Imagine you have been working day and night to complete the project, and mere days before launch, something happens that halts the project's progress. Well, there are a lot of situations like these in project management. It could be a change in deliverables, new stakeholders, machines malfunctioning, etc. And these project blockers can have a huge effect on your project: a delay or full stop to delivery. But the good news about project blockers is that; they can be predictable.
No blockers are too great to be overcome, but tackling them can be tough if you don't have the right plan. To help you out, we have listed the top 10 tips on how you can avoid common project blockers and run your project smoothly.
1) Know the project inside out
To make a project successful, you must lay a strong foundation. And to do that, you must clearly understand the client's and shareholder's requirements and expectations.After understanding that, do thorough research and find out if it is possible to meet their expectations or not. Then develop a solid project plan where the roles and responsibilities of each member are clearly defined.
Define long-term and short-term goals and objectives for better clarity and understanding. Establish measurable and trackable success metrics to track if the project is going in the right way or not.
2) Gather Up Resources Even Before The Commencement of a Project.
Once you have identified the project requirements, it's time to gather key resources that contribute to project success. Make sure everything is at the right place and start defining roles and allocating the right set of tasks to the team while considering their strengths, weaknesses, and expertise. Clear up everything from the finance department and set a clear hierarchy to make the flow of resources smooth. If you need a specific technology, do convey it to your client and shareholders to arrange it at the earliest. Ultimately, you have to gather or organize each and everything that you'll need to complete the project.3) Get a qualified project manager
To make a project successful, it's important to appoint a qualified project manager who is capable enough to turn the tables when in peril and will leave no stone unturned. A good project manager understands the psychology of people and allocates tasks on the basis of his team's personality and strengths, and makes sure the process is both fun and productive.He/she shall keep an eagle eye on everything and delegate the work accordingly. A good project manager understands when to jump in and save the project and gains the trust of clients/shareholders and the team. Also, here are some handy tips on how to crack PMP certification if you still haven't got your PMP certification.
4) Define critical milestones
If you haven't defined clear milestones and success metrics, you are bound to fail no matter how hard you try. The whole success of a project depends on defining milestones and KPIs.This can be done by making a project life cycle. A project lifecycle is a blueprint that includes the main phases of a project i.e
- Initiation
- Planning
- Execution
- Measuring & Controlling
- Closure
5) Communication is the key.
There should be a clear hierarchy and communication channel so that everybody stays on the same page and information can be transferred smoothly without any delays and hindrances.New changes in deliverables, deadlines or anything else should be communicated to the team members to avoid 'surprise attacks.'
As a project manager, it is your responsibility to ensure that the communication lines are always open so that anyone can walk up to you without any second thoughts but with a clearly defined hierarchy.
Lack of communication can turn your project into nightmares. So, make sure there is a proper flow of information, and everyone has the required information to make decisions and proceed with the project. Using project management tools and project status reports is an excellent way to keep everyone on the same page by keeping them updated about new developments in a project.
6) Tap into team members strengths and weaknesses
The success of any project lies in the hands of people working on it. The project is bound to fail if the team is not skilled enough or doesn't complete their tasks (regardless of how capable they are).One person's strength could be another person's weakness. So, it is crucial to understand your people's strengths and weaknesses and allot the work accordingly.
Drilling into the strengths and weaknesses of your team members ensures faster task completion and better time management. With everyone putting their best and making the most of their skills and strength, the project will be a success for sure.
7) Use Project management tools
Technology has changed the way we used to work in project management. It has given many gifts to the project managers in the form of tools and software that makes the work more efficient than ever before.From storing data & documents, giving feedback, having effective communication and seamless collaboration — project management tools helps at each phase to make everything centralized.
Today's there are tonnes of project management tools that you can choose from. Asana is one such project management tool that empowers project managers to deliver outstanding projects with powerful features.
8) Pre-plan for potential risks
Risks are the potential threats that can hinder the whole progress of a project. All these risks need to be identified beforehand so that you can take effective measures in need of the hour.Though it's not 100% possible to tackle all the risks, as a project manager, you should do everything in your capacity to foresee the risks and come up with strategies and solutions to tackle them.
You also need to test the deliverables as it is crucial to determine whether the project is heading in the right direction or not.
Conclusion
To make sure your project runs smoothly and meets the expectation of clients and stakeholders, you should always review the project as a whole and analyze various project components. Also, make sure to follow all the tips that I've mentioned above to make the project as successful as you want it to be.
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