Human Beings are terrible at Multitasking and therefore, we fail when we have to direct our brain to manage multiple projects at once. Also, it’s easy to drop the ball when you have too much to juggle. And then we start to lose motivation and focus, to understand what is important and what should be completed first.
However, there are some quick tips which when followed can help you to manage multiple projects effectively:
Plan Ahead:
It’s all about planning. First you need to Outline all Project Objectives, Goals and Tasks with clear deadlines. List out Roles and Responsibilities on those tasks. Then delegate those tasks effectively; which is telling your team what you are trying to achieve and then leave it on their Judgement. Don’t micromanage. You don’t need to focus on how it will be done. What’s important for you is, what and by when it will be done.
Prioritize your work
All projects require different attention span, some projects need to be followed up Weekly, some daily and some require you to be constantly alert on what’s happening in the project.
Setting task priorities is the key to success with managing multiple projects and it will also help you to create a flow to work.
Be Less Experimental
Be Less Experimental when it comes to managing Multiple Projects.
Use Standard Templates and try finding patterns and replicate your success formula from one project to another. If you feel like something needs to be improved then updated the template and replicate it to all Projects.
Use Tools for managing your tasks
it’s important to list down activities from all Projects into a tools which can be used as a Reminder or a checklist to follow up on the items that are required to be done.
There are many tools available in the market like Confluence, JIRA, Asana, Todoist, Microsoft OneNote and many others. Tools are not required to be complicated and a simple excel sheet containing Project summaries can also do magic for you.
Stay Focused
Now, this is one of the most important thing which you can do for yourself to not getting overwhelmed while managing Multiple Projects. Focus on the Highest-Value Activity. Block sometime in your Calendar during the week to think and check on the existing projects. This time can also be utilized for Surprises and upcoming priorities.
Get comfortable in saying NO. So that you can say Yes to Strategic Priorities.
