Planning your first project can seem like an overwhelming process - from scheduling the right meetings to crafting the perfect roadmap - there’s a lot to be done.
But having a great strategy in place (see Lesson One) and following some time tested procedures will go a long way in ensuring that your project is ultimately successful. Here are some of our favorite tips and best practices for planning a sucessful project!
Define roles and responsibilities
No matter how detailed your project plan may be, if you fail to clearly define individual roles and responsibilities at the outset of a project, you're destined for trouble. Tasks will be forgotten, role confusion will emerge, and finger pointing will begin.
In order to keep your project from falling into chaos, it’s crucial that your team has a shared understanding of individual roles and responsibilities, along with explicit documentation to support it. A RACI Chart is a simple matrix that allows you to assign roles and responsibilities for each task, milestone, or decision on a project by breaking roles into 4 different categories:
- Responsible: This team member does the work to complete the task. Each task needs at least one “Responsible” individual, though typically several people are jointly responsible.
- Accountable: The individual deemed Accountable delegates the work and is responsible for reviewing and approving completed tasks. There should be only one “Accountable” individual.
- Consulted: These are individuals who need to give input before a task can be approved. These individuals typically serve as advisers, or experts on the subject matter being dealt with.
- Informed: These are individuals who need to be kept in the loop with updates on progress and decisions. They do not contribute directly to the task, nor are they formally consulted.
You can create your own RACI chart template in any spreadsheet software by doing the following:
- Across the top row: Enter each team member's name
- Down the left column: List all tasks, milestones, and decisions that need to be completed
- Assign a responsibility level to each individual for each task
RACI Tips
- Ensure you have only one “Accountable” per task and that they have the authority to ensure the task is complete.
- Focus on project tasks, milestones, and decisions - avoid general to-do’s such as meetings.
- Avoid adding too many consultants to your tasks. Waiting for multiple approvals in order to sign off on your task will put a damper on your productivity.
- Make sure to align the tasks in your RACI chart with your project plan to ensure there is no confusion about details.
Create A Communication Strategy
A team's communication practices can make or break a project. Constant communication via email, Slack, phone calls and in person meetings are all essential for keeping everyone on the same page, but which should be used and when? Who should be contacted and in what circumstances?
In order to set your project up for success, it’s crucial that you answer these questions with a clearly defined and well conveyed communication strategy prior to the beginning of any project work.
The How’s :
We’ve learned the hard way that important messages can get lost in busy Slack channels. In worst case scenarios this can mean missed deadlines, or dozens of man hours lost to unnecessary work on a feature that has been deemed unnecessary. For this reason we’ve created guidelines for how information should be conveyed, based on its importance.
- Slack
Slack should only be used for quick questions and communication, and never for crucial pieces of information. Additionally, because it’s likely that the information being conveyed will be useful to others on the project team, we encourage communicating in a project wide channel, rather than through direct messages. Check out our Slack hacks for more helpful tips on optimizing your use of this tool. - Email
Important information and larger decisions, such as changes to the work and important deadlines should always be communicated via email, regardless of whether it has already been conveyed through other means, such as in person. Always follow up on important emails to ensure they’ve been received. - Phone Calls
While email tends to feel more comfortable for most individuals, there are times when making a phone call is a must. If an in-person meeting in person isn’t possible, we always pick up the phone whenever we must: Convey sensitive or negative information, share detailed information - clarifying questions are usually necessary, or explain something complicated - written instructions only go so far - walking someone through a process is generally more effective.
Remember that no matter which method you use to convey important information initially, be it in person or over the phone, you should always follow it up with an email.
The Who’s
When communication doesn’t flow through the proper channels it contributes to inefficiencies within the team and potentially harmful miscommunications.
We’ve encountered situations in which information exchanges through improper channels have resulted in misinformed changes being made to a project unbeknownst to project leads, resulting in hours of unnecessary work and a group of very frustrated individuals.
In order to prevent these types of mishaps it’s important to start your working relationships with a contact list that clearly states who should be contacted directly, how they should be contacted, and when.
Reference previous projects
As we all know history tends to repeat itself, and we can always learn from our mistakes. Taking a look at any of the previous projects your organization has worked on can provide you with valuable insight on what you can expect from your current project.
From a project management perspective, detrimental occurrences such as missed deadlines are often caused by issues such as overly aggressive timelines, conflicting projects, or a lack/ loss of resources. Analyzing the areas where previous projects ran haywire can point you to the spots where you could potentially run into trouble on your current project, providing you with the ability to better scope the project, and even come up with contingency plans.
Once you’ve taken a look at enough projects, and run some of your own, you’ll find that you’re able to recognize trouble areas. This will provide you with a better understanding of what to expect and allow you to work any potential issues into your project plan, rather than having to deal with them as they arise.
Utilize Project Management Tools
Project managers have a lot to keep track of: numerous projects, people, teams, tasks, communications, plans and so much more! It’s no wonder that, without the help of some great tools, things can fall apart pretty quickly.
To keep everything running smoothly, we recommend utilizing a few of the many project management software tools available. Depending on your needs they can help you with :
- Planning and Scheduling:
- Collaboration
- Documentation
- Evaluation
The best tools are those that combine all of the above bullet points into a single ecosystem. A few of the tools we recommend trying include:
Create Team Profiles
If you are working with a new team, collecting general information about each individual team member at the outset of the project is a great way to quickly create helpful team profiles.
We’ve found that a short list of general questions, such as “what's your favorite snack” and “what’s your learning style”, can be extremely effective in helping you to understand how best to work with your team.
It’s important to include an open ended “what else should we know about you?” question in your survey, to allow each individual the opportunity to inform you of important information that might not otherwise come up.
This will provide team members with an opportunity to inform you of helpful information, such as food allergies or general likes/dislikes, and other, possibly sensitive information - perhaps a member of the team is dyslexic and would like to let you know that they may misspell words from time to time, or is dealing with family issues that might come up during the course of the project.
It's also helpful to gain some insight into how each team member likes to be appreciated. Some individuals shy away from public recognition, while others love it. Some people like to receive gifts, and others prefer to receive words of praise. Knowing what makes people uncomfortable and what they enjoy is imperative in order to ensure that your appreciation is actually having its desired effect.
You can have each of your team members take this quiz, based on the book “The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace”, to help determine how they feel most comfortable being appreciated.
