Project management: essential steps
In our private lives, we manage projects: moving house, getting married, traveling abroad... Some of us have to do it at work: implementing accounting software, organizing a humanitarian mission in Africa, launching a new product... Despite all these different projects, there are some common characteristics. Discover the following project management tips:
Step 1: Plan and monitor your activities
Unless you call upon the God of Time, Chronos, to complete a project on time, planning is essential!
Start by dividing your project into stages. Each stage corresponds to an action, and you can assign start and end dates to each phase. If you don't do this, you'll be starting from scratch without realizing that tasks are interdependent.
Once you've done this, you can stagger these tasks and coordinate them for each work team. Of course, in your small business, a team may be synonymous with one person, but the idea is there! Each activity in this project is assigned to someone according to his or her specialty.
"A day is worth three if you do everything in its own time". All that remains is to find the right chronology for implementing the project. Good organization and planning will always save you time. For example, you're not going to start designing the packaging for a bottle of milk if you don't yet know its shape!
By tracking your schedule, you can follow the progress of all past, current and future actions. This will make it easier for you to manage any delays.
Step 2: Control your costs
We have now defined all the actions to be carried out, and they are planned, allocated and monitored. But before you can control the costs of a project, you need to estimate them!
If we take the example of moving, you've all already drawn up estimates either for a truck rental or for a mover's service.
In the first case, you can, for example, budget for friends and family to come and help you. This could be the modest cost of an evening of good old-fashioned Frenchness, as all the elements are still in cardboard, or a good meal for everyone. In this situation, you need to budget for both material and human resources.
In the second case, the estimate already includes the entire service. Everything is included, and all you have to do is move into your new "home". Roles and functions are already specified in the project, and tasks are assigned to each employee.
Of course, online project management software is no substitute for human thought! It's up to you to choose your expenses according to pre-defined budgets. You also have organizational constraints that guide these choices.
Step 3: Collaborate and share project progress
Welcome to the wonderful world of "virtual open-space", i.e. online applications! Teams or collaborators work together on the same platform. Everything is centralized: schedules, project elements, associated comments, documentation, e-mails, instant discussions linked to the project... Everything is organized so that each collaborator can be autonomous in his or her work. This also gives each project partner a sense of responsibility, and thanks to the shared planning, you can self-evaluate the work you've done to complete your mission.
The integration of all project collaborators within a single application will encourage the exchange and sharing of information. As demonstrated by the Fitnet Manager application, this collaborative work will encourage exchanges between individuals, so that the project can move forward together. It's easier to help each other, even when working in separate offices. Everyone contributes to the common mission. The numerous administrative procedures and lost documents are a thing of the past, thanks to the shared collaborative platform.
Find out more about these steps in the free project planner
Download the project planning template to plan your tasks according to the above steps:
In short, managing a project means planning, coordinating, controlling costs and meeting deadlines. Versatile online software is tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. What are you waiting for?
Compare our products to find the best online solution for your business needs. We're here to help you make the right choice and make your business even better!
Article translated from French