Multiple projects mean multiple teams. If
team members
overlap on related
projects, consider having one status meeting to
avoid running from meeting to meeting, says
Ms. van der Merwe.
“Resource and scheduling
con;icts are better taken care
of, because the joint meetings
provide visibility of what is going
on with other projects,” she says.
“I’ve used a spreadsheet-type of
status reporting template before,
giving feedback about multiple
related projects with details
about project goals, start and
end dates, summary of progress,
risks, and issues.”
To prevent drowning in dif-
ferent schedules, Mr. Das sug-
gests project managers use an
umbrella approach. “Develop-
ing an integrated plan helps in
managing all the projects bet-
ter,” he says. “;is gives a single
view of timeline, milestones
and critical paths, and provides
much better clarity.”
Technology and tools can
automate mundane, operational
p Staying on Schedule
If project managers find stress
levels spiraling out of control or
the quality of their work slipping,
they may need to say “enough” to
their current workloads.
Annette M. Suh, PMI-RMP,
PMP, Cloudmark Incorporated,
San Francisco, California, USA,
suggests meeting with a supervisor
to discuss exactly what is going on
and develop a plan to prioritize or
redistribute the workload.
“Outline what will happen
if things continue this way,” she
says. “Realize when you’ve taken
on too much. And know your
strengths and weaknesses.”
“Show me you can’t do this,
and I’ll help you,” he says. “When
I hear ‘I can’t do this or that
because of work,’ I know there is a
problem.”
Turning down additional
projects and saying “no” should
be part of a project manager’s skill
set—especially if that’s the only
way to maintain professional stan-
dards on each project, adds Linky
van der Merwe, PMP, Microsoft
Consulting Services, Cape Town,
South Africa.
Always running late, over
budget and with less-than-ideal
quality are clear warning signs that
project managers have too many
projects, she says. says. “Realize when you’ve taken
schedules, to illustrate the work-
load, its hours and its problems,
and I’ll help you,” he says. “When
projects and saying “no” should
way to maintain professional stan-
dards on each project, adds Linky
van der Merwe, PMP, Microsoft
budget and with less-than-ideal
quality are clear warning signs that
TOO
MANY
BALLS IN
THE AIR
activities, freeing up more time
across the portfolio for the critical tasks on each project. The time
Mr. Das used to spend monitoring
myriad data points and generating
management reports is now spent
paying more attention to core issues
and faster decision-making.
“You may not need to develop
jazzy dashboards, but do ensure that
you have some mechanisms to seamlessly convert raw data from different sources into information and
insight that helps in managing your
projects,” he says.
Successfully juggling the schedules for numerous projects takes not
only project management skills, but
also knowledge of one’s own capabilities.
“Have a clear set of goals and set
limits,” says Ms. Suh. “Be honest
about what will happen if your own
balance is out of sorts.” PM
“Joint meetings provide visibility of
what is going on with other projects.”
—Linky van der Merwe, PMP, Microsoft Consulting Services,
Cape Town, South Africa
