How to Keep Your Project on the Right Track

By: Ian Cheshuk

A big part of seeing something through from start to finish is proper project monitoring. It’s usually not enough to assign out tasks and expect them to be completed on time and as expected. Good project monitoring means proactively communicating with your team, fielding any problems that may arise, and being extremely organized so all the pieces of a project can fall into place. Bit Service has plenty of experience with this process, and we can share some tips we’ve learned along the way.

Use technology and document the project

At Bit Service, we often use Microsoft Planner for our project monitoring. On this software, you can assign tasks, organize project timelines, and keep everybody on track. If you’re used to doing this on paper, you can also do it this way. Anything that helps you stay on task and organized is an excellent method. Using technology can be valuable, though, because it often allows you to share your timeline with others. Getting a view of the scope of the project, and how one person’s tasks affect another, is extremely valuable.

Work collaboratively with your team

Sending out multiple emails can get hard to keep track of. Instead, try checking in with everybody one-on-one, calling, or visiting them in person (if you can) to make sure no problems are arising and that everything is moving along properly. When an issue does arise, it’s a good idea to include the entire team because, at minimum, it allows everybody to understand what is changing with the project. At best, it will enable people to contribute solutions you might not have thought of. It also means everybody will know the entire project and not just their piece, and as mentioned, this can be valuable, especially if you are away or sick and need the project to continue moving.

Communication is key

If something is missing or you don’t understand something that’s happening, there’s no better way to clear the issue up than communicating. Meet with your team member if you need clarification on something. Let your team know that they can come to you if they run into any problem at all and allow yourself to be approachable so they can do this. You must know about any obstacles that come up so you can help adjust, but also to document it and make sure you know how to deal with it if it happens again.

You can’t control everything

While we always want to be as prepared as possible, it’s impossible to expect every detail to go exactly as you planned. Micromanaging is always a bad idea because it gives your team the perception that you don’t think they can complete the task you’ve assigned them. If you follow our communication tips above, they should feel able to let you know if something goes wrong. If you’ve laid out your expectations clearly, you’ll likely get what you want from them at the end, and if you don’t, it’s a great time to adjust and discuss what went wrong, so it doesn’t happen again. You should also always have more than one plan for each part of the project. If something fails, how will you go about getting what you need? Have a backup, just in case.

Project monitoring can be a lot of work, but one thing to remember is that you’ve chosen your team for a reason. Make sure to put faith in them to do their job and celebrate them when things go right. Something is always bound to not be exactly as you want it, and your main task is to be prepared for when this happens. With a little bit of forward-thinking and a can-do attitude, you’ll surely succeed in the end.