Activity

Project engineers suffer from multiple tasks simultaneously. It may seem overwhelming at times, particularly when you might have 10 to 20 active projects under your control.

It is imperative that project managers understand the status of every project, their urgency and deliverables. It also seems the better you are as a project manager, the more projects you must handle at once.

When you manage multiple projects it is vitally important that you realize the final time deadline (the delivery date) and the entire budget.

Ultimately, your client is interested in a couple of things, when can I have it, and how much will it cost. If you can satisfy time and budget constraints, milestones (as per the client’s expectations), you can be ‘held in high esteem’ by your client.

So as to manage and juggle this many projects, it is vitally important that you understand 5 things …

The ultimate deadline and budget (

The significance and priority of the project

The entire tasks – High Payoff Activities, and Low Payoff activities.

Activities that could be delegated or outsourced.

Your role as a project Engineer / manager.

1. So as to effectively manage multiple projects, you need to understand your total workload , and compare the projects deliverables. This is usually done using a project planner, or project management tools such as for example Microsoft Project. Once all projects are considered, hopefully not all deadlines and deliverables are NOT due at the same time. The Tip is to find out the true deliverable date. Often when a client is asked if they have to project completed, they have a buffer built-in to allow them to ‘sit on it’ for some time. If you establish the real activities that may follow the ‘deadline’, you might be able to safely extend the final date with your client – without detriment. If this is not the case, at the very least you can find out the significance of the final date.

2. Not absolutely all projects are as important as each other. Some projects have other consequences, and tasks that can’t be achieved minus the delivery of the initial project. Without sounding callus, you certainly want to take care of your most important clients who have constant work flow and pay well and on time. In most cases, it really is these most valued clients that should be taken care of as priority number 1 1, as they are your ‘bread and butter’. . Keep them happy and your business should continue to motor along. At the same time you need to take proper care of new clients and also require millions of dollars in future work for you based on your performance. They will usually not display all their cards to you, so the best thing would be to make sure you take care of them and meet your deadlines. Ultimately you do not want to spend 100 hours on a project that’s only worth 50 hours payment. It is fine balance between current and potential future work. The trick would be to recognise project importance early , and their future work potential.

3. Within many projects there high payoff activities and low payoff activities. High payoff activities are the ones that will get the most benefit out of there completion, and low payoff activities don’t generate too much benefit at their completion. The end would be to recognise which activities / tasks are high payoff activities right in the beginning of the project. It is these activities that should be given the priority and attention they deserve. Low payoff activities could possibly be either tackled later, or delegated to others (it is crucial however to monitor the progress of low payoff activities otherwise they may be forgotten until the end – or at a critical time). Constant updates to the overall task schedule is an excellent way to stay on track and monitor your progress on each project.

4. You don’t want to spend your precious time on low payoff activities that can be done by others. Project management can be about delegating or outsourcing activities that are better completed by someone else. Sometimes it is better to outsource a ‘time consuming complex design’ to an expert in the field, while you manage the process and the entire project. The old saying “if you need something done right you have to do it yourself” is not always the case in engineering and project management. You must recognise and execute a cost analysis on your own time and cost on their cost (and delivery time). While they’re completing the task, you will be working on or managing another high payoff activity, which will ultimately allow an overall timely delivery of the project.

5. As a project manager, you need to be generally ‘managing’ the project, and really should not be ‘in the trenches digging the holes’. This is the job for the ‘soldiers’ or workers under your control. It really is however essential that you understand their skills and what they should be delivering for you. By ‘staying on top’ of the element (periodic meetings and minor milestones), reduces the frustration of you having to ‘check and change’ their progress. サンタクロース　トナカイ is your responsibility to deliver , and that means you should ensure everything are moving ahead regularly, and communicate effectively and regularly together with your team, as well as your client.