Tips For Managing Projects On A Deadline

If you don’t meet tomorrow’s deadline… there’s going to be a meeting to reassess future deadlines.

If you don’t meet tomorrow’s deadline… your boss is going to blow his top and fire the whole team.

If you don’t meet tomorrow’s deadline… the company’s biggest possible merger to date is going to fall through.

If you don’t meet tomorrow’s deadline… your company is going to collapse.

You get the point, meeting your deadlines could save the world – but running behind can set a project lopsided. There are a number of ways to achieve smooth task flow and effective online project collaboration. These are a few ideas to help save the planet from catastrophe.

Talk is cost-effective

Projects often involve a large number of people, all of whom influence the tasks that need to be set in order to meet deadlines. Peers, team members, other departments and clients will have their say in the decisions driving project development. Keeping all parties happy requires a commitment to deadlines, but setting unrealistic goals can lead to frustration at all ends. Communication is key here on two levels. The first for creating realistic timeframes, the other is about keeping all parties happy. A client won’t feel like their investment is in the wrong hands if they’re kept in the loop.

Go Pilates on your timeframe

It’s not always clear from the onset how long a project will take to complete. Projects inevitably get divided up into smaller sub tasks, and those can vary in length depending on a number of factors such as available recourses and people’s schedules. It’s better for bosses and clients to not set deadlines that may be missed. Instead, set flexible time frames that can be agreed upon by everyone. Depending on the scope of the project – give your team a number of months’ leeway.

Team collaboration software

Cluttered desk drawers and a missing note about when to contact Bob from Internal Sales have led to chaos in the past. With team collaboration software, paperwork and messy desk drawers are no longer part of the equation. Now Bob is back in the frame. Tasks can be set on virtual whiteboards along with detailed annotations. Clients can also be kept in the loop as milestones are completed. Communication through formal emails which need to be organized into respective folders are replaced with quick chats and team-accessible online workspaces, which makes communication not only easier – it keeps everyone moving quickly.

Be flexible, and implement team collaboration software to handle your assignments in a clutter-free, easy-to-navigate environment. Easy, open communication is the key to creating manageable deadlines that will keep your team, boss and clients happy, and the Earth spinning on its axis.