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Project Management: 7 Tips and Best Practices To Put In Place

Project management is practically an art. To be a good project manager, you must know how to juggle the project's overall vision, all the related tasks, the objectives, the staff involved, and the suppliers, not to mention the schedule, the budget and the stakeholders' expectations. It's enough to make your head spin. Fortunately, several tips and best practices can help you achieve outstanding project management.

1. Understanding the Stages of Project Management

Virtually any project can be divided into five stages: design, planning, execution, closure, and evaluation. Each stage has its own challenges, which is why it's so important to anticipate them.

Design: This stage defines the project, its objectives, its relevance to the company, and the resources available regarding budget, personnel, materials, etc. It is also the stage at which the project's objectives are defined. Stakeholders, your superiors, or any entity funding the project must also clearly define their expectations at this stage.

The main risk is that the objectives may not align with actual needs or may be completely unrealistic. This can lead to many changes along the way and even to the failure of the project itself.

Here's a tip: check several times rather than once that the stakeholders understand the objectives and actual needs, even if it means calling in an expert or consultant.

Planning: consists of breaking down the project into phases, sub-projects, tasks or any other relevant division. This is also the stage at which the budget, resource requirements and schedule are more precisely established.

Unsurprisingly, many problems can arise at this point. It's easy to underestimate the time needed to achieve certain things or to have an unrealistic idea of the resources required.

Here's a tip: get your teams involved in the planning and notify superiors of any significant problems before executing.

Execution: with smooth design and excellent planning, execution can proceed without setbacks. Tasks are defined, teams are motivated, resources are adequate, and everything goes like clockwork.

This is rarely the case! At this stage, problems can arise from inadequate design or planning or from unforeseen circumstances beyond one's control.

Here's a tip: add flexibility to your planning with a sound risk management strategy.

Closure: during the closure phase, the project is wrapped up, reports are written, and all related tasks are completed. A common issue is that both the team and you may be exhausted, increasing the risk of oversights that can tarnish the project’s success.

Here’s a tip: Ensure the final steps aren’t neglected, even if it means hiring a subcontractor. Also, the schedule should be planned to allow for proper project closure.

Assessment: this step is often overlooked to move quickly to the next project, but skipping it increases the risk of repeating mistakes.

Here’s a tip: Take the time to conduct a thorough assessment with all stakeholders involved.

2. Define Clear Objectives

At the design stage, it's essential to define clear objectives. Make sure your objectives are SMART—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely.

Also, objectives must be understood and shared by the whole team. If your team is large and includes people from different backgrounds, adapt the objectives in a language that speaks to everyone involved. This will help keep the team together and motivated.

3. Develop Your Communication Skills

Communication is the key to project management. Make sure you understand who needs to know what to move forward.

It's also important to realize that not everyone communicates in the same way. Some people prefer to receive a short, clear e-mail, while others prefer to have a conversation. Some people are straightforward, while others take offence more easily. As a manager, you have to adapt to everyone. It's hard work, but it makes all the difference.

4. Give the Right Tasks to the Right People

First and foremost, you need to know your team well. Beyond technical skills, communication preferences and interpersonal skills will also impact project completion. Recognize each person's strengths and weaknesses, and you can create high-performance teams or sub-teams.

5. Choose the Right Tools

There's a saying that a bad workman blames his tools. The saying isn't entirely untrue, but let's be honest: the right tools will make all the difference. This is very relevant to project management.

What kind of project management tools do you need to organize and track project progress? If you want to use an online platform, like Asana or Monday, take the time to explore it thoroughly and do some online tutorials so you can master it quickly. If necessary, ensure your whole team knows the platform well enough to use it properly, even if it means organizing a training session.

Also, it is generally best to reduce the number of platforms you use with your team. Avoid ending up with three or four different applications for the same project. Think carefully about your needed functions and choose a program that can do it all.

7. Set a Realistic Schedule

At all costs, avoid setting objectives that are impossible to achieve in a short space of time. Stakeholders will be disappointed by the lack of results, and your teams will be exhausted or, worse still, find it hard to take you seriously. Ideally, define deadlines collaboratively with your team. Everyone can give you a clear idea of the time required for each task and sub-task.

8. Be Flexible in the Face of Change

At the start of a project, think about the potential risks that could arise: changes in deliverables, budget increases or decreases, equipment breakdown, illness of a key person, etc. The important thing is to give yourself room to maneuver within the schedule and budget in the event of a problem. Having a defined contingency plan will make you much better prepared if something goes wrong.

When you equip yourself with the right tools and support, project management can be rewarding. As a manager, reaching out for guidance in areas where you seek improvement is a proactive step toward success. We're here to support you every step of the way.