Project managers are often simultaneously responsible for multiple projects. When this happens it is much more difficult to pay your undivided attention to each project while not favoring some equally important activities over others.
So how can you keep track of the progress of all the projects you manage? According to the Project Times website, it is not complicated science and you do not need to use any complicated analytical tools. Just keep to the following rules.
1. Communicate with your team every day
Weekly meetings are not enough. Your team needs motivation every day. Therefore, you should ask daily how the work on the project is doing and offer assistance. You do not have to communicate face to face, use email or social networks.
2. Communicate with your client at least three times a week
If your project is small, it should be enough to have just one meeting or phone call with your client a week. For larger projects which involve more challenges and changes, you should be in contact three or four times a week to inform your client about everything important.
3. Check your budget every week
Every manager knows how important the project budget is. Nevertheless, consistent control over outgoing financial resources can still be underestimated. Expenditures must be monitored every week so they not get out of control.
4. Distribute an agenda before every meeting
If you keep on calling meetings without first informing the participants what it is be about, commit to stop this practice immediately. When everyone is able to prepare in advance you can go straight to the point, and you will save both time and money.
5. Require accountability
When you set a specific time frame for your team members to finish a specific task, do not tolerate any delay. Require strict fulfillment of individual obligations as evidence of respect for your common work.
6. Share experience in the middle of the project
Meetings where project participants discuss what they have learned are usually held after a project is finished. However, by then all of them have completely different things to think about. Therefore, try to meet the middle of your project and use your experience to facilitate completion of the project.
7. Invite a senior executive
Ask the director of your company or another member of top management to come to one of the meetings with your client. That will boost your project's credibility and reassure your client about the importance you give to the project.
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