Efficiency is more than just managing systems, budgets, and timetables. Efficiency is also about managing people.It may not be as scientific, but if you ignore people, you'll find yourself in a mess at the end of a project (I know I always do).
Here's the path I try and follow - in ascending order:
3.) Expectation Management: If you're going to be efficient, you've got to constantly (at least once a week) update clients and/or your boss on the status of where something is in progress, when you need key items from them, how its effecting the overall deadline, when they can expect to see the next milestone from you, if and how scope may have creeped (see previous post on scope creep), and so on. Let them know what to expect before they ask for it.
2.) Communication: If you want to do #3 well, then you've got to first be in the habit of communicating well. Good communication involves a lot of things - being consistent, helpful, timely, & proactive (just to name a few). Communicate well, and you'll be better prepared to manage people's expectations.
1.) Caring: And last, if you want to do #2 well, you've got to actually care about what you're doing and who you're doing it for if you're going to have enough fuel to communicate well and mean it.
To sum up - if you care, you'll see to it that good communication happens. And if you communicate well, you'll set the stage for expectation management to take place.
If you're doing all 3 of these things in progression, you'll find yourself with much more than just an efficient process, you'll find yourself with partners.
Processes assume there is a box. You have to do more than manage in a box.
2 comments:
Great points! This is why people skills are as important as business skills. Managers need to be people-oriented. Too often, employees are promoted into management because they are good at their job, which has nothing to do with managing people.
In the IT industry, this is a big problem. People who deal with technology all day are not necessarily people-oriented. And people-oriented employees may not have a firm grasp of (or interest in) the technology. So it takes a special sort of person to be an IT manager. The good ones are few and far between. I'm sure there are similar issues in other industries.
So true. It's amazing how easy it is to forget about updating, managing and or just talking to people about the specific project you're working on. It gets even harder when you are responsible for multiple projects. If you fail to communicate with one person for a couple days, it can easily turn into a month long delay.
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