Project Management

A project is an organized set of work focused on reaching one or more objectives. A project has a specific start and finish and a set of tasks to accomplish your objectives. Your project objectives may include things like creating a service or building a team, or something more narrowly focused like writing an article or picking a vendor. You may have a simple project, where you individually complete all of the tasks over a short period of time. You may also have a complex project, involving multiple people or businesses working together for a long period of time.

Project management is the process used to organize your project team, tasks, and resources to maximize your chances of successfully reaching your project objectives.

Project management helps you stay focused on your objectives throughout the length/duration of the project. It provides a clear road map to reach your objectives and helps ensure you address any challenges or barriers that show up along the way. Using project management significantly increases your chances of successfully accomplishing your objectives.

Later in this session, during the execute on the project plan stage, you will learn about how to document project progress. There is also a section about project management tools that includes a Project Planning Template. The key point for now is that documenting project progress is critical to your project success.

For now, you can use a piece of paper, a document, a spreadsheet, or a simple project management tool to capture your ideas. The tool you will eventually use is the one that works the best for you and your project. This is similar to physical exercise. If you like to walk, then walk. If you like yoga, choose that. During this session, you will learn how to choose the appropriate tool for your project.

Stage 1: Define Project Objectives and Success Criteria 

During this first phase of your project, determine the purpose of the project. A project is typically started to help you achieve one or more objectives. An objective is a goal you want to reach. The success criteria are the requirements you use to decide if you have successfully reached your objectives. You can answer the following questions to help determine your project objectives and success criteria:

• Why am I starting a project?
• What do I want to accomplish by completing this project?
• How will I know when the project is successfully completed?

When thinking about your project objectives, it is helpful to start with the end in mind. Imagine you have reached the end of your project and successfully achieved your project objectives. Ask yourself:

• How do I feel at that point in the future, having completed this project?
• What helped me to be successful?
• What were some of the challenges you had to overcome?

You can use that thinking to help in planning your project to increase your chances of success.

An example of a project objective may be to hire a team of three salespeople. In this case your success criteria could be that you have three people who have started working in your business as salespeople. Another project objective example is to offer a new service to customers. In this case, success criteria may include having a documented service offering and three pilot (or “test”) customers who have provided positive feedback about the new service. 

When you complete this stage of project management, you will have one or more project objectives and your success criteria for those objectives. The objectives and success criteria need to be written down somewhere where the entire project team can access them throughout the project to stay focused on the purpose of the project.

Stage 2: Develop the Project Plan

• Identify Milestones

A milestone is any important point during your project that you want to acknowledge. An example of a milestone is getting a document approved, creating a working product example, or signing your first customer for a new service. Milestones are usually used internally, within the project team. They are not typically shared externally, for example with customers. Milestones have a couple of purposes:

• • First, they help you manage your project. Milestones usually have a due date when you plan to reach them. You can track when you actually reach each milestone to see if you are on, ahead of, or behind schedule. That lets you adjust your work and your resources to try to stay on schedule.
  • Second, milestones provide moments of celebration during the project. For more complicated or long-term projects, waiting until you successfully complete all project objectives can feel like a long time without acknowledging success. Milestones give you specific mini-goals during the project which you can celebrate as they are completed. This helps you and your team stay motivated throughout the project.

Simple or short projects may not need milestones. Be careful not to overplan your project. If the objective is simple and this is a solo project, make the project plan equally simple.

Write down any clear goals for your project and document them as your milestones. Later you will create a timeline and decide when each milestone each needs to be reached.

In completing this stage of your project management you will have one or more milestones for the project or a decision that this project is small enough that it does not need milestones.

• Define Deliverables

A deliverable is the tangible output of a task or group of tasks. Deliverables differ from a milestone in a couple of ways:

• • First, deliverables are typically visible to both the project team and to external parties, like customers, partners, or other people within your business.
  • Second, deliverables are tangible. That means a deliverable is some kind of output like a service offering, document, or product. A decision being reached or approval from someone about something are not deliverables because they are not tangible. Those are milestones.

Deliverables are bigger than individual tasks. They represent key pieces of output during your project. For a smaller project, there may be one deliverable. For larger projects, you may have deliverables each week or month during the project.

In completing this stage of your project management you will have a list of one or more milestones for the project or a decision that this project is small enough that it does not need milestones.

• Determine Who Will Be on the Project Team

Many projects are solo projects where you are the entire project team. In those cases, a project plan is still valuable to help you define your objectives, organize your work, and stay focused and on schedule.

If your project requires other people, decide who will be included. Consider the objectives, milestones, and deliverables to be reached when deciding who will be involved in the project. Also, you may have people on the project who will not complete work. They may give input, review output, or approve decisions during the project. Depending on your project objectives, you may include other people within your business, customers, vendors, or partners in your project team.

When involving a team, it’s crucial to clearly define roles and responsibilities from the beginning. Too many people trying to do the same task can lead to miscommunication, tension between team members, and inefficiencies. Assigning specific roles ensures that everyone knows their responsibilities, which helps maintain focus and accountability. This approach minimizes overlap and avoids the confusion of having "too many cooks in the kitchen," ultimately leading to a more streamlined and productive project.

At the end of this part of the process, you will have a list of project team members along with their contact information.

• Create a Task List and Timeline for the Work

Now that you have defined your project objectives and success criteria, milestones, and deliverables, as well as your project team, begin to create a list of tasks and a timeline to achieve those items. Tasks are the individual items your project team needs to complete on the way to achieving your objectives.

Tasks need to be specific, clear, and measurable. Write a clear task so any project team member reading the project plan understands what needs to be done to complete that task. For example, “Learn about competitors” is a vague task. You may not know when this is completed. In contrast, “Gather and write down information about the top five competitors’ products, customers, strengths, and weaknesses” is more specific, clear, and measurable. It is easier to know when this task is complete.

In addition, make sure tasks are realistic and attainable. It is a common mistake at this stage of a project to be overly optimistic, thinking that your project team can achieve more than is realistic. You and your team only have the skills and experience you bring to the project. If the project tasks require more than that, consider making the tasks simpler. Another option is adding learning tasks to the project to help you obtain the skills and experience you need to complete the tasks. A final choice is to add people to the project team who have the skills and experience that are missing from the project.

Now that you have a task list, assign each of those tasks to a member of your project team. For a solo project, you get assigned all of the tasks. If you have other team members, think about who has the skill set and available time to complete each task.

Completing tasks will lead to achieving milestones and deliverables and, ultimately, your project objectives. In order to organize all of these items, create a project timeline. The timeline shows the tasks, milestones, deliverables, and objectives on a calendar so you can communicate and track what needs to be completed by when. Like tracking your project, your timeline can be on a piece of paper, in an electronic document or spreadsheet, or in a project management tool.

• • Begin with the project objectives. When does this project need to be completed? That is the first date on your timeline. From there, work backwards, filling in the due dates for each milestone and deliverable. Next, think about what tasks will need to be completed to reach each milestone and deliverable. Put those in your timeline before the milestone and deliverable dates to make sure the necessary tasks are done in time to meet those milestones and deliverables. Make sure you plan for time when you will be waiting for deliverables from someone else either within your business or outside, like a customer, partner, or vendor.
  • Next, review your tasks to identify dependencies between tasks. A dependency is when one task requires another task to be completed first. For example, if you are offering a new service, the task to create a flier describing the service is dependent on the task defining what the service includes. Be sure to document dependencies in your timeline. One way is to number your tasks and include the task numbers of any dependent tasks next to the task that is depending on them.
  • Once you have created a timeline, review it to make sure it is realistic. Can the tasks, milestones, deliverables, and objectives be completed in the time allotted? Does any one person on the project team have too many tasks to do at the same time? Plan more time than you think you need to allow for challenges that may arise during the project work. If any parts of your timeline are not realistic, consider taking a longer time for the project or reducing the project scope by removing objectives. Ideally, you will begin work on the project with a timeline that is achievable.

When you complete this part of the process, you will have a timeline for your project, including all tasks with an assigned owner, deliverables, milestones, and objectives, as well as task dependencies. 

• Define Your Project Budget, Including Money and Materials

In addition to people, many projects require other resources. You may need to allocate money for the project to buy parts for a product or to hire an expert to help with one of the tasks. You also may need to allocate materials that your business already owns like paper or technology components. Define these requirements before starting the execute on the project plan stage to ensure that the resources are available and set aside for this project so they are not used for something else within your business. If needed, get your resource use approved now to avoid issues with those resources later.

In completing this step of the process you will have a list of resources required for the project, any approvals needed to use those resources, and a budget for the project based upon all anticipated expenses. 

• Identify the Biggest Risks to the Project and Ways to Reduce Those Risks

Every project has risks. These are events that may happen which make it more difficult to complete your project as planned. An example of a project risk is a project team member getting sick or it taking longer to solve a problem than planned.

You can invest time during this project planning stage to identify the most likely risks and think about how to avoid them or reduce the chance of those events impacting your project success.

• • Set aside time to think together with the project team, or on your own for solo projects. To start this discussion, each team member shares what they think are some of the biggest risks to this project. Risks are big if they are likely to happen or would have a significant negative impact if they did happen. Once you have a list of risks, order them from the highest to lowest risk based on a discussion with the team.
  • Next, spend time talking about how to reduce the chance of the biggest risks happening. You can decide how many to address, based on the size of the project, the number of risks identified, and the cost if the project is not successfully completed. A bigger project, more identified risks, and a higher cost for not completing the project all mean you will want to work to address more of the identified risks. A small project with a short list of risks and a low cost of non-completion requires fewer risks to be addressed at this stage.
  • For each risk, talk through ways to reduce the chance of that event happening. For example, to reduce the risk of someone getting sick slowing the project, have project members work in teams to back each other up. While you will not be able to remove all risk from the project, this exercise will both alert you and any other project team members to potential risks and increase the chances of success.

This part of the process will help you create a prioritized list of risks and the actions you will take to reduce the chance of those events happening.

• Plan for Progress Check-Ins and Communications, Even for Solo Projects

One of the ways project management adds value is through scheduled progress check-ins. These check-ins are a scheduled time to review the tasks, milestones, and deliverables that have been completed, discuss what is coming up next in the project, review the potential risks, and address any barriers or delays that have shown up since the last check-in. Depending on the length of your project and the size of the project team, progress check-ins may be scheduled every one to two weeks.

In addition to these in-person or virtual team check-in meetings, establish ways for your project team to communicate with each other during the project. These communication methods will depend on what your business typically uses, such as emails, phone calls, chat tools, or written memos. Make sure all project team members have access to the communication method(s) you choose so it is easy for team members to reach each other when needed.

For solo projects, it is important to set aside time to check in on your progress. This helps ensure you are focused on the tasks, milestones, deliverables, and project objectives you defined at the start of the project. It also provides a time to stop your project work and address any issues that may get in the way of you successfully completing your project.

After completing this step you will have a recurring calendar appointment with the project team to check in on the project, as well as established communication methods that all project team members can access.

Stage 3: Execute on the Project Plan

• Hold a Kickoff Meeting

Whether it is in person, on a video call, or via a phone call, have a meeting with the entire project team to kick off the project. During this meeting review the objectives for this project so everyone involved knows the purpose of the project and what it means to successfully complete the project. If the project team members don’t know each other, have each person introduce themself and their role in the project. Review the timeline, milestones, and deliverables. Make sure questions are answered and that everyone knows when your first check-in meeting is scheduled. This is an opportunity to make sure everyone is on the same page and excited about starting this new project together.

The kickoff meeting is important for solo projects as well. Set aside time to review your project objectives to ensure you understand what you are trying to accomplish with this project. Just like in a project with multiple team members, review the timeline, milestones, and deliverables to make sure you have a clear understanding of what this project requires of you in order to be successful.

• Begin to Work on and Complete Tasks

You and your team are now ready to begin executing on your project plan. That starts with working on and completing tasks. Since you developed a thorough project plan, the timeline provides clear guidance on what tasks need to be completed in what order.

Each project team member will benefit from focusing on one task at a time. While multi-tasking may seem more efficient, it often causes mistakes. Also, switching back and forth between different thoughts and ideas is more tiring than concentrating on one task at a time. That does not mean one team member cannot be assigned to more than one task at a time. It means in a given moment each person works on one task only.

Encourage yourself and your team members to strive for excellent completion of tasks rather than perfection. Striving for perfection is not realistic or necessary, and it may slow down a project that is progressing well.

• Communicate Via Scheduled Check-In Meetings and Other Communication Methods

Communication among the project team members is one of the best predictors of successfully achieving your project objectives. Consistently hold your progress check-in meetings. These conversations help maintain project momentum and ensure that all project team members are aligned.

When preparing for these meetings, ask team members to update the project plan ahead of the check-in meeting and come prepared to discuss any delays or risks.

For a solo project, honor the time on your calendar to check in with yourself on your project progress and address any risks or barriers to successfully reaching the objectives.

Throughout the project, communicate more than you think is necessary. It is easy to assume that no news is good news. So if you don’t hear from team members everything must be going well. Rather, check in with team members to make sure that their tasks, milestones, and deliverables are on track and that they have the support they need to successfully complete their part of the project. Trust your team members to complete their tasks and check in regularly to verify their progress. 

• Document Progress

As mentioned early in this session, it is critical to document progress throughout the project. How you document is less important than ensuring you document thoroughly. Since you have created a detailed project plan through this process, you can most easily document progress within that plan. Team members mark tasks as complete as they are finished. The project leader marks milestones and deliverables as met or completed when they are done. Tasks, milestones, or deliverables that are delayed or at risk of missing deadlines need to be marked as such so that the project team can take action to address those issues. This may be done by circling the task on a paper project plan or changing the task status to delayed on an electronic plan. The project lead checks on progress before each check-in meeting to make sure it is clear what needs to be addressed in that meeting.

Later in this session there is information about project management tools along with a Project Planning Template to help you get started. Different tools allow you to track progress differently. You can decide what makes sense based on your skill, business, and complexity of your project.

• Celebrate When You Reach Each Milestone and Major Deliverable

For longer projects, take time to celebrate reaching milestones and major deliverables. This helps keep the team motivated and excited about completing the project by successfully achieving the project objectives. A celebration of a milestone or major deliverable can be whatever you and your project team feel captures the excitement of achieving that step in the project. One option is to talk at the kickoff meeting about how this project team wants to celebrate accomplishments.

For solo projects, plan a celebration yourself for reaching a milestone or deliverable. This is easy to skip when you are busy. Remember that celebrating accomplishments is key to keeping your motivation and energy up for the entire project. 

• Complete All Tasks and Meet All Milestones and Deliverables

You will continue this cycle of completing tasks, having check-in meetings, documenting progress, and achieving and celebrating milestones and deliverables throughout the project. When the team has successfully completed all tasks and met all milestones, and deliverables, move on to Stage 4 below. 

Stage 4: Meet Success Criteria and Reach All Objectives

Once you have executed the project plan, check that you have met your defined success criteria and reached your objectives. If not, identify what tasks are required to reach those goals and go back into the execute on the project plan stage. Remember that you are working to achieve your success criteria and reach your objectives. You are not working towards perfection, as that is not achievable. If you have met your success criteria and objectives, congratulations! You have completed your project. Deliver the project output required to fulfill these objectives. Examples of project output may be delivering a new service or publishing a research report. Celebrate the successful completion of your project. 

Stage 5: Close Out the Project

As part of completing the project, it is valuable to have a retrospective. A retrospective is a meeting with the entire project team where you review the project. Be sure to discuss:

• What went well that we want to do in future projects?
• What did not go well that we want to change next time?
• What can we learn from this project?

After the retrospective is complete, formally close out the project. That process depends on your business. The simplest close out is a brief document that summarizes the objectives reached and the retrospective learnings. For more complex projects, the project close out may include writing a project report that is shared with a broader audience. Document planned improvements on the project deliverables as well. Be sure to save the project plans and documents all together so they can be referenced if needed in the future.

Many people, when starting a project, begin by choosing the project management tool they will use. However, the best tool for a project depends on several factors including the type, size, and complexity of the project, as well as who is on the project team. For that reason, the recommendation is to define your project objectives, success criteria, milestones, deliverables, and project team first. At that point you will have the information you need to select the appropriate project management tool for this project. 

Below is a Project Planning Template as well as an overview of some project management tools that may be useful to you. Beyond this short list, there are dozens of tools, many of which are available for free. You can do some online searches for free project management tools if you would like to learn more about some of the other available tools.

Project Planning Template and Uses

Here is the Project Planning Template you can use for your project. There are different ways you can customize this template for your use based upon the project management tool you decide to use. Some examples are below.

Paper and Pen

• For some projects and teams, a paper project plan is effective and simple to use. Consider using paper and pen if this is a solo project or if the entire project team is regularly in the same place, like an office or other work site. Keep in mind that paper project plans may be harder to update, so you may choose to use a pencil that can be erased and updated as the project progresses. In this example you can use the template provided.

Electronic/Online Document or Spreadsheet

• Another option for project management is an electronic/online document or spreadsheet. You can choose whatever tool you currently use for creating and editing documents or spreadsheets, such as Google Docs, Google Sheets, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel or Adobe Acrobat. An electronic document or spreadsheet for project management provides some of the same benefits as pen and paper in that it is effective and simple to use. Some added benefits of electronic documents are they are easy to share with project team members, all members of the team can be given the ability to edit the project plan, the plan can be updated as the project progresses, and the document or spreadsheet serves as a record of the project plan and outcome at the end of the project. You can create a version of the template provided in the electronic document or spreadsheet that you would like to use.

Simple Free Project Management Tools

• Many project management tools have free versions available that offer plenty of functionality for most projects. Project management tools are applications that are designed to capture the project components discussed here and track tasks throughout an entire project. In addition, most project management tools let you track more than one project at a time. Two tools that are useful and easy to learn are Trello and Asana. 
• Trello uses a Kanban Board approach. A Kanban Board is a project management tool that lets you visualize the work that is in progress and helps make sure there is not too much work planned at any one time. You can learn more about Trello and try out their free version on their website. 
• Asana uses a more task focused approach than Trello, and is ideal for tracking progress, communicating with team members, and managing projects start to finish. You can learn more about Asana and try out their free version on their website. 

THE TOP 10 DO'S

1. Define project objectives at the beginning of your project so you know what you are working to achieve.
2. Identify milestones and celebrate those achievements along the way.
3. Create a timeline for the work and track your progress against that plan. 
4. Identify the biggest possible risks to the project and ways to reduce those risks.
5. Communicate frequently with project members and other key stakeholders.
6. Use project management practically, as a tool to help you and your business reach your goals.
7. Make time to check in with yourself on solo projects to address risks and celebrate successes.
8. Trust team members to complete their tasks while checking in regularly to ensure they have the support they need and to verify their progress.
9. Focus on successfully completing your project objectives.
10. Focus on one task at a time.

THE TOP 10 DON'TS

1. Assume everything will go exactly as planned.
2. Feel like you have to know everything about project management to begin. 
3. Start with the project management tool selection instead of letting the type of project determine the right tool for you.
4. Assume that team members are on the same page without communicating regularly.
5. Strive for perfection rather than excellent completion of tasks.
6. Overplan a project. If it is a simple project, let the project management be simple as well.
7. Underestimate how long tasks will take to complete.
8. Forget to account for time needed to wait for a response or work from outside the project team, like with a vendor or customer.
9. Multitask in an effort to get more work done in a shorter amount of time.
10. Skip celebrating successfully achieving project milestones, deliverables and objectives.

If you are currently writing or have developed a business plan, consider taking a moment now to include any information about your business related to this session. MOBI’s free Business Plan Template and other worksheets, checklists, and templates are available for you to download. Just visit the list of MOBI Resource Documents on the Resources & Tools page of our website.

Here are some key terms and definitions used in this session or related to this session: