If you’re a small business or entrepreneur, consider using project management practices. Large, structured organizations have used project management practices for many years. But this discipline is valuable to entrepreneurs, too.
Entrepreneurs are great at generating ideas and creating a vision.
But many entrepreneurs feel overwhelmed or stuck when faced with the sprawling complexity of things to do to get their business running to match their vision:
- understanding customer needs and desires
- identifying all tasks to create a successful product
- designing that awesome product
- working with developers
- managing scope
- meeting timelines and commitments
- and addressing all the hundreds of tasks and needs that continually surface.
It’s easy to get distracted and want to move on to something else rather than completing your vision.
Maybe you can relate to this scenario: frustration over too many tasks, disorganization, and uncertainty about which way to go next. If so, you can benefit from adopting project management practices. They’ll help get your arms around the chaos and bring some order to your life and your effort.
1. Bring Order
Project management practices call for planning, executing, and controlling your project implementation. Using a structured approach helps ensure everything is addressed and there are no surprises at the time of deployment.
You can have more peace of mind knowing that you have identified what needs to be done and that you are addressing those items.
2. Everyone working on the same plan
When you create a plan and share it with your team–even if yWhen you create a plan and share it with your team you’ll all be working from the same plan. This is true even if your team is very small. You will have clearly identified tasks, ownership, and delivery dates.
You’ll eliminate confusion about who’s working on what, or what needs to be done next. Instead, you’ll know what needs to be delivered, and by what date.
3. Identify the Right Work
By clearly identifying what needs to be done, and by whom, you’ll ensure that you’re working on the right things at the right time. You’ll stop procrastinating with easy distractions or wasting time on low value activities. You will be able to clearly communicate with your team on what everyone is supposed to be doing, with no uncertainty.
If there are questions, having a clearly laid plan will allow team members to identify them and get solid answers.
Communication becomes easier and more effective, with less ambiguity about who will do what, and when.
4. Identifying Issues / Risks
Once you’ve identified tasks, owners, durations, dependencies, milestones, etc., it becomes easier to identify potential issues and risks.
These will certainly arise, but having them on your radar allows you to be better prepared to deal with them.
You can speak to how they will impact your plan, now that you have one, and how you will address issues and adjust.
Summary
Project management has long been recognized as valuable in the corporate world for executing work of various sizes and scope. There’s a good reason for this.
You can increase your chance of success and likelihood that you’ll reach your target if you and your team have a clear roadmap and are all marching on a clear path to your destination. You’re far more likely to get
This results in happy teams, happy customers, and successful business.
If you want to know the basics, check out this post on the Project Management Basic Steps: the Minimum Viable Project Management
