5 Tips for Improving Your Project Management Practices

5 Tips for Improving Your Project Management Practices

If you want to improve your project management practices, there are five things you need to focus on right now.

Within a large project, the project manager is the person that keeps all the plates spinning so that work progresses smoothly until completion. If you’re taking on project management roles but finding things aren’t quite going as smoothly as you’d like, there a plenty of ways to fix this problem.

The best place to start is to identify your strengths and weaknesses. Once you’ve done that, our handy tips will help you to improve your weaknesses and keep up the strengths.

Do you ever wonder why some projects work out while others fail? You can learn five project management practices that really work.

Respect

The key to being a good manager in any industry is to earn the trust and respect of your staff. Managing by fear will yield results in the short term, but long term, your team will suffer from low morale, high turnover, and significantly reduced productivity. The opposite will happen by putting in the time to grow respect among your staff. And as a project manager dealing with various groups, it’s doubly vital that you have the respect of all parties so that you’re listened to and approached as necessary.

Industry Specific Tools

Depending on the industry your project is related to, it’s essential to understand what the most up-to-date tools available are. BIM software allows a project manager to collate all necessary information in one easy-to-access place within the construction industry. You can share blueprints in both 2D and 3D format with the architect, foreman, and subcontractors, including all changes. Back-of-house admin information is available, as are materials and labor costs, allowing you as PM to keep track of expenses and the budget.

Time Management

If you struggle with time management, break your project down into small manageable chunks and deal with them one at a time. Begin with creating a timeline for the project, including start and end dates, then fill in significant tasks and their deadlines. These deadlines are your chunks, and with deadlines set out, you can see the order in which to work through them. For additional help, revisit your industry-specific tools, as software packages like BIM are designed to support project management.

Delegation

As a PM, it’s not your place to take over doing the various aspects of a project; as such, it’s important to delegate tasks as necessary. Pay attention to your team and get to know their strengths and weaknesses. That way, when an issue crops up, you’ll best understand who has the ability and capacity to step in and sort it out. In this way, if you’re unavailable, work won’t grind to a halt, and you’ll not have some people overworked and others standing idle.

Communication

Effective communication is vital to good project management, as, without it, issues will happen regularly and not be resolved. Employ robust communication software if you have team members who don’t work in the same office, or if it’s a multi-agency project. When collaborating with other agencies, open communications early and ensure everyone understands what’s required.  

You’ll quickly become a better project manager by getting to know your weaknesses and improving them, be it time management issues or being behind on technological advancements.