Best Practices in Project Management That Actually Work

As a leader of a project, have you ever been curious as to why so many project supervisors seek the best methods for achieving triumphant project management results?

Don’t fool yourself — “perfection” doesn’t exist in project management. Or does it?

What if we informed you that perfect project management is not an unattainable goal? Although it may be hard to believe, especially given that 70% of businesses have reported at least one project failure within the past year.

It is never simple to achieve the highest level of results when managing a project, and it would be unrealistic to expect yourself to be a superhero. If you were able to execute everything perfectly, you would be a character in Marvel or DC comics.

However, there is one crucial caveat: the potential for development and opportunities for improvement in project management is limitless.

Naturally, you want to achieve the best results possible and to accomplish that, you need to utilize the most effective practices available at present.

This article aims to assist you in taking advantage of the top proven practices that can help you manage projects seamlessly.

Before delving into the nitty-gritty of project management, let us examine why leaders and project supervisors must be concerned about these practices, shall we?

Project Management Statistics and Facts That Will Encourage You to Implement at Least One of the Practices Below

Do you want to hear some staggering truths about project management?

The majority of the 50,000 projects included in the study did not meet at least one of the following criteria: staying within budget, meeting the deadline, or yielding satisfactory outcomes.

17% of IT projects failed so terribly that they endangered the survival of the business.
21% of projects failed due to poor communication.
Only one in four companies employ any type of project management software.
If you make a decision regarding a project within an hour, the success rate is 68%. However, if the average decision time exceeds 5 hours, the success rate may drop to 18%.
12% of resources are wasted due to inadequate project management.

Do you see the point we are trying to make here?

It is crucial to understand the significance of project management for your business, and even more so, the aforementioned facts emphasize why it is essential to focus significantly on the top practices in project management that can boost your leadership endeavors.

7 Killer Practices for Project Management to Rely on in All Cases

Are you ready to arm yourself with seven actionable tips on how to manage projects impeccably? So in!

1. Learn the project from A to Z

If you believe that pre-work is just a preliminary stage, then you are gravely mistaken. These preliminary steps are critical to taking your project to the next level and ensuring long-term success.

Before you can even begin your project, you must answer several essential questions:

What is the significance of the project for your business?
What is the primary objective, and what tasks are involved?
What are the expected outcomes?
What should the final product or service look like when it's ready for market?
How do you budget and control costs?

However, decoding the project management triangle, which includes time, scope, cost, and other critical factors cannot be done alone.

Who and what can help you with this task? The answer is your stakeholders and meetings with them, beginning with a kick-off meeting.

2. Nail a kick-off meeting

Planning a kick-off meeting is crucial for the success of any project. It sets the tone for the entire project and helps establish clear expectations for everyone involved. To ensure that the meeting is productive and efficient, it's important to create a solid agenda beforehand.

The agenda should cover all the important aspects of the project, including the scope and deliverables, responsibilities and roles of each team member, timelines, and milestones. The five W's of strategic planning should also be addressed, which are what, who, when, where, why, and how.

It's important to keep the meeting focused and on track, so it's a good idea to establish ground rules for the discussion beforehand. This includes limiting interruptions, staying on topic, and allowing everyone to have an opportunity to speak.

As a project manager, it's also important to be prepared for any potential challenges or obstacles that may arise during the project. This includes having a plan in place to address any issues that may come up and being flexible enough to adjust the project plan if necessary.

Overall, a well-planned kick-off meeting can help set the foundation for a successful project, establish clear communication and expectations, and build strong team morale.

3. Create a winning plan

How to generate a highly efficient project management plan?

To ensure the success of your project, there are three crucial aspects that you need to focus on:

Once you have clarified all the details with the stakeholders, it's time to create a business case that will serve as a reference point for the entire project. Make sure to include all the necessary details and plan for the before-during-after stages of the project.
It's important to have a risk response strategy in place to eliminate any potential threats that may arise during the project. This is especially important when managing remote teams, as there may be additional challenges to overcome.
Working Out a Plan for Communicating Messages: Effective communication is key to successful project management. Make sure to have a clear plan in place for communicating with clients, subordinates, and decision-makers. This plan should include methods of engagement, frequency of contact, communication tools, and professionalism in all interactions.
Remember to avoid common communication mistakes, and choose the appropriate communication tool for each situation. By focusing on these three aspects, you can ensure that your project runs smoothly and achieves its desired outcome.

4. Structure and organize project resources

Once you have identified and collected all the significant resources for your project, it’s important to plan and optimize the resource lifecycle. This involves not only scheduling and forecasting the use of resources but also ensuring that each resource is easily accessible in real-time to anyone who needs it.

In addition to the common resource breakdown structure components like human resources, materials and equipment, technologies and information, and locations and facilities, it's also crucial to consider financing resources such as those for budget estimation, cost management, and payroll.

Simply having a list of resources is not enough. You need to manage them effectively to ensure the success of your project. By optimizing your resource lifecycle, you can make the most of your resources, reduce waste, and ensure that your project stays on track.

5. Do proper scheduling

Scheduling is a crucial aspect of project management that helps ensure the timely completion of tasks and efficient use of resources. Here are some tips to help you schedule your project effectively:

Choose the right project scheduling software: Select a tool that suits your project needs and offers features like task dependencies, resource allocation, and cost tracking.
Involve your team and clients: Collaboration is key to effective scheduling. Involve all stakeholders in the scheduling process to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that their input is taken into account.
Sequence activities and establish dependencies: Ensure that tasks are scheduled in the right sequence and that dependencies between tasks are identified and taken into account.
Assign resources and costs: Allocate resources to each task and track costs to ensure that your project stays within budget.
Identify potential roadblocks: Anticipate potential roadblocks and factor them into your schedule to minimize delays and disruptions.
Track milestones: Keep track of key project milestones to summarize the project's progress and identify any issues that need to be addressed.

By following these tips, you can ensure that your project stays on track and is completed on time and within budget.

6. Collect feedback and analyze the performance

Collecting feedback from stakeholders is crucial in keeping a project on track. By regularly asking for client feedback, you can gain a better understanding of limitations, set more realistic expectations, save time and money, reduce risks, prioritize tasks, and achieve many other benefits.

Similarly, collecting employee feedback strengthens the relationship between employees and managers, fosters a positive workplace culture, boosts engagement and productivity, and more. Check-ins, suggestion boards, video or phone calls, live chats, feedback sessions, and surveys are all useful tools to include in your employee management system.

To effectively track project progress, gather feedback from clients and team members, and manage workflows and tasks, automation is key. There are many apps and software programs available that can help simplify these processes and streamline project management.

7. Use tools for project managers

It's worth noting that automation can significantly increase productivity and efficiency in project management. Did you know that automation can save you up to five hours per day that is typically spent on repetitive tasks? Despite this, many project managers still struggle with a significant usability gap, with only one in four firms using any form of automation tool for project management.

Overall, automated solutions can help project managers become better organized and utilize more systematic approaches to project management. Robust automation software and tools can tackle busy work and eliminate manual, mundane tasks, making project management more efficient and streamlined.

Final Thought

Are you ready to benefit from the winning practices and become a perfect project manager?

Have you ever implemented a project management strategy so effectively that you could call it ideal? You may have, but it's important to remember that there is always room for improvement.

Projects can be poorly managed, resulting in more losses than gains. That's why the practices outlined in this article are highly beneficial for any project management framework or roadmap. They are crucial elements for organizing a project, which is one of the most important responsibilities of a business project manager.

Easy Answer

Learn the project from A to Z
Nail a kick-off meeting
Create a winning plan
Structure and organize project resources
Do proper scheduling
Collect feedback and analyze the performance
Use tools for project managers

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