Tips for Managing Large-Scale Projects
Whether you are a project manager or a company owner, being able to effectively manage the various aspects of a project can increase its success. The bigger the project, the more likely it is to fail and the more closely you need to pay attention to the logistics, team interactions and customer expectations.
Understand Needs and Goals
Before you get started gathering the personnel and materials for a project, it is important to make sure that you understand the goals of the project and how the client needs it to function. This is going to vary depending on the type of project, but clear and effective communication matters as much for planning the development of a business complex as it will for the development of new software.
Create the Right Team
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Your next step will be to build the right team to help you. This means looking internally for those best suited for each task as well as hiring freelancers for skills outside of your normal operations. For example, if you are building a new apartment complex, you can go to freelance connection sites like Talentpowered for help with a logo and branding, developing a website and even managing the sale of units. Freelancers give you the flexibility to take on new projects without having to add to the permanent payroll for one task.
Build a Solid Supply Chain
While logistics management can mean organizing and implementing any operation, the term is mostly used to describe supply and transportation management. Having a solid supply chain in place early for your projects is crucial because you do not want to be waiting on materials and equipment. The sooner you start building this chain, the more time you have to vet vendors and manufacturers, find transportation companies and set an efficient timeline for the project.
Create Agility
Larger projects create more opportunity for failure. Breaking them into multiple smaller projects can give you the agility needed to quickly recover from setbacks. This can give you the opportunity to stagger start times and build on the progress from earlier stages. This gives you time to adjust if the site inspection calls for a redesign, lets you use pictures of the finished building in branding materials or even adjust your website budget to reflect overages in earlier stages.
Set Realistic Deadlines
One of the rules of business is to under promise and over deliver, this is important to keep in mind when setting deadlines for each stage as well as the finished project. You can give the client realistic estimates by looking over past projects and by factoring time in for unexpected delays based on your experience. To avoid delays and damaging your reputation, concrete deadline should not be set before the scope of the project is understood and a plan is established with your team. This deadline should consider the projected timelines of each stage and the fact that outside forces may influence them. For example, the zoning committee may be so swamped with requests that it takes twice as long as projected to get a permit.
Establish Effective Communication
Effective communication with the client, team members and outside agencies or contractors can make the project flow more smoothly as well as reduce the number of mistakes. This means checking in with the team and customer regularly to identify problems early enough to fix them as well as keep motivation on point. Showing your team and your clients that you are engaged in the project, understand the current status and can visualize the finished product will reduce miscommunication and increase productivity.
Managing logistics for large-scale projects is a difficult and involved task. As a project manager or CEO, it is your job to make sure the right team is working and communicating effectively, that the supply chain has no weak links and that the client is satisfied with the product. This means keeping in touch with regular status meetings, showing engagement and making sure that you understand the client’s needs and goals.
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