is Project Implementation?

Project implementation is the last stage of project management that comes after understanding a company’s vision, ultimate end goal of an assigned project, budget, timelines, and subsequent brainstorming of ideas that will help bring it into reality. Implementation comes directly after the planning phase and is supported by a project manager (PM). The distinction, however, is that this is the stage where the PM allows the team to carry out the objectives of the project but is still readily available for extra guidance, clarity, and problem-solving from beginning to end. The PM takes a step back, tracks the progress of the project, monitors for scope creep, presents deliverables to external clients, and anticipates any disruption to the workflow.

Project implementation requires a heavy amount of coordination between the PM and the various team members to define and set priorities. Once a plan for project implementation has been realized, the team then sets out to accomplish the different milestones of the project. For example, once the PM has created and outlined a particular assignment, they then assess the various resources they’ll need in order to be successful.

• The team is clearly identified – All relevant team members know they’re assigned to the project and understand their role and deadlines.
• A platform used to track milestones – Once the project kicks off, the PM will monitor the progress and ensure that deadlines are met by all members of the group.
• The team starts to accomplish goals – Each team member is responsible for a particular piece of the project’s objectives. Once they have completed their assignment, they can then use the platform to mark their assignment as “complete” or notify the PM and the rest of the team in the appropriate communication channels. Then, the next team member can move forward with their respective part. Using an example with a group of writers and editors, the editor must wait until the writer has a deliverable ready to be edited. Thus, the writer must complete their own task by the assigned deadline, confirm that it’s ready for the editor to review, and finally, the editor can then move forward with their edits and notify the PM when complete. Of course, as various teams in different fields will have unique needs, this process can be customized to best fit particular workflow processes in any given profession.
• Deliverable is ready – Once the team has accomplished each and every milestone of the project, the PM is ready to deliver the finished project to the client. Any feedback given by the client goes directly back to the team to review.
• Adjustments are made – As with all projects, adjustments may be needed to accommodate the demands of the organization’s clients. This is a regular occurrence any project manager will need to be able to anticipate and handle accordingly in collaboration with leadership and with insightful feedback from the team on the capacity to make it happen. Sometimes, changes to the established processes in order to deliver a high-quality outcome may be necessary, but it takes considerable organizational skills to align the team and clarify any distinct needs. This is also an opportunity for the team as a unit to define their boundaries if the requests become unrealistic.

The Importance of Project Implementation

Think of project implementation as a bridge: it carries the team through planning and execution to the final destination. If the goal of an organization is to produce results that leave its customers satisfied, then the structure of its project implementation (and methods used for effective project management in general and collective team knowledge) will ultimately determine its success.

Project implementation is important for a few reasons:

1. Keeps the project moving forward – It can be easy for a project to slow down drastically during different stages (whether that would be in the planning or execution), which can result in difficult setbacks and internal delays. Project implementation relies heavily on the pillars of project management, as these can act as blueprints to building the most effective process that keeps the team moving along. During project implementation, there is no question about who is responsible for what task. The relevant deadlines are accessible to everyone and the goal of the project is clearly defined from the beginning. There are regularly scheduled meetings that help support the team in achieving this goal and act as additional opportunities for further team alignment. The team can ask pointed questions or bring up issues encountered along the way, which can help keep the team on the same page. And if a meeting isn’t needed, the PM, along with leadership, can make the determination to skip or cancel the meeting until it’s needed so that the team can regain some valuable time. These factors keep the momentum steadily focused, which the PM further supports by tracking every aspect of the project including any client feedback.
2. Ensures the team is consistently hitting reasonable deadlines – Reasonable deadlines help the team feel less stressed or pressured, which can give them the room they need to perform successfully. One of the most essential aspects of a PM’s job is to make sure deadlines are achievable and realistic. Accelerated timelines need to be directly addressed with the team so that details such as capacity, workload, and availability can be taken into account before the PM finalizes the overall plan for the project. Once these criteria are met, the PM then monitors the progress of the project, checking in occasionally with any of the relevant team members on upcoming deadlines, and adjusting if any unexpected delays come up which require adjustments to the timeline. Different platforms can help keep track of this. PMs can see what’s on track, what’s in danger of falling behind, and what deadlines are being missed.
3. Help keep the project within the organization’s budget – With established deadlines and timelines, the project remains within a designated budget. Any unnecessary or unexpected delays can cause the organization to go over its budget for that specific project. To ensure successful project implementation, it’s essential to have control of the budgeting strategy and have this piece of project management under control. This is especially true now with the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the workforce. Most organizations have had to restructure and build contingencies into many of their processes to account for various changing factors such as the cost of labor or resources and how it impacts their budgets. A good PM prepares for any changes including anticipating increasing costs.
4. Unites the team through a collaborated effort – To achieve project success, the team needs to work together in a concerted effort to meet the goals of their assigned task. Since the group will need to rely on each other in order to do their own respective part of the project, this creates a sense of unity as everyone is working towards the same goal. The health of the project relies heavily on the people involved. If they’re working together seamlessly, collaborating and problem-solving together, the more likely the project will find great success.
5. Creates control over the project’s many needs – The planning stage of project management builds a workflow process that the team can easily follow. When the project is being implemented, the team is carrying out the actions needed in order to reach a successful end result. Without a proper outline of the next steps and individual responsibilities, the project will likely be subject to many distractions, delays, and internal confusion (as well as frustration) about the process of getting their work done. Not to mention, the client may not receive the result they were looking for. Every project has different needs. Capturing this during the planning stage and following through in execution will help build a sense of control the team has over the process and intended outcomes. If certain expectations can’t be met, the team can identify, discuss, and propose a solution for matters that need a more delicate hand.
6. Builds trust within the team – When a project is going well, and everyone is delivering on their timelines with minimal cause for review or revision, the team will start to trust each other’s capabilities and skills. This makes it easier for the team to work together seamlessly, motivated by each other to get things done. Trust is an important aspect of a positive workplace environment. The more the team feels inspired by each other, the more likely they will be able to adapt to unique scenarios, deliver high-quality work, and effectively problem-solve together quickly.
7. Fosters transparency in the workplace – Since the project is easily accessible to everyone involved, the team can easily see each stage. They can proactively review the timeline/deadline(s) and see how everything comes together. This limits the number of questions the team may have as they have everything they need in one place. Project implementation allows for transparency in important workflow processes and allows the team to feel more comfortable with the organization, building their trust and feeling more motivated to contribute. A lack of transparency with any workplace procedures causes an increased amount of internal strife, as many of the team will be frustrated without a clear path forward.

To avoid any pitfalls that may arise during project implementation, let’s talk about what you can do to achieve success in your own internal workflow processes.

How to Achieve Project Success

Project implementation sounds complicated, but it doesn’t have to be! There are simple, practical ways to make this process easier for you so everyone on the team feels equally prepared to deliver on their assigned tasks.

Here’s what you can do to achieve project success:

• Have the right people in leadership roles – It’s vital to project implementation that you have the right managers/leaders involved in your project. There will be moments where the team will need specific buy-in from the team’s leads (not always the PM), especially if an issue were to come up during the process. Leaders need to have the right skillset – a balance of both technical and soft skills, to manage their teams and course-correct if needed. Without an effective leader to spearhead the project, the team will feel disjointed, the project could be subject to critical mistakes, and essential decisions may be delayed. The team lead(s) should also foster a sense of camaraderie, compassion, and genuine interest in everyone’s success so that everyone feels supported during the project implementation phase.
• Compile the superstar team – This is all about having the right people in the right seats. You need to choose the individuals carefully, their skillset being a defining factor. Eliminate anyone not needing to be part of the process, just the core team who will facilitate all the actions from beginning to end. A project’s success relies heavily on the people involved. When the right people are in their respective roles, the process goes faster, everyone operates productively, and the result of their efforts can be truly innovative and beneficial to the organization.
• Always seek feedback – The process must be built to accommodate various check-in points and feedback requests. This ensures that established processes still make sense or if specific workflows need to be adjusted to accommodate unique needs. Feedback reveals valuable insights and how many of the team members may be feeling. For example, if the PM notices that a certain project is not meeting important milestones, the team will need an opportunity to reflect on the current process and what is and is not working. The PM and leadership can then make decisions on the next steps in order to get back on track.
• Create an effective schedule for monitoring progress – Having an inclusive schedule that everyone has access to which also encompasses project milestones and check-in meetings is important when it comes to monitoring the progress of a project. This keeps everyone on track and moving along steadily. The key is to remain flexible, not rigid in your scheduling. If certain dates need to be moved, then the timeline you’ve to build should have breathing room for unexpected adjustments.

• Celebrate wins and encourage accountability – When individuals on a team are successful, recognize and celebrate wins (no matter how small). Leaders giving out shout-outs or kudos in meetings or designated communication channels is a good way for the team to feel appreciated for all their contributions and hard work. This keeps everyone motivated to keep going, even when the given circumstances may not be easy. A team’s positive, buzzing energy is another important variable when it comes to achieving project success.
• Schedule regular client check-ins – Client check-in calls, or otherwise known as feedback calls, can help keep the team aligned with the overall objectives of the project, stay up-to-date on expectations, and remedy any miscommunication that comes up during the lifecycle of the project. This is a sincere way of ensuring that the team is hitting the mark and on its way to delivering a successful result for their client. Not all members of the team need to be present on the call. It can even be recorded for others to review at a later time, but it’s nevertheless a resource that the whole team can use when a refresher (or further inspiration) is needed.

To be successful at project management it’s imperative to figure out ways to effectively monitor progress and mitigate risks. That’s why it’s a good idea to identify the major milestones of your project and put together a plan for reaching them.

Milestones can help you keep track of your progress, detect potential problems, and ensure that you’re still on track for a successful outcome. Milestones simply function as checkpoints on your path to a project’s completion.

What are milestones?

Milestones can be anything from completing the design of your product to shipping the final version to customers. Milestones are any significant event that allows progress to be measured and made.

How can milestones help with project management?

Milestones allow for progress and risk mitigation by allowing regular check-ins on the status of your project as well as identifying potential issues early before they become major problems later down the road.

Milestone Importance

Monitoring progress is essential to keeping your project on track. By using milestones as checkpoints, you can ensure that your project is moving along as planned and identify any potential problems before they become bigger issues.

Milestones are also an excellent approach to managing risks by making precise objectives that may help you stay on track even if things don’t go as planned.

And finally, milestones can be used to measure the overall success of your project by evaluating how well you met your objectives and what changes, if any, need to be made for future projects.

Clearing Up Confusion

Before we get into specific examples of milestones, it’s important to clear up some confusion about the nature of milestones. Milestones are not necessarily everyday tasks, deliverables, or goals. They are significant events that happen along the way and allow you to track your progress.

Milestones can have several smaller actions or tasks associated with them to help you achieve the overall goal.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s take a look at how you and your team can create milestones.

5 Super Important Tips

So, how do you go about establishing milestones for your project? There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution to this question because the milestones you establish will be different depending on the project and its intended goals.

However, here are four super important tips for creating effective milestones:

1. Be Specific

Milestones should be specific enough that anyone involved in the project can understand what they mean. It should be clear what needs to happen for the milestone to be considered reached.

For example, if your goal is to start building your online coaching program, your first milestone might be to set up your website. So you might want to create a specific task such as “Create Website Design” that needs to be completed before the milestone is considered reached.

2. Be Actionable

Milestones should also be actionable, meaning that anyone involved in the project knows what they need to do and how they’re expected to contribute at each milestone. This will allow for identifying any potential issues early before they become big problems later on down the line.

Staying with the coaching example above: the specific task was “Create Website Design” but before that milestone can be reached you notice that we need content to go with the design.

So the first milestone would shift to “Create Content” and the second would be “Create Website Design.” Note, both of these milestones are actionable. It’s very clear what needs to be done.

3. Be Measurable

Milestones should also be measurable for you to measure your progress on them and determine if things are going as planned or not. If there is confusion about what exactly needs to be done at each milestone this will allow you to clear that up and avoid confusion down the road.

To continue with our coaching program example, the specific task/milestone of “Hire Writer” might be measurable by looking at how many applications are received for the position and how many interviews are conducted.

4. Be Timely

Milestones should be timely, meaning they are set for a specific period and not open-ended. Since milestones track your progress you need to know when they’re going to happen so that you can monitor them along the way.

Because some of your team members can’t start working until a specific milestone is reached, you’ll need to know how much time they have for this project and when the milestones are going on so that work may begin.

For example, our design team is waiting for the “content” milestone before they can start working on the website. Timeliness will help create the appropriate timeline for the project.

5. Be Flexible

I say this one with caution because you don’t want to be too flexible and let things fall through the cracks. However, some events may occur that were not accounted for when initially establishing your milestones so it’s important to have a plan in place for how these situations will be handled.

For example, if our milestone “Create Website Design” is ready to begin but due to unforeseen circumstances, the content isn’t ready for it yet, what happens? Is the milestone considered reached or not and if so how does that impact your project? Flexibility will help you deal with any unexpected changes that arise.

Summary of tips

Use these tips to create effective milestones for your project.

1. Be Specific
2. Be Actionable
3. Be Measurable
4. Be Timely
5. Be Flexible

Now that we know what to keep in mind when creating milestones, let’s take a look at some specific examples of project milestones.

9 Examples of milestones

Below are nine types of milestones that you may want to consider using in your next project:

• Receive Project Approval
• Identify Project Requirements
• Establish Start & End Dates
• Assign Team members
• Design approval
• Review Project
• Testing
• Final approval (end Date)
• Launch

Receive Project Approval

Teams need to know that their work has been authorized to accomplish anything. Setting up an approval milestone will aid in this and make sure everyone is on the same page.

For approvals to be effective, you’ll need to have a clear way of communicating what’s been approved and identify who has the authority to approve tasks. Also, you’ll want to consider feedback from clients or stakeholders to ensure they’re happy with the work being done.

Identify Project Requirements

One of the most important milestones in any project is project requirements. Requirements are demands that are needed for the project to be completed. These allow you to plan for issues that may come up or anything else that could affect your timeline (or budget).

Major requirements may include the following: budget, design, features, technology, and content.

If demands are not met, the project will either need to be renegotiated or canceled outright. As such, requirements should be carefully tracked and monitored throughout the life of a project.

You simply need to answer the question: what are the major demands of the project and in what order do they need to be completed? Failing to meet demands can cause delays and even jeopardize the success of your project so it’s important to track them closely.

If there’s anything that could delay your project, it should be captured in the Requirements list.

Establish Start & End Dates

The start and end dates of any project are the two most crucial dates. Establishing these milestones will help you measure your progress and keep things on track.

To establish timelines, you’ll need to know what the overall goal of the project is and break it down into smaller tasks that can be completed along the way.

You’ll want to take into account the amount of time each task will take and set a realistic deadline for the project as a whole.

Assign Team members

Once you have a clear picture of what needs to be done, assigning team members is the next step. This helps you divide up tasks and establish accountability among your team for completing them promptly.

Depending on the size of your project it might make sense to assign different people or teams to each task that’s been planned out. You’ll also want to consider assigning people to tasks that they’re good at or enjoy.

This will help keep everyone happy and motivated while working on the project.

Design Approval

Any time you change the design of a website, for example, you need to get approval from the client. This type of milestone can be used in other areas of your project as well.

Typically, you’ll want to establish a design milestone when the project is about 60-70% complete. This will give your team time to make any necessary changes without putting the entire project at risk.

Review Project

Project reviews are milestones that help you assess your progress and determine if things are on track. These milestones can be used multiple times throughout a project to make sure it’s going off without a hitch or issues before they become more prominent.

There should always be milestones set for assessing the overall health of a project, making course corrections as necessary.

Testing

If applicable, testing should be factored into your project milestone plan. When you’re testing, it’s important to have a clear idea of what needs to be tested and in what order.

This will help ensure that your project is working properly before being released for public or client use. Testing can include anything from beta testing a product to user acceptance testing (UAT). UAT is when you test a product or website with real users to make sure it’s ready for launch.

For example, if the website has been shown to not convert a high enough number of sales, you’ll want to find out why before going live.

Are your settings correct? Is there a compatibility issue with the client’s browser? Or perhaps something is just not quite right and needs to be changed or fixed before being released for public use.

At this point, the testing milestone will go into effect and you’ll want to determine what the issue is, how it can be resolved, and when testing will begin again.

Final Approval

The final approval milestone is the one everyone’s working towards. This is the point where the client signs off on the project and it’s considered complete.

This can also be seen as a deliverable milestone, meaning that once it’s reached, you’ve delivered everything that was promised to the client.

Project management tools like Teamly can help you set key tasks and milestones throughout the lifecycle of your project and monitor progress to ensure that things are on track.

Launch

The final milestone in any project is the launch. This is when you finally put your product, service, or website out into the world and see how it performs.

If everything goes well, congratulations! You’ve completed your project. However, if there are problems, don’t worry – it’s not the end of the world. Just take a step back, analyze what went wrong, and make the necessary changes so that you can learn from your mistakes.

How to put it all together

Now it’s time to put it all together and create your project milestone plan.

One way to go about creating your project milestone plan is by using a project management tool like, Teamly. After you do the initial setup, you can then use the tool to create a timeline, assignments for team members and your project.

Teamly will help you create key tasks and milestones throughout the lifecycle of your project and monitor progress to ensure that things are on track. This will help you visualize how everything is going to progress and when each milestone should be reached.

Plus, Teamly’s chat interface is extremely simple to use, making it easy to keep everyone on the same page.

In just a few steps, you can quickly create your project milestone plan and adjust it as necessary.

Step 1 –> Go to www.teamly.com and create a login.

Step 2 –> Create a project.

On the dashboard, screen select “Create a Project.”

It’s at this step you can add an avatar to your project so that it’s easily identified. for you and your team. This will help you quickly identify what project is being worked on at any given time, making it easy to stay organized.

Step 3 –> Place your team members in the correct department.

Now, it’s time to assign teams to their appropriate department. This is important because when you’re assigning tasks and milestones, you’ll want each team working separately on the different areas of your project before putting them all together in one final product or website.

This step will help ensure that nothing gets missed when creating your milestone plan. If necessary, you can always add additional teams as your project progresses.

When your team members log in they will see what teams they are in and can begin chatting about their projects. There are several fantastic features included with our chat, such as bookmarks for quick reference to past conversations, file sharing, and the ability to quickly share screenshots.

Step 4 –> Add tasks and milestones to the workflow screen.

The next step is to add tasks and milestones, also known as “to do” in Teamly. And this is super intuitive to do, just click the “+” symbol on top of the screen. Enter in a task name, description, assignee, and due date. You can also add tags and notes for additional clarity.

Step 5 –> Assign work to appropriate team members.

Now it’s time for you to assign your different milestones to the appropriate teams so that they know what they need to work on when creating their tasks. And be sure to stay on top of your team by using the chat feature.

As a project manager, it’s essential to be able to identify and evaluate the risks associated with your projects. By doing so, you can reduce the likelihood of these risks becoming actual problems.

In this blog article, we’ll go through the process of analyzing project risks. We’ll also offer some advice on how to stay one step ahead of any problems that may crop up. Then we’ll look at the most frequent events that can put a project in jeopardy. Followed by a checklist that will help you assess the severity of any potential risk. Let’s get started.

What is risk management?

A risk is defined as an uncertain event or condition that could result in a future loss to a project’s objectives. If you think about how many risks there are for projects and how many things can go wrong, it becomes clear why evaluating them is so important. Risks should be analyzed throughout their life cycle to ensure they don’t become actual problems to the project.

Risk management is the process of identifying, analyzing, monitoring and controlling risks in a project. So how can you do this for your project?

How to evaluate risks

There are four steps to evaluate risks:

1. Identify the risks
2. Analyze the risks
3. Monitor the risks
4. Control the risks

1. Identifying the Risks:

The first step in risk management is identifying all of the risks in a project. You can think of risk management as a proactive process that is used to identify risks before they happen. You need an accurate list of everything that might go wrong in your project, so be sure to take a proportional amount of time during the planning phase to do this.

Your projects potential risks come in four distinct forms:

• Environmental Risks – These include natural disasters and other events that are out of your control.
• Operational Risks – These are risks that are caused by how the project is being executed, such as equipment failure or human error.
• Strategic Risks – These are risks that could have a large impact on the success of the project, such as changes in market conditions.
• Personnel Risks – These are risks that involve the people working on the project, such as a key team member leaving or getting sick.

2. Analyze the risks:

Once you have identified all of the risks in your project, it is time to analyze how serious they are. Consider how likely each threat is, as well as the impact these risks would have on your project if they came to pass. You’ll want this information when establishing a contingency plan for your project.

Let’s say, for example, the risk of the project deadline being missed is high, but the impact – such as lost sales or negative publicity – would be medium. On the other hand, a risk of an explosion in the lab could have a very high impact, even if it is low in likelihood.

Basically, what you want to do is rank each risk according to how serious it is and then create a risk matrix. This is a document that will track all of the risks in your project, including how serious they are and what you are doing to mitigate them.

Risk Matrix = a risk matrix can be defined as a spreadsheet or grid that shows the probability of a risk occurring and how much it will cost to mitigate.

When creating your own, be sure to start with the most likely risks on top and then categorize how serious they are. You can use different colors to indicate how significant each risk is: green for low impact, yellow for medium impact, and red for high impact. You’ll want to color-code your risk matrix or register so you can easily see what needs attention first.

A risk matrix is a good way to visually track how likely and how serious each potential risk is in your project.

3. Monitor the Risks:

After you’ve identified and assessed the dangers, it’s time to start monitoring them. Risk management is a continuous operation that should be revisited throughout a project.

So, what is the distinction between monitoring risk and analyzing it?

Analyzing is what you do when your preparing for a project. You figure out how likely a risk is to happen and what the impact will be if it does. It’s a lot more about anticipating problems before the project starts.

Monitoring is what you do when the project has already kicked off. You keep track of the risks and make sure they stay at bay.

This is an important step because you don’t want any surprises popping up during the project. You’ll want to have a system in place for tracking any changes in risk probability or impact, so you can take appropriate action.

Risk monitoring includes tracking how often each risk occurs and how much impact it has on the project. You should also update your risk documents as new information arises.

For example, you might generate a simple 5 point scale to calculate how often each risk occurs:

• Risk is not occurring (5)
• Risk happens rarely (once every two months) (4)
• Risk is occasionally happening (once every one to three months) (3)
• Risks occur frequently (more than once a month) (2)
• Risk is always happening (once a week) (1)

This will help you to track the risks and how they are changing over time. This information can be tracked in risk logs or on separate charts. This way, your team will know how best to allocate their resources to mitigate these risks.

You should set a deadline, once a month or more frequently, to review the risk matrix along with other key documents, to stay on top of your dangers. This will allow you to consider how each risk is progressing and how likely it is that this hazard will become an actual issue.

4. Control the Risks:

The final step in risk management is controlling the risks. You need to make sure the impact of each risk is limited and that you are prepared for how to handle it if it does happen. This means creating contingency plans in case a threat occurs, taking proactive measures when possible, and being ready with your response plan just in case an emergency happens.

For example, how can you control the risk of team members leaving your project? You can try to prevent the risk by offering competitive salaries and benefits along with good work-life balance policies.

At the same time, it’s important to be prepared for how you will handle this situation if personnel leave. Identify how much this would affect your team and how long it might take before they are fully replaced. Make sure your team can function without this person and that you have a plan in place for how to fill the position if necessary.

A contingency plan is a great way to control risk. It’s an alternative plan that you create in case your primary strategy fails or if the situation becomes unfavorable.

Contingency plans can help prevent some risks by being prepared for them before they happen, rather than waiting until it is too late. For example, consider what would happen with your project if you lost access to your primary data source.

Your contingency plan for this situation would be to have a backup of the data, so you can continue working on the project. This might mean having an extra copy of the data or accessing it through a different means.

Common events that need risk evaluation

Now that you know how to evaluate a project’s risk, it’s time to look at common events that can impact your project. These common events can include changes to the business environment, new technology developments, or personnel changes.

Each of these events can have a significant impact on your project and it’s important to evaluate how they might affect your risk register. Let’s take a deeper look into each of these events to see how best they can be managed.

Business Environment Shift

Businesses are never static; rather, they are constantly moving and shifting. That’s why it is important to be prepared for how a change in the business environment might affect your project. This could be anything from a new competitor entering the market, to changes in government regulations.

All of this data will have an impact on how you run your team and continuing projects, therefore it’s critical to stay informed at all times.

For example, if your company is acquired by another company, this could mean that the original goals of your project are no longer relevant. You would need to update your risk matrix to reflect this change and ensure that all of the risks are still applicable.

Another key event might be the release of a new product by your company’s competition. If you have a lot of competitors, there’s a good chance that they’re paying close attention to your business. This might suggest that you need to revise the risk matrix to include things like competitors cloning your ideas or feature theft.

Just as key events can impact your project, your project can also have an impact on key events. For example, if you are working on a new software system that is set to launch soon, this could mean that the company’s old system needs to be retired earlier than planned. This would have a significant impact on the company and would need to be evaluated in your risk register.

New Technology

Another common event to be on the lookout for is new technology. Technology is constantly evolving and new tools are being developed all the time. This can have a big impact on your project, as you might need to update your plans to account for these new tools.

For example, if you’re working on a project that involves building a website, there’s a good chance that the design of the website will change over time. This is because newer technologies are always being developed, so you need to be prepared to update your designs periodically.

Similarly, if you’re working on a web-based project, you need to be ready for the possibility that your users might upgrade their browsers and not support older versions. This could lead to design changes as well.

New technology can also affect how we use key events in your risk evaluation process. For example, if there’s an app available online that does something your project is trying to do, you need to take this into account. The app might have already solved the risk that your team was trying to mitigate.

Staffing Changes

The last key event we’ll look at is staffing changes. Staffing changes can be anything from someone leaving the company, to a new hire joining the team. No matter what the change is, it can have a big impact on your project.

For example, if someone leaves the company, they might take their knowledge of the project with them. This could leave your team struggling to continue the project without them.

Or what if you’re working on a project that’s near completion, and a key member of the team leaves, this could create a major delay to the project.

It’s important to stay on top of key events so that you can properly assess and manage risk in your projects. By being aware of these events, you’ll be able to make sure that your risk matrix is always up-to-date and ensure that everyone is working towards achieving the project’s objectives.

Do you find project management to be a master juggling act?

Whether you’re working through team issues, assuaging a client, resisting scope creep or encountering the unexpected, there’s always something coming at you.

With so many balls in the air, you’ve probably more than once wished you had a third arm!

The good news is, whether you’re working to keep costs down, stay on schedule, or deliver premium service, there is a solution to every challenge.

Let’s look at some key challenges in project management, and the steps to take to overcome them.

1. No Clarity Around Project Goals

Sometimes a company is so intent on bidding and winning a big project that they put no focus into carrying it out. Building the team and looking into particulars is treated like an afterthought. The scope isn’t laid out and the team doesn’t even quite understand what it’s working toward.

When a project manager goes into a project blind, a whole lot could go wrong. With no clear goal in mind, the team may well meander down side alleys, causing the project to go way over budget. Or the team may not have all of the necessary skills, resulting in a subpar deliverable and an unhappy client.

How to Handle It

The role of the project manager is to oversee and monitor a project. You’ve been hired to both get into the weeds and see the big picture at the same time.

Generally the leader isn’t interested in all the minutia, and so it falls to you to create a comprehensive plan. Gather as many details as possible in order to understand the what, the how, the when, and the why of the project. Be sure to have clarity around things like the budget, the skills needed, the timeline, and any risks the project may have.

Once you have a clear understanding, the next step in the planning process is to communicate everything to the team and the stakeholders at an all-hands-on-deck meeting. Make sure everyone understands the overall goal and the timeline. Select a software system that allows everyone to keep abreast of what’s going on and stay on the same page throughout the project.

When the team knows what the objective is from day one, it’s easier to manage expectations. Both you and they know what the project is all about.

2. Too Many Communication Tools and Preferences

At the beginning of a project, it’s easy to make expectations clear and have everyone working from the same platform. However, as the project progresses into weeks and even months, people have a tendency to slide into their preferred ways of doing things. You may have a trio who communicates with voice messages, while others exclusively use text or email.

When communication gets siloed, and decisions are made on a variety of platforms, it means that not everyone is “in” on what’s going on. This creates lag, as time is wasted bringing everyone up to speed.

How to Handle It

It’s never easy to draw people out of their habits and tendencies, but a project manager’s role is to consistently monitor the project all the way to its completion. Course correction is part of the game.

Take some time at the beginning of a project to select an effective and easy-to- use communication platform. When you see team members veering away and using other apps, don’t be shy about tapping them on the shoulder to bring them back in line.

Set a strong example by consistently using the central tool yourself, and post all critical information there.

When a team understands how central communication benefits the entire team, it’s easier to get them to cooperate.

3. The Project Keeps Getting Bigger…and Bigger

After a project is well underway, it’s not uncommon for a client to have a chat with a team member and ask for a few extra features to the final deliverable. Or maybe the boss, mid-way through, sends a quick text asking you if the team could take on another small task.

In the interest of being agreeable and going with the flow, it’s really easy to say “sure, no problem” to these small requests.

Pretty much every project experiences some level of scope creep. As the name implies, scope creep isn’t about making one or two big changes, but is more about making lots and lots of small changes to the deliverable. When these small changes add up, they have a huge impact on the project’s overall cost, schedule, and performance.

Too much scope creep spells disaster. It means the team has to get pretty scrappy toward the end of a project. Everyone works overtime, performance is sloppy, and people work on tasks not at all in their skill set. People aren’t duly compensated for their work, and team morale declines.

How to Handle It

In order to keep a project’s cost, schedule and performance on track, a project manager needs to have a system in place for handling scope creep.

First of all, it’s necessary to create clear demarcations about the different types of added tasks. Some changes won’t really affect a project’s cost or timeline at all. In these instances, it’s usually ok for someone to give them a green light.

However, when an added task affects a project’s budget and timeline, there needs to be protocol in place to submit the change for approval. A system that permits one team member to simply verbally agree to a task which would entail hours of additional labor from the entire team isn’t going to cut it.

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

Scope creep is kind of a gray area, so at the onset, be sure everyone on the team understands what sort of tasks constitute scope creep, as well as the process for getting additional tasks approved

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

The solution to handling scope creep, oftentimes, is about good processes and communication.

4. The Team Lacks Necessary Skills

When a project requires specialized skills, oftentimes the team doesn’t have the expertise they need. Or, maybe some people have received training, but don’t have any on-the-job experience.

Significant skill-gaps means that a project cannot be completed, or that the deliverable is below standard.

How to Handle It

A satisfied and happy client is every project’s end-goal, and so paying attention to skill and performance levels is as important as winning the job.

A skill assessment needs to take place at the beginning of the project. When the project manager sits down with the leader to go through everything, it’s necessary to make a detailed account of all the skills required to complete the job.

At this point, you can build a skills matrix, which looks at everyone on the team, and aligns them with all the tasks required. Using this matrix, it’s easy to spot gaps and weak areas, and develop a plan to address them.

Here are a few ways to go about strengthening a project’s skill base:

• Provide training in new skills that are necessary for completing the project.
• In instances where only one team member possesses a critical skill, implement the practice of pairing. This is where two people work alongside each other on the same task. Pairing strengthens the skill base of the team, as it trains multiple people in the same skill. This way, when one person is absent, others can pick up the slack.
• Identify the skills and tasks that require a freelancer or independent contractor, and look into hiring them.

With a little foresight, it’s possible to overcome gaps in your team’s skill set and to build a highly skilled team equipped to complete the project.

5. An Ever-Changing Team

As discussed, a project that requires specialized skills often means hiring independent contractors and freelancers. These part-time employees always have commitments to other jobs and organizations, meaning you never have their full attention.

It’s easy for team enthusiasm to wane when everyone isn’t 100% committed to a project. When a freelancer feels sidelined from team activities, it weakens collaborative tasks, and it could result in subpar deliverables.

How to Handle It

Building a cohesive team is a hard-won achievement for any project manager. Having a freelancing onboarding process and utilizing team building activities are key.

Whenever possible, hire freelancers yourself, and take some time orienting them to the team and the project. Bringing them up to speed on what the company is about ensures their work aligns to its brand, mission and values. In order to clearly communicate job expectations, have face-to-face conversations about what you’re looking for. This helps to clear up all questions and concerns.

Explain the processes and tools that the team uses to communicate. Set them up with messaging and email accounts when necessary.

Even when people are moving in and out of a project, it’s still possible, and very important, to build camaraderie amongst the base. This collaborative spirit really improves performance.

A daily scrum or standup, where the team discusses issues, and progress, keeps everyone abreast of what’s going on. Including icebreakers or casual chats as a part of meetings builds rapport as well.

6. Diverse and Distributed Teams

Most teams are composed of people from all sorts of backgrounds and skill sets, including engineers, marketers, graphic designers, and people from completely different cultures, with varying levels of English fluency.

If all this diversity doesn’t pose enough of a communication challenge, more and more teams have become distributed. Face-to-face conversations take place rarely, if at all.

This diversity and fragmentation can lead to communication breakdown, which poses a real threat to a project. Key decisions aren’t communicated across the team, and snafus run rampant. Sometimes, a client learns about problems from a third party, causing them to lose faith in the project manager and the team.

How to Handle It

Communication is at the heart of a project manager’s role. Processes that create channels of communication allows a project to keep on schedule, and performance levels stay high.

One process for healthy communication is a daily scrum. At these meetings, everyone explains how they are progressing, and identifies anything that is blocking them from getting things done, or slowing things down. A team might adopt the mantra of “no blockers,” meaning it decides to switch to another task while it waits for an obstacle to be removed.

It’s important to conduct the scrum in an open environment, where people are able to share frustrations and get everything out in the open.

Another healthy communication method for a distributed team is an ongoing chat, where people post daily updates and status reports on the project. The project manager keeps these chats active by checking in daily, and regularly responding to messages. This practice also keeps everyone working from the same software platform.

Regular status updates with a client keeps them abreast of everything that’s going on with a project. It’s way better for the client to hear about a snafu from the project manager than a third party. So even if the news is hard to deliver, it’s necessary to keep the channel of communication open.

7. Teams Conflict With the Leader

Sometimes, during the course of a project, the team and the boss are on completely different pages. Maybe the team isn’t at all on board with the marketing plan, or it believes the product isn’t going to benefit the end user.

Performance declines when people are not emotionally invested in the project. And if the deliverable really is subpar, then the client won’t be satisfied, either.

How to Handle It

A project manager acts as a liaison between the team and the leader. It can feel like swaying back and forth on a seesaw at times.

When a project manager notices a real disconnect between the team and the leader, the first step is to determine if the problem merits the leader’s attention. Is this just the sentiments of one or two people, or the entire team? Additionally, are the grievances backed up by data?

It’s not always easy to bring a challenging or unexpected message to a boss, but any good leader wants to understand how the team feels about a project.

When having a difficult conversation, it’s important to keep them one-on-one if possible, and plan your message ahead of time.

Once you’ve said your piece, it’s in the leader’s hands to decide what to do with the information.

8. A Difficult Client

Clients have been known to make excessive demands. Maybe they want to meet with you every day, or impose deadlines that the team simply cannot meet. Sometimes, a client constantly wants to talk about increasing the scope of a project.

A difficult or demanding client is a recipe for overwork and burnout. Meeting all of their requests means that the project is well over cost and schedule.

How to Handle It

In the same way that a client is picky when choosing a team, it’s important for a team to be picky about choosing a client. Your client impacts your mental health, and that of the team.

Finding a good fit is a learning process. You may have to work with a few difficult clients before you’re able to identify what to look for.

It’s important to set boundaries with the client at the onset. Make sure that the work and scope of the project are mapped out, and explain the protocol for introducing new tasks to the scope. Perhaps this means filling out a change order or something like that.

The initial conversations, before a contract has been signed, is the time to look for clues as to whether the client will respect your boundaries.

After a time, it becomes easier to identify red flags. For example, when a client skimps and haggles over the contract, it could be a harbinger of difficulties to come. You want someone who respects the skills and time of the team, and is willing to pay the price.

9. Staying on Schedule

It’s really easy to get held up on a project and to spend two weeks working on something that was supposed to only take one. When delays add up, just like scope creep, they make a huge impact on a project’s overall timeline.

A company pays a toll when it doesn’t meet deadlines. It may well lead to an unhappy client. Plus, it keeps the team from taking on more projects, which translates into less income for the team.

How to Handle It

The project manager’s role is to monitor a project and keep it on schedule. In order to achieve this, it’s helpful to have a system or two in place.

A burndown (or burnup) chart is an effective way to plot the entire scope of work for a project alongside its timeline. It plots total work on the vertical and time on the horizontal. The burndown chart provides the team, client, and the leader an easy visual to understand how the project is proceeding versus its schedule.

Regular check-ins with the team are important for staying on track. At the meeting, be sure to discuss anything that’s impeding progress, and also make sure the team has the tools and skills it needs to do the job.

When the project manager knows about things that slow the team down, he or she can work to remove and fix them.

Staying on schedule is tricky for any project, and consistent monitoring, along with good systems, is key.

10. Facing the Unexpected

Every project throws a pitch or two that you don’t see coming. Maybe you’re in construction, and there’s a huge storm that delays everything for a week. Or else a team member has an unplanned absence that holds everything up.

Whiffing at too many unanticipated curve balls means a project is sure to strike out. Tasks won’t be completed, creating huge delays, and the project won’t meet its deadline.

How to Handle It

Although you never know what a project may bring, it really is possible to plan for the unexpected. One critical step in a project’s planning process is sitting down with the leader at the beginning and brainstorming all the risks.

Depending on your project, risks could include things like weather, equipment failures, and licensing regulations. When there’s too many hang ups in these areas, things won’t move forward.

When you look closely at each risk, it’s possible to develop a plan for course correction.

Additionally, take a close look at the team to ensure that the skill base is strong. Consider providing training in areas that look weak.

As far as the budget is concerned, it’s always smart to set aside as much as 10% for the unexpected. If you don’t use it, then completing the project under budget will be a feather in your cap.

Mitigating risk is all about putting a plan in place beforehand. This way, when you encounter a fastball, you’ll be ready to knock it out of the park.

The pillars of project management success go beyond factors such as appropriate work-process systems, collective team knowledge, and strategic decision-making. These are not the only elements that contribute to effective project management.

Project management can be a nuanced process, often requiring a customized and structured workflow to ensure successful, high-quality outcomes for an organization. Understandably, the role of a Project Manager (PM) and the individuals on a team play a vital role in shepherding this entire process from beginning to end.

The Pillars For Project Management Success

A pillar is defined as a “fundamental precept”, giving way to firm principles and practices. The pillars of any rule or vision statement upheld by an organization always provide a sense of strength, unity, and clear identity. Project management in the workplace is no different. The processes of workflow practices need well-defined pillars to support both the technical and abstract aspects of project management.

Systems and processes are integral to project management, however, in order to achieve success, project management often relies on more intangible factors, more closely resembling soft skills. For example, a new hire with exceptional hard skills in computer programming has the ability to bring a robust amount of information and methodologies to their new team. However, without clear guiding principles about the goals of the assignments, organized and thoughtful processes, room to think creatively, and growing doubts about the team’s capabilities to operate as a cohesive unit, the knowledge potentially stays stagnant. Important milestones fall through the cracks, communication within the team isn’t as fully collaborative, or hiccups in the workflow process are met with less compassion.

The company not only risks losing a valuable employee but also increases the amount of turnover to other organizations that prioritize the need to create and nurture the building blocks of project management.

These pillars can make or break project workflow, no matter the scope or level of talent from the people involved. It’s what holds the project together, not only supporting the team in carrying out the basic objectives of the assignment, but also guiding them in making productive and meaningful contributions.

Here are the five essential pillars that are the foundation of project management.

Project Management Pillar #1: Vision

A company’s vision for the present and the future is an important aspect of project management. Not only does a vision share what the company would like to do to operate better, but it also gives an undeniable visual about where the company wants to be in a few years. In order to create strong team alignment, creating a company vision that inspires and motivates its employees must be done at the leadership level. This is the first pillar of project management because of its focus on workplace transparency. Without a clear path forward, employees won’t understand where the company is going or how their efforts contribute to the overall goal.

Organizations that prioritize workplace transparency tend to have stronger employee engagement, communication, and positive work culture, according to Glassdoor.

So what does this mean for project management?

When employees are aligned with the company’s vision, their morale is significantly improved, and they’re more likely to sustain high levels of performance than those without this crucial element. With this understanding comes inspired ideas to help make the vision happen, which includes innovative project management creation based on a company’s project needs. According to Indeed, vision statements often serve as a guide when employees encounter various challenges.

It’s also essential to understand that a company’s vision isn’t limited to internal staff. This is something that can be shared with external clients, customers, and prospective employees to help with their understanding of the organization’s purpose.

For example, if a company has a clear vision that it shares on its website, this can act as a type of strategic recruitment strategy. Potential candidates will be drawn to the positive and buzzing workplace culture that a vision can so aptly describe. This also helps organizations stand out by setting themselves apart from their competitors by providing a firm sense of commitment to an employee’s wellbeing and supportive work culture. A vision prioritizes the development of an employee but also focuses on the company’s values and core business objectives.

A vision can attract top talent to the organization, whose own personal goals align with the company’s, which is important for long-term retention. As effective project management does require the team to have a high level of skill in order to function properly, having a vision that attracts these types of performers is vital to success.

Project Management Pillar #2: Collaboration

One of the most important aspects of project management is the idea that everyone has the ability to contribute to the process equally and fairly. Collaboration in the workplace is important for a wide variety of reasons:

• Leverages the wide range of talent on the team for maximum impact
• Enables the team to think creatively
• Brings everyone together ensuring high productivity
• Achieves the teams’ goals faster
• Improves overall performance of the company
• Empowers the team to learn from each other, sharpening existing skills and learning valuable new ones
• Fosters a sense of belonging
• Promotes more innovative problem-solving
• Increases sense of purpose
• Gets the team on the same page
• Leads to more strategic and thoughtful decision-making

These are all essential, contributing factors to successful project management, especially when it comes to decision-making, which keeps the project moving and the entire team on track. Leaders and teams must work together to coordinate, execute, and monitor the projects they’re working on. Especially with larger, more complex assignments that need buy-in across several departments, collaboration amongst teams must be one of the stronger skill sets. Throughout the process, the team can work together and be more aware of each other’s unique perspectives, needs, and deadlines.

Collaboration also helps create more inspired ideas when problems arise during the project’s life cycle. The team works together to identify the problem, have a meaningful dialogue, and come up with an agreed-upon solution. Without this level of collaboration, projects cannot be delivered with high-quality outcomes. Projects tend to remain stuck or delayed until a solution can present itself.

Project Management Pillar #3: Flexibility

Flexibility is a vital pillar of project management. As with many projects in the workplace, circumstances can change over time, which could potentially derail timelines and deliverables. Leadership, the PM, and the relevant team members should remain flexible and adapt to the situation when there’s a disruption to the normal process. Here are a few reasons why flexibility is important in project management:

• Anticipate the unexpected – In project management, there is a systemized workflow process that helps guide the team to the intended goal. This happens to make the vast majority of employees more comfortable as there is familiarity in established processes. However, an effective PM plans the project expecting change, anticipating deviations from the standard practice. Depending on the project needs, the team can hold tightly to the process, with short bursts to reprioritize, rework, or come up with other solutions to the problem, or, as the project moves forward, the team can have meaningful conversations as problems manifest.
• Put the team first – Flexibility puts the people first. While the idea is to assess the issue at hand, a PM needs to check in and evaluate the workload of the team. This ensures smooth coordination and continued communication as the PM works to keep the project on track. It’s important to understand that drastic shifts in processes can negatively affect employees, especially if there’s an increasing amount of change all at once. Keeping the team together during challenges is crucial to project management success.
• Foster dedication – Even with regular changes in workflow processes, a dedicated team member will continually “keep up” with any new developments and contribute to innovative problem-solving. The more flexible the team is the more dedication to a project the organization is likely to get even in during challenging times.

Project Management Pillar #4: Accountability

Accountability is another important aspect of project management. An individual is accountable for their contributions and will be the intended receipt of the good (or bad) consequences of their work. They are responsible for their own decisions, actions, and results. This ensures that a PM avoids micromanaging individuals on a team, which can create a variety of interpersonal issues. An effective PM empowers the team to uphold their responsibilities to the project.

Project Management Pillar #5: Trust

Trust works in a few distinct ways in project management:

• The team is able to rely on each other
• Allows team members to focus on their tasks with minimal distractions
• Encourages continued collaboration
• Has a positive effect on an employee’s physical and mental well-being in the workplace
• Supports high productivity
• Creates transparency
• Demonstrates respect
• Focuses on what the team can do to improve, and not linger on mistakes

Trust often comes with time, patience, and experience. The PM and the team usually find their rhythm after a few cycles of working together, but ultimately, it can have reverberating effects on the success of not only the project, but the professional development of the staff as well.