OCD – Project Management

As a new consultant or employee joining an ongoing project at your organization can be a difficult transition. Attempting to learn the intricacies of a process while adjusting to the company culture and resources with unclear or changing requirements can lead to confusion and frustration. Capturing microprocesses or tasks and communicating these requirements to your team are crucial in keeping your project within scope and on schedule.

Before you can begin documenting and communicating you will need to establish an effective method for organizing and storing your project deliverables. To determine what works best for your team, research best practices or methods that have worked for your organization in the past. Don’t be afraid to try new or innovative technologies. Seek out tools that will automate your workflow but are also in line with your team’s skill level and knowledge base. Developing new project management processes is a great time to consider implementing new technologies to optimize your team’s performance.

While organizing your tasks are important, communicating these requirements are also essential to managing the completion of your project. Keeping your team informed of changes to the project scope or team processes will help to avoid stressful situations. By outlining requirements and communicating expectations, your team can adapt to changes that may arise with ease.

Documenting processes helps your team manage task accountability and track completion throughout the project. Your project will benefit from capturing these tasks in relation to your team roles and objectives, whether your project scope is large or small. Documenting these tasks helps to increase productivity and efficiency within your team, as well as, forecast any unforeseen issues or deliverables that may have fallen through the cracks.

In closing, organizing, communicating, and documenting are crucial to successful project management. If you’re a new employee struggling to keep up with your project’s pace work with your manager or team to understand the processes in your project and set achievable objectives. Outlining your responsibilities according to your project’s timeframe and team processes will help you to better manage the pace of your project.