Send time charge codes with meeting and function invitations.

If you send an invite/schedule booking to team members for a meeting, staff function, training etc, you should send the time code that they should book their time for that time under.

This will save them each individually searching or asking what they should book their time to.

This should also apply if you instruct someone to work on a different project than they normally work.

Tagged with: booking time • cost code • meeting invitations

Filed under: Communication • Cost • Time

Get to know your client contact more personally, not just their project specific details.

Find out their interests, other projects they are working on etc.

Possibly send them useful information, news clippings, etc on things you know they are interested in.

A lot of business is built on relationships, and knowing how a client works and responds can be very helpful when managing their projects.

Tagged with: business • relationships

Filed under: Client • Communication • Marketing

Presentations are often badly made, and are boring.

Don’t use lots of text in a PowerPoint presentation. A few key points on each page is better. This avoids the problem of the audience just reading the text and not listening to you.

Don’t give out a copy of the presentation text at the start, the audience may just read it and ignore you. I suggest you give it out after the presentation.

Tagged with: audience • PowerPoint • presentations

Filed under: Communication

Good communication is a key skill for a project manager.

Good design of the product is assumed by the client. The key to keeping things running smoothly and making the client happy is keeping them informed.
Give the client regular updates, even if there is nothing to tell them. Ask the client for feedback. Are they happy with the way the project is going, your communication with them, the deliverables, etc. If something is running late, tell the client and the reasons. Don’t assume they know it will be late or why it will be late. Often just telling them will satisfy them, instead of the client contacting you to say your deliverable is late.

Tagged with: feedback • key skill • project manager • regular updates • running late

Filed under: Client • Communication

Although alliance systems can lead to great cost and time savings, it is important to pay particular attention to internal communications and authorisation systems.

It can take a lot longer to get information circulated or authorisations done properly compared to if everyone was from the one company.

Verification of designs can be particularly time consuming as the designs may need to pass between lots of departments.

It can help to indicate clearly on the communications or forms who is responsible for replying or taking action, when that action is due by, and who they should return it to or pass it on to when they are completed. For other people copied in the communication, make sure it is clear that they are only copied for information only and do not need to act or reply.

Keeping urgent or important labels for truly important communications can speed the process.

If necessary, make a, simple to follow, one page procedure for processing documents (so that people can know what to do easily).

Tagged with: alliance • authorisation • verification

Filed under: Communication • Documentation • Time

When running or coordinating a workshop or a presentation, make sure you have a printout of all the presentation so you can easily track where the presenter is up to.

Also make sure to have a printout of the schedule.

A printout is important as you may not be able to view it on the computer if that is connected to the projector and it is displaying the material to the audience.

Tagged with: coordinate • presentation • printout • schedule • workshops

Filed under: Communication • Planning

Encourage and discipline your team members to use neat writing when making notes on drawings or things which others must read or refer to.

Messy or illegible writing slows the reader down and leads to miscommunication. It can also lead to mistakes as someone may assume a word is different to what was intended.

The project manager should lead by example.

If you, as the project manager, receive unclear hand written correspondence or drawings with unclear writing, you should return it to the writer and ask them to re submit it to you either typed or written clearly.

This is a communication issue and mistakes could lead to costly delays or safety issues.

Tagged with: lead by example • neat • notes • writing

Filed under: Communication • Time

Microsoft Outlook or similar programs allow you to send meeting requests to people. This is a quick and effective way for meetings to be set without wasting time calling around for available times.

If all members of your team use the calendar function properly, they would have all their meetings and busy times entered into their calendar. When you request a meeting of them, you will be able to see available times in a simple bar chart and book accordingly.

Tagged with: calendar • meeting request • meetings • outlook • schedule

Filed under: Communication • Human Resources • Time • Training

Although this is an organisation issue, not just a project issue, it is important to make sure your team does not send messages to all for something that is specific to one group or one office.

E.g. “A pair of reading glasses have been misplaced. If you have seen these could you please return them to reception.”

This kind of message often gets sent to the whole organisation mail system, which could include thousands of people, when it should be sent just to that local office.

The lost time associated with thousands of people readings a broadly sent email like that and the bandwidth costs could amount to thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

In the above example, approximately 5000 people received the message. 5000 x 30 seconds is about 42 hours wasted time ($5000+ in billable time). Plus the time wasted in people laughing about it and replying with comments. Plus the storage costs and transmittal costs.

Not only does it make the sender look foolish, it wastes your project time, resources, and if from your project, its reputation.

Tagged with: email • local office • wasted time

Filed under: Communication • Cost • Time • Training

If you (or others) are to travel for meetings, confirm that they have been scheduled.

Projects with committees or bureaucracy may overlook setting the times or places and informing everyone of a meeting properly.

Confirm the meeting before leaving for it.

Tagged with: meetings • schedule • travel

Filed under: Communication • Time

Get to know the usual time schedules for producing plans, drawings, and designs in your organisation.
Estimates may be 2 weeks but people with experience in the organisation may know to double this when told 2 weeks by the design department.

Project managers should keep up with the designers for their project regularly to see what they are working on and what their priorities are.
Resources often get pulled onto other tasks/projects, so it important you stay informed.

Possibly escalate to the projects director if necessary.

Tagged with: design schedule • drawings • schedule

Filed under: Communication • Design • Planning

Using the Word Float

It is a good idea to avoid using the word “float” in a schedule or cost report to a client.

Instead you could use phrases such as “Critical Evaluation of final commissioning items”, or something similar.

Using the word “float” usually leads to management or the client wanting it reduced.

Of course only use the alternative wording if it is a necessary float and the words reasonably describe the use.

Tagged with: cost report • float • schedule

Filed under: Client • Communication • Documentation • Planning

Even if there is nothing to report to the client, report regularly to a schedule.

This gives the client a current report for their internal systems and means they are not left wondering how the project is going.

It also gives them greater confidence in your abilities and your organisations processes.

Tagged with: processes • report

Filed under: Client • Communication

Make sure you know what the client really wants. You are working for them as a means to an end. Make sure you know what this end result is supposed to be.

Make sure you get their statement of this. A large scope document is often included, but it is important that you have an understanding of what is really wanted.

An example I have heard is: In building a palace, you might deliver great quality, great cost savings, and be ahead of schedule, but what the king really wants is something amazing to look at (more gold, more turrets etc).

Tagged with: end result

Filed under: Client • Communication • Scope

Get to know the functional managers within your organisation.

They can be a wealth of information and knowledge. You will need to be able to communicate easily and comfortably with them if they manage people doing work for your project. It makes it a lot easier if they get along with you. They are then more likely to do their best to help you and supply resources for your projects.

Tagged with: functional manager

Filed under: Communication • Human Resources

Provide each new team member a one to two page summary of the project.

• Include an outline of the objectives, scope, size, and benefits (to the organisation, community, person)
• Possibly include total budget and budgets for individual areas.
• Status of project (over/under budget, behind/ahead of schedule)
• Significant problems
• List of main tools for that person/role
• Role and responsibility of that person
• Who they report to

Could split all above into two parts. One part for everyone, one part specific to each person.

Tagged with: benefits • objectives • project summary • status

Filed under: Communication • Human Resources • Training

Make sure the role and responsibility for each team member is clear.

• Ideally provide this in writing to the team members so they can easily refer to it.
• Provide clear direction on what activities each person should work on.
• Give clear time objectives (when is this activity due)
• Make sure each member knows what information they are expected to report, and what meetings to attend.

Tagged with: clear direction • objectives • report • responsibilities • roles

Filed under: Communication • Human Resources • Training

As a project manager you should produce performance measurements of your project.

These could be measurements such as:

• Planned Value
• Earned Value
• Actual Cost
• Budget At Completion
• Estimate At Completion
• Estimate To Complete
• Cost Variance
• Schedule Variance
• Cost Performance Index
• Schedule Performance Index
• Estimate At Completion
• Estimate to Complete

Many of these can be automated outputs (depending on your software tools).

They are important to supply to management and are the easiest and most specific way of presenting your project status to management.

They help you know if your project is over or under budget and also ahead of or behind schedule. They should be checked regularly (at least once a month for long projects) to spot problems.

In some cases you should present the schedule measurements to the client.

The Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) (www.pmi.org) has details of all of these performance measurements in its “Cost Management” section.

Tagged with: performance measurement • status

Filed under: Communication • Documentation

Make sure your team knows who is responsible for what work.

People who need to know are:

• Team members
• Project manager
• Organization Management

If people don’t know, then they communicate to the wrong people, there is confusion and lack of accountability for work packages, there is lower efficiency as some work packages get more resources than necessary, and some get too few or none.

Tagged with: accountability • efficiency • responsible • work packages

Filed under: Communication • Human Resources • Planning • Training

If you get lots of emails (particularly ones that you are copied on) then it may be worth considering setting some email filters to sort emails to certain folders (design, construction, urgent, etc).

All emails that you are only CC’d on should be automatically filtered.

Priority emails that are sent to you only or you as the main person should be filtered to an “Important” folder for review more immediately.

Consider only reviewing your emails at specific times each day (say 9am and 3pm). All emails received could have an automatic reply sent stating “I only read emails at 9am and 3pm each day, if you require an urgent response please call me directly on ———”

Tagged with: email • filter • folders • review • sorting

Filed under: Communication • Time