Believe it or not, project management is actually quite easy. All you need to set a deadline, decide a budget limit and assign tasks to the right people. And the project gets completed. But, if truth be told, a majority of projects goes towards failure. The wrong or incapable individuals are assigned to the project. People have no idea about the milestones and goals they are expected to achieve. Scope changes, missed deadlines, lack of coordination and failure to establish the ownership are a few major causes of projects failure.  

So what can project managers, startups, small business owners and marketing professionals do to take their project towards new heights of success. What strategies they should follow to complete their project on time, budget and that would offer better return on investment.

Here are 7 proven and tested task management strategies that many successful project management experts believe work best.

1. Complete Project Details is Must

Creating a completely detailed project scope approved by project investors and higher management is a necessity. The project scope should include short-term milestones, with realistic deadlines, and a budget sheet that represents all time involved. If your project has enough details, you, your clients and your whole project management team will interact easily. Changes occur during every project, but having a full project details at the initial level can save you from many problems. In tech world, every project undergoes a few scope changes, therefore it is advised to build in extra time for these unexpected changes and requests.

2. The Right Project Management Team

Being a project manager, obviously you want to complete your project successfully and for a successful completion, all you need to have the right project management team. Hire those people whose expertise and knowledge can actually benefit your project. A manager has full rights to limit the number of individuals involved in order to maximize the effectiveness. Involve only those people who have exceptional task management skills and whose expertise actually match your project requirements.

With the help of available task managing apps, a project manager can handle so many resources and project reports without losing the focus on the vision of the project, details of the tasks involved, and any requirements at the project or organizational level. These applications help project managers to utilize multiple resources, assign them multiple tasks and they will only see those number of tasks that are on high-priority or you want them to compete first.

3. Set Interim Milestones

Setting short-term, achievable benchmarks is the key to ensure your projects stay on track.  Establishing a long-term milestone can push your project towards failure. An online project management allows you to track the progress of multiple tasks to ensure you resources are efficiently performing and reaching project goals. When the entire project management team clearly understands the project scope, it will eliminate the uncertainty that can ruin your project..

4. Reward Your Team if They Reach a Milestone

It is good to set milestones for your team to keep your projects on track. Rewarding your team members whenever they hit a milestone can motivate them to perform more efficiently. Celebrating small success can be an amazing way to keep your resources happy while keeping track of your progress.

5. Be Clear about Deadlines and Responsibilities

When so many people are working on the same assignment, chances are deadlines can get lost due to lack of collaboration. To avoid confusion, it is highly recommended to use a task management system to check who is responsible for what and enforce accountability. An online project management software is indeed a simple way to bring a solid understanding among your team as how each of their efforts greatly contributes to project success. Establishing benchmarks works best to effectively hit the milestones and keeping teams on track.  

6. Integrate an Effective Task Collaboration Tool

Emails are the most obvious form of collaboration especially when you are working on a project, but it can obstruct team progress as well. Searching through previous email threads for communication wastes time, using a task management software can solve this problem. It will keep all project information and conversation in one place that everyone can use, saves time and maintains a productive workplace culture.

Besides assigning resources roles and responsibilities, many project management tools like TaskQue has an important feature called Discussion boards. It allows you to set expectations, share ideas, discuss project progress in detail and create an effective roadmap for your project. Using an online task collaboration tool not only lets your team to manage tasks, but also serves as an online file sharing platform and discussion board. The ability to invite clients for project communication and sharing documents can make things better and smooth.

7. Micromanagement Sucks

It is highly recommended to meet your team regularly to stay updated on the project, appreciate or reward them if they hit any milestone. Give them enough breathing room to complete their tasks without feeling micromanaged. Creating a perfect balance is key to ensure your resources are performing well and feeling motivated to do their best efforts to make the project a huge success.

Wrapping It Up

All these strategies can play a pivotal role in managing your projects successfully. Using an online task management system is the key to successful project management while bringing effective communication within teams. With an online task collaboration tool, you can easily add tasks, set milestones and manage your team members. Following the above cited strategies not only helps project managers to complete their projects on time and within budget, but also maximize your rate of return on investment.