14 Tips You Can Follow To Manage Projects Successfully

Successfully managing projects is essential to fulfilling goals set by stakeholders. Remaining attentive to the various components of a project throughout its multiple stages can help prevent problems from occurring. By learning more about how to successfully manage projects, you can help your employing organization meet deadlines and produce high-quality work.

In this article, we list 14 tips for successfully managing projects and provide an overview of the project management process.

14 tips for effective project management

Here are 14 tips for how to manage a project effectively:

1. Define your project scope

Determine the required objectives to create a product or provide a service. To accomplish this, outline your stakeholder's goals for you and the project team to follow. Also, create objectives to help the project team reach this achievement. When brainstorming these components, consider holding a meeting with the team to discuss the different aspects of the project so everyone knows its scope.

Related: What Is Scope in Project Management? (Plus How To Define It)

2. Reference your timeline

Understanding your timeline can help you keep track of deadlines. Estimate how long each task may take to complete, as this can help you organize the various components of the project. A timeline can also help you stay on track and determine how much time to assign to each task in order to complete it.

Related: How To Create a Timeline (With Steps, Example and Tips)

3. Review your available resources

When organizing your project, create an inventory and then access your available resources. This includes factors such as money, labor and equipment. If the team is lacking certain skills, consider training employees or outsourcing from other departments or organizations.

Related: What Is Resource Allocation in Project Management?

4. Create a project plan

Implement the necessary steps into a project plan for you and the team to follow. Consider how long each task may take and prioritize what to complete first. In your project plan, you can include your project schedule, available resources and other important information related to the project. Here, you can set clear expectations for the team to follow and reference throughout the project's execution.

Related: Project Plans To Use for Your Next Project (With Examples)

5. Specify details

When providing descriptions for project details, such as the budget, be specific. Consider including diagrams and drawings that support these details. Also, use clear descriptions so everybody knows what you're referring to and understands your requests. This ensures efficiency and helps avoid miscommunication.

Related: How To Create a Work Breakdown Structure (With Tips and Example)

6. Communicate with team members and stakeholders

Frequently communicate with relevant parties to ensure your expectations are clear and project members stay engaged. Try to provide updates about the project so others know about any changes occurring. Also, encourage team members to share their opinions and concerns, and update stakeholders about the progress of their project.

Related: Communication Goals for Effective Business Communication

7. Delegate work

When deciding who to assign projects to, share responsibility. Consider each employee's talents when selecting who might work best on a particular assignment. Delegating assignments to others helps create more time for you to monitor the overall project. However, maintain some oversight on the assignment even after you delegate it to someone else.

Related: How To Delegate Work to Employees: Frequently Asked Questions and Tips

8. Document project components

Throughout the process of the project, maintain documentation to ensure you fulfill expectations and deliverables. When changing from your original plan, detail your change and why it was necessary. It's also helpful to keep track of purchases so you can ensure you adhere to your budget. Documenting ensures you possess evidence when referencing past elements of the project.

Related: Project Documentation: Benefits, How-To and Tips

9. Track your project progress

Monitor the project team's progress by tracking what they complete. You may want to hold regular check-in meetings to see how they're doing and fix any challenges before they impact the project. Hosting check-ins helps provide constructive feedback to ensure the project progresses successfully.

Related: Tracking Project Progress in 7 Steps

10. Try using project management software

If you want to have one location to hold all your project documents, consider using a project management software or app to make these forms accessible to all team members. Often, these have chat and to-do list features to ensure effective communication. Continually improving project management by implementing new tools and procedures can be extremely beneficial and streamlines this process exponentially.

Related: 10 of the Best Project Management Apps for Project Managers

11. Motivate

Support the team during the project's process by being encouraging. This includes celebrating wins, such as when they complete a task ahead of schedule. You also can demonstrate your motivation by completing the same tasks that team members are working on to help keep them engaged.

Related: How To Build Motivation in 6 Steps (With Tips and Benefits)

12. Consider the triple constraints

To produce a successful project, stay focused on the triple constraints of projects: time, budget and scope. Throughout your project's process, make sure you emphasize all three. Tracking the project regularly can help you make sure you're on schedule to fulfill these.

Related: How To Handle Resource Constraints in Project Management

13. Thank team members

Try to appreciate the efforts of the project team by expressing your gratitude. Once the project concludes, consider celebrating with them by taking them out to eat or sharing the success with other departments. You also can verbally thank them for their efforts and share how much they helped make a difference.

14. Evaluate your performance

Upon the completion of your project, review how well the team met goals. This can help you identify areas of improvement for your next project. Consider saving the workflow you used for future projects, which streamlines the planning process.

How do you successfully manage projects?

To manage a project successfully, initiate what you need to accomplish or change. Then, create a plan with the steps to take to accomplish your goals. After the brainstorming and research stages, begin executing your project and meeting your deliverables. This is the longest stage in the project process and involves the activities required to complete your project.

While the execution occurs, a project manager monitors how team members perform and observes whether any adjustments are necessary. Finally, once the project is complete, the team closes by evaluating its performance to ensure effective adjustments for future projects.

Related: Project Management Processes and Why They're Important