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Being organized seems like a characteristic that would be considered a given for project managers.  With all of the planning that is involved in project management, it seems obvious that a methodical system should be in place. Unfortunately, many project managers don’t make organization a priority. Some project managers jump into projects without any orderliness and end up creating more work for the entire team. Organization is absolutely vital for project management success. Even if you are naturally disorderly, the following tips can help with your organization efforts and make you a more efficient project manager.

 Keep yourself in order

Organization starts with you. If you aren’t keeping an organized life, your work isn’t likely to follow an orderly fashion either. While your personal life may have some disarray, try to keep your working life tidy.

Your office should be neat. You need a clean workspace with paperwork filed in the appropriate spot for each project. There will be times when papers stack up, but make it a goal to file everything by the end of the day. You’ll quickly see how easy it is to find the documents you need in a pinch.

The same goes for your digital files and email. Placing everything in their corresponding folders will make it easier to access them when needed. Try to answer all your emails by the end of the day. Certain emails will require immediate attention, but for less important messages, replying at the end of the day will cut down on the back-and-forth between parties. If you are unable to respond to every message, create a folder for the emails that are unanswered. This will enable you to make responding to these messages a priority and keep you from accidently misplacing the message.

Projects need organization

Even the most skilled project manager needs to have an organization system. With so many ideas, tasks and thoughts associated with a project, disorganization can have negative consequences. If all information isn’t up to date, the project might suffer or you could lose a client. Project managers gather information from a variety of sources and need to be able to access this information immediately. If you’re sticking everything in a pile and sorting through it each time someone needs something, you’re wasting everyone’s time. The same applies if you have to search through fourteen emails before finding a needed document.

Take a “priority” approach to the tasks associated with a project. Evaluate which tasks need to be completed in order for the next steps to take place. If these jobs can be completed easily and without the help of anyone else, get them done and move on to the next step.

For more complex tasks, figure out what resources are needed to complete them. What supplies do you need? Whose assistance is needed? You’re then ready to assign deadlines for each portion of the task. Setting up reminders to check on the status will also keep you and the project organized. Simply put, having a step-by-step program in place benefits everyone.

Your organization improves the team

Your team relies heavily on you to guide the ship. If you’re organized from the start, the rest of the team stands to run more efficiently as well. Disorganization will make it harder for the team to perform their best. Without a clear plan in place, team members might not realize the importance of the tasks assigned.

Being an organized project manager helps guide your team in the right direction. When employees know where to look to see the status of a project, they’ll be able to prioritize accordingly. This will help the entire team be more time-efficient as well.

So much of project management relies on planning, and planning requires a great deal of organization. By starting out with organization in mind, the overall process will be more effective, more likely to meet deadlines and much less stressful for everyone involved.

 

Erin Palmer provided this post on behalf of Villanova University’s online programs. If you’re seeking help with the PMP exam Villanova offers a PMP certification training course 100% online.

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