Most people aren’t natural-born leaders. In fact, studies have shown that only about 10% of people fall into this category.
But that doesn’t mean that you can’t lead if you’re ever asked to serve as a project manager. As long as you’re willing to take the time to learn how to manage a project, you can get the job done and make yourself look like a natural-born leader in the process, even if you aren’t one.
The key to knowing how to manage a project is taking the right steps along the way. From start to finish, you need to know what has to happen in order for a project to be a success.
Whether you’re building a house or preparing a pitch for a new client, you can set the right tone for your project and ensure it gets done. Here are the steps that’ll help you do it.
Begin by Establishing a Clear Objective for Your Project
Before you dive headfirst into figuring out how to manage a project, it’s important for you to sit down and establish an objective for it.
In some cases, your objective will be easy to come up with. If, for example, you’re going to be building a house, your objective will obviously be to get the house built and to make sure it’s sturdy by the time you’re finished.
But the objective for your project isn’t always going to be that simple. And if you don’t take the time to establish it, there could be confusion surrounding what exactly you and your team are trying to accomplish.
Get everyone on the same page as far as your objective is concerned. It’ll have everyone moving in the same direction right from the start.
Plan Out How You’re Going to Reach Your End Goals
Once you know what the objective for your project is going to be, the next thing you’ll want to do is plan out how you’re going to reach your end goals. It would be great if you could just snap your fingers and have a house built, but things don’t usually work that way.
You can plan out how you’re going to get to your end goals by:
- Determining which individual tasks will need to be completed during your project
- Putting those tasks into a natural order
- Surrounding yourself with a strong team that is capable of carrying out the jobs that need to be done
- Shining a light on any potential problems that could pop up and derail your project
You know the old saying, “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail”? That’s something that any good project manager should keep in mind at all times. You can use planning to set a project in motion and start it off on the right foot.
Do What You Can to Keep Your Project Moving in the Right Direction
You can plan and plan and plan for a project all you want. You can also do your best to identify issues that might cause problems with your plans.
But at some point, there is a good chance your project is going to experience delays and unexpected setbacks for one reason or another.
Try not to get too down about them when they rear their ugly head. Instead, do your part to continue to push your project in the right direction.
You can avoid unnecessary delays by:
- Scheduling meetings to find out how certain tasks are going
- Staying in constant communication with all the different members of your team
- Keeping an eye out for any problems that you might face in the near or distant future
Your team is going to follow your lead when it comes to how they approach their work, day in and day out. Set the right example for them so that your project pushes forward despite any roadblocks that pop up.
Dish Out Responsibilities to Others and Reward Them for a Job Well Done
As the leader of a project, you might be tempted to try and micromanage every single aspect of it. It is, after all, your responsibility to get the project done, so you almost can’t afford to not be involved in a little bit of everything.
But to be a good leader, you have to pick people you trust to take care of tasks and then step back and let them do their jobs. You also need to be there to encourage them and to reward them when they go above and beyond your expectations.
You might be the best leader in the world. But you’re ultimately only going to be as strong as the people that you put around you. They’re going to be the ones that will decide whether or not you look good, so choose them wisely.
Use All the Project Management Tools Available to You
These days, there’s no excuse for project managers not to use all the technology that’s out there to complete their projects. There are so many tools that they can use to their advantage from the moment a project starts.
Carrying out project management in SharePoint is one good example of how project managers can use technology to tackle projects from start to finish.
Give Credit Where Credit Is Due at the End of a Project
If a project that you manage is a total success, you’re going to get all the credit for it. Your bosses will sing your praises and tell you how proud they are of you.
You do deserve a lot of credit for what you’ve done. But don’t forget to give credit to your team and to all those people who helped you along the way by working so hard.
It’ll provide them with the motivation they need to work just as hard on the next project you manage.
Learning How to Manage a Project Will Help It to Go a Lot Smoother
If you’ve never had the opportunity to manage a project before, you should show people that you know what you’re doing your first time around. By learning how to manage a project, you can prove that you have the leadership skills it takes to do it.
Use the steps that we’ve laid out here to manage a project from start to finish. It’ll make the process so much easier on you and everyone else on your team.
Find out more about the value of having good leadership skills by browsing through the articles on our blog.
