One of the certain aspects of working life is that
unexpectedly you can be assigned a project to do. In fact
if you are building a business of your own you will have
long-term projects that are essential to its profitable
development.
But in order to ensure the smooth and successful running of
your business it’s vital to have efficient systems in place
to deal with these projects. Most of them will have
deadlines for completion at some point in the future. But
it is how you deal with these deadlines that will determine
how efficient you are at managing your business.
The simple thing to do is to schedule the project in your
diary for perhaps a few days before the completion date,
even if it is several weeks away. This is a big mistake!
In order to effectively control your time you should be in
the habit of using lists to plan your working days. Each
day you should have a daily task list of the things that
must be done. Anything new that comes in during the day
should normally be put onto your list for the following
day. Only the genuine things that can’t wait until tomorrow
should be added to the list to do the same day.
So as soon as you are given a project to deal with you must
put an item to start it on your must do list for the next
day. That item will be to simply write a checklist for the
project. You must do this or else you will find that as the
deadline approaches you have to put off other important
tasks in order to get the project completed. Then all of
the good habits you have developed in using lists to manage
your time will be to no avail.
So when the next day arrives one of your must do tasks will
be to write your project checklist. This must contain dates
for completing each part of your project. The plan should
be to finish it well before the deadline so that you can
allocate time if need be for any last minute revisions.
Break the project down into smaller parts and set dates in
your diary for doing each of them. Each one should go into
your diary the day before you are going to do it so that
you can include the task on your daily task list for the
following day. That way you are still going to retain
effective control over how you use your time and keep in
place an efficient management system. You should also be
sure to include dates for regular checks on progress and
make any adjustments as necessary. That way you will remain
in control of the time-frame for the project.
In effectively managing any project there a number of key
elements that must be included. The following gives a
summary of what they are:
• Define the task – It is essential that you write clearly
what has to be done and what the end result must be.
• Make a plan – Decide step by step what needs to be done
and break it down into smaller parts. Then schedule dates
for the completion of the individual tasks that will make
up the whole project.
• Allocate work and resources – Ensure that you know what
has to be done at each stage, what resources you will need
, and whether other people are to be involved in doing some
of the work. If you are to delegate any of the work it is
important that you give the other people involved
sufficient time to complete it. They will need to be able
to manage their part of the project in exactly the same way
that you are, so be sure to give them clear instructions
and with enough advance notice. Also ensure that the
time-scales for their work are in line with the other
project tasks. You want to make sure that you are not
waiting for completed work by someone else at the point
when you need to move onto the next part of your plan.
• Put in place controls to ensure the pace of the work and
its quality. You must set standards which must be adhered
to and so you must have a way of monitoring them.
• Regularly check performance against the plan – It is
essential that part of the process is to have regular
reviews of progress measured against the plan. Where others
are working on specific tasks it is vital to give them
feedback on their contribution.
• Adjust the plan as necessary to ensure completion – By
setting a completion date ahead of the actual deadline you
should always have the time and flexibility to make any
adjustments that become necessary and still get the project
completed on time.
Work in this way and all of your projects will get
completed in an efficient manner and will slot in smoothly
with your existing effective management systems. You will
keep control of all the work that you have to do and so
ensure that your business remains on track to making the
profits you desire.
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Tony Hall has vast experience in business and personal
development. He runs his own business providing advice to
business owners and individuals. To learn more about
building your own successful business visit the website at
http://www.howtobuildasuccessfulbusiness.com
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