Author: Lindsay Curtis

“Of course, we’re going to follow best practices,” our Project Manager (PM) said, for the fourth time in an hour at our weekly team meeting. Upon hearing this, I looked across the table at my colleague and watched as she rolled her eyes. She wasn’t trying to be disrespectful to our PM, but it wasn’t the first time he’d gone on about “best practices” without ever defining them. In fact, we had a running joke about how many times he’d use the term in a meeting without ever actually telling us what these best practices were or how to implement them. In essence, our PM was using the term “best practice” as a buzzword, and nothing more. He never clearly defined what he meant in the context of our project or duties. The truth is that best practices are important, and sharing them amongst all relevant project team members is critical for a project’s success. In this case, the ambiguity of using the term but not defining it was bad news for us. What are best practices? And why do we need to share them? While there is no universally accepted definition of a best practice, we do know that a said procedure needs to demonstrate evidence of success, have an effect on something important (i.e., contributing to the project’s goals), and have the potential to be replicated or adapted to other settings. Best practices are typically activities or processes that bring meaningful results and/or yield success. They are often seen as innovative in comparison to what’s been done in the past. Sharing best practices is important for the health of a project. The primary objective in sharing best practices is to identify the best way of doing something, and then, to share that knowledge with others working on the project. The result hopefully streamlines the process and put everyone on the same page of doing things in the best way possible. When everyone can implement a best practice into their work, they meet their goals and accomplish the mission of the project. Sounds easy, right? Not always. Sometimes, we might encounter “knowledge hoarders.” By that I mean, folks who have the knowledge of best practices, but either don’t think to share it or simply don’t know how to share it with everyone, making it difficult for others to access the information. On the other hand, there’s the problem of constant sharing for some (i.e., random sharing with no method in place for documenting or formally distributing pertinent information among colleagues). The latter can result in information overload or overwhelm those hearing the suggestions offered. At the very least, it’s disorganized. If you are a Project Manager who is experiencing challenges around documenting and sharing best practices, following these five tips can make it a little easier. Five Ways to Document and Share Best Practices 1. Document Lessons Learned and Process/Procedure Documents We’re all busy. And sometimes, the idea of writing yet another thing down or being responsible for yet another document feels daunting. I encourage you to make it a priority! Not only is it not (too) hard to document best practices at work, but it’s so important for your project to be successful. Each of your team members has a specific way in which they get things done. Over time, they’ve perfected a methodology, and they know the most efficient way to get the best results. These procedures become best practices, and having your team members put their methods in writing preserves their efficient and effective work flows for others to use in similar situations. Documentation of such becomes a valuable asset for your organization and may even be used as an onboarding and/or training tool in the future. Not only does documenting best practices call attention to a job well done and identify the expertise that exists within your project team, but it shows respect for your employees. You recognize that they are excellent at what they do, and you’re asking them to document it, so others can implement their practices. When someone is recognized for their best practice – and work – it builds morale. Pro-tip: If you’re a PM asking your team members to write down what they do, have someone who is new to the job follow their written directions. Sometimes when a job duty or process becomes like second nature to someone, they may unintentionally omit steps in a written document because they’re so familiar with the process. 2. Use the right knowledge-sharing software Though every project is different, in my experience Microsoft Office 365 has been the best software to use for knowledge sharing, as it makes sharing best practices within an organization/project relatively straightforward and easy. SharePoint is a collaboration and content management platform often used as a medium for sharing of information within organizations or projects. Highly adaptable and relatively simple to use, SharePoint supports the creation, editing, and sharing of information. When I’m working on projects, it is often a go-to for content management because it allows team members to contribute their portion of a document to a centralized base. This makes it easy to know where to share, update, discover, and document what’s important. Whether you use SharePoint or another tool, the right knowledge-sharing software can help you easily and quickly search for the documents you need, ask your colleagues questions, and store the documents you’ve put together. This encourages everyone – from Administrative Assistants to Project Leads – to contribute ideas and document best practices that everyone can access. 3. Create a strategic plan to share best practices Before you roll your eyes, let me say that I know how time-consuming it is to even so much as think about developing another strategic plan. This suggestion is one of the more demanding on the list because it requires you to work with your leads and stakeholders to establish strategic, organization-wide knowledge transfer plans. That said, the value in developing a strategic plan for sharing your best practices is worth the investment. A strategic plan for best practices can help you mitigate risks, which will help you meet critical project objectives, even if a team member has moved on to a different role elsewhere. Tactics to consider adding to your plan include documentation of “how to” steps, lunch and learn sessions for staff, 1:1 meetings for knowledge sharing, and putting together a thorough, detailed process and procedure handbook. 4. Do a Review Most major projects often have some kind of post-implementation review, but a thorough review doesn’t have to wait for the end of your project. Consider taking a step back after each major milestone is reached to discuss and document lessons learned. Ask what worked, what could’ve gone better, what you would do differently if you had the opportunity, and what new ideas everyone on the project has for moving forward. Depending on your role, this can be accomplished with 1:1 meetings or in a brainstorming session with key project team members. Asking what lessons were learned typically captures a wealth of knowledge. Knowledge that you (and/or future employees) can use when moving forward in the project or undertaking a project similar in scope. Another bonus of doing a review is that it’s helpful in bridging the silo problem that so many projects encounter. If you involve everyone on the project from all disciplines (i.e., IT, quality control, support, etc…) and together discuss the project, you are closing the silos and coming together as a team with one goal in mind: the betterment of your project. 5. Be Adaptive It’s important to recognize that even best practices may need to be modified after a period of time. Things change. New, better ways of doing things pop up. Don’t get so attached to your existing best practices that you ignore or disregard any new ones that may improve things. Allow things to stay fresh and relevant. If a project team member comes to you with a new idea for documentation, hear them out. If an Administrative Assistant finds a way to streamline a process, but it’s not the way you’d do it, consider their advice. It’s important to remain nimble throughout the life of your project in order to respond to any issues and needs that pop up. This includes the ways in which you share best practices. Conclusion Use these tips as a starting point, and your project will be on the way to maximizing the impact of each team member’s contributions and capitalizing on their particular area of expertise. You’ll help yourselves in the future, and chances are, you’ll be able to implement what you’ve learned in your next project as PM, too. Do you have any tips for sharing best practices among colleagues? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments!

My very first job out of university was that of “Project Coordinator” (PC). I was the PC for a government-run project that aimed to create a new tool hospitals and mental health organizations could use to make the intake process easier on their patients. I was deeply proud of working on a project that would have such a positive impact on an under-served population. But I loathed going to work. The work environment was toxic. Many of my colleagues would end their days in tears. Others took sick days more often than not. The project was a mess and going off the rails within three months of kick-off. The reason? We had a terribly negative, overbearing Project Manager who micromanaged, berated, and belittled project team members, spoke over people, and expected us all to treat him more like a king than a manager. It was so bad that the project carried on for two years longer than was originally intended, thanks to a high turnover rate. Creating and sustaining a healthy project environment is equally as important as the people you hire to carry out the work, though it is often something that is either overlooked or assumed to be just “fine.” Many put little thought into it, but there is no doubt it’s worth the effort! The benefits of paying attention to a project’s environment are plentiful: productivity goes up, morale is boosted, and creativity rises, too. As a project manager, that’s the kind of workplace I strive to create, no matter how stressful the project can be at times. Since I spend most of my weekday waking hours at work, I want it to be a place that feels good—a place that values all of the members of the team, inspires everyone to do their very best, and allows us all to leave at the end of the day feeling satisfied with work done well. I’d like to offer you five tips to apply for creating a work environment where your team (and project!) can thrive.   Encourage Open Communication Think about the best boss you’ve ever had. Did s/he make an effort to connect with you? Listen to you? Make you and your colleagues felt heard? Open communication is important to having a healthy project environment. When you make the effort to connect with your team members in person, both individually and as a group, you are showing them you care. This small effort motivates employees, and when they feel valued and heard, they are more likely to be committed to the project and to what you are asking them to do. Don’t fall into the rut of being “too busy” to connect. It’s easy to put off having 1:1 meetings with your team members because you have stakeholders calling you every other hour, have important meetings with the project sponsor you need to prepare for, and/or a budget to juggle, but don’t let that connection you have with your team members go. Implement an open door policy and let everyone know you are always willing to speaking with them. Then, listen to their ideas and concerns and give consideration to the value of what they have to say. Without regular connections with your team, the goals of the project can quickly dissolve and degrade the strength of your team and project.   Give Positive Reinforcement and Show Gratitude Take the time to provide meaningful appreciation to your team members. Let them know when you notice how hard they are working. Applaud their efforts. Celebrate their success. Share positive reinforcement with team members individually and collectively as a team, when appropriate. Detailed, deliberate praise shows you’re paying attention and not just throwing around empty words. When people feel like the work they are doing is appreciated, they will want to rise to the occasion even more and may even go above and beyond what is asked of them. A compliment can go a long way in encouraging team members to be invested in, not just their tasks, but the health of the project as a whole. Consider kicking off each team meeting by giving thanks and praise to each other. Encourage others to share their gratitude and appreciation for their colleagues, too. Giving people the space to express their gratitude for one another in a public forum will help raise morale of the entire team and establish a positive tone for your project and work environment.   Support Collaboration Building a culture that celebrates the team rather than the individual (though it’s good to celebrate both!) is another way to encourage a healthy project environment. Support and encourage collaboration whenever possible. Though a little competition can be a good thing and serve as a motivator, you want your team members to feel like they are in this together, rather than competing against one another. One way to do this is to create casual meeting rooms or spaces where employees can meet in an informal way to bounce ideas off of one another or ask each other for help on a particular issue. When people feel like they are a part of something, they are more likely to be invested in the success of the project in both short and long-term realms.   Trust and Respect Your Team Members Although the human resources side of project management may sometimes feel like you’re herding cats, remember that your team is comprised of responsible, competent adults. Treat them as such, and demonstrate your trust in them when you can. This means when you delegate and assign work, believe that the work will be done, and done well. No one likes a micro-manager or a manager who is always looking over their shoulder. Hire the right people for the job and give them the autonomy to prove that you have. You can also communicate trust by being open to feedback and suggestions for all aspects of the project. Let people be heard and know that you truly value their thoughts and perspectives. Demonstrate respect by communicating often with the team and striving to be transparent as possible about everything—successes and roadblocks alike. Go forward on the assumption that your team wants the best for the project. Invite their feedback as often as you can.   Don’t Forget to Have Fun While “work” and “fun” are sometimes not synonymous, they can be! Fun at work happens when people feel well-connected with each other. It comes about when there’s an awareness that everyone is collaborating and working towards the same goals, you’ve fostered mutual respect, and there is open communication and an acceptance of who people are. When your team works well together, it’s easier to have spontaneous fun. Whether it’s a drink at the local watering hole on the Friday after your project kick-off or taking a break in the afternoon for tea and cookies every once in a while, sharing a few stories and laughs with the group can help create a project environment your team members want to be a part of. If it’s appropriate, don’t be afraid to schedule team-building activities once or twice a year. Block out time in everyone’s calendars and do something that focuses on the connection with each other. Whether it be a skills building workshop or a competition to see who can make the biggest and best gingerbread house, these activities can be a less formal way of getting to know colleagues.  You may be surprised at how something as simple as this can strengthen working relationships.   Conclusion Yes, you are only one person, but the project manager may be the most important person on the team for creating a healthy work environment. You set the tone for the project’s energy and the way people work together. Get to know your team members, and determine what works best for that particular group. Remember that collaboration, open communication, respect, and trust are the foundations to the overall health of your project’s environment.  

It’s the start of your project, and you have hundreds of tasks that need to be performed by dozens of team members in order to get the finish line. At the onset of any project, the job of prioritizing tasks, identifying the most important ones, and assigning resources and responsibilities can feel daunting. That’s where the Critical Path Method (CPM) comes in. Developed in the 1950’s, the CPM remains an essential part of planning any project. So what is the Critical Path Method? The critical path is the distance between the start and the finish of your project. Essentially, it is a way of saying, “How long does each required task take before we finish?” The critical path includes project phases and the length of time for each phase, as well as project tasks and their duration. Critical Path Method allows you to calculate the “critical path” of a project by showing the necessary order of tasks, the ideal project schedule, and any potential problems with resources and scheduling. CPM highlights the crucial stages where delays can hinder the project and also indicates where extra resources can accelerate it. Critical Path Method Steps Determining your project’s critical path involves six steps: List all the tasks required to complete the project. Try to use a hierarchical breakdown of the project, noting every deliverable. “Critical” tasks are tasks with deadlines that directly impact the project timeline. “Float” tasks are those that can be delayed without extending the project. They most likely run parallel to the critical path. Note the duration of each task. Determine how long each task will take to complete before moving on to the next one. Identify task dependencies. A task dependency is when one task cannot start until another has been completed. Identify your project milestones. These are the project’s major phases. Create a list of your project deliverables. Assign resources to your project tasks. Resources include people, equipment, facilities, funding, and anything else required for the completion of your project. Once you have laid out all of this information, you can use the CPM to calculate the longest sequence of planned activities from the start to finish, hitting all significant milestones in between. Critical Path Method Best Practices As project managers, we are all likely familiar with this process, but what the best practices to follow when implementing CPM? Follow the six recommendations below and you’ll be well on your way to a successful project in no time. Get familiar with Microsoft Project Developing a project’s critical path within MS Project streamlines the process. The software helps you clearly lay out the project’s phases and tasks and automatically forecasts the project’s end date. Visit MPUG’s Critical Path 101 for an introduction on how to get started. Prepare for the “what-if” scenarios Every experienced project manager knows that things don’t always go exactly as planned. That’s why it’s important to make room for the “what-ifs” that may occur when mapping out your critical path. Once you know more about your project’s schedule, you can experiment a bit to see what effect any delays or setbacks will have on your project’s timeline. You can do this in Microsoft Project by: Extending a critical task by increasing its duration. This will show you all the other critical tasks that would be impacted by this change, show you any non-critical tasks that gain extra time, and reveal the total slack. Extending a task that possesses free slack. Slack is the amount of time a task can be delayed without any delay in the successor activity or the project finish date. Free slack is the time a task can be delayed without delaying its successor task. Extending a task with free slack will show you that no other tasks are affected until you exceed the free slack available. Extending a task that only possesses total slack. This will demonstrate how other tasks will be rescheduled. Total slack is the time a task can be delayed without delaying the project finish date. Stay Flexible Along with preparing for the “what-if” scenarios of your project, staying flexible is equally important. Any change or delay will directly impact your project timeline, requiring a revision to the plan. Keep in mind that critical paths can change throughout the life of the project, depending on delays, resource availability, and any other unforeseeable issues that pop up. The good news is that because you’ve measured each task’s duration in your critical path planning, you can reasonably estimate a new timeline with some accuracy when something comes up that requires a delay. This will keep your stakeholders and project sponsors happy. Yes, the transparency a critical path provides is unparalleled, and it allows the entire team to see the big picture and the small details of the project. Check that your critical path makes sense This may seem like an obvious point, but it’s important to ensure that your schedule works for you, your stakeholders, and the team members who will be executing the tasks. Once it’s been developed, it’s important to share the project’s critical path and timeline with everyone involved. Having an easily accessible critical path keep everyone “in-the-know” throughout the life of your project, and ensures all stakeholders and team members are aware of deadlines as well as delays. It can also be helpful to team members who wouldn’t otherwise see the “big picture” of the project, providing them with a deeper understanding of where their duties fit into the larger scope of the project. Use the critical path to support your team Once you’ve created a critical path to keep the project on track and keep your team in the loop on all elements of the project, you may wonder, Now what? As the PM, it’s your job to manage the deadlines and communicate often with your team. See the critical path as more than just a to-do list, but rather a continuing team effort where each member depends on each other for support, and, eventually, the project’s success. When creating your critical path, make sure that all tasks included have specific deadlines and that the tasks have been delegated to the right person. Missed deadlines can sometimes be avoided by paying attention to your team and understanding their workload, which MS Project will help you see. Create project status reports to update stakeholders A project status report (or milestone report) is essentially a snapshot of where things are at with your project. This will come in handy not just for yourself to see how all elements of the project are going, but also so that you can share project updates with your stakeholders. You can create custom project status reports using data within your critical path in MS Project. MS Project allows you to create and customize graphical reports of any of the project data you want to share. MS Project can also help you create a status report that includes three important elements: Overall Picture showing the overall health of your project. Milestones reveal which milestones are complete, which ones are in progress, and which ones are coming up next. Issues or the obstacles arising in the project. Do you have more tips and tricks to add for project managers using the Critical Path Method?