Small business proprietors frequently have to wear multiple hats in order to maintain the business growing and moving in the right direction. One of those hats is that of project manager. Indeed, running a small business often involves managing projects more so than managing employees.
Project management is not easy. Nor is it natural for most people. SBOs tend to be global thinkers, visionaries, and idea people. They like to cast out the vision for the project or business, and leave the details of how to realize the vision to others. But it is ensuring that those day-to-day details get done which forms the essence of good project management plan template.
Project Management Tips:
Here are a few project management tips we’ve learned that will help keep your employees focused and ensure the work gets done.
- Schedule regular meetings/conference calls with stakeholders.
- Make a chart of tasks and include timelines and team member responsibilities
- Don’t be afraid of conflict. Rather, learn how to manage and resolve it.
- If you don’t learn to delegate authority, you’ll not get very far as a Project Manager
- When necessary, install a “bulldog” – someone who aggressively sticks to tasks and relentless pursues success.
- Always, always follow up with team members to ensure their work is done to specifications.
The main point of all this is to make sure that the work gets done. A good project manager will keep the work as the number one priority. During conflicts, she will depersonalize the issues and bring the team back to the tasks at hand. It is also important to maximize efforts by proper delegation, as well as checking the work of your team members for completion and standards compliance.