Introducing:

15 Tips for
Successful
Project
Management
TOC:
1 Set SMART Goals
3 Deal with Difficult Team Members
6 Have an Implementation Strategy
8 Eliminate Project Scope Creep
10 Know the Basics
12 Start Managing Project Requests
16 Start | Evolve is Key to Change
19 Plan & Setup a Project
23 Choose the Right Software
26 Understand the Characteristics of a Project
29 Manage Your Email to Save Time
33 Use Email to Improve Project Clarity
36 Use a Time Management Process
39 Get Users to Fall in Love With Your PM Solution
41 Become a Master Using the REP Process
 1

Tip 1:

Set SMART Goals

 2

T Goals
SMAR

Goal setting is key to project

management and will ensure you
are kept on track at all times.

So when you are setting your goals,

make sure that they are SMART, as
in Specific, Measurable, Assignable,
Realistic and Time-related, and you
will be well on your way to project
success!
 3

Tip 2:

Deal With
Difficult Team
Members
 Te am 4
ficu lt
Dif s
m be r
M e

There are very few of us who can

say that we’ve never clashed heads
with another team member during
a project, but how do we deal with
this type of situation when it arises?

Well, there are a number of

strategies you can use and they
include:
 t Te am 5
fficu l
Di s
m be r
M e

Approaching the team member with

empathy

Building rapport with the person

Only saying positive things to the team

member

Offering help if necessary

As a last resort, and only if needed,

reporting them to the powers that be
 6

Tip 3:

Have an
Implementation
Strategy
 ta tion 7
lem en
Imp
a te gy
Str

All project management key activities

and processes are interrelated and
must be managed together for
effective project integration, and as a
result; a successful project outcome.

There are a number of key activities to

consider here, including the scope of
the project, its schedule, budget, quality
and available resources.
 8

Tip 4:

Eliminate Project
Scope Creep
 9

Creep
Scope

For those of you who don’t know,

project scope creep is when a project
manager allows small changes to a
project and before they know it, they
have actually changed the plan
completely compared to the original!

In order to prevent such unexpected

changes, you need to take a look at the
project management triple constraint,
which is made up of time, cost and
scope.
 10

Tip 5:

Know the Basics

 11

asics
The B

First thing’s first when it comes to

project management: make sure you
know the basics!

There are 4 major areas that you should

focus on here and they include:

1 Asking the right questions

2 Establishing the success criteria
3 Producing project artefacts
4 Scheduling health checks
 12

Tip 6:

Start Managing
Project Requests
 qu es t 13
e ct Re
Proj n t
g em e
M an a

Project request management is about

picking the projects that deliver the
most value. Simple, right?! How hard
can that be? Turns out it can be pretty
difficult.

For instance, where do the project ideas

come from? How do you decide which
to consider? How do you rank them?
How do you select the right ones? How
do you manage the whole process?
Where do you even begin?!
 qu es t 14
e ct Re
Proj n t
g em e
M an a

Well, here are a couple of tips that will

help you get this process up and
running.

Start simple
Tip 1 is to start simple, and you do this
by simply capturing project requests. It
could be something as straightforward
as an Excel or a SharePoint list, but
once you start collecting the requests,
you can then begin to compare and
make decisions.
 qu es t 15
e ct Re
Proj n t
g em e
M an a

Take your time

My second tip is to take your time.
When a project request rolls in, you
don’t have to make a decision right
away! Look at the current crop of
project requests periodically and then
decide. You could end up doing weekly
reviews right up to annual reviews.
Something more in the middle is best,
be it monthly or quarterly.
 16

Tip 7:

Start | Evolve is
Key to Change
 17
volve
art | E
St

Some people find it hard to make

changes – they fall into this trap of
doing a little bit and having great
success and then stopping and starting.
They get stuck in a rut, but there’s no
need.

So the questions then become, how do

you get out of it? How do you move?
How do you change? The answer to
this question is simple, “Start, Evolve.”
 18
volve
art | E
St

So what you want to do is just make a

start. Get some momentum and keep
going because, as we all know, you
have to do something to learn.

The BrightWork philosophy of “Start

Evolve” is a pragmatic way of going
about life and implementing
collaborative project management.
 19

Tip 8:

Plan & Setup

a Project
 20

Setup
Plan &

So you’re starting a project and you

need to develop a plan, but how
exactly do you do this?

At BrightWork, we like to break up

project planning into 3 steps:

1 Create the project plan

2 Review the project plan
3 Inform the team of their responsibilities
 21

Setup
Plan &

1 Create the project plan

To create your project plan, at a
minimum, you’ll need to do 3 things:

1 Complete the project statement

2 Create and assisgn tasks
3 Add any other project artifacts needed

2 Review the project plan

Now that you have created lots of tasks
and artifacts, you should look at the
entire project in a Gantt chart. You’ll
likely see some adjustments you
should make before the plan goes live.
 22

Setup
Plan &

3 Inform team of responsibilities

Finally, you’ll need to make team
members aware of their responsibilities.
Effective communication throughout
the project will increase your chance of
success!

Remember – it’s create the plan; review

and make any necessary adjustments
and inform the team of their
responsibilities!
 23

Tip 9:

Choose the
Right Software
 24
tware
g Sof
oosin
Ch

Managing projects using only tools

such as email and excel can be difficult
for project team members, so it’s often
a very good idea to use a piece of
software that can make the process
that bit smoother. But how do you
choose the right one?

At BrightWork we know exactly what to

look out for and we believe there are 4
major areas you should assess.
 25
tware
g Sof
oosin
Ch

You should evaluate how a given tool

supports:

1 Portfolio management
2 Project Management
3 Work Management
4 Organisational project management
 26

Tip 10:

Understand the
Characteristics
of a Project
 ro je ct 27
P cs
er isti
ara st
Ch

At BrightWork, we see a lot of ‘project

managers by accident’. But how do you
know when you’ve got a project on
your hands?

Well, here are the 6 characteristics of a

project you should know:

1 A project is typically for a customer.

2 A project is temporary in nature. It will
usually have a defined start and end
point. Or at least it will have an ideal
or target end point.
 ro je ct 28
P cs
er isti
ara st
Ch

3 It will have a unique set of

requirements that need to be
delivered within the boundaries of the
project.
4 A project will usually be a once off
endeavor
5 A project is not ‘business as usual,’
which is more akin to a process.
6 Finally: a project can often be cross-
functional, or indeed cross-
organization.
 29

Tip 11:

Manage Your
Email to Save
Time
 Y our 30
ana ge
M
Em ail

Did you know that wasting 10 minutes a

day at work results in you losing one
working week a year? Efficient email
management is one of the places
where you can regain those 10 minutes.

To help you manage your email

effectively, here are 6 simple tips to get
your inbox under control!

1 Set special time aside each day to

manage your emails – so that you are
not sitting in your inbox all day!
 Y our 31
ana ge
M
Em ail

2 Our second tip is: clear your inbox.

Try to do this once a day, or at least
once a week if possible

3 Don’t create lots and lots of folders to

file away emails. Simply use one
archive folder and use your email
client’s search feature to find
important emails

4 Create an email template that you

can re-use when needed
 Y our 32
ana ge
M
Em ail

5 Never answer an email when angry

or give bad news via email! It’s
always better to discuss sensitive
topics in person, and it will save you
spending time dealing with the
fallout.

6 Have a systematic approach to your

email management, so that you know
how to process emails as they arrive
– especially if it’s outside your time
set aside for email management!
 33

Tip 12:

Use Email to
Improve Project
Clarity
 ro ject 34

rov e P
Imp
la rit y
C
A major form of communication as
part of project and portfolio
management is the ability to create
and send out reports quickly to those
who need them.

For example, project stakeholders

might like to receive project status
reports on a weekly basis. What
better way to do this than with email?

Here are some examples of how you

can improve project clarity with
 ro ject 35

rov e P
Imp
la rit y
C
emailed reports:
1 Send ad-hoc reports to people
looking for once-off information

2 If your project management

software allows it, send out
scheduled emails on a regular basis

3 Send out information about a series

of reports contained in a dashboard.
This is also dependent on your
project management software’s
capabilities
 36

Tip 13:

Use a Time
Management
Process
 37
ment
anage
ime M
T

Time is one of the most valuable

resources in project management and
in life! To be a successful project
manager or project team member,
you must be able to manage your
time well.

At BrightWork, we have an approach

to time management and it consists of
5 simple steps:

1 Set personal and professional goals

2 Create a generic weekly schedule
3 Use your generic weekly schedule to
plan each week as it arrives
 38
ment
anage
ime M
T

4 Work the week

5 Review your progress periodically,
maybe once or twice a year

Click Here for Free Time

Management Training
 39

Tip 14:

Get Users to Fall

in Love With Your
PM Solution
 40
ption
ol Ado
To

It is vital that those who are using the

project management solution in your
organisation not only like it, but love it!

In order for this to happen you should:

1 Make sure that the tool is easy to use

and understand

2 Have a champion who can teach

others about the tool

3 Provide training

4 Get tons of feedback!

 41

Tip 15:

Become a Master
Using the REP
Process
 42

REP

People often fall into this trap of doing

a little bit of something and having
great success, then stopping and
starting and eventually finding
themselves stuck in a rut.

The problem with picking up a new

piece of information is that, unless you
do something with it, you lose it
quickly.

The REP process is a way to master a

particular aspect of your life and it
stands for Research, Execute and
Post-Mortem.
 43

REP

Research
You’re going to learn about your
chosen area, and have fun doing so!
You gather all the best-practices you
can find and then decide which of
those practices you are going to try
out.

Execute

Moving on to the Execute phase, you’ll

put your learnings into practice – do
the work!
 44

REP

Post-Mortem

And then in the Post-Mortem phase,

you’re going to reflect on your work
and determine what went well, and
what didn’t go so well, and go back to
that list of best practices from the
Research phase and choose a couple
more to Execute.

Once you’ve completed the 3 steps,

do it all again! And keep repeating this
process until you become a master in
whatever area you are trying to
change! Be intentional with the
process and REP your way to success.
 45
More T
ips!

If you'd like more project

management tips, why not check out
our free video series?

Click here for more project

management tips
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