The Appearance of Non-Leaders
By Jeremy Francis
I suppose it is not surprising that when there is a leadership vacuum all sorts of non-leaders seek to fill it! Much has been written about leaders but what about non-leaders? Well here is my attempt at identifying non-leaders in a leadership contest. Use the following eight descriptions to weed […]

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A Project Management Mystery Solved
By James Young
Executive Summary: Do not assume that your company’s management or the project stakeholders have a firm grasp on the methods and procedures of Project Management. It may be that they don’t know what they don’t know about the methods and procedures. Be prepared to develop Project Execution Plan (PEP) […]

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There is no doubt that communication is essential for any successful project. Communication is one of the most important, if not the single most important, skills in the arsenal of a project manager.

The lack of efficient communication will quickly hinder a project, and for this reason, a project manager’s priority is to ensure trustworthy communication within the team, and between him and the team.

We will discuss how to achieve better communications for your project, and establish a highly positive working environment for your team.

1. Use Apps to Communicate

There are hundreds of project management software (these are the top 15 – in our opinion) available on the internet. Most of them let you organize, track time, set tasks and priorities.

You should not rely too much on project management software, but it is definitively a good addition to your project communication.

You can also consider using tools such as Google Docs for creating customized documents online. Using Google Docs means all team members can participate in creating and sharing documents.

2. Be Accessible and Cooperative

As a project manager, it is your task to give direction throughout the whole project, be there for your team members and make sure they are motivated. However, good communication is much more than giving directions and telling your team members what is expected.

You must be there to actively encourage communication, be there for your team members to provide help and advice. Be accessible, cooperative and visible. Show interest in all aspects of the project, not just the ones concerning your leadership.

Staying in touch with all the challenges is central to good communication. Don’t hesitate to talk with your team members, even when everything is in order.

3. Be Open to Proposals

A critical trait of a good project manager is openness to different ideas and proposals. As a leader, you must show genuine willingness to listen to your team members, as well as superiors, and take into consideration all constructive proposals.

Not only that, you should also encourage an active dialogue within your team, especially regarding new ideas that could serve to improve the project.

This way you raise the overall communication level in your team. The benefits are going to be immediate and will reflect on the effectiveness of your team.

4. Visualize Your Goals

How you communicate project goals with the rest of the team sends a message about your dedication to the project and your communication skills.

Knowing this, it is very important that the goals you have set are clear to all team members. Visually represent the key steps towards ensuring that everyone properly understands the objectives.

A good visual presentation will focus on priorities. Make sure that everyone understands these priorities. Use graphics and statistics as a means to motivate your team members and create a positive working atmosphere.

It also must be stated that the team must have a clear vision of the end result.

5. Inform the Stakeholders

Communication with your stakeholders is certainly not to be overlooked. It is very important to keep your stakeholders informed about all aspects of the project. This includes potential issues, current problems, and dilemmas you might have regarding the project.

You should also communicate your concerns to stakeholders. However, communication with stakeholders might present a problem, especially if the project is large and there’re many parties involved.

You need to outline your communication strategy and adapt to circumstances. Stakeholders might have different expectations and different ways of communicating. So adapt to ensure effective and smooth communication.

6. Stay in Touch With The Audience

Nothing is more important for your project than staying in touch with your target audience. How you will communicate with the audience will depend on the type of project in question. You should keep in mind that it is essential to keep the audience and other parties involved informed about the status of the project and its progress.

Consider using interactive tools such as animations, 3D visuals and videos. It is also a good idea to keep a strong presence on social media networks. Engage your audience by actively encouraging them to participate in the project.

7. Organize Presentations and Conferences

Presentations and conferences are a direct and active communication method. They are important for maintaining regular communication within your team. Make sure it is a positive atmosphere and that everyone actively participates in the discussion. Furthermore, conferences are important when you want to discuss changes to strategies or goals. When communicating with stakeholders, you should consider organizing face-to-face meetings. If that is not possible, video conferences or webinars.

8. Your Presence Is Key

Being there all the time demonstrates your dedication to the project. This means being completely involved: physical, mental and emotional – be a good listener, consistently patient and understanding.

In the End…

Don’t forget that as a project manager, you must inspire.

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Legendary Leadership Secrets – Success Eats Charisma for Lunch
By David Roppo
For many decades the phrase “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” has been floating around leadership development circles. It’s often attributed to Peter Drucker, the father of management, although that claim has yet to be substantiated. Nevertheless, I believe the phrase makes for some validate points. […]

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Managing creatives in the digital industry can be tough. Being managed as a creative can be even tougher. Creatives are sometimes labelled as difficult and charged with holding up projects with continuous editing and tweaking. Even just a subtle shift in management and communication style can improve flow and get creative projects off the ground faster. Here’s how to enable creatives to do what they do best (be creative) during high-powered and results-driven projects.

1. Explain Deadlines in Detail & Define Project Outcomes

Deadlines can be destructive if they aren’t clearly outlined.

Not explaining a deadline properly is a recipe for disaster- it leads to over-delivery and duplication of work. A short turnaround time can make people feel stressed and personally targeted. Here are some good deadline practices:

• Don’t just give people a date- give them a goal. Explain when work will be shown to the client and whether a second project phase is anticipated. If known, make sure different project phases are clearly mapped-out at the briefing stage.
• Always give a concise deadline- be clear on the time of day, preferred method of submission and any post-submission feedback procedures.
• Build in flexible deadlines so there’s time for feedback on drafts and work in progress. A hard deadline with no feedback is not a great way to manage a creative project.
• Don’t try to fluff or lie about a deadline- be honest during the brief.
• Stick to deadlines- thank creatives who submit on time, and don’t always brush over late submissions- this undermines the value of the deadline in the first place.

2. Let Creatives Manage Their Own Workflow

In some organisations production-side creatives are largely sheltered from project management and delivery. Though this may work in a largescale organisation, in smaller organisation it’s important to give creatives the full picture. Knowing the nature of a project helps to facilitate the creative workflow, project planning and research:

• Don’t try to drip-feed a creative brief- get the entire brief out at once and let the creative team map it out.
• Creative research is time-consuming and it’s frustrating when work is duplicated. If there is a crossover project in the pipeline- make the creatives aware of it so they can factor that in.
• Get in junior researchers and writers to take the pressure off more senior writers.
• Ask for regular updates on work and participate in creative meetings.

3. Get Real About Finances

Make people aware of the financial realities of what they are creating.

Creatives love to get involved with the nitty-gritty financials too. Knowing the monetary value of a creative project helps people scale their work and understand how the project fits in the larger organisational goals:

• Don’t just say no- explain why a certain project isn’t feasible.
• Encourage people to use tight budgets as opportunities for innovation.
• You may need to pass unforeseen creative costs to the client, but don’t greenlight anything until the extra budget has been approved.

4. Allow for Flexibility

People produce better work if you allow them a little flexibility in their work environment. Especially when it comes to creative work, corporate boundaries and a stuffy company culture will not do your project any favors. Don’t be afraid to loosen up a little:

• Switching from projects is beneficial as it keeps levels of creativity high- you can’t force people to work on a creative brief 24/7 with no breaks.
• A positive work environment encourages creativity and gives people the flexibility to take breaks.
• Give creative teams time to play. Sometimes play and discussions help the creative process.

5. Spend Time on Feedback

A busy digital environment means that sometimes a project is practically pulled from people’s arms so that it can be presented to clients or published online. No matter how busy everyone is- spend time on creative feedback:

• Feedback helps people develop and is a central part of the creative process.
• Creative teams thrive off feedback.

This video perfectly illustrates the creative’s frustration when there is minimal or no feedback:

6. Support Client-Creative Relationships

Interactions with clients can be a big source of a creative’s happiness:

• Often account managers get all the client glory for a successful campaign, but it’s very important to include creatives in the positive feedback loop too! After all the hours that they put in, let them see the results of their hard work. Allow people to use the finished product as part of their creative portfolio- portfolios are a massive deal for creative professional development.

Conclusion

There it is. Six management tips to improve creative projects. There is one more thing, do you love managing creatives? If so, please share your tips on managing creative projects below!

The post 6 Tips for Project Managing Creatives in the Digital Industry appeared first on Project-Management.com.

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Reinforcement for Running Retrospectives
By Kiron D. Bondale
Retrospectives are a common, regularly practiced ceremony on projects managed using an agile delivery method.
But why stop there?
There’s no reason that retrospectives couldn’t be applied to traditional projects too, it’s just that some improvement ideas might not be immediately applicable in a non-iterative lifecycle.
But won’t it cost a lot […]

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Just How Important Is Gratitude To Your Team?
By Jim Anderson
As an IT manager, it is your job to motivate your team to accomplish great things! The big question that you have to answer is how to use your IT manager skills to get your team to work together. You have a lot of tools at […]

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From Responsibility to Independence: 3 Lessons from Project Management
By Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, Founder, Cheetah Learning
Having more independence requires taking on more responsibility: it’s a lesson teenagers hear again and again from their parents, and yet it rarely seems to result in teenagers actually bearing the burden of more responsibility. Fast forward to these imagined teenagers’ […]

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How to Become a Project Manager – Selecting Your First Project
By Margaret Cato-Smith
Having completed your project management studies you may feel well equipped to take on anything, no matter how challenging. However, as I am sure you have observed, some projects are more difficult than others. It would not be a good idea to take […]

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12 Wonderful Ways to Improve Your Risk Management
By Harry Hall
John Smith was hired as a new project manager at a leasing company, and he was assigned a small project with a team of six people. The project goal was to reduce customer billing defects by 10% before the end of the year. How well […]

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