>>Hi.
I am Devin Deen, Content Director here at ProjectManager.com.
[Music Intro]
>>Often times at the start of a project you will find your project team is absolutely
stunned and feeling a bit overwhelmed at the mountain of work that they have to accomplish
on that project.
It is up to you as a project manager to guide them through that period of uneasiness, help
them prioritize their work in a way that makes sense on the project, and that is what we
are going to talk about today: How to prioritise the work for your project teams?
Now, I described one instance, one situation where that project team would be a bit stunned
by that mountain of work they have to do and they just do not know whether to start first,
second or third.
Another instance might be when you do give them the work, they might start working on
things, but they will tend to gravitate towards the items that they are most comfortable with
doing, things they have done in the past, things that they think are easy, and they
will tackle those first, second and third, which is possibly not the right order of things.
Or conversely, they actually go after the items which look cool to do, things they are
just personally interested in doing.
Once again, that might not be the right order.
In extreme cases you will have one or two perfectionists on your team, and they just
cannot seem to get started at all.
They are looking at the work they have to do and they are just thinking to themselves,
“How can I ever complete this work in the amount of time that I am given.
It just won’t be a perfect, high quality product.
So, you got to help them understand prioritize their work to actually achieve those high
quality outcomes, but in the time-frames that you have, and by prioritizing the work that
helps them get there.
Now, I have got three tips that I use when I find my project teams are either stunned
into silence by the sheer volume of stuff or they may not chose to work on the items
in the right priority.
The first thing I do is I take that project team who are looking at things from their
perspective only, sort of at sea level, and I rise them up to the 30000-feet level in
that helicopter given the big picture view, let them see all the little projects or work
streams that are happening in parallel to what they are doing, and help them understand
the different dynamics of the project as a whole.
When you give them the big picture view, they will then be able to make better choices on
the work items in terms of the priority that they tackle those tasks.
The next thing I do with the project team is I take them through an exercise to help
them understand the dependencies the other teams have on them, and that they have on
other teams.
So, when they are looking at those dependencies and how they might sequence in time, they
can then structure the work in the priority order that allows them to meet the deliverable
time-frames that other teams have for them or shout up to the teams that they are depending
on that they are ready to receive that baton, if you will, from that previous team member
and communicate to them when they need that work item, and then prioritize the remaining
work around the times when that other team member can actually deliver that item to them
and they get going.
The next thing I do is I have them look at the tasks and list them in a way that is hardest
to easiest.
Then, I get them to actually tackle the hard tasks first.
It is human tendency to go after the things we know how to do easiest, that we are comfortable
in doing, right?
It is a happy place for us to be.
We are comfortable in achieving that work.
So, we naturally just gravitate and do those first.
In reality, because of upper dependency items or the time-frames, it may be required that
team member actually tackle the hard stuff first.
My rule of thumb is to actually get them to do those hard tasks right up at the front
and that way if there are any issues when they are doing those hard items, then you
have got a bit of time in your back pocket to actually recover for those.
If you let the project team members organize themselves and organize the priority of work
and have those hard items tackled last, what you will find is that you do not have the
luxury of time anymore if there are any issues that come up with those hard tasks.
Then, you are actually in a reactionary mode.
It may have an impact on your schedule, time, costs, etc.
So, get them to tackle those hard items first.
With these simple tips, you are able to help motivate your team out of their little funk
spot where they actually do not know what to do first, second or third.
I think by using the big picture view, the relay race metaphor and the tackling the hard
things first, you will be able to help that project team get motivated and breathe life
into your project.
Use our software to apply these techniques on your project.
Come sign up and join us at ProjectManager.com.
Read Previous ArticleTop Ten TemplatesRead Next Article