Newsletter 11 - Using the skills of project management in your everyday work

• deadlines

• communication across work groups

• limited resources

• multiple priorities.

If so, you need basic project management skills. These methods and ways of working are useful for any fixed term assignment that you and your team have to undertake. They are just as important if you are arranging a wedding, writing a novel or planning a career change.

Think about developing your skills in:

• communication (sending and receiving essential information)

• organising workflow

• managing conflict and conflicting priorities

• building and supporting an effective team

• managing your own energy and time.

You need to choose when to focus on the 'customers' of the project at one end, and on the 'suppliers' at the other, who sometimes get neglected. ('Suppliers' are the people who are giving you the resources and information that you need.)

Accountabilities: who has to deliver what, to whom, by when?
A typical project or piece of work, even a small one, can degenerate into a mess of mismatched accountabilities, leading to those moments of  "Why didn't you....?" , "Didn't you realise...?", or "I thought we had agreed that....".

Spend time clarifying what you are responsible for, what you can expect from others, and who has the power to make things happen or ask for resources.

With your own team, this clarifying is also important. Make sure each person knows what they are responsible for, and what targets and deadlines they need to meet within the project, and how one person's work affects another's.

And make sure you have regular project group meetings to check you're still on track.