Project management offers various paths to success. The saying “there are many roads to Rome” applies well to agency project management. Still, there are certain common pitfalls where a poor choice can lead to much more work later on. By following some straightforward guidelines, you can steer your project on the right path and ensure it’s “heading to Rome” smoothly. How effectively do you adhere to best practices in agency project management? Here are three questions to consider to gauge your agency’s project management IQ. Keep in mind that these questions are designed to be challenging, so don’t worry if you’re unsure about your approach. Use this to check whether your agency’s project management methods align with the best practices. If adjustments are needed, think about the benefits that will come after you improve your project management.
1. What is your communication frequency with your team?
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When something needs to be addressed
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Weekly
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Daily
If you picked b, reconsider your choice. If you went with a or c, give yourself a little credit. It’s best to talk about any changes with your team as soon as you can. Don’t hold off until a progress report meeting or the end-of-day summary to bring it up.
As well, you shouldn’t be limiting your contact with the team to when you need to update it on a scope change or something of similar importance. Your team sees you as a leader, so if you’re not visible, your team will lose focus. Be present, be visible, and be in contact with your team, not just about project progress but life in general as well. That doesn’t mean you need to spend an hour each day discussing football scores. It does mean, though, that your presence makes a difference, potentially more than you realize.
2. When do you schedule meetings?
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Only when the need arises
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With just enough time to prepare for them and still keep my team on its toes
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I lay out a meeting timeline before the project starts and adjust as necessary during the project
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I don’t hold meetings; I prefer to only have discussions when things change
While you might find a specific application for a or b, the real answer is c. Selecting d could appear to be correct, if you were following along from the first question, but there are a lot of specific situations in which having a meeting on the schedule is necessary. You need to have a predefined schedule for meetings going into the project so that you can regularly have a chance to sit down with your team and discuss important matters.
While a meeting timeline is important, the second clause of the answer is also worth keeping in mind. “Adjust as necessary during the project” means that you shouldn’t wait until your prescheduled meeting to have a discussion if something arises. You shouldn’t adhere to your meeting schedule regardless of any changes. Rather, if things go in a direction you weren’t anticipating earlier, adjust the schedule.
In a way, you need to be both rigid and flexible. Schedule meetings ahead of time and be rigid with expecting attendance and holding to the schedule. But when the scope changes or timelines are moved forward or back, then rigidity will prove to be a downfall. Use your flexibility to adjust your meeting timeline as well.
3. How do you address your stakeholders?
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I don’t
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Only through email; I prefer to keep things brief
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I use the best method as determined by the stakeholders’ preferences themselves
While it was previously stated that there are no wrong answers, you can probably agree that a is not the best choice. Hopefully you picked c and use email when it is desired by the stakeholders. Your stakeholders might be a diverse group, and not all of them have the same preferences for how they’d like to be updated. That’s another consideration, so make sure that you’re addressing them through the proper channels.
Note that while you can deviate from these best practices, it’s often at the expense of efficiency and even your team’s well-being. If you think there is a good reason to go off track (and perhaps, in the long run, you may see greater returns by using good judgment to forge your own way), make sure that you’ve spent some time thinking about all of the possible outcomes.
