Posts Tagged ‘management’

Project Management Critical Path

The project management critical path is the path of scheduled activities with no slack time. In other words these activities cannot slip. Work must be completed on schedule and with excellence. Unfortunately, many project leaders are a real stickler for maintaining the schedule but not the standard of excellence needed for sustainable project results.

I have audited too many projects that looked good on paper but produced less than desirable long term results. While the project completed on schedule or within budget the deliverables didn’t hold up to the test of time. Following are three safeguards that will help project managers lead project management critical path activities with excellence.

1. Communicate like the expert you are.

You are the project manager for a reason. Your leadership feels you poses the qualities needed to produce results, they trust you. If your communication is weak, however, they may not continue to trust you. Make the hard calls and ask the hard questions. even if you are met with resistance, you will earn respect for having done so. Some examples include:

• Ask for more money when sticking to the budget will create costly end results
• Ask for more time when the cost of the time will be compensated by improved results
• Negotiate unrealistic expectations regarding schedule and budget
• Explore cutting other efforts in the project to make resources available for critical path activities

Obviously, it is also important to communicate with clarity and candor with your project members. Ask your team members for a commitment to excellence. Reinforce critical path activities and follow up with responsible members frequently. In doing so, some may feel micromanaged. To overcome this use the following statement, “I want to make sure you have the support and resources you need to meet your goals, is there anything I can do for you or anything I need to know?”

2. Put your best people on critical path activities.

When delegating work and leadership, make sure your best players are on the critical path. Often these activities aren’t the most desirable responsibilities on the project so make sure people are recognized and rewarded. I often remind my leaders that the responsibility in question is of extreme importance to the projects overall success.

when human resources are spread thin you can utilize your top performers by making them responsible for overseeing work on certain activities. They become the “go to” person for the rest of the team. they may also be responsible for check-ups and follow-ups to ensure quality and timely results.

3. Prioritize your own time based on the critical path.

Many project managers really struggle with staying focused on what matters most. They tend to suffer from the “squeaky wheel” syndrome or just get caught up in the drama of leadership. Make sure others crisis aren’t becoming your priorities simply because they are experts at whining and complaining. some find it easy to spend more quality time with project members with whom they are familiar. This can be a huge time trap. Schedule time for your critical path activities and the people responsible for them. everything else comes second. Keeping your priorities in order will allow you to lead for excellence in everything.

Another time trap is taking too much responsibility for issues that are not on the critical path. The moment you realize you are managing a crisis for a non critical activity, ask yourself, “who can I delegate this to?”

Bill “the builder” Carpenter has facilitated projects in over a dozen industries. With an emphasis on clarity and quality Bill has trained and coached top performing project managers from companies like: Ford, Caterpillar, Hershey and more. He is available for keynotes, seminars and web based training programs. Call for availability 937-935-6789