Effective project and program management is not just about hitting deadlines—it is about managing the customer experience. As we dig into the meaning of the term customer experience, we discover it is about delivering meaningful results while staying within scope and budget. It’s about providing data visibility to the customer, helping the customer manage their forecasting and capacity planning, and supporting data-driven decision-making. Whether you are leading a high-stakes initiative or managing multiple projects, having the right project management strategies in place can make all the difference. In fact, organizations using project management practices have a 92% success rate in meeting their project objectives.
Here are five key practices that will help you streamline your workflow, improve collaboration, and minimize risks. These insights will guide you in managing projects with confidence and efficiency, whether you are an experienced project manager or just starting out.
#1 Schedule Regular Status and Progress Meetings
Optimize Team Alignment with Daily Stand-Up Meetings
Daily stand-up meetings are an ideal way to provide the client with accurate data reporting on the program’s progress and to ensure that all project team members and stakeholders remain informed and aligned with the project goals. The Project Manager typically holds these meetings at the start of the workday to enable team members to quickly share progress updates, address any obstacles, and outline their plans for the day, thereby enhancing productivity and team cohesion. These stand-ups also form the basis for the project schedule delay analysis, which is discussed a bit later.
Enhance Team Efficiency with Bi-Weekly Coordination Meetings
An alternate approach used by GP Strategies on a recent project is to replace these daily stand-up meetings with two weekly coordination meetings, supported by additional problem-solving meetings scheduled on an as-needed basis. In this framework, the first coordination meeting (held on Monday) focuses on reviewing scheduled work for the coming week. In the second meeting (held on Friday) the team reviews the week’s accomplishments, discusses persistent challenges addressed in the weekly client progress report, provides peer assistance, and shares client feedback and updates.
This plan enables the team to dedicate specific time for coordination and tasks that span multiple projects. Although this time is not linked to any single project, setting it aside is crucial for the overall success of all projects.
#2 Establish a Standardized Process for Tracking Work Hours
Why Time Tracking is Critical for Project Success
Each member of your team should regularly log their hours, categorizing them according to specific tasks or projects. This should include both individual projects as well as specific tasks within each project that the individual is a part of. Doing this will help to establish clear guidelines and a user-friendly system for time tracking.
Time tracking for projects will also help you create a valuable historical dataset over time that enables your project and program managers to accurately associate scope with tasks, predict the team’s velocity, and evaluate a realistic work volume by comparing it to the initial project plan.
Example: Project Hours Report
The example below shows a project hours report featuring monthly and weekly breakdowns per role, task, and team member name. This report also contains vital information such as how the project is tracking to the total project budget hours and the variance from that total.
Note: When this approach is used, the over/under are “projections” because they have a blend of actual and planned number of hours.
How Time Tracking Data Enhances Decision-Making
Analyzing this data helps managers make more informed decisions that improve estimations and resource allocation. This reduces the risk of delays by ensuring that timelines are managed more efficiently in projects. This information can also be used to stage a project delay analysis that will identify the key causes of delays and enable team members to collaborate with the client to address them.
Additionally, managers can use this data to keep stakeholders well-informed and boost their confidence in the project’s execution and overall progress. Taking a disciplined approach to time tracking not only helps manage current projects but also lays the groundwork for more successful future planning.
#3 Leverage a Burndown Chart for Project Monitoring
Understanding Burndown Charts in Project Management
The burndown chart is an integral part of data collection, which supports data-driven decision-making. Burndown charts illustrate the project’s monthly and annual progress against the plan. The best practice is to create burndown charts both by month and for the life of the project. This will enable you to have targeted monthly conversations with the client, rather than one single discussion at the project’s conclusion. The chart should provide both a detailed currency view at the task level and a summarized total dollar view.
In a typical burndown chart, you will see two primary lines: the “Budget” line and the “Actual” line. The Budget line demonstrates the projected completion rate based on the cost baseline, while the Actual line demonstrates the actual cost per month. The difference between the lines is what tells the story.
Example: Budget vs. Actual Costs in Project Management
In the example provided below, you can see an outline of a burndown chart for the project Budget and Actual costs per month throughout a year. This chart shows an overall Budget amount (green line) for the project over the year. The Actual line (orange line) shows us that while the actual spend amount was higher than the projected budget amount at the start of the project, it dipped below budget for several months, evening out toward the end of the year.
How Burndown Charts Improve Client Collaboration
Reviewing the burndown chart budget summary and the weekly hours report with your client can change their attitude from concern to collaboration, helping to clarify and prioritize the top deliverables with the remaining budget. This also provides the client with a level of flexibility. As data is collected and analyzed, it will provide insights into future activities. Over time, the accumulation of data will lead to more accurate predictions and insights. These insights enable the team to make timely adjustments to the project’s scope, resourcing, or priorities.
#4 Perform a Comprehensive Project Schedule Delay Analysis
Host Weekly Internal Meetings for Delay Analysis
It is important to conduct weekly internal meetings with the team in a safe, accountable environment where everyone can explain their progress against the outlined plan for the week. If delays occur, the team can explore their cause and impact on the overall plan. Addressing these delays and concerns promptly ensures that potential issues are resolved quickly and efficiently, without disrupting project momentum. This data also guides the improvement options presented to the client, enabling them to make more impactful, data-driven decisions.
Example: Reducing Course Development Lifecycle with Delay Analysis
This ongoing analysis can help foster a culture of proactive problem-solving and continuous improvement. For example, GP Strategies implemented strategies to reduce one client’s course development lifecycle from six months to two and a half months. The client recognized the effectiveness of this approach and adopted it for their internal projects, significantly enhancing their project management and delivery.
#5 Create an Open Feedback Loop to Address Concerns Promptly
Schedule Project Retrospective Meetings
It is important to create continuous and transparent communication that allows team members to freely express their concerns and suggestions. A project retrospective meeting is a great way to help teams enhance their processes, boost collaboration, and deliver better results by fostering an environment of open communication and continuous improvement.
Retrospectives are typically held at the end of project milestones and provide team members and key stakeholders with the opportunity to discuss what went well, what did not, and what could be done better in the future. Retrospective meetings focus on learning and growth rather than assigning blame. They are also an excellent opportunity to celebrate accomplishments and offer recognition.
Use the Stop, Start, Continue Method
The Start, Stop, Continue method is a simple, but effective framework for gathering feedback. During a retrospective, team members can use this technique to:
- Identify ineffective practices (Stop).
- Introduce new approaches (Start).
- Reinforce successful strategies (Continue).
Boosting Project Efficiency with the Stop, Start, Continue Method
On a recent project, GP Strategies team members used the Stop, Start, Continue method to identify the need for additional data-specific calls with the client outside of the general project status meetings. These additional meetings allowed them to address specific functionality questions related to the project. The process also allowed the team to express their preference for using JIRA as the task management system, instead of spreading tasks across a spreadsheet and the system.
Enhance Project and Program Management for Superior Results
Incorporating these five best practices into your project and program management processes can significantly enhance your team’s efficiency, collaboration, and overall success. These strategies not only help in managing current projects but also lay a strong foundation for future endeavors.
Are you looking to improve your program and project management? Whether you’re dealing with a large-scale technology transformation or looking to improve your company culture, our Program and Project Management experts can provide you with the guidance, resources, and staff you need to ensure a successful delivery.
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