Hi carla Want to kick start your projects into life in the New Year? By reading this newsletter, you’ll find out how to rally your team and give your project that boost needed to finish on time. How to Kick Start Your Project Welcome to 2012. As a Project Manager, the New Year is a challenging time for your project. You have staff away on leave, you may have deliverables from last year that you need to catch up on and the clock is already ticking. So how to you catch up and then give your project the edge you need to get ahead? Here are 5 tips for doing just this... Tip 1: Stop and get a grip
Projects are always ahead in some areas and behind in others. Stop and take the time to get a firm handle on the project progress. Make a list of all of the areas that you're behind in. Then prioritize the list and calculate the amount of effort needed to get them back on track. Are there any tasks that can be completed by others outside your team? If there are non-critical tasks that you can outsource, then now is the time to consider it. Use whatever resources you can find to complete these late tasks as soon as possible. Tip 2: Rework the plan
Once you've caught up, revisit your Project Plan. Update every task in the plan and recreate your schedule ahead. You need to revitalize your team and to do this, you need a newly worked project plan that shows how you're going to deliver the rest of the project on time. This will boost motivation and enthusiasm for completing the revitalized plan. Especially if your team can see that it's actually achievable. Tip 3: The Road Ahead
Now that you have a crystal clear plan ahead, you're ready to get the team behind it. Take your team out for lunch. Walk them through the remaining challenges and the timeframes in which they must be achieved. Try not to talk about the prior period or any failures to date. Instead, be positive and focus on the road ahead to gather their support. If possible, ask a customer to come along, to impress on your staff what it is that they need to deliver and by when. Tell them you're proud of them and what they're capable of achieving. Tip 4: Individualization
The trick now is to make each person feel like they are a critical cog in the wheel. Meet them individually, reward their successes and recognize achievement whenever you see it. Tip 5: Quick wins
A winning team like to know they are winning right from the start. Focus on delivering a couple of critical tasks early, then shout about the success. Then get more quick wins under your belt and shout out about your successes again. This creates the feeling of achievement and it creates momentum in the team. Sure, the project may not be finished until you've crossed the finishing line, but half the fun should be in getting there. By taking these 5 tips, you can kick start your projects to boost motivation to an all time high. To empower your team, use these Project Management Templates They give you everything you need to help you deliver your project on time. Download | Kick Starting Your Project To kick start your project, you need to:  | Inject new energy and motivation | | Get your team onside | | Have a clear plan ahead |
To do this, download these templates: 
They include all of the templates you need to manage like a pro. Download today from
www.Method123.com |
