New eCourse: How to Manage a Project
Recently we announced three new eCourses designed to help your business soften the blow from the recession and over the next week or so I’m going to expand on the details of all those eCourses. I’ll begin with our new eCourse on project management, appropriately called How to Manage a Project.
During the good times we often begin more projects than the lean times (aka “times of recession”) can support. Now you are “almost there” on too many projects. Which ones do you cut? Is it a mistake to cut any and lose what you have already invested?
Too often, projects seem to need “just a little more time” to complete. The most important question for any project is “How much is really done and how much is really left to do?” It’s never too late to properly manage a project, even if you are months into it. Once you really know how much time and resources are still required to complete a project, it’s much easier to weigh its benefits vs. costs.
How long does it actually take to complete a project?
But how can you confidently estimate how much time each project still needs? By following these steps:
- Break the project down into tasks that will take more than a day or two to complete. It’s much easier to estimate the duration of a small task than a big one.
- Decide which tasks must be completed before others can be started.
- When you assign people to work on a task, be realistic about how much time they will actually have to work on the project.
Easier said than done, right? Actually, it’s pretty easy to do. Want to learn how? Then click here to sign up for How to Manage a Project.
About Working Smarter’s eCourses
All of our eCourses are free and delivered via email. You will receive the first lesson immediately upon sign-up and you should receive the others via email every two to three days, until you have read all of the lessons. If you would like to skip ahead to read other lessons immediately, you can do so.
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