Be sure to make a project organisation chart.

• Helps with assigning responsibilities
• Helps new team members identify the roles of the rest of the team and who to talk to for their tasks.
• Makes communication between team members easier.

Ideally list contact details in the chart as well.

Keep up to date (this is better if done automatically).

It wastes a lot of time in a big project trying to find someone only to discover they are not on the team anymore, so this is an important task.

Tagged with: contacts • organisation chart • responsibilities • rolse

Filed under: Human Resources • Planning

Find a template showing the common responsibilities on your type of project. Your organization may have one.

This helps with assigning responsibilities and makes sure nothing is forgotten.

Tagged with: responsibilities • template

Filed under: Documentation • Human Resources

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

The project manager should be held accountable for the failure of a project.

If you are a program manager (manage project managers) you should hold your project managers accountable.

This sounds obvious, but often this accountability is only mentioned at the end of a failed project.

The program manager should require regular (weekly) reports on status and at least monthly financial and schedule reports (performance measurements).

It is more difficult to hold a project manager accountable if he/she was not involved in the project from the start (initiation / tendering), including scope planning, schedule, costs, objectives, etc.

If the project manager is not involved from the start, he/she may blame a failed project (over budget or over schedule) to a badly estimated / planned tender.

If the project manager is involved right from the start, with the proper support and authority given, it is reasonable to fire the project manager of a failed project (unless the PM can show causes outside of reasonable planning or control of a PM, such as natural disaster in an area not prone to them).

This must assume the project manager has had proper training, not just someone thrown into the role of PM without training.

It must also allow time for training a new project manager to your organization in the internal procedures, templates, systems, etc.

In initiating, if a project manager believes the project is being underfunded, the schedule is unrealistic, or the price is too low, they should say so, change it, and then sign the changed project plan. A project manager should not accept an unrealistic schedule (unless agreement is reached with management that the project will make a loss or similar (such as breaking into a new market).

Accountability could mean loss of status/title, moving to an assistant project management role, or possibly being fired.

Tagged with: accountability • accountable • project failure

Filed under: Human Resources • Planning • Scope • Training

Don’t count on overtime for yourself or for your team.

The project should be managed to avoid needing overtime.

Overtime costs more, is less efficient, increases safety risks, and tires the team so they are less effective later.

Tagged with: efficiency • overtime

Filed under: Human Resources • Planning • Time

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 don’t have your resources fully utilised (booked and working) they may be taken from you by your senior management to be put on projects which look like they need them (i.e. demanding more resources).

Plan your schedules so that your people are fully occupied. This includes trades crews, you don’t want them running out of work because of late deliveries of equipment etc and then being put on different projects.

If you lose staff resources to other projects it is very difficult to get them back.

Tagged with: schedule • staff resources

Filed under: Human Resources • Planning

Remember that the more responsibility you have, the more money you will be paid. Although this doesn’t always follow straight away.
Generally, you get paid based on your level of responsibility.

Tagged with: pay • pay level • responsibility

Filed under: Human Resources

As a project manager you should make sure all your team members submit claims, hours, expenses etc as soon as possible, and definitely before the end of month accounting date.

If that information comes in late the profit/margin on the project can quickly change and affect plans.

The hours must also be made to the correct project. You don’t want hours suddenly being transferred to your project from a few months ago because they were incorrectly allocated. This could make an in profit project suddenly be making a loss. If it was done correctly first time, the losses could have been seen earlier and planned or allowed for.

Tagged with: claims • expenses • loss • profit

Filed under: Documentation • Human Resources • Planning • Training

Encourage your team (and yourself) to spend a specific time each week in tidying their desk. This should include:

• Stacking and filing piles of paper neatly.
• Putting papers into sections
  • By priority
  • By category

Possibly do this every Friday afternoon before leaving work so that desk is clean and ready for concentrated work on Monday morning. This should reduce the stress associated with not knowing what is on your desk and what needs to be done next.

If it is an enforced policy you will hopefully find everyone becomes more organised. It is important to remember that if your company is looking for people to fire (when in economic difficulty) a messy desk can make you look unorganised and unreliable.

What is your experience with work efficiency with a messy or tidy desk?

Tagged with: organised • tidy desk

Filed under: Documentation • Human Resources • Planning • Time