First-time communicators to interpreters to middlemen to problem-solvers; there are various roles a project manager performs in a design and development services company. The project teams constantly communicate with clients via emails, chats, texts, phone calls, video conferencing and through other ways of communication. So, they are the ones who have to stay informed about everything going on in the project and should keep one another informed in the team.
An IT company is all about projects and project management. In order to deliver best solutions and to add a number of happy clients to the list, a company must enforce effective Project Management strategies within the system. With the rise in globalization and increase in remote working in teams and with clients, there is a pressing need to implement the following for streamlining the whole project management system.
The most integral part of project management is communication-whether within the teams or with clients or remote teams. The need here is for clear and precise communication. Since most conversations are via email or call, nobody has the time to listen to long stories. It should rather be meaningful as if the two parties communicating can derive value from the discussion. Be it gathering requirements from the client or discussing any query or functionality, everyone in the team should realize that a client call must be productive; don’t swerve from the real topic.
Following a biweekly sprint with agile process results into faster and iterative communication. Unlike traditional project management, agile management uses a workflow method where a ‘sprint’ is planned in advance for two coming weeks. Also, this management system institutes transparency for the clients as the clients are connected with the team through the agile process and can constantly monitor the current working of the project.
Regular meetings are yet another significant element of project management. In fact, it is good to discuss project requirements, development process, estimates, deadlines and for that matter, every detail related to the project with the team members involved. Everyone gets an opportunity to be a part of the project, voice their opinion and share their ideas for better project development.
However, what’s important here is to not waste time in meetings. Schedule them before and wrap them up in an hour (unless required more) so that the team can get proper time in performing the real-time tasks of the project. Prepare an agenda for the meeting beforehand and send it via email to all members so that no minutes are wasted in explaining the agenda of the meeting.
Before initiating any communication with clients, team members, executives, vendors, stakeholders, be clear with the purpose of communication. Since nobody has extra hours to invest in aimless discussions, it’s better to prepare yourself prior and maintain transparency throughout the meeting. Try to convey your message across all the audiences in a way that it is easy to understand, implement (if required) and accessible by everyone concerned.
Digital technology has a lot more to offer. If you are willing to share the same data with all the teammates across different locations, use cloud-based project management tools. Further, encourage the concepts of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Bring Your Own App (BYOA) among the staff members so that they have the ease and flexibility to work within and outside the office. Such processes will also help Project Managers to stay connected with the whole team both onshore and offshore even after office. They help you better collaborate with your team.
To know more about BYOA and BYOD concepts, click here.
Finally, with so many project-tracking tools and solutions, it’s easy to monitor a number of projects at one time tracking down the progress individually. Make sure you use a handful of reminders to keep the team members informed of what’s pending in their queues and about the meetings they have to attend. So, being proactive is also an important element of project management.
Clients are likely to experience improved levels of services as a result of effective management of their projects. Consequently, they receive business success by virtue of quality and process efficiencies.
Our team at Konstant Infosolutions follow a modern, meaningful and measurable approach to project management, keeping in touch with the client from the start till the delivery and even providing after support services. The main focus is to maintain work transparency, encourage concise communication, organized workflow and customer satisfaction.
You can check out our project communication strategy here.
Manish Jain is the co-founder and Managing Director at Konstant Infosolutions. He is responsible for the overall operations of the company and has played a major role in bringing Konstant up from its humble beginnings and, with his immense energy and drive, transforming it into a globally trusted name in IT solutions.
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