Long-term and open-ended projects can be the killer of motivation. Working on the same thing day in day out, even if the actual daily tasks vary, can quickly pale into boredom, loss of efficiency and a slow-down in the rate at which milestones are accomplished.
The experts at Parallel Project Training know only too well how difficult it can be to motivate teams when a lengthy project is underway, after all Project Management Apprenticeships usually last two years and impatient apprentices can feel demoralised after their first project, when they realise they still have another year or more of study ahead of them!
Make it easy to move tasks forward
Having a lot of multi-discipline tasks on hold awaiting assignment to another team member can make it seem like the project is dragging. A simple fix is to allow one team member to pass a task directly to the next when their part is complete. The motivational boost of having finished something, even if that’s only a small part of the whole, shouldn’t be underestimated.
Gamify time tracking
It’s important to use time tracking, most often through project management software but good old whiteboards or spreadsheets do just as well. Time tracking allows you to analyse the progress of the project and to see where efficiency savings can be made.
But it can be a killer for motivtion, knowing just how long you spent on that task – and knowing you’ve got another one very similar to it coming up can be extremely demoralising. The solution is to gamify the system. Set tasks with target times to beat, and encourage team members to work towards beating their own or team records.
Don’t let the software hinder your progress
Most project managers use some sort of electronic project management tools – often dedicated project management software. Although they all appear to offer very similar features there is a wealth of difference between them, with some promising features that don’t work as intended or as so well-hidden in forests of menus that they may as well not exist.
Choose your project management software on the basis that it actually helps the project management. Tools need to be configurable enough that frequently used options are easy to find and that the metrics youneed to measure yourteam’s performance can be swiftly displayed.
Get collaborating
Project managers manage teamsof workers. So make sure that your team is actually functioning as a team. Get them sharing information and ideas on how to make it to the next milestone through the use of collaboration tools and shared documents. Many modern project management tools exist on cloud platforms, which is ideal if your team aren’t always working in the same space.
Track progress
Set project milestones and intermediate targets so that it is easy to see how much progress has been made. Don’t be afraid to set ambitious targets and reward teams that meet them (cream cakes if you’re done by Friday?)
Add paragraph text here.
Long-term and open-ended projects can be the killer of motivation. Working on the same thing day in day out, even if the actual daily tasks vary, can quickly pale into boredom, loss of efficiency and a slow-down in the rate at which milestones are accomplished.
The experts at Parallel Project Training know only too well how difficult it can be to motivate teams when a lengthy project is underway, after all Project Management Apprenticeships usually last two years and impatient apprentices can feel demoralised after their first project, when they realise they still have another year or more of study ahead of them!
Having a lot of multi-discipline tasks on hold awaiting assignment to another team member can make it seem like the project is dragging. A simple fix is to allow one team member to pass a task directly to the next when their part is complete. The motivational boost of having finished something, even if that’s only a small part of the whole, shouldn’t be underestimated.
It’s important to use time tracking, most often through project management software but good old whiteboards or spreadsheets do just as well. Time tracking allows you to analyse the progress of the project and to see where efficiency savings can be made.
But it can be a killer for motivtion, knowing just how long you spent on that task – and knowing you’ve got another one very similar to it coming up can be extremely demoralising. The solution is to gamify the system. Set tasks with target times to beat, and encourage team members to work towards beating their own or team records.
Most project managers use some sort of electronic project management tools – often dedicated project management software. Although they all appear to offer very similar features there is a wealth of difference between them, with some promising features that don’t work as intended or as so well-hidden in forests of menus that they may as well not exist.
Choose your project management software on the basis that it actually helps the project management. Tools need to be configurable enough that frequently used options are easy to find and that the metrics youneed to measure yourteam’s performance can be swiftly displayed.
Project managers manage teamsof workers. So make sure that your team is actually functioning as a team. Get them sharing information and ideas on how to make it to the next milestone through the use of collaboration tools and shared documents. Many modern project management tools exist on cloud platforms, which is ideal if your team aren’t always working in the same space.
Set project milestones and intermediate targets so that it is easy to see how much progress has been made. Don’t be afraid to set ambitious targets and reward teams that meet them (cream cakes if you’re done by Friday?)
Add paragraph text here.
