3 Steps to Improving Project Management

When it comes to deploying new products and services or implementing a new process, your project management (PM) team becomes a critical piece of the puzzle. Your PM team determines how effectively and efficiently a project deploys, yet a survey by PMI found that only 58 percent of organizations fully understand the value of project management.

That misunderstanding is inadvertently causing roadblocks in your implementations and tying an anchor to your productivity. But, it’s not too late to make a change. You can support a simpler, more effective project management process.

Get started with these three steps:

1. Analyze & Identify

Start by analyzing your business. What are you trying to accomplish? What are your roadblocks and what have you tried in the past? If this isn’t the first time you’ve attempted to roll out a new product or service, think about what succeeded the first time and what you learned throughout the process.

Then, identify what would help this time go more smoothly. Did you attempt to deploy the new product without informing the entire company, and it resulted in confusion and chaos? Consider sending out company-wide emails explaining the new product and exactly when it will be deployed – followed up by another email reminder the day before the deployment date.

2. Create a Strategy

Whether this is the first time you’ve attempted to change a process or deploy a new product, or you’ve already identified your areas of improvement from previous experiences, you should begin by creating a strategic plan of action. Creating a strategy keeps your entire team on the same page and gives them checkpoints to determine how well the deployment is going.

A strategic plan gives your team clarity and a common goal to work toward. You can include the technology you need to leverage during your deployment and determine which teams you’ll need to ensure the implementation goes smoothly. By using a project management software solution (like Jira or Basecamp), you can digitize your strategy and easily share it amongst your team to improve communications and productivity.

3. Monitor Progress

Start monitoring your progress and adjust your deployment strategy as your team completes tasks or changes direction. If your project management software doesn’t quite fit your needs, see if there is one that does, and assess whether it’s viable to adopt the new software. If your deployment is taking longer than you were expecting, decide how you can streamline later tasks to make up for the delays.

Monitoring the status of your deployments gives you better visibility into what is and isn’t working and what you may need to change for future deployments and process implementations. After deployment, you can generate reports using real-time data to demonstrate how much ROI you’ve received and give your sales team valuable information to leverage.

Don’t let project management be the last piece of the puzzle you put into place. By analyzing and identifying your needs, creating a strategic plan and monitoring your progress, you can ensure a simpler, more effective project management solution that promotes a seamless deployment.

 

For more information on project management tools and how we can help you improve your deployments, contact us today.

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