Manage Multiple Projects

In today’s fast paced business world, it’s likely that you’ll have more than one thing to work on at any given time. To continually succeed, you need to know how to manage multiple projects at once. This starts with assigning priorities to everything you work on, writing detailed plans, and keeping project information together. You can practice working on dreaded projects first, transitioning between projects when you get stuck, and reducing pointless tasks. When you are managing other people, it is good to know how they communicate and make sure you delegate and let people work.

Steps

Organizing Efficiently

1. Prioritize your projects to keep things in perspective. Not everything you work on has the same payoff for finishing it or consequences for not finishing it. As you work on projects and constantly add more to your list, use some kind of system to remind yourself what is the most important and what you can put off for long amounts of time.
   • One way to prioritize is to take note of when things are due and make sure you mostly work on the things that are due the soonest. You will still need to work on longer term projects over time, rather than waiting until the deadline is upon you.
   • You can also prioritize based on the size of the project, or the difficulty of getting it done. It can be helpful to set a higher priority on difficult projects so you avoid putting them off and hurrying them at the last minute.
   • Develop a color coding system that gives you an at-a-glance visual of relative priority levels. For example, however you decide to assign priorities, make red the highest, purple the middle, and blue the level you can hold off on.
2. Write out a detailed process for each project. Every project will entail multiple phases, steps, or aspects. Make a habit of breaking projects down into specific chunks of work. Write these out and make a plan for how you will work through each step of the process. Assign a time limit for each task and stick to that, but overestimate how long it will take so you have some cushion.
   • This is the kind of habit that may seem like it is just using extra time, but if you have a detailed guide to what needs to be done before you start, it helps guard against forgetting something along the way.
   • Don’t be afraid to go overboard on the details because the more you expand things out, the clearer it will be what you need to get done. Plus you will feel like you are accomplishing more as you work through each small part of the project.
3. Keep important information in a single, designated place. Storing vital information on your various projects in one location helps ensure you never lose track of it. This could mean one notebook or spreadsheet, or one specific folder for all project documents. This single place could have sections for basic info on all the projects and specific info on each individual project.
   • If it doesn’t make sense to store information from separate projects in a central place, at least be sure to store all of the information for each single project in one place.
   • When you are working with a team who all need access to the set of documents, make sure they have any passwords necessary or copies of any physical documents.
   • Once a project is finished, consider trashing its documents (if it makes sense to do so) or relocating all of the project’s information. Maybe you would never throw away or delete work you’ve done, but you can at least store it in a separate place designated specifically for finished items.

Maintaining Productivity

1. Pick something you dread and get to work on it first thing in the morning. Avoiding things you dread doing never makes it easier to do them. Force yourself to tackle the hard stuff early in the day while you are somewhat fresh. You’ll rarely stop dreading something if you put it off longer. Once the dreaded task is completed, you’ll feel a burden lifted and it will spur you on for the rest of the day.
   • Dreaded tasks may not always be things that are prioritized highest, but it’s an exception to the priority rule.
   • If you are dreading something that also happens to be a time-consuming task, weigh this in mind. Maybe you can tackle a significant chunk of the process in the morning one day and finish it in the morning the next day.
2. Make course corrections when you hit a wall. You’ll have times when you are working on something important, but you just hit a wall and stop making progress. Staring at the wall and beating yourself up are not helpful, so make a smooth transition on to other work. You may need to come back quickly, but taking a break will help keep you productive.
   • Switching off to another task may not always be an option, especially if you are under a tight time crunch. Consider your situation and act accordingly. Maybe you don’t have time to switch completely to a different project, but you can take a five minute breather and refocus.
   • If you have the time to switch off to a different project, give that one your full attention. It’s no use changing projects if your mind is stuck on the first one.
3. Eliminate unnecessary aspects of the work. You may have habits while working on projects, but you realize those things are not directly contributing to the work at hand. Don’t make extra work for yourself. Evaluate your processes and look for things that you can stop doing. This will free up time for important things and will streamline your efforts.
   • For example, maybe you always make a themed bulletin board for new projects, which is really only a tactic to put off getting started. Or maybe you come up with funny code names for team members, but you never actually use them during the project.
   • You don’t want to start cutting things out that are worthwhile practices, but try to be honest about what things contribute and what things don’t.

Working With Others

1. Set limits and say no. You have a threshold for how much you can realistically manage. It’s important to know that limit and to stay in the sweet spot. If you are at maximum capacity and another opportunity presents itself, learn to say no. It may be better to miss out on something and actually get done what you already have than taking on another project and failing them all.
   • Learning where exactly your limit is may take some trial and error. If you don’t get it right the first time, don’t give up on yourself. You have to find your limit somehow, even if it means dropping the ball once or twice.
   • Maybe the newly offered project is not something you can afford to pass up. Carefully consider when this is the case. You may burn a bridge by letting go of something you already committed to working on.
2. Assign tasks and don’t micromanage. When you have a team you work with or oversee, it is always best to delegate as much of the work as you can. You may tend to want to be in control, but you have people helping for a reason. Give people assignments at the outset of a project and let them do what they are assigned. Don’t take back control partway through.
   • When you have good workers, a group of people can get more done than you can all alone. If you tend to do all of the work but delegating is an option, consider passing off some of the work. If you have workers available to you, don’t let their help go to waste.
   • If you are in charge, it’s still your responsibility to make sure everything is getting done. Set some times that you will check in on progress and then leave your team alone except during those specific times.
3. Learn your team members’ communication styles and work with them. You may be in charge of people who work very differently than you. To be effective, you need to accept that. Knowing how each member of your team communicates best will help you get more done. Without going overboard, cater a little to each person so you can get the best work possible out of them.
   • This could apply specifically to forms of communication like phone and email. Some team members may prefer a call when you are giving them feedback. Others will value the efficiency of email.
   • It also applies to who likes to joke, who prefers to be serious, and how you need to frame feedback. You want to get along with your team as much as possible so they want to work with you.
   • Keep notes on your people so you can be sure to apply what you learn about them. You may ask them directly about some of their preferences or you may do better to figure it out over time.
4. Stay in communication regarding progress. Whether you are in charge or you report to someone else, progress updates are important. Set times with people you are in charge of for them to update you. Be proactive about reporting to your supervisor as you get things done. Consistent, if not constant, updates will keep a project moving smoothly.
   • It can be helpful to have established progress report deadlines at various stages of a project. This could be daily for short projects, or once a week for projects that are ongoing.
   • This is especially important if one part of a project builds on the part before it. If Tom is waiting for Leslie to finish her part before he can work on his, he needs to know how far along she is.
   • Setting expectations in the beginning for how progress updates will be handled is important. You don’t want to get halfway through a project and surprise people with a progress check.

Tips

• Set a goal for yourself to finish something every day.
• When you can, let team members pick what they work on so you’ll have their full buy-in.
• Leave some flexibility in your plans for contingencies that may come up.

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Sources and Citations

See also

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• Be Appointed to a Board of Directors
• Become a Better and Effective Team Leader
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• Build a Management Team
• Use an In Basket
• Write an Employee Handbook
• Plan an Employee Retreat

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