The Principles Of Project Time Management
Improper time management is the cause of a majority of project failures. In an environment where up to 75% of projects fail to finish on time and within scope, the need for proper time management becomes even more crucial. Need help managing your project time? Here are some project time management principles to help you out!
1. Understand the time requirements: Simply agreeing to the deadlines set by the project owner is not sufficient. One needs to understand the time requirements for a project themselves by taking a good look at the project, what it entails and what will be required.
2. Remember to include buffer time: Buffers are required to protect the project from variability and thus are essential for timely completion of projects. The ideal buffer time is half of the critical chain, which is the sequence of processes required for project completion. Excluding a buffer leaves the project open to uncertainty which leads to delays and losses.
3. Identify the critical chain: This is a crucial part of time management. Identify the sequence or sequences of projects that need to be completed to finish the project and that is your critical chain. Subordinate all other processes to the critical chain and protect it from variability with the help of a buffer.
4. Maintain shorter review cycle intervals: No project should be complete without a review cycle which is why one should be implemented ASAP. The faster the feedback cycle, the faster the changes can be adopted. A continuous feedback loop also means that one can correct their mistakes as they go along instead of waiting for the project to end before accepting feedback.
5. Learn how to compress time: Avoid wasting time on non-essential procedures and focus on what is important. Instead of wasting time on fruitless meetings, ensure that they are shorter to work can actually be done.
6.  Avoid duplication of tasks: Mapping out your project means that one can see where task duplication can occur and eliminate it. Task duplication is a waste of time and resources and one should avoid it at all costs.
7. Avoid multitasking: If there is something to be avoided more than task duplication it is multi-tasking. It just ensures that none of the tasks being worked on is completed on time or adhere to the quality requirements.
Learn to plan in advance: Project time management without advance planning is extremely foolish in the extreme. Plan out everything in advance, use spreadsheets or software, but planning is a must. Every project member should have a set of tasks they are supposed to work on with the critical chain tasks given maximum priority. This will also help in setting boundaries and creating rules for the team.