So, you have a project.
Its a big, important project, one that needs a full team effort to bring to completion. Time is ticking, though it's not yet against you. But if you don’t get moving soon, the project won’t stand a chance. You need to get going. Often, it's that first movement that becomes the first challenge of the project, the first hurdle. Project managers need to build momentum. Momentum feeds the project, because once it’s moving, momentum makes it difficult to stop. That’s a good thing.
The beginning of any project is fraught with fears. Fear of the unexpected, maybe. Or a fear of the outcome. How to maintain the momentum? How do we prevent the project going off course, or worse, and never reaching its destination.
Like every journey, we need to start slowly. Setting a clear start date for the project, with people’s responsibilities clearly outlined, is the first step.
Better still to have the team onboard with the project planning before you even start. They’ll need to know how they fit in, and if it’ll effect how they do their job. And remember, the momentum we need for our projects is the motivation team members will need. In that way, the circle completes itself. As the wheels of the project start turning, set easy tasks for the team. Its early days, so little and often. This will help bring them into the project with positivity - something the project will need further down the line as the momentum grows and the project develops.
As your project progresses, time becomes more important. So at every stage of the journey, its crucial to reiterate the importance of deadlines to the team. What’s the point of setting deadlines without meeting them? Deadlines bring focus, and it’s that focus that keeps the wheels turning and the project moving in the right direction. Deadlines are like tube trains, there’ll be another one along shortly. So when we’ve met a deadline, its important to move quickly and turn our focus to the next part of the journey.
It’s fundamental to the success of every project that the whole team are managing their time effectively, which means two things. Planning and communication. Keeping these crucial two elements at the centre of the project’s objectives will help maintain the momentum and make for a smoother ride for everyone. Anyone and everyone with a hand in the project, anyone with a role to play, should be aware of where the rest of the team are up to.
So, the project progresses well and the momentum is good. The team are meeting deadlines, and there’s an air of positivity. While its always good to enjoy and celebrate that positivity, its also wise to keep an eye on the prize - completion of the project. Nobody enjoys expecting the worst, but we know that projects can be distracted, delayed or worse derailed along the way. The energy levels of the team can slump, people lose motivation and this in turn slows the momentum. It may be the case that teams need re-energising, re-motivating and encouraged by reminding them of the project’s goals and objectives.
Momentum is a force of energy, and when controlled and focussed, it can be a valuable tool. By planning momentum into the development of a project, setting realistic deadlines, managing our time well, staying positive and by being mindful of the power of momentum, teams are better placed to bring the project to completion.
And then we sit back, take a deep breath……and start again.
