Triple Constraints

One of the toughest challenges for a PM can be juggling multiple projects. You’re trapped on conference calls all day while your inbox becomes cluttered with emails from internal partners, vendors and clients discussing any number of active projects. If you let it get out of control, you could become the bottleneck in your own project.

A common approach is to keep your inbox empty by checking email throughout the day and making some immediate decisions on the ever-growing list. If you’ll never need the email, you delete it. If you can resolve the issue in a minute or two, you take action then delete it (or file it), etc. There are a few versions of this approach, commonly referred to as Inbox Zero. It’s better than complete inbox chaos, but I worry you lose some efficiency by not having immediate inbox access to relevant materials.

I recommend finding a middle ground. I use my inbox like a to-do list. Every item in there needs my attention. If it doesn’t need my attention, I file it away. So it’s never completely empty, but it is also free of clutter. Here are few tips:

• Multi-task and Take Action
  Don’t be afraid to let yourself get distracted. This is similar to Inbox Zero – but perhaps taking this one step further, I think you should multi task by checking email in meetings that don’t require your undivided attention. And if you are working on an important task that takes hours, force yourself to break away from time to time to check your email and resolve any issues that don’t require investigation or effort.
• Create a Filing System
  If I’ve read the email and I don’t need to take action on it, I’ll file it away in a project-specific subfolder. I never delete anything that might need to be referenced later. Emails can be an excellent resource for historical information on a project. File your emails in such a way that allows you to easily search your subfolders for key information.
• Use Email Flags
  If you can’t take immediate action on an email and you need it for future reference, keep it in your inbox and flag it. You can break out your flags by color so you can identify next steps at a glance. i.e. Red = top priority, Green = take action within a few days, Blue = file attachment that will be needed for reference in the near future. Set up the system so it is relevant for you.
• Clean House
  Using this system instead of a pure Inbox Zero approach will allow your inbox to build up after a few days. You’ll have immediate access to urgent materials because they are in your top level inbox, but you’ll also end up with some unnecessary items. That’s why you’ll need to clean up every few days. Go through your flagged emails and file away anything that you no longer need for immediate reference.

With this approach, you should be able to keep your inbox down to 10 items or so, each of which need your attention in the near future. You’ll be better organized, which will help you work more efficiently. And if you have any ideas or recommendations, please add them in the comments.

We all have been on a project where timelines are missed. It is unfortunate, but it happens. We spend all our time scrambling to recover from missed timelines, but we rarely spend enough time looking at the root causes of the miscues. Missing timelines is detrimental to our projects and to our careers.

Below are some of the most common causes for missed timelines during the initiation and planning phases of the project.

Going into battle with the wrong army – we all know the difference a great team can make on your project. Having people you can trust to accomplish their tasks can make a tremendous difference. Spend time in the beginning of the project securing the resources that you need to execute your project. Any effort you spend fighting for resources will be more than offset by the effort you don’t have to spend compensating for poor performers on your team.

Misunderstanding your orders – not knowing what your team needs to accomplish is certain to lead to missed timelines. It may sound obvious, but incomplete or incorrect requirements are too often the culprit for missed timelines. Make sure that you work with your clients to clearly define what is expected of you and your team. This will instill confidence in your clients and will ensure that you lead your team to success.

Underestimating your foe – too many teams fail because they fail to accurately estimate how long their tasks will take to accomplish. Some of this is overconfidence in their abilities, while some of it is due to uncertainty surrounding the tasks or the project. Make sure you work with your team to accurately estimate task durations. Use historical data as an input into your estimates when possible. Instill in your team that the estimates they come up with are what they are committing to. This will force them to closely examine their estimates.

In part 2 of this series I will look at the most common causes of missed timelines during the execution phase of a project.