As an experienced Project Manager and confessed Angry Birds addict, it did not took me long to figure out the striking similarities between the two. For both I have dedicated many hours, and I reached high scores as I started with success in mind and an open heart.
1. Understand Your Birds: Black Birds are like flying explosives, while each White Bird can drop an egg bomb that we can use to take down a structure. Each bird – or team member – has its own unique traits, skills, and expertise. Be sure to know your team’s strengths and weaknesses so you can assign the right resources to each task. You can use Microsoft’s automatic effort-driven scheduling
to plan completing every task in the least amount of time.
2. Share Your Plan: As the project manager, make sure to communicate your plan and vision with your team in a simple and free way! Project teams can use online storage services like Dropbox to store and share MS Project (MPP) files. Dropbox users (2GB of free storage) can keep any type of file in their Dropbox. From there, the project manager can email a link to any of those files, including an MPP file. Any team member with the Housatonic Project Viewer for Microsoft Project on their PC (free trial available) can just click the link to the project file, and the viewer will open it with one click.
3. Try Different Angles: Literally, that’s what one has to do with Angry Birds and project management. Don’t let the frustration get you angry when an unexpected situation creates a delay. Use Microsoft Project Gannt charts to simulate various scenarios, and learn the best strategy to use when the unexpected arises.
4. Think Outside the Box: Best thing about gaming is that we can our use innate creativity, and try various scenarios. For example, one can use a Yellow bird against a wall without using finger tapping to accelerate. Bring innovative solutions in project management, while safely relying on industries’s golden standard of Microsoft Project.
5. Observe the Environment: We can use the environment to note the perfect timing for an action. This helps to know exactly when to launch an egg bomb. Fact is, there are no two identical projects to manage. Make sure you actively listen to your client and your team experts. It will allow smart project moves and will avoid disaster.
6. Take notes: Score changes with every bird hit. Angry birds use scores, project managers use reports, charts and presentations. Impress your coworkers and your customers by designing custom reports to show the current status and relevant figures for your project.
7. Expect the unexpected: Risk and adrenaline drive every Angry Bird. While enjoying the adrenaline rush, always keep in mind the scope of your project. Make sure you plan ahead and you do have a reliable backup plan. You never know what comes next, and you do want to be prepared.
Don’t get angry! In the end, the best thing is to enjoy the game and the work. If you love project management you will have great outcomes and your customers will love it too. Aim high and get cheering ovations at the end!