Mandatory disclosure

Stay on budget

Project failure is costly — but with progress tracking, you can anticipate problems and take the necessary steps to steer a project back on course.

According to the Project Management Institute’s 2020 “Pulse of the Profession,” on average, organizations waste 11.4% of their total investments because of poor project performance. Additionally, of those that undervalue the significance of sound project management, 67% see their projects failing outright.

Every project involves several moving parts, including people, timelines, budgets, acceptance criteria, risks, and stakeholder satisfaction. Each affects the other, and it’s the project manager’s duty to ensure the project goes according to plan. This is where project tracking comes in.

Maximize resources

Schedule daily or weekly meetings, whether physically in the same room or virtually via video conferencing. Use these to chat through updates on task statuses, any difficulties team members may be experiencing, and potential risks that can derail progress.

For when you can’t be in the same place, Slack works seamlessly with Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Calls so you don’t have to switch between apps to start or join meetings.

Taking time to meet with team members individually not only strengthens relationships but also enables project managers to understand whether or not they’re in alignment with their teams in terms of goals and expectations.

If meeting face to face is not an option, Slack supports private messaging and one-on-one video calling via its built-in messaging feature.

Timesheets record how much time employees are spending on tasks, which, in turn, allow project managers to:

• Understand which employees are better suited for which tasks
• Identify employee availability to more evenly distribute the workload
• Pinpoint which employees may need additional training
• Anticipate delays
• Estimate expected costs