There are going to be times when you have to manage multiple projects at once in the workplace.
This endeavor can be challenging for the best of us, which is why there’s no shame in getting a few tips and tricks here and there. To help you manage multiple projects at once, here are eight useful tips that you should keep in mind.
Plan Everything
Managing multiple projects is a tough job, so you can’t afford to be careless with it and go with the flow too much. If you want to give your project the best chance to achieve success, you have to plan everything. Dot your i’s and cross your t’s and all that.
A project plan isn’t only a plan to help you figure out the steps you need to take to reach your project’s end goal. It should also highlight the potential issues and bottlenecks along the path to success. Anticipating these will help you be better prepared for it, which is why a project plan is valuable.
Prioritize Tasks
There’s no such thing as multitasking. What people might think is excellent multitasking is simply the underrated but much-needed skill of learning how to prioritize tasks.
When you know which tasks you can push off to a later date with little to no consequence and which ones you can’t, projects are completed more quickly. Obtaining this skill also helps you learn which tasks you can delegate to others and which ones you couldn’t.
Therefore, for each stage of the project, identify the priority tasks and establish which ones are secondary. It will help make your life a lot easier.
Communicate, Coordinate, Collaborate
Workplace communication is a crucial part of any project, which is why you want to optimize it. However, not every company takes the time to look at how they’re collaborating or finding ways to improve in the workplace.
If you want to improve your communication and collaboration, you might want to invest in your company’s right messaging tools.
Aside from the messaging tools, it would help if you also looked into project management software that allows tracking each project’s progress easier.
Leverage Time Management Tools
Aside from project management and messaging tools, all sorts of software can help make projects smoother. One of those tools would be time management tools.
Time management tools aren’t only the tools that help you schedule events and tasks and delegate them. Time management tools can also be the tools that help make your life a lot easier by reducing the time it takes for you to do specific tasks.
For example, email marketing tools and autoresponders make sending out emails more efficient, especially for emails you send often. If you can, invest in these time-saving tools, and you’ll find that work will operate more seamlessly. When you’re managing multiple projects simultaneously, you’ll want all the time you can get.
Use Time Management Techniques
Aside from time management tools, there is no skipping good, old reliable time management techniques. Different time management techniques work for different people. One that works for others might not work for you, so it might be trial and error until you find the one most effective for your work style.
A popular time management technique is time blocking. Time blocking is devoting a block of time to a general category of tasks. For example, you can block off fifteen minutes in the morning and fifteen minutes in the afternoon answering emails and queries instead of sprinkling them out throughout the day.
Track Your Progress
Managers can trust their project members to handle their tasks and to be independent, but it’s still crucial that you keep track of progress. In doing so, project managers can help out those who may be falling behind or address issues before any significant setbacks.
Aside from open communication being key, project management tools can also let you know which tasks your team already finished and which ones aren’t.
Set Clear Goals
The importance of project management lies in helping workplaces achieve their project goals promptly and as smoothly as possible. However, it can be challenging to do that if you don’t have any plans in mind for the project, nor do you have any clear goals to help project members focus on throughout the project.
Therefore, if you want to manage multiple projects in the workplace with ease, you have to set clear goals for each one of them.
Clear goals help the team figure out what they’re supposed to be aiming for instead of crossing your fingers and hoping that what you’re doing is suitable for the company. Thus, make sure that you have key performance indicators to let you know whether the project is going well or not.
Manage Expectations
Managing expectations should be a part of your goal-setting process. Aside from creating clear goals and setting key performance indicators, you should also ensure that your goals are realistic and attainable in the first place. Otherwise, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Although it’s good to aim high, know when things are not within your capacity. That way, you can celebrate your successes and learn from your failures in a reasonable manner that will help you in future projects.
Final Thoughts
Although managing multiple projects in the workplace can be challenging, it’s still a good experience knowing what you can achieve when you push yourself. That’s why these helpful tips will help ease some burdens and get you closer to success.
Soon enough, you’ll finish your projects and find yourself looking back fondly on the ups and downs of your projects.
Featured image credit:pexels.com
