When it comes to project management, time is not on your side. Work piled up, and deadlines loomed largely. While project managers haven’t yet learned how to bend time and space to their will, you may utilize time management strategies to track how much time you spend on assignments.
Assume your task is to prepare cookies for Julian’s birthday celebration. To finish the project, you will need to purchase or obtain ingredients, prepare and mix the recipe, bake the cookies, transport the cookies to the celebration, and so on. You will, however, require time. You will not finish your job if you wait until 15 minutes before the party begins baking. A project manager’s ability to manage time is equally crucial as managing all other resources.
What Is Project Time Management?
Analyzing and setting a schedule and timeframe for project completion is part of project time management. Formalized time management techniques buffer unexpected bottlenecks and miscalculated project timelines.
These time management plans outline which activities should be changed and how resources should be allocated and managed throughout the project. If the project time management wants to get the best results, it must collaborate with project management platforms .
Why Is Project Time Management Important?
Task management is incomplete without time management. Studies show that you can use project management platforms to increase your productivity and make your work life more joyful. It assists in breaking down projects, task assignments, and project completion on schedule.
These strategies are divided into three broad categories:
- Implementing time management best practices
- project time management processes
- using the proper time management tools
Of fact, some categories overlap, so don’t think of them as stages that must be completed in a specific order. Instead, consider the demands of your project team and the more significant business, and then begin by applying the tactics that appear to have the most chance of succeeding. For example, SEO keyword research services are one of content writers’ best tactics.
Project time management allows you to break down a project into smaller, more manageable chunks, such as tasks. Project time management works with task and resource management to keep you on track. And there were a lot of times that it succeeded! For example, as an executive assistant, while performing general office administration duties, he managed the busy schedules and travel plans of three or more corporate executives.
Also, he developed a new internal communication system for assistants that saves four work hours per week on average.
A secretary could pilot a new appointments booking system that increased office efficiency by 15%. Two supervisors praised office efficiency for meticulous record-keeping by using time project management and project management platforms .
By designating time for each task in your project, you can keep track of the timeline and deliver on time. You may prioritize activities, identify dependencies, and establish milestones to assist track progress, whether using a to-do list or more complicated project management tools .
How to Use Project Time Management?
Project time management analyzes work and establishes a timeline to ensure that a project is completed on time.
There are six steps when managing project time:
- Define Activities: List all tasks that must be completed to complete the project’s ultimate deliverable.
- Sequence Activities: Determine how you will accomplish the tasks in order.
- Estimate Resources: Determine which resources (and in what quantities) are required to execute tasks and create deliverables.
- Estimate Duration: Determine how long each task will take to complete and the overall project timeline’s duration.
- Develop Schedule: Create a project schedule using the information provided above.
- Control Schedule: Develop a strategy to manage risk and address changes to the project schedule while being implemented.
Time Management Tips
Keep a to-do list, for starters. It may seem like it’s not essential, but you’d be shocked how many individuals aren’t conscious of it when attempting to work more efficiently. Keeping your work on sticky notes is a sure way to lose track of crucial tasks.
After that, you’ll need to deal with distractions. As many people work remotely or from home, this has become a significant issue. Set up a home office in an isolated area of your living space if you have the space.
Last but not least, make a schedule for yourself. Time blocking is the most substantial barrier against slack in your calendar, whether you operate from home or in an office. Task scheduling in a project is macro, while work scheduling is micro. They weave a tight knot around time and squeeze every last drop out of it. If you do all of these things, you’ll be able to manage your time and improve your time management skills properly.
Project Time Management Best Practices
1. Pareto Principle
The 80/20 rule is the same thing as the Pareto Principle. This suggests that if you spend 20% of your time on anything, you should get 80% of the outcomes. Identify and highlight the tasks that add the most value from the start. Review the task priority and, if necessary, file a formal modification request if value and time become out of balance at any point.
2. Maintain a straightforward approach
It’s all too easy to make things more complicated than they need to be. Take a step back, assess the actual “why,” and consider more focused approaches to completing a task. Concentrate your efforts on the most efficient methods for completing each work while keeping the overall project goals in mind.
3. Observe and analyze how time expenditure
Review time allocation across the board regularly. Maintaining project timetables and budgets requires efficient use of all resources, particularly human capital.
4. Act instead of worry
It’s easy to lose track of time, fretting about whether something is “good enough” or whether the team will meet the deadline. Put your worries aside and get to work. More investigation is required. If required, request an extension and make the necessary changes to ensure that anything is completed correctly.
5. Goals should be set on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis
Setting objectives can help you feel more motivated. Make a monthly objective and work backward from there. Weekly and daily goals should be integrated so that by the time teams and departments achieve their daily, then weekly goals, they have completed the entire month’s objectives.
6. Take frequent brief rests
When breaking down complex tasks into manageable portions, remember to take breaks. Taking well-earned breaks keeps the mind and body in good health.
7. When you have the most energy, work
Work on the most critical chores during the day’s most productive, energetic hours, and save the less-motivated tasks later.
Summary
Project managers should manage their time successfully. How can you manage your team if you can’t manage your own time? Every day, ask yourself what you did to advance the project. Plan out your next day and what you’ll do to keep your project on the straight and narrow. Plan your time wisely, manage your resources with care, and communicate clearly. Project success should be more effortless with some time management.
Check these out:
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9 Best Project Management Tools and Resource Scheduling Software to Improve Teams
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Project Roadmap: What is it and how it helps to Manage Stakeholder’s Expectations?
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