VIDEO: Project Frustrations & (Im)mobilization
Some of you know I’ve been mixing business with pleasure and working/traveling in South Africa for the past month.
I’ve spent the last ten days on safari, and the combination of nature and the un-pluggedness have given me the headspace to clear my mind, clarify strategies, and conceptualize new opportunities.
I’m so excited to get back to the “office” and my team to share and start working on the numerous new projects I have in mind! This mindset got me thinking, though, about the numerous clients I’ve had (or have) who dislike projects. They’re frustrated by the inaction and lack of momentum on their strategic projects and are tired of spinning their wheels trying to keep everything on track but not going anywhere.
Is this you?
Have you ever been in the state where you’re excited and fired up about an idea or opportunity that’s been presented to you?
However, as you start gaining traction, everything going on during the day and in your business forces you to lose focus – the wheels fall off, and the project or opportunity ends up on the pile of projects that you’ve started but not yet completed.
I’ve seen this happen a million times. So many people I come across and work with are visionary leaders: they see opportunities in front of them and can’t wait to attack them. The passion, the excitement, and the opportunities are there, but soon after launching a project to seize that opportunity, the enthusiasm peters out, and it becomes a struggle to keep the project on track while balancing the day-to-day in your current operations.
This is a frustrating state to be in. You feel like you’re just spinning your wheels with no real progress, pushing and pushing and pushing and staying in the same place with little-to-no progress on the strategic initiatives that would otherwise catapult you forward.
Ask yourself these two questions
I’ve seen this a hundred times, and more often than not, the business owners who fall into this bucket are usually missing two crucial ingredients from the project execution & launch formula.
These are my two usual questions for them:
- What is your process around how a project is planned and parceled out to your team?
- What is your process around how the project’s execution is communicated back to you?
Systemize how you approach projects
To successfully execute projects, you must have a systemized approach to how the project is planned and launched within your team or with your resources.
- Firstly, there has to be a process around how project tasks are planned and assigned to resources, and how these resources are notified that they are working on the project and what their role in the project is, so they understand what they are working towards. Project teams often fail because its members are unaware they are part of the project and don’t understand their role in the project or what the project is trying to accomplish.
- Secondly, there has to be a process around how your resources communicate throughout the project: their progress for their assigned task in the project; what is the escalation process is if they’re delayed; and how they will share updates and critical information with the project team, etc.
A lack of understanding the communication process (e.g., what information needs to be shared and when it needs to be shared, and what to do when the team arrives at a decision point) is yet another crucial area where project teams go off the rails and projects fall to the wayside.
If you have these two systems in place, I can guarantee you that your ability to keep your momentum going and to successfully execute your project will increase to a near 100% completion.
If this resonates with you or you want to talk about building processes for your business, drop me a comment below – I look forward to connecting!
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