Find out why a project was started.

Some reasons could be different to just business as usual, and these may affect the priority on time, cost, or quality

• Was it internal business reasons (business process improvement)?
• Is your organisation using the project as a demonstration of its capability? To show off and make itself known.
• Is the project a way to break into a new market (low or no profit may be expected because it will be used as a learning and development exercise).

Tagged with: demonstration • improvement • new market • priority • profit

Filed under: Cost • Quality • Scope • Time

Make sure your team members always have work to do.

• Give them a list of lower priority tasks (such as improving certain systems) that they can do when they have no other tasks (particularly important for office workers).
• Give them a list of recommended training (short online courses) to do in their spare time (e.g. while waiting for results or feedback). Especially for new members who haven’t been given lots of work yet.

Along with giving them work to do, make sure they know how to do it, where to access it, and who specifically to talk with for clarification or further instructions.

Tagged with: courses • extra work • priority

Filed under: Human Resources • Planning • Training

It is the responsibility of the project manager to organise priorities for the team members.

You should provide direction on what is the most important task.

You should settle conflicts between activities.

Provide things like the network diagram and critical path of the project to clarify to team members what work is the most important.

The PM should also give their team direction on the requirements for time, cost, scope, and quality.

Tagged with: activities • conflict • critical path • direction • important tasks • network diagram • prioritise • priority

Filed under: Cost • Planning • Quality • Scope • Time

Make a task list for yourself at the end of each day for the next day.
This frees your mind from constantly thinking “I must remember to do that tomorrow.”

It means that you have less stress and don’t constantly think about work when you are at home.

You can tick off these tasks as you accomplish them, giving yourself encouragement and a small sense of accomplishment each time.
Don’t worry about listing them in order of priority, just put an “A” next to the few that are highest priority.

Tagged with: priority • task list • tasks

Filed under: Planning • Time

If you set a task for someone to update or change a document, you should clarify:

• What the purpose of the document is
• Who it is for, who will then use it or read it
• Who else will be altering it
• What is its priority over other documents (if info is different, which takes precedence?).

A person may be tasked with updating information in a spreadsheet. When they have done so, what do they do with it?

• Leave it on the server?
• Inform certain people it is altered?
• Move it to a “completed” folder?

Much of this information could be kept as a second work sheet in the spreadsheet.

Tagged with: altering documents • priority

Filed under: Communication • Documentation • Training