The Importance of Project Management (with some Anecdote)

Manager - Guys, we need to work this weekend!

Executive - But we did that in the previous week as well, and the one before that!

We've all been there, and no one likes it. Not even the manager, trust me! 

There are times when the excess workload just gets out of our hands, and we have to push the team and ourselves to get it done but if this becomes a trend, well, then it's a dire time to take a look at your project management. Inability to incorporate a well-planned gameplan, in the long-term can lead to high attrition, a lot of internal disputes, and the worst of all, low-quality work.

On the other hand, if done right, all the stakeholders, right from the board and CXOs to the management and the team, get what they want - the best product or service, work-life balance, and a wide range of tangible and non-tangible benefits. 

Just a heads up - I am not taking a jab on any project manager at all. But the following article reflects my key takeaways at different stages of my professional career, which is still just a handful of years. So, I hope you will be able to connect with them, irrespective of which side of the table you sit on!

So, without further ado, let's find out why you, as a leader or a future leader, MUST optimize your four most important resources - time, money, cost, and knowledge, and how you can do it by focusing on all the aspects of Project Management.

1. Helps achieve both individual and organizational goals

Success differs for different stakeholders. While an investor considers success as green colors on a spreadsheet, the manager considers it as 'Done' status against the project names in Jira, Asana, Trello, or SmartTask. For the ground team, the primary goal could be as nominal as making a change in functionality. Here, project management coincides with stakeholder management. The leader has to balance the client's expectations and management while weighing in for the team and setting realistic expectations and deliverables on behalf of the team.

2. Optimizes the time utilization and enhances productivity

Not every conversation in a project or the team has to be on emails. At the same time, you do not want the team to keep second-guessing whether the next call or meeting will be via Skype, Zoom, Google Meet, or a phone call. So, right from the get-go, it's best to define communication methods and tools to be used. 

Personally, I prefer Skype for one-on-one and group chats while using Slack as a common platform for group announcements and automated notifications integrated with all your operations and project management tools via APIs. This way, all the concerned members are always kept in the loop, keeps the need for vertical communication to the bare minimum, as every member stays updated with the automatic notifications.

One of the major advantages - no daily EOD reports on Google Sheets or Excel required, which even to this date, is being used by 77% of companies across the globe! With a project management tool and an automated notifier, you just saved at least 30 minutes for all of your team members every single day. Now just calculate the returns you made on that!

3. Reduces delays and cost overruns

Excerpt from a Harvard Business Review Article:

“We surveyed 182 senior managers in a range of industries: 65% said meetings keep them from completing their own work. 71% said meetings are unproductive and inefficient. 64% said meetings come at the expense of deep thinking. 62% said meetings miss opportunities to bring the team closer together.”

How many times have we been part of a 3 hours meeting that could have been just an email?

In the workplace, personally, I am entirely against surprise meetings. A project requires team discussion from time to time, but before blocking the calendar for any meeting, it is crucial that every attendee gets a heads-up about the meeting agenda so he/she can contribute to the discussion instead of becoming just another headcount. 

So, please let's not do that, and keep the surprise meetings to a minimum!

Making this a norm (which I have witnessed first-hand and heard of from many) can have a disastrous effect. Productive meetings can save hundreds of collective working hours, which in turn would reduce delays in the project delivery as well as that cutthroat deadline sprint at the end of the project!

Taking too much time to complete a project pisses the client and the management. But what usually goes unnoticed is the toll that this pressure takes on the employees as they may have to do overtime or even let go of their weekends to make up for the inefficiency of a project manager. Furthermore, this could end up adding more organizational costs, considering you are paid an overtime bonus. But this scenario in itself is a two-edged sword. Overtime payments for the employees are additional costs for the employer, and overloading employees with mandatory workload disrupts their cool-down period, and if done on a frequent basis, their overall work-life balance.

And when 72% of employees consider work-life balance as one of the most important factors for choosing an employer, you could be giving up on a huge talent pool.

I do not deny the exceptions when even we had to work our asses off. Moreover, working in a high-pressure environment can also improve a team's synchronization but let's try to keep those exceptions to a bare minimum, I'd say!

4. Encourages Teamwork and Ownership

"I thought he/she was doing that, not me!" 

DO NOT let this happen EVER… I mean, EVER!! (by the way, I'm also guilty for that!)

A well-planned project not only increases the efficiency of the current project through a well-balanced task division sets not only accountability but also strengthens the bond between a team or multiple teams, which can then transform into a force to be reckoned with. 

Some of the most important skills within a manager include people management, conflict resolution, and talent recognition. For a small team, knowing the abilities of the team members is more than enough. However, as the team grows, the chemistry between the most valuable members also becomes a crucial variable for overall success. When given space for experimentation by the business owners, the managers (along with team leads in bigger organizations) can switch the team members for a few projects and introduce them to new challenges. Steps like these not only support the individual growth of the team members but also imbibe ownership in them, a skill that is easier said to come by than it actually is. 

Sometimes it may work; other times, it may not! But one's got to try!

Because if it does, instead of witnessing internal clashes in the future, this could allow the best talents to own up to their tasks and collaborate with their colleagues to come up with their best efforts to make the project(s) a success! Moreover, as the team grows, the knowledge transfer and coordination among the team(s) reach new highs as they keep pushing one another!

5. Prepares For Risk Management

I remember this one time in 2019 when I lost more than 3000 USD of my company's paid ads budget (which was quite large for a startup) within an hour and was almost sure that I would get fired the very next day. And this is what my then CTO and mentor said, "consider this as my investment in you..."

There will be times when things don't quite turn out the way you expect or, in fact, turn into a disaster. But experience comes from mistakes!! These are the times when a good project manager comes up with a contingency plan. Depending on the type of risk you have to deal with, the response is made. In case the risk is positive, i.e., if you can somehow find a way to capitalize on the sudden setback. In other cases, if the risk is negative and nothing can be done about it, well, you just cut your losses and/or move on to the next steps.

Project management allows these risks to be identified, prioritized, and managed during both the initial as well as the final stage of the project. When incorporated within the project cycle, constant internal testing and quality analysis helps the team monitor and respond to the risks while cutting further losses by choosing the next-best alternative while staying within the project timeline.

6. Once luck twice is a coincidence; the third time is a pattern.

Successful project completion is not only important for the current project but also sets precedence for the succeeding projects. Moreover, keeping the tried and tested procedures constant sets a tradition of avoiding the big DONT's in a project while opening the scope for innovation and further improvements as you go. 

Furthermore, a team that works together gets in sync together, evolves together, and expands together. And the momentum that was created by good project management makes quality a norm instead of a fluke.

So, What To Strive For…

Let's be second to none, if not the best! Positive reinforcement encourages the team to do better and stay on their toes for the next challenge with their heads held high.

Last but not the very least, at the end of every project, NEVER FORGET TO CELEBRATE! My best technique with the team is to catch up for a beer or two (or maybe a couple of drinks, a little bit of jin, some whiskey; tequilas also do a good job; well, you get the idea…) because my team and I deserve it! So, let's include the team entertainment budget within the project's variable cost, and give 3 cheers to the next project we’ll be working on!

PS: By the way, about that time, where I goofed up my companies budget, I thought I should also disclose what followed. My CTO took me out for lunch when he said those words and clearly stated that I MUST not repeat that! Five months down the line, in one of the projects, my team and I delivered more than 100% Y-o-Y growth, and I was promoted from a Digital Marketing Specialist to Marketing Head! 

Moral of the story - the trust in me was paid off!