Meet Your Goals: Project Tracking System with Real-time Information
Friday, July 26, 2013 / Updated: July 26, 2013
Managers often have a complicated role. They’re in charge of both the big picture and the little details. Staying on top of everything is a big part of the job. Whether complicated or simple, project tracking requires the ability to see the forest as well as the trees. And staying informed is essential to having the right information when it’s needed.
“Whether complicated or simple, project tracking requires the ability to see the forest as well as the trees.”
Information flow can have a big impact on a project – for better or worse. When you’re working on a project with a team of people, information can come in fits and starts.
Everyone is busy, of course, and trying to stay on top of their own workload. Even with the best intentions, sometimes even gentle reminders can be disruptive because of timing. People are juggling different responsibilities and tasks can be forgotten until the last minute. And usually work done at the last minute isn’t the highest quality work.
Task Reminders – Are They Helping or Hindering?
Speaking of the forest and the trees, let’s take a step back and look at this from bigger perspective. Most organizations have more going on than just the day to day work for each employee. Bigger institutional work is also taking place to stay on track with the organization’s goals and mission. There may be a group project working to support employee satisfaction. Another team may be meeting to stay current on industry standards and update training materials. And yet another group is creating a more functional workflow process.
Variety is the spice of life, and often employees are interested in working on multiple efforts within an organization. If you are heading one of these efforts, you might find that the regular workload of your team can interfere with meeting your goals on deadline. People may come to meetings unprepared. Tasks that you thought would take a few days now take weeks to finish.
As a team member, it can be frustrating to attend meeting after meeting where people have failed to meet their commitments. When people start a project, they have enthusiasm. It’s best to capitalize on that energy and get the work done. It can be hard to keep motivated to continue if progress is slow. Once a group loses steam, picking up the pace and meeting the original goals can seem impossible.
Get the Right Tools for the Job
If you’ve encountered that situation, consider the tools that were in use to keep the project moving. Was it an adaptive, flexible system? Could you track and automate team tasks in real-time and know when they were completed? Or was it an outdated, slow moving dinosaur that couldn’t keep up with the workflow?
Know when to step in or stay out to keep the project moving:
- Track tasks in real-time.
- See project status updates from your team members.
- Respond to requests for information or decisions.
Project status tracking doesn’t have to be a task that takes your time. With Comindware Tracker, you have the ability to add in automated reminders to help people stay on track – without you having to remind them yourself. Those reminders will go out on email as scheduled, keeping the commitment closer to the top of that person’s to-do list. Best of all, these reminders free up managers to do the work they need to do to ensure team efficiency.
Your team relies on you to make the critical decisions that they can’t make for certain tasks. You need to have up-to-date information to keep on top of your own commitments in the project. Even if a task requires more of a hands-on approach, that’s no problem. With project status updates that come right to your inbox, you’ll know that it’s time to take that critical step and meet with your team.
Consider your tools and find the one that helps you finish the job on track every time!
Posted on: in Leadership, Project World