What is project management and how does it boost productivity?
Project management is the process of leading a team to achieve a set of goals within a given time, project scope and budget constraints.
By this project management definition, all initiatives have a beginning and an end. They are temporary efforts to create value through a new or refined product, service or result.
Businesses now have a lot to focus on outside traditional responsibilities, such as new initiatives, goals, promises and compliance regulations. The growing influences of technology, globalization and corporate social responsibility mean that day-to-day work is increasingly organized around projects to monitor the growing task lists.
Project management best practices: 5 tips for more productivity
Well-run projects help businesses grow by giving structure and measurability to change, but get it wrong and you risk causing more harm than good.
PMI (Project Management Institute) data shows that 11.4% of business investment is wasted due to poor project performance. Here are five tips to help you maximize your project’s return on investment (ROI).
1. Give initiation and planning the respect they deserve
While it’s tempting to give execution the biggest share of attention by assuming that’s where the “real” work takes place, the foundations you lay during initiation and planning can make or break your entire project. Take the time to ensure your objective is feasible and worthwhile, so you can stop or pivot as necessary before committing more resources.
Carefully defining your objective, purpose and strategy early on will also help you:
- Obtain approval from stakeholders for time and budget expenses, so you can progress more quickly without needing to cut corners
- Get your team invested to increase motivation and performance in later stages
- Set realistic stakeholder expectations, making it more likely for the project to be deemed successful
- Schedule tasks around other commitments to minimize disruption to business-as-usual tasks
- Determine what success and failure look like for accurate performance measurement throughout
- Mitigate risks to increase the likelihood of success.
2. Be realistic with your constraints
However you define project management success, many projects fall short.
Based on Wellingtone’s survey results, only:
- 32% of organizations mostly or always complete projects on time
- 34% of organizations mostly or always complete projects on budget
- 36% of organizations mostly or always deliver the full benefits of their projects
Over time, these repeated failures can damage team motivation and stakeholder confidence which is why it’s important to be realistic when aligning your objectives and constraints.
For the clearest picture of achievability, involve representatives from all relevant departments from the start of the process and take goal-setting inspiration from other teams and organizations. This way, you can learn from the experience of others.
For example, if another manager has tried to initiate a similar project but failed, they can help you avoid the same mistakes.
By allocating time in your kickoff meeting for attendees to raise concerns, you’ll learn directly from team members what they deem reasonable while establishing a useful transparency culture.
3. Promote a culture of transparency and accountability
Transparency and accountability underpin effective teamwork. They help team members understand what they’re contributing to and why, while ensuring everyone pulls their weight. This makes them essential to project management.
Even after the kickoff meeting, staff must feel comfortable raising work-related concerns so you as the lead can address them or at least advise. Otherwise, you risk issues being ignored and manifesting as more significant challenges later in the process.
Say a team member falls behind on their scheduled actions. If they tell you when they first notice a problem, you can reallocate tasks to keep the wider project on track. If they bury the issue through fear of criticism and it eventually causes the team to miss a milestone deadline, you risk upsetting stakeholders.
Accountability is just as important. Use project management tools to create team-wide visibility of individual tasks, as knowing others see their progress can incentivize team members to work harder. Equally, if a team member isn’t contributing enough, you can quickly identify them as the weak link and address the issue before it causes resentment.
4. Align objectives with wider business goals (and involve your team in the process)
Extend that transparency to your project’s purpose to motivate your team. Be clear about why you’re setting tasks, what the outcome looks like and how that will benefit them. Many of your company’s competitors aren’t getting this right, so take the opportunity to move ahead.
Asana’s 2021 Anatomy of Work Index survey found that less than half of workers understood how their day-to-day tasks contributed to organizational goals. The 2022 version of the same study found “uncertainty over priorities” to be the third-biggest cause of missed deadlines. While broad objectives should inspire all project work, you’ll focus most heavily on them during initiation and planning, so involve all team members in these stages.
5. Invest in the right project management tools
Project management’s processes and best practices are consistent across all organizations and departments, but the work within is unique to your team or business.
There are hundreds of variables to consider, from goals and budgets to staff and stakeholders, and project management software will help you keep track. Tools like Asana, Trello and Forecast provide:
- High-level overviews of project progress
- Drag-and-drop scheduling capabilities
- Automated reports
- Time tracking data
There’s no shortage of project management software on the market. The right solution will simplify the entire process to help you and your team work faster. The wrong one could slow you down by adding unnecessary admin work.
Instead of going only on cost and ease of use, consider the following value-adds when comparing tools to help you project manage:
Integration. How well does the software slot into your existing tech stack? If it can share data with other platforms, like your customer relationship management (CRM) solution, you’ll save time by not having to repeat admin tasks. You can connect a range of project management tools to Pipedrive using marketplace integrations.
Automation. There’s plenty of admin work in project management. The best tools use custom rules to take care of repetitive manual processes, like setting due dates, assigning tasks and updating stakeholders, so you can spend more of your time on strategic work.
Customization. Custom data fields, reports and workflows allow you to tailor project management software to your business and its processes. See the data you value most and create templates to complete complex projects faster.
Track record. Real-life success stories show you what’s possible with a project management solution. The provider’s case studies are useful as a starting point. You can also search for unbiased views from industry experts and other businesses online.
Support channels. While user-friendliness is crucial, any truly capable project management tool will have some complexity. Ensure you can access expert help quickly to minimize project disruption when a feature isn’t clear. Pipedrive, for example, has a library of supportive video and written content in our Knowledge Base, as well as regularly published guides on product features, and includes a Community channel where users can help each other.
Minimize risk by looking for project management tools with free trials, like Pipedrive’s 14-day free trial.
Final thoughts
Practicing project management skills and applying the field’s tried-and-tested processes to your work will help you become a more effective and efficient leader. It may take time to adapt to a different way of working but get it right and you’ll soon see productivity grow across your team. For the best results, experiment with different methodologies and tools to find those that best fit your objectives.
Pipedrive's project management software offers powerful automation tools, so you can trigger routine tasks to autocomplete based on your team's activities.