Five Advantages of Project Transparency
Claudio Gutierrez, PMP
Project Management Expert @ Valens Project Consulting | Efficiency Consulting
The importance of transparency in a project can’t be overstated. Project transparency is essential for inter-team accountability. Tasks that team members must finish before dependent activities can begin are easily identified and prepared for… and keep everyone on their toes! Here are other advantages of transparency when running your projects.
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1. Let everyone see the big picture
Each and every one of us wants to know how his or her part contributes to the larger goals of the team management or the company as a whole. When you give your employees visibility into the overall project progress and the scope of the project, each person will be able to see how his task fits into the whole, as well as what other team members are relying on him to finish before they can complete their own tasks.
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Whether it is task management or project management, if all team members have access to task status information, they will be able to jump in to help a colleague who is overwhelmed, rather than complaining to the manager about slow progress on a project. When team members have a view of the big picture through monitoring the project status, it encourages the team to collaborate and take on more responsibility.
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2. Let them see the data
Ever seen a report at the end of a project and thought “well if I’d known that before…”? As project managers, we must resist the urge to keep report data and other information isolated in silos. In a team environment where everyone has the ability to track project progress, run reports, and access information easily, each member will be empowered to make better decisions and stronger contributions as a result.
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For example, team members who can access the project reports on hours used vs. hours budgeted will be able to allow their own time more effectively and raise concerns earlier about tasks that have become more time-consuming than originally planned. By providing everybody with access to project data, every member of the team gains ownership over the project and is able to see how their work is contributing to the progress of the team as a whole.
3. Make collaboration easy
It has been proven that projects are more likely to succeed when teams collaborate well, and a key factor in project collaboration is the effective?communication in project management.??Open communication breaks down silos on interdisciplinary teams and keeps individual team members from working in isolation (even if they’re working remotely).
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Strong?project collaboration tools?enable teams to identify and solve problems more quickly.
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4. Share calendars
It may seem obvious, but it’s really helpful if everyone knows when things are happening.
Much time and frustration can be saved if everyone on the team knows what’s on the calendar.
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5. Have regular team-wide meetings
Kickoff meetings should be held periodically with every team member present to update everyone on the project constraints and progress throughout the project lifecycle. It is imperative you involve everyone in brainstorming sessions and ask-me-anything (AMA) sessions, as well as a regular sharing of initiatives, key metrics, challenges in project management, losses, and gains on a regular basis throughout the project lifecycle.
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This makes the team feel validated and their contributions acknowledged.
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In Conclusion
If your organization is not communicating efficiently, the results of your projects will be subpar or fail altogether. At Valens Project Consulting, we always work with our customers on how to make their teams as transparent as possible to ensure a culture of quality and continued success. Claim your?free operation audit?today and ensure that your teams and operations are running as efficiently as possible.
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