7 hacks for more effectively managing time, teams and projects

If your last project didn’t turn out quite how you’d hoped, you might be asking yourself how you’ll do things differently next time. The good news is that fixing problems needn’t require a total overhaul of your management style – a few tweaks here and there can make a big impact.

#1 Lead by example in every circumstance

Is your team missing deadlines; insisting they’re too busy fighting fires to progress at the rate you’d like? Whether they’re being reactive or proactive to inevitable daily distractions may well come down to how you are seen to cope in similar situations. So ask yourself if you always turn up to meetings you’ve accepted having done everything you’ve said you’ll do (only 49% of everywomanNetwork members can say this is true of them). Question if your own meetings are always the best use of everyone’s time (only 27% say they are), if you never miss a deadline (32%) and if you demonstrate calm under pressure (56%). This should give you an indication of the type of example you’re setting your subordinates. Commit to demonstrating only the behaviours you expect from others and you’re starting from a place of the best chance of success.  

#2 Create a responsibility chart

Fancy project management software is only as effective as the information you put into it, and the core data for any project is who needs to do what and by when. In responsibility charting, you assign people to tasks according to the roles they’ll play. In the below example, the team are tasked with sending out a letter requesting sponsorship from interested parties. This particular chart relates to the drafting of the letter.

Decide who…	The questions to ask…
Responsible	Who is ultimately answerable for drawing up the letter? There should ideally only be one name against this – as soon as two or more people share responsibility, one or more has an “out”.
Approval	Who will check the letter once it’s complete and say whether it can be sent or not?
Consult	Whose advice should be sought – someone who sent out the letter last year or who has relevant experience?
Support	While the letter is being drafted, who is preparing a database of names and addresses?
Inform	Who needs to be kept up to date with what’s going on?

#3 Assign duties by your team’s time management preferences

A logical starting point for any new project is to draw up a list of micro tasks and think about who has the skillset to perform each one to the best standard. You’ll bypass a missed deadline or two if you also commit some thought to how each of your assets prefers to manage their time. If you know someone is a methodical planner who dots every I and crosses every T, perhaps they’re not the best person to present a pitch to a client whose known to throw in last-minute curveballs. Conversely, if you know someone is creative, flexible and prefers rolling with the punches, you’ll need to communicate fixed deadlines as clearly as possible, so that they’re aware of the impact of taking a more fluid approach.  

#4 Make a plan for managing your stakeholders

34% of everywomanNetwork members don’t keep their project’s stakeholders informed in a timely manner. You’ve reached the busiest point in your project plan, but suddenly nothing’s moving forward because you’re being bombarded with constant requests for updates from your many stakeholders. Sound familiar? If you haven’t indicated how and when you’ll be sharing information, you’ll likely end up with a full inbox and a queue at your desk. At the start of your project, work up a list of everyone who needs to be kept informed at each stage, and share with them how you intend to do that. If your boss knows you’ll be sending out an end of week status report, you’re less likely to be fending off phone calls on Wednesday, freeing up your time to get on with the job at hand.  

#5 Find a way to visualise your project’s status

Your project can’t move forward until your teammate’s task is complete and when you ask how it’s going you’re told it’s “nearly done”. So, it’s all good, right? Well, maybe. When you’re communicating around completion of tasks it’s crucial you deal in specifics – one person’s definition of “nearly done” could mean, “finished by end of play”; another’s could mean, “I need a few more days”. Avoid misunderstandings by creating a simple mechanic for being able to see, at a glance, how your project is unfolding. A traffic light system can be an effective tool, allowing you to see what’s complete (green), what’s in progress (orange – these are the quick wins that, with some attention, can be turned green) and where there are bottlenecks or urgent issues to address (red).  

#6 Ask these two questions every time things go wrong

  You don’t have to stick to your plan rigidly, but only by starting out with a plan will you know when things are veering off course. When you do, ask yourself: “What is the impact?” and “Who needs to know?” This way, you understand exactly how the problem affects your plan and its outcome, and you keep your core stakeholders in the loop so that they can offer help and support if relevant, and you aren’t having to deliver bad news further down the line. “If you ask these questions every time something trips up your project, the team will soon be asking them for you, and will eventually come to you with the answers, without you even needing to ask the question,” says everywoman project management expert, Sara Parsons.  

#7 Schedule a review right from the beginning

How often have you sat in a meeting, watching something unfold and silently thought to yourself “We did this before and it didn’t quite work”? The post mortem is a crucial stage in any project, but it’s also the one meeting-weary teams are most likely to skip. Diarise time upfront to reflect on what’s been learned and your future projects will be all the more successful for it. If holding a big meeting to generate lots of conflicting input fills you with dread, get creative. Can you draft a simple survey that people can fill at their convenience? Can you invite everyone involved to send you an email highlighting one thing that worked well and one that didn’t? Can you hold mini 1-2-1s with the project’s core team members? Do whatever you need to do in order to compile useful information, and then make sure you take note of the learnings, sharing them with others who can benefit.  

It doesn’t have to end there

Everyone has areas they need to work on. Do you know yours? Below, you’ll see which PM skills everywomanNetwork members say they need to work on, and a range of associated workbooks and articles you can take to get started.

Skillset	everywomanNetwork members working on this skill (%)	Resource to get you started
Delegation	55%	Workbook: The art of delegation for managers
Time Management	31%	Workbook: Managing your Time
Assertiveness	45%	Quiz: How assertive are you?
Empathy	14%	Workbook: Developing your emotional intelligence
Communication skills	22%	Workbook: Powerful workplace communications
Visionary skills	49%	Workbook: How to build and communicate your vision
Giving effective feedback	20%	Article: Delivering feedback: 3 ways for new line managers