How to Manage a Project to Set You Up for Success
In the professional world, you’ll be tasked with taking on all kinds of projects. Big projects, small projects, projects that’ll take weeks, projects that’ll take days, group projects, individual projects, and more. With any project you do, it’s important to have a handle on how to manage a said project.
When I say “manage a project” what do I mean by that? I’m saying that you must put systems in place to ensure your project is successful. To ensure that you can take your project from idea to finished product. If you’re dealing with a deadline, good project management also means ensuring you meet said deadlines.
Not all ways of managing a project look the same, but I’ve found that there are a few key essentials to managing any project, so that when you’re assigned said project you can produce quality work in a timely manner. Here are four lessons I’ve learned to successfully manage any project:
Set goals, but not just any goals. Set good goals.
This one may seem obvious, as every professional development or personal growth article you’ve ever seen has probably included something about goal setting. Here’s the thing though, most people don’t practice effective goal setting.
Chances are this means utilizing the good old SMART method. Goals should be specific (S), measurable (M), attainable (A), relevant (R), and time-based (T). While I won’t get into the nitty-gritty of each individual element of a SMART goal (although here is a great start), I’ll say this in summation: make sure you actually know what your goals are and whether they’re realistically attainable.
How might this look in practice? A good place I like to start is by simply asking myself about my desired end for my project, and go from there. What outcome am I creating? Can I create it? Do I have a deadline? Am I being as clear as possible as to what it is I am creating? What individual steps do I need to take to create this outcome?
It’s good to jot all of your thoughts down when answering these questions to yourself, and then organize your thoughts into a clear, measurable, attainable goal. I can assure you that starting from here and getting those goals in place will lift a huge weight off of your shoulders, as beginning any kind of project without good goals can make you feel scattered and directionless.
Taking time to sit down and parse out the answers to those questions I listed above can even help you with the next part of project management success, which I’ll cover in the next section.
Manage your tasks to death.
Once you’ve set some good goals for yourself, be ready to manage your tasks. This means understanding what your tasks are, which tasks relate to each goal (assuming you have multiple goals), when each task should roughly get done and the priority of the task, and how long each task should take.
Once you have parsed out your tasks, it’s almost essential to use some kind of task management system to keep track of your task list. There are all kinds of options here. If you’re a person who prefers to use pen and paper, you can keep a planner of some sort, you could bullet journal, or you could use a simple legal pad and pen and maintain a paper to-do list. If you prefer technology, there are a slew of services at your disposal: mobile notepads, Evernote, Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Notion, to name a few. There are even professional task management systems designed exactly for this sort of thing such as Trello, Asana, and Todoist. I personally use Trello.
Now when I say to do this “to death”, what I mean by this is to constantly revisit your task management system whenever you’re doing work. Whether it be the priority, the status (the difference between “in progress” and “done”), the deadline, or the task itself, tasks constantly change. Because of this, you will need to consistently stay on top of your tasks to ensure that you are doing what you need to do to be set up for success by the end of your project.
Manage your time wisely.
Much like your goal setting and task management system, it’s good to consistently take some time to revisit your time management system and set yourself up for success. When it comes to time management, a good start is to set aside one hour or so out of your week to sit down and layout your calendar for the upcoming week.
This process can become 10x easier and faster if you maintain a routine. Not only will it make the process better, but maintaining routines can be beneficial for other reasons. Humans are naturally geared towards routines. We find comfort in them. It can be very beneficial in framing your mind when it comes time to sit and go into “work mode” for a routine time of the day. The same goes for “relax mode” where you set aside routine times to read, go to the gym, listen to music or a podcast, watch your favorite show, and more.
As an added plus, it can be beneficial to integrate your task management and time management systems together. This is because you may need to map out which tasks you need to do on which days during certain work periods.
You can do this in plenty of ways, such as if you have a planner where your calendar and to-do lists are in the same central place or if you have a bullet journal. The task management tech tools I listed above also have some handy ways of doing this as well. One example I’ll highlight is the Cronofy Power-Up on Trello, which is what I use to integrate my Google Calendar with my Trello task manager.
Conclusion: Prepare to Adapt
As with any kind of project and system, things will never work out perfectly and as expected. This is a natural part of life and one that should be embraced!
A task could take longer than anticipated, someone could be behind on sending you something you need to complete a certain task, an emergency may come up that interrupts your routine, you may realize a goal was not as realistic or attainable as you initially expected. Again, these are all 100% normal and happen to everyone!
The key is to be adaptable and stay composed whenever you’re faced with the unexpected. The best possible thing you could do, though, is to be proactive and put systems in place that are already preparing for the unexpected. If you are consistently revisiting your tools for success, you’re already doing this for the most part.
Check in on your goals, update your tasks, and set up your calendar to make necessary changes/additions (or even set aside time in your calendar that specifically gives you wiggle room for unexpected changes, such as an added hour of work time dedicated to recalibrating).
There’s no one right way to manage your projects. Ultimately, do what’s best for you and use my advice in a way that best suits you. Hopefully, by following my suggestions, you should be prepared to take on any kind of project and be set up for a successful, productive life!
