- 10 February 2023
- by Andrej Fedek
- Blog, Resources & Tips
- 0 Comments
Project management is one of the most important functions of a business. Company owners are always looking to hire competent and experienced project managers. You can take advantage of the increasing need for project managers and earn a livelihood and grow wealth by taking this career path.
Before you work on any task, your employer or client will require you to develop a project plan. This document defines your objectives, the scope of the work, and a budget for each step. It can also be a guiding tool as you complete a particular project. You shouldn’t start on a new project without project planning.
Importance Of Project Planning
There are several benefits of project planning. For instance, it saves money. Without a proper plan, your project may fail, which may cost you extra money since you must start all over again. Even if you successfully complete a project, it can still use much of your funds if you don’t plan for contingencies. Project planning helps eliminate wasteful activities. This helps save a lot of money in the long run.
Apart from that, project planning ensures the best utilization of resources. Every business project requires resources to complete. These include staff, budget, tools, and time. It is almost impossible to allocate the available resources efficiently without adequate planning.
Another great benefit of project planning is the easy tracking of project goals and outcomes. In planning, you clearly define and specify project goals. This helps your team members to measure the project outcomes.
Moreover, project planning plays an important role in employee retention. Many employees will likely remain connected with you if they notice you’re assisting them with project management. Project planning requires you to involve all the team members. And involving them in project planning helps them feel valued.
Tips For Project Planning For New Businesses
As you’ve seen in the previous section, project planning has several benefits. However, you must do it in the right way. But the task can be overwhelming, especially for new individuals in this career. Whether a newbie or experienced, there are some effective tips anyone can adopt to plan for projects effectively. They include the following:
- Employ Program Evaluation And Review Technique (PERT) And Critical Path Method (CEM)
One of the most effective approaches for project planning is adopting PERT and CPM. But before explaining how they can enhance the process, you should learn the difference between PERT and CPM.
The main difference is that PERT focuses on time planning and management, whereas CPM focuses on time and budgetary.
Specifically, PERT helps streamline your project planning in various ways. With this technique, you can estimate the time for all projects accurately. PERT uses analytics to create a possible timeline for unpredictable activities or tasks.
CPM focuses on identifying which path is the longest for all activities, enabling you to get a reasonable estimate of the time to wrap up a project. It can also be used in differentiating which activities are critical and non-critical. You can adopt these two techniques simultaneously when planning for your projects.
- Take A Project Management Course
Taking a course in project management is another effective strategy for project planning. So, if you haven’t yet taken this course, it’s high time to enroll in one. It’ll provide you with the skills and knowledge required for your project planning.
A course in project management allows you to cover many things. These include strategic management, leadership, and managerial accounting. These help you to plan any project you’re about to undertake.
You can attend physical or online classes when pursuing a course in project management. Whatever you choose, ensure you find a reputable school and experienced tutors. You can also watch online videos, read blogs, and other project management and planning resources. All these actions can turn you into a better professional and knowledgeable project manager.
- Break The Project Into Smaller Chunks
The progress and success of your project will depend on how your team members are motivated. Without motivation, employees may be slow in completing daily tasks. Therefore, you must find effective ways of motivating your team members. You can achieve that by breaking big projects into smaller chunks.
Smaller chunks motivate employees and let them measure progress more easily. So, during the planning stage, break down the project into several courses of action and include deadlines for each task.
- Set A Budget
In addition to breaking your project into a series of activities or a list of deliverables, you must create a budget. This refers to financial information or estimates on the cost of your project. You shouldn’t create a budget for any project without identifying how the money will be used.
To create a realistic budget, you can get quotes from various vendors. For instance, you can get quotations from three or four companies dealing with the materials required to complete the project. Moreover, you can consider hiring experts to help you create the right budget.
- Use The Right Tools
Another great strategy for improving your project planning is to use the right tools. You may require various software for your tasks. These include agile tools, project management tools, expense software, resource allocation tools, and time-tracking automation tools.
The right tools help streamline processes and ensure you remain organized. Choose tools with the right features and functionality. You can achieve that by browsing online or asking for recommendations from other business owners or project managers. Take time to research the market before actually investing in these tools. Deliberate which tools are necessary. See if some software can carry out more than one function.
Takeaway
Planning is one of the most effective ways to start and complete projects more efficiently. This discipline addresses how to start and complete a project within defined timeframes and designated resources. This helps improve project performance and success rates.
While that’s the case, project planning may not be easy, especially if you’re doing it for the first time. And you’ll likely face many challenges if you don’t have the right knowledge. But with the strategies explained in this article, you can plan efficiently for your projects.
Andrej Fedek is a digital marketer. He recently started his own blog about digital marketing called InterCool Studio. His passion is to help startups grow and thrive in a competitive environment.
