Tag: BPM

Want to Really Understand Business Needs? Sharpen your Root Cause Analysis Skills Part 2

Written by Richard Larson on July 22, 2020. Posted in Articles. 2 Comments on Want to Really Understand Business Needs? Sharpen your Root Cause Analysis Skills Part 2

Part 2: Five Root Cause Techniques to help get to Business Needs

Part 1 of this series explored the notion that business needs represent “a problem or opportunity to be addressed” (BABOK Guide v3 definition from IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis). It stands to reason that root cause techniques are then uniquely suited to understanding those needs since they are designed to get to the bottom of a problem or opportunity.

In this part I review five of my favorite root cause techniques and suggest the kinds of situations for which they are most appropriate.

Five Techniques

These five techniques are not an exhaustive list, but they are some of my favorite tools I have found helpful over my career to understand and ultimately solve business problems. They all have their purpose and are in the BABOK or PMI BA Standard or both:

Consultative interviewing – essential when using the other techniques, including…
Five-whys – more of a mindset, but often overlooked when we are busy – which is usual!
Fishbone/Mind Map – great brainstorming tools to help structure your root cause analysis.
Pareto diagram – A technique that uses data to help find the primary causes of a problem.
Interrelationship Diagram – excellent tool when there are compounding, interactive, (and possibly even competing) root causes.

1. Consultative Interviewing

As we saw in the first part of this series, it is easy to jump to solutions. I believe we need to understand the problem first and use consultative interviewing to do that and to start uncovering business needs.

Consultative interviewing is a special kind of elicitation that is professional and focused on goals and is respectful and collaborative. When done right, it builds credibility, trust, and ultimately buy-in. The latter point is important if the root cause suggests a different solution than one favored by our sponsors.

Many of us already use this form of questioning or interviewing automatically. We know that it requires good listening skills and genuine curiosity and interest to determine both needs and expectations. Consultative interviewing leads to positives such as informed advice, confident recommendations, and viable alternatives. (Confidence is important if, again, we end up recommending a different solution than the assumed one.)

The Right Questions the Right Way

Increase Buy-In. Consultative Interviewing helps discover together what the client’s needs and wants are, and how our solutions can meet them. Eliciting needs, whether in sales or business analysis, is best done as a collaborative discovery process, and not as an “extraction.”

Avoid leading questions. Consultative questions are designed to broaden the conversation and encourage clients to open up and share their needs and concerns. Otherwise, “leading” questions give the impression the questioner has a hidden agenda and is pushing a certain solution. This also helps build trust.

Examples of leading questions to avoid as you interview consultatively include:

“Don’t you think that ________?”
“Isn’t it better to _________?”
“Have you ever thought about a _________?”

Instead work to use consultative phrases that promote open, thoughtful dialogs such as:

Tell me more about…
Let me see if I understand…
Could you elaborate on…

2. Five WHYs

Remember the Jefferson Memorial story form part 1 of this series? It was an example of 5 whys in action. This is not a technique as much as a mindset. It has been part of business since the 1930’s because it is effective and reminds us we need to go deep enough to get to the real needs.

It is simple and easy to use and can be employed often with little preparation. On its own it can lead us to the root cause of a problem, but we can be led down the wrong path if we ask the wring people or those with hidden agendas. Five “whys” is part of other analysis tools as we will see and works best with a consultative interviewing style to ask “why.”

Five WHYs Example

Here is a favorite (and simple) example of mine to illustrate Five whys. Suppose you faced a problem like this:

We need to fix the potholes on Main Street again. How can we patch the potholes the fastest and cheapest way?

1. Why do they develop again so soon? A: The holes develop every year and they do not go away.

2. Help me understand that. A: Over time the asphalt deteriorates and develops holes.

3. Why does that happen? A: The freezing and thawing of the asphalt wears it out.

4. I thought asphalt lasted forever? A: Asphalt is durable for 10-15 years, then the coating begins to wear out, and it cracks easier.

5. Tell me more…A: The City has not resurfaced Main Street for over 20 years – the cost of repairing potholes in any year is less than resurfacing it.

So, the root cause of this example is a funding or budgetary problem, not deteriorating asphalt.

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3. Fishbone Diagram/Mind Map

Once we use consultative interviewing or other tools to understand the problem or situation, we can use other more elaborate techniques that incorporate Five Whys to get to the root cause. These two root cause techniques do just that.

Fishbone diagrams and mind maps are snapshots of what is going on today. Assembling them makes use of Five Whys to help get to the root cause. The resulting diagram often exposes areas where we lack knowledge and/or data. See Figure 1 for the structure and Figure 2 for an example.

The Diagram

Figure 1: Fishbone Diagram Structure

Fishbones start with the “Effect” as many fishbones call the problem. Because of that, it is also commonly called a cause-end-effect diagram or Ishikawa Diagram after the inventor. It usually has 4-8 major sub-causes, which can be “5 why-ed” down into sub and sub-sub-causes.

The major causes on the tips of the “bones” can be any relevant categories, but in practice usually come from a standard group such as People, Policy, Process, Place, Machines, Measurements, and Systems.

For example, say you have a problem of transferring medical records too slowly. Here is how to complete the fishbone:

Start by asking why verifications are so slow (consultatively of course).
Maybe you determine there are 4 main categories – People, Process, Measurements, and Systems. Note them on the diagram as shown on Figure 2.
For each of the main categories, ask how the category, like Process, slows down the transfer of records.
Maybe you get the reason of “inefficient transfer process.” From there ask how does an inefficient transfer process slow down transfers. You might hear “too many manual processes” and “serial, one-at-a-time processes.” Note these too on the diagram in a hierarchical structure like Figure 2 below.
Continue adding additional sub-causes as appropriate.
Move on to each of the major categories you identified and drill down each of them. Tip: For both the mind-map and fishbone, I recommend only going about 3 levels deep, otherwise your diagrams are too detailed and “bony.”

Figure 2: Example Fishbone Diagram

Mind Maps

A mind-map is basically the same as a fishbone, but with a format more like an octopus (bad joke). Start with the problem in the middle, like the head of the octopus. Instead of fishbone ribs, the tentacles are the causes, and they in turn can have sub-causes.

Figure 3 shows the same medical records example done as a mind map.

Figure 3: Example Mind Map

Tip: There is no need to do both a fishbone and a mind map since they both diagrams accomplish the same thing. Use whichever one is more appealing or is a standard at your organization.

4. Pareto Diagram

Pareto diagrams are graphical tools applying the Pareto Principle, which is based on the 80/20 rule. They use data to focus efforts on the factors and causes that offer the greatest potential for improvement.

They display the relative importance of problems in a simple, quickly interpreted, and user-friendly format. They are best used when you face problems that have many symptoms that can be measured.

How to Create a Pareto Diagram

Decide on the problem, such as customer complaints.
Choose the issues or causes. (Five whys can help).
Collect data for the potential causes.
Order data from largest to smallest and draw the bar graphs. See Figure 4 for an example.
Calculate the percentage of the total that each category represents and the cumulative percentage starting with the largest category. Excel makes this fairly easy.
Graph the cumulative percentage line.
Analyze the “vital few” breakpoint when the curve hits 80%. These are the most significant causes – the 20% that cause 80% of the problem.

Figure 4: Example Pareto Diagram

5. Interrelationship Diagram

Fishbones and Mind maps have their limitations, with one big one being they are hierarchical. What if your problem is more complex with some causes also being the symptom of other causes and so on like a chain reaction?

The Interrelationship Diagram helps with that situation. It is an excellent tool that helps when there are compounding (and possibly competing) root causes.

Starts with a situation / problem like “Customer reports are not getting out on time.” See Figure 5.
Add in the potential causes as bubbles, using the most likely ones you found, such as from a Fishbone Diagram or Five Whys. Tip: try to limit the causes to no more than 7 plus or minus 2 to keep the diagram at a high level.
Add “cause lines” by drawing arrows from one bubble to the next according to whether a factor is a cause of another or an effect. (For example, Low Wages cause staff shortages and Scheduling problems. Staff Shortages in turn cause paper to run out, database extract delays, and scheduling issues.)
When done with all causes, add numbers to indicate how many times a factor is being caused by another (“Incoming Causes”) or is the cause of another (“Outgoing Effects”). For example, 3,1 for “Not Enough Paper” means it is a symptom 3 times from other factors and is itself the cause of 1 other factor.
Make determinations of which are the most significant (or “big”) causes. These are the important factors to correct such as “Shortage of Staff.” Working on symptoms like “DB extract delays” will not be as fruitful to solving the problem.

Figure 5: Example Interrelationship Diagram

Summary

Understanding and addressing business needs are arguably the most important factors for any successful project, program, or product. This series covered the importance of needs and five techniques that will help discover the root cause of business problems, which equate to the important factors for learning business needs.

2-part series: Want to Really Understand Business Needs? Sharpen your Root Cause Analysis Skills

Written by Richard Larson on July 14, 2020. Posted in Articles. 6 Comments on 2-part series: Want to Really Understand Business Needs? Sharpen your Root Cause Analysis Skills

Part 1: What are Business Needs and why are they so Important?

What makes a successful project? There are many objective measures (such as on time and on budget) and subjective options (e.g., customer satisfaction) to answer that question. As a generality, I think a project is successful when we apply an appropriate solution to a business problem, one that addresses the underlying cause. In short, we are successful when we address the “business need.”

We all know it is easy to jump to solutions or to fix just the symptoms of a problem. We are all guilty of it and is so common it has a name: “jumping to solutions.” When we do this, we often fail to get to or seemingly even want to get to the root cause of a problem.

As an example, let me paraphrase a classic story of solution jumping vs. getting to the root cause. The Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC had a problem a few years back with large amounts of paint chipping off. It required repainting every six months to a year, far more frequently than it should have needed.

If you know this story, then you know it was not poor-quality paint or shoddy workmanship that caused the need for frequent re-paintings. It was because of bugs! Near dusk when they turned the lights on this beautiful monument, a certain type of bug came out. Not a bug, but hordes of them! With so many bugs, the birds in the area swooped in to eat them and then left bird droppings as a souvenir after their insect feasts. The root cause of the problem was bird dung from bugs that caused frequent power washing to clean it, that then wore away the paint that caused the need for frequent re-painting.

To make a long story short, once the U.S. Interior Department got to the root cause, they found that turning on the lights a little bit later fooled the bugs. Far fewer of them swarmed around which in turn reduced the bird droppings and the solution drastically reduced the power washing and repainting needed.

This series of articles will explore how to understand business needs using five common and proven root cause analysis techniques. By finding root causes we can truly understand business needs and not rely on what our business stakeholders tell us their needs are. It is a repeatable way to provide appropriate, cost-effective, and lasting solutions like they finally did for the Jefferson Memorial. Part 1 will focus on what are business needs.

What are Needs?

So, what are needs? I do not mean psychological needs like in Maslow’s hierarchy. I am also not differentiating between needs vs. wants so that if I say I need a new pair of shoes, I do not literally mean I am currently shoeless. What I essentially mean is “I really want a new pair and I’m willing to pay for them.” And that is what any project or program requires – a sponsor willing and able to pay for something new.

When considering “business needs,” what do sponsors pay for? Too often it is a predefined solution. I am sure many of you have experienced a sponsor bringing you a solution. In that case the project or program’s objective is to implement the predefined solution with business needs either previously explored, assumed, or possibly overlooked.

I frequently hear people tell me they are brought into projects after the solution has been chosen – seemingly too late for any needs assessment or root cause analysis. I often respond: “It is never too late!” You can always help forestall project disasters if you are diligent about wanting to get to root causes and actual business needs.

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Business needs have many facets including:

They represent business problems
They represent business limitations
They reduce the chance of “solution jumping”
They lead us to requirements and designs
They justify projects

Why are needs so important?

Figure 1: From Needs to Solutions

Anything a project team creates “should” stem from needs. Needs are at the heart of what we do, and they tie back to business problems or opportunities. They lead us to the requirements and are also the basis for designs, both “logical” or physical designs. Designs are turned into constructed things such as solution components, which in my experience has been software, but could be any constructed deliverable. Finally, all the components add up to one or more solutions.

You may intuitively know this but having a visual helps me to see the relationships and the importance of getting needs right. If we fail to understand needs, we risk delivering solutions that will not address underlying business problems and the resulting solutions will have decreased value and may even be scrapped.

What do IIBA and PMI-have to say about Needs?

The BABOK Guide v3 from IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis) defines needs as “A problem or opportunity to be addressed.”

Looking further into the BABOK Guide, it literally starts with Needs as the core input when planning the BA approach. It is the very first task in the Guide. I realize the tasks are not intended as sequential items, but the placement is hard to ignore.

Figure 2: Needs in BABOK Guide v3

Needs are also the primary input when eliciting requirements, which leads to virtually every other task in the BABOK Guide.

The first Domain in The PMI Guide to Business Analysis (from Project Management Institute) is Needs Assessment. The Business Need for a project or program in that standard is defined during the “Assess Current State” task along with a current state assessment. It is also the entire first chapter in the PMI publication Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide.

Figure 3: Needs in PMI Guide to Business Analysis

Needs are formally defined in PMI’s BA Standard as “…the impetus for a change in an organization, based on an existing problem or opportunity.“ It is entirely consistent with the IIBA definition and both standards remind us why root cause analysis techniques are so important for clarifying business needs before analyzing and defining solutions.

In the next article of this series, look for descriptions of five common and useful techniques for root cause analysis, and by extension, business needs.

Sources:

A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK® Guide) v3 from International Institute of Business Analysis, published 2015.

Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide from Project Management Institute, published 2015

The PMI® Guide to Business Analysis from Project Management Institute, published 2017

The Virtual Leader Part 1 Building Trust

Written by Elizabeth Larson on April 8, 2020. Posted in Articles. 3 Comments on The Virtual Leader Part 1 Building Trust

“Community is nothing, except what is based on trust.” – Yo-Yo Ma[i]

Since so many of us are practicing social distancing by, among other things, working from home, I thought it would be a good time to review some tips and tried-and true techniques for leading teams virtually. This article focuses on the importance of and tips for establishing trust virtually.

When we work from home, it is harder for us to establish trust. Although not impossible, it’s harder to communicate, which we’ll discuss further in Part 2. It’s harder for us to recognize and address conflict. And it’s harder for us to ensure that real work gets done without being overbearing.

What can the virtual leader do to establish trust? We establish trust virtually the same way we establish trust in any work environment, but it’s harder. So here are a few tips:

Make and meet commitments

Make commitments purposefully. It’s well known that we need to follow through with our commitments. But that means we actually need to make them. I tell people that I once had a boss who never had to meet any commitments because he never made any. Telling people what we’re going to do and when is critical for leaders wanting to establish trust. Even if we’re not sure that we can meet the commitments, we need to make them. However, this is not license for making commitments haphazardly. They have to be realistic. We lose credibility quickly when we lack the courage to make realistic commitments—when they are either too easy or too hard to meet. Our commitments should be grounded in reality rather than being overly optimistic or so loose that it will be impossible not to meet them.
We need to let everyone know when we can’t meet our commitments. Life and the unexpected happen, and when they do, we need to let people know. Immediately. Many of us have fallen into the trap of waiting too long to communicate bad news. We think that somehow if we try extra hard, we’ll be able to meet pull off a miracle. But if we wait too long to communicate bad news, we will break the trust. It’s better for us to let people know if there’s a high likelihood that the commitment can’t be met. How we communicate, though, is key. For example, telling stakeholders “we’re late–sorry about that” is weak and will automatically bust any trust we want to establish. We need to let them know why we’ve missed the commitment we made, the impacts of doing so, and then make a new commitment based on data, not emotion.

Establish routines

It’s important for the virtual leader to ensure team routines are established and followed. Routines can be established for many things, and routines that work for one team might not work for another. As virtual leaders our role is to facilitate the team and help them decide on such things as how often the team will meet, for how long, and for what reasons. Routines establish a sense of normalcy. They can provide the team with a sense of purpose and security, which in turn builds trust in the virtual leader.

Our role as the virtual leader is to facilitate the conversation about routines. The team’s role is to provide recommendations to us. But we should not accept the team’s recommendation without question. An effective leader, virtual or not, ensures that the team’s recommendations have been well thought-out and will meet the goals of the team, the project, and the organization.

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Plan and monitor results

As Lewis Carroll famously said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” If we want Wonderland-style chaos, we’ll skip the planning. We might hear team members say things like “let’s just get the work done,” or “it takes longer to plan than to do the work,” but in these uncertain and chaotic times, it’s not a great way to build trust. Planning, regardless of the methodology or set of practices used, is a proven way make the team feel purposeful. It provides them with a sense of accomplishment as planned tasks get completed. And that shared sense of accomplishment is a great way to bring the team together and build trust not only with the leader, but within the entire team.

Monitoring to ensure results are complete is equally important. Monitoring has many names. Some people call it micromanagement. It’s not. It does not involve doing the work for the team. It does not involve looking over anyone’s shoulder. It’s not “Big Brother.”

Monitoring work can take many forms. It can be done in a daily meeting where members talk about what was planned, what was accomplished, and obstacles that have occurred withing the last 24 hours. It can be a status report with much of the same information. It can involve the use of software where all team members can see the progress of work items. Scrum and other agile methods are all over this concept with daily scrums and burn-down and burn-up charts. Sure, they use different terminology, but the concept is the same—let’s figure out where we are, where we should be, and what’s getting in the way of getting there.

One important component of monitoring involves learning of obstacle/impediments right away. Our role is not to chastise team members for incomplete or late work, which is guaranteed to break trust. Rather, it’s to coordinate all necessary resources to solve the problems and remove the obstacles so that team members can move forward. This is particularly important in a virtual environment. Being geographically dispersed can make some team members feel stuck and isolated, preventing them from moving forward quickly. Knowing that the goal of the leader is be “chief roadblock remover” can be comforting to the team. As virtual leaders we need to find the time and courage to:

Coordinate resources outside the team to solve the problems
With the team figure out how to keep moving forward in a parallel path as a solution is found to the obstacle at hand.
Get experts or other team members to help get unstuck. Having other sets of eyes is important, but it’s much harder when the team doesn’t have the benefit of being together.
Let the team know what we’re doing to resolve the problem. Keeping the team informed is vital to building trust.
Provide encouragement. Take time to let team members think through problems with you. Listen to them and do not provide easy but ineffective answers.
Communicate delays and problems to key stakeholders. Tell them what the delay is and what we’re doing to remove the obstacle.

There are, of course, more ways to establish trust virtually, but these tips provide a start. In Part 2 we will delve into the complex subject of communications.

[i] PBS Newshour, March 18, 2020, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/yo-yo-ma-on-encouraging-songs-of-comfort-amid-global-crisis

Who is Who: The Importance of an Org Structure when Delivering Projects

Written by Frankie Mouzon on July 3, 2019. Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on Who is Who: The Importance of an Org Structure when Delivering Projects

When starting a new job or project, it is very important as a Project Manager or Business Analyst to have a good idea of how an organization or business operates.

This helps navigate the internal & external ways of the business, and understand how it affects the customer base. I currently work in the hospital healthcare industry, which acquires several hospitals each year. The more companies that the business acquires, there is a high chance that there will be more growth, responsibility, & opportunities (including problems), but the business can easily become chaotic if not properly structured. On my first day of the job, I did the typical project manager request by asking for an organization structure. Unfortunately, my request was rejected because employees either left, were laid off, promoted, or moved to different departments due to another recent acquisition purchase. As a result, I did not know who to go to for information or to execute certain tasks. Org charts are vital for the following reasons:

It helps Project Managers & Business Analysts understand the different functions throughout the business, the team, and team members.
It is very important to understand who needs to be involved or the appropriate audience when it comes to sharing information for projects or initiatives.
There is always room for improvement.

If organization structures were more emphasized, there would be much more efficiency, productivity, and less stress & chaos for employees throughout the business.

Knowing Your Industry & Business

Knowing your industry and business are super-beneficial in so many ways.

It helps boost productivity & performance. By understanding the organization and its structure, the Project Manager and Business Analyst will know exactly who to go to for tasks and get stuff done, instead of going around in circles. It is all about delivering & proving the return of investment (ROI) based what you delivered.
It allows you to network outside your team and gain relationships. You probably hear this often, but your network is your net worth (internally [within your team and organization] & externally [the industry & working with vendors]). In a perfect world, everyone has a role and numerous responsibilities, and they are obligated to make sure they uphold their responsibility no matter what. But in the real world, that is not always the case. If a team member on a project does not know you well enough, there is a chance that he or she will be less motivated or enthusiastic to work with you, or even go above and beyond the call of duty to get last-minute extra tasks done for the project. It is also important for the organization to know who you are. You are a great professional, but now it is time for everyone else to know that you are great! Your reputation is everything. If no one knows who you are besides your team, what reputation do you really have?
Exposure is key to taking advantage of new opportunities and gaining new insights of what is going on in the organization. If you constantly perform to your greatest height, and continue to have a great reputation across the organization, people will come to you for input & new opportunities. Being a Project Manager or Business Analyst is a wonderful role with great rewards, but always allow yourself to grow when the opportunity knocks. As human beings, we must challenge ourselves often in order to grow and not become stagnant. As you accomplish a major challenge, another will come and that is how you improve physically, mentally, and spiritually. Always aim higher and be better! In addition, if there is a change in operations or process for a department and you have a good working relationship, there’s a high chance that information will be communicated to you, which you can communicate to your team. Yes, spread the word! From a team perspective, you are trustworthy and reliable when it comes to your say-do ratio and knowledge of information.

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Putting the Pieces Together

During the initiation stage of a project after getting the project charter approved, it is the job of the Project Manager and/or Business Analyst to identify the stakeholders, and determine their expectations, influence, & impact of the project. In order to know the major and minor stakeholders, you must understand the structure, culture, existing systems, and project management processes of the company. Below are a few pointers when it comes to identifying the right stakeholders:

Understand the problem that needs to be solved. This is very important because it provides an opportunity to understand the current state and the people who are involved in the current process that needs to change. By understanding the current state & pain points, you automatically get buy-in from the end-users, and it is perceived as if you are intrigued and determined to be solving the problem. Believe it or not, this will be in your favor as the project continues. After determining the people involved in the current process, they should be listed in the stakeholder register and evaluated based on their impact & influence of the project. Most importantly, they must be kept in the loop of what’s going on throughout the project no matter if it is a weekly or monthly project status update &/ or meeting.
Ask your business sponsor and/or champion. Most of the time, the business sponsor/champion will let you know the details of the problem &/ or project that no one else will know or share, including the stakeholders who need to be involved. As you list these different stakeholders, try to understand their current role & responsibilities, and how they fit into the current business problem(s) that need to be resolved. By doing so, it will show their value & impact to the project. A “good” business sponsor/champion will be your best ally when it comes to the project, because they will provide as much support as possible to solve the problem because of the value added to the business.
BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR SPONSOR/CHAMPION! I cannot emphasize this enough. In order to build a relationship, you must gain trust. In order to gain trust, having a 100% say-do ratio is necessary. Always deliver what you say you are going to do, and then they will like you. Also, treat your champion how you want to be treated. Key words to apply are truth, respect, enthusiasm, reliability, inclusion, & help.
After gathering your initial list of stakeholders, sit down with your manager and review the list to get feedback. This is very important to fill any gaps. Your manager is in that position for a reason, so use them for your benefit. If you are successful, your manager is successful. It is a win-win situation!

There are ALWAYS Opportunities for Improvement

Two of the greatest traits that a Project Manager or Business Analyst should have is being inquisitive & innovative by looking at how things are currently done and can be improved. As you get a better understanding of the organization, and the roles & responsibilities of all teams and their team members, ask questions. Why is the person doing this task? Why is the person doing the task this way? Is there an easier way to get the same output? As Project Managers & Business Analysts, it is our sole responsibility to create value, efficiency, and productivity throughout the entire organization. This might not be easy to get the top people (executives, senior management) on your side, but this is where your influencing skills apply.

Although eliminating waste and creating value should be coming from the top-down, that is not always the case. There are times where you must step up and be a change leader. Yes, you will have to open your mouth & communicate this to senior management, but you can back it up with facts, pain points that affect productivity, the potential solutions, and quantitative benefits (dollar amounts is highly suggested) when the pain points are resolved by one or more a combination of the solutions. By including these factors to your story while presenting the opportunity, you can make a difference & also shift the company culture to innovating constant improvement. So, let’s put on our capes and become change leaders!

Sum It Up

Organization structure is necessary in order to complete projects successfully. According to Rita Mulchay’s PMP Exam Prep Eighth Edition, the Project Manager must “determine company culture and existing systems”. Existing systems include an org chart where you must understand the roles and responsibilities for every team and team member. For business analysts, in order to conduct a successful strategy analysis, they must have the organization chart as part of understanding the current state. If there is no order, there is chaos; and this applies to projects or initiatives, which create tons of value.

How to Excel at Managing Multiple Projects

Written by Jennifer Hahn Masterson on June 26, 2019. Posted in Articles. 3 Comments on How to Excel at Managing Multiple Projects

Managing one project at a time can be stressful enough, but try managing several projects simultaneously–

this is where real difficulties start to emerge. Luckily, there are certain steps you can take to help you get more organized and efficient when managing multiple projects. Let’s learn something about them.

Think ahead

The best thing to do, before you start anything else, is to plan ahead. So, take your time, have your morning coffee, tea, whatever you need to fuel your brain, and start planning. Make sure to know your priorities, and how much time you need for each task. For some people, it works the best to deal with the toughest tasks first and save those less demanding for later.

Schedule your time

Make the most of your time. Plan your time ahead, make an appointment with yourself, pick a project and give it your full attention. This will help you stay focused on the chosen task, at least for a short period of time, and it will make you more productive. It’ll help your thoughts stay in one place, and your brain will work better, without having to worry about other projects. So, you should simply block your time for that project and hold on to it.

Stay Focused

Don’t let anything distract you from what you are doing at the moment and stay focused on your current task. For example, listening to your preferred music helps me stay focused on what I am doing. If you love silence, just find yourself a quiet place, or simply do anything that helps you stop racing thoughts and staying on point.

Assess your workload regularly

Follow up on your project plan or time schedule frequently. Consider some unexpected time loss may occur – some projects might take more time then you have predicted, so you will be behind with other tasks. You can avert that by checking up on your to-do list or some other strategy for tracking project progress.

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Entrust responsibilities

Having trouble accomplishing everything? Delegate! Share your workload with your team, or a trusted colleague. Assign them tasks, even the whole projects, but don’t exonerate yourself completely. As IED Barcelona’s current Master Degree in Service Design explains, this field should encourage an exploratory attitude, self-organization and abilities to collaborate in cross-disciplinary and multidisciplinary teams. Just make sure you are still involved in the whole decision-making process, and you will be certain that the work will get done

Support the project plans

The best way to do this is by using the project management software. This will help you keeping better track of your project progress. Use milestones to mark the significant dates in your project plan and make sure everything is done and submitted before the deadline. Having this kind of information helps you prevent possible time loss, in addition to lowering your stress level when a busy time comes.

Keep an eye on progress

Many things can go wrong if you have a lot to do, and just not enough hands, eyes or time to keep track of all those things. With this in mind, you should block your time to review all your current projects and make sure everything is going just how you have imagined it would.

Be adaptable

Stay open to embracing change when it comes to your time schedule. Like we said before, some projects are more urgent than others and sometimes, despite your effort to pursue your schedule, you will need to attend some other task and spend unplanned time on it. This is considered inevitable when it comes to managing multiple projects, so just stay flexible and don’t panic if it comes to that.

These tips should help you in managing multiple projects successfully. Even if you encounter certain issues in the process (and, trust me, you will), you should be able to solve them with less stress and worries