These 5 tips will give you a head start:

Be honest

Always be totally honest and upfront with your customer right from the start. Tell them if their project is not feasible or if you don’t have all of the resource, money and time needed to deliver it successfully from the outset. Set their expectations by telling them what you will deliver and by when. And if it eventuates that you can’t deliver on your promises, then tell them about it immediately. By having an “open book” policy, you’ll gain your customer’s trust. And if you involve them early enough, they will be more supportive to your cause.

Hand it over

Managers often fall into the trap of believing that they can do things more efficiently than staff. Of course in many cases they might be right, but the problem is that they don’t have the time to do everything themselves. So a smart manager always tries to delegate as much as possible to staff. It gives them the time needed to monitor the project and support their team. It’s a tough ask, but even if you know you can do a task more efficiently than others, delegate it anyway.

Become a leader

When you save time by delegating your tasks, you have free time for leading and motivating your team. Do this by regularly communicating the project vision to your team, rewarding them for progress and recognizing their achievements. Gain their respect by showing them you care. Build team spirit by taking them to lunch regularly and talking about what they achieved together. Remember, there is no “i” in “team”.

Expect the unexpected

Always expect things to change and be ready for it when it occurs. People have ideas, your customer may want changes, and the industry and technology change over time as well. It’s not the change that’s important, it’s how you react to the change that counts. Always embrace change, but be wary of it. Question it, double-question it and only when you’re certain it’s for the best, implement it.

Work smart, not hard

Try not to start from scratch. Give yourself a head-start wherever possible by using tools like Method123. These templates boost the quality of your deliverables, while saving you time and effort.

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But how do you measure your progress against budget to know if you’re on track? In this post, we’ll tell you how. So read on to learn…

How to Measure Progress against Budget

A “project” by definition will always have a limited timeframe and a fixed budget. The “budget” is the amount of money that the Project Sponsor is willing to spend to achieve the project objectives. So here are some tips and hints on setting your budget and measuring progress against it.

Don’t fix it in concrete

Your first job as a Project Manager is to ask your Sponsor “So how long have I got and what’s the budget?”. Your next job is often to ask for more time and money to boost your chances in succeeding.

You can do this by writing a Business Case, Feasibility Study, Project Charter to show your Project Sponsor that you will need more money than that identified to date, to meet the project objectives. When you have agreed on an amount that you believe is adequate, ask them to “fix this amount as a budget, but make available another 10-20% as contingency”. That way, your budget isn’t fixed in concrete. Yes it’s an agreed amount but at least you have contingency.

Planning ahead

Right at the outset, create a Financial Plan so that you have a detailed view of all of the expenses that are going to arise and when they will be incurred. And if you haven’t done it already, complete a Project Plan so that you know the cost of every task to be completed.

In this way, you know for every week in the project the amount of money that will be consumed. Make sure that the amounts in your Financial Plan and Project Plan align with the budget set. That way, you know that you have a good chance of delivering within budget from the outset.

Setting out

From the minute you’ve set the budget, you need to start recording the actual cost of the project. This includes the actual cost of your time, your staff, contractors, equipment and materials. If you’re using internal staff, then assign a standard rate to the hourly cost of these resources and ask them to complete a Timesheet so you know how many hours they are spending on the project.

If you don’t have a financial system, then use a spreadsheet to record the daily cost of the project. And if you want to get specific, then also record the costs against the tasks in your project plan. By accurately recording the project costs throughout the entire project, you will be able to ensure you keep on track.

Keeping on track

To check whether you’re on track, monitor your actual costs vs. your planned costs, and identify any deviations. If you’re always under your planned weekly cost, then you’re likely to deliver your project under budget. It’s that simple

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Tip 1: One a Week

What do you have a passion for? Is it arts, sciences, sport or something wacky? Whatever it is, try and move heaven and earth to make it happen once a week, every week. Tell yourself: this is the one time in the week where it’s ‘MY TIME’’ - then stick to it. You’ll find it incredibly rewarding. In fact, you’ll start looking forward to that activity each week, because you know you’ll have fun doing it.

Tip 2: One a Day

In addition to the “one a week” activity above, kick off a “one-a-day” as well. Make it something small, to ensure you find the time to do it. It could be “spending 10 minutes reading a magazine”, “going for a walk around the block” or “calling a friend”. As long as it’s enjoyable, then make it a regular time in your daily schedule. This is the hardest tip of them all to keep to, but the most beneficial in the long run. If you’re serious about your work / life balance, then you will be able to find 10-15 minutes in the day (every day) to do this. Oh—remember to make it fun!

Tip 3: Find a Peer

Nothing beats having a peer to do this with you. Find someone who wants to get the same out of life. Open up to them and tell them what you want to achieve. Then work together to motivate each other to achieve the personal goals you set. Meet bi-weekly, to talk about what you’ve struggled with and what you’ve achieved. Then advise each other on what can be done to improve. Peers can provide the support needed to make a real difference in someone’s life. So choose your peer wisely and work together to achieve your joint goals.

Tip 4: Rewards

While peers can motivate you, true motivation comes from within. So to help you meet your goals, set yourself a reward for achieving them. The reward doesn’t need to cost a lot, for instance, it might be “taking 2 days off work to share with my family”. The most important thing is that it reward is something that means a lot to you and is worth fighting for.

Tip 5: Feeling Proud

If you can achieve your goals or even get half way there, then feel proud about having done it! We know that it takes a lot of effort to make a change in your life. So feel proud about what you’ve achieved. This sense of pride will show in your work and your personal life. And guess what? You’ll have gained new enjoyment from life, so it has to be good!

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What is a “Work / Life Balance”? To us, it’s “getting the maximum enjoyment from your work time and personal time, every day”. This means really enjoying the time you have at work, and the time you spend after hours, so that you’re getting the most out of what life has to offer. The reverse of this is not enjoying your job, and not having a personal life. If you’re in that camp, then read these 10 tips to get back on track:

Tip 1: Prioritize

Sit down over a nice warm drink and ask yourself this question. “If this was your last day on this planet and you were reviewing your adult life to date, then what would you say about it and what would you wish you’d done differently?” Think long and hard about this question, then write down your answer. Now set out a clear vision for what you’re going to do differently, from this point onwards.

Remember, you may not need to make radical changes to improve your life. It’s usually just about priorities. Write down a new set of priorities for your life, ones that mean the most to you.

Tip 2: Set Goals

Now you need to set yourself 3 personal goals, to help you “get the maximum enjoyment from your work time and personal time every day”. For example, your goals might relate to your physical health, your personal time or the way you approach your work. The goals must together help you to achieve your perfect work /life balance (as defined above).

Tip 3: Watch your Hours

It makes sense that to achieve a perfect work/life balance, you need to enjoy both your work, and your personal life. If you work around the clock, then you may not get the time to have a personal life. So try and balance your work time, family time and personal time, so that you actually make time to achieve your goals.

Tip 4: Look after Yourself

You should now set out a health plan for the next 2 months, to make sure that you look after yourself as best as you can. Set simple goals for eating the right foods, exercising 2-3 times a week and doing the little things that make you feel good. If you feel great, then you’ll gain tons of new energy you never new you had before, and you can throw this new energy into things that make you feel even better.

Tip 5: Socialize

We’re not all “social butterflies” but it’s a well known fact that socializing with good friends is a great way to reduce stress. Make a special effort to make a new friend sometime soon. It may sound corny, but new friendships often add spice to life.

These 5 tips, along with the 5 tips in the next newsletter will help you to get the most out of what life has to offer. At Method123, we care about you. So go for it—give it your best shot!

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Ever had a project deliver late or over budget? If you haven’t, then you’re lucky because the majority of projects are delivered over budget or over schedule.

So when you’re in the middle of project delivery and things start slipping, what do you do? Here are four tips to help you out.

Step 1: Focus the team

A common trend is that in the middle of a project, the team start to feel like they are under pressure and they lose sight of the end goal. The excitement of “project startup” is long since past and any team politics have kicked in. It’s now that you need to recognize and reward staff for good performance. And it’s now that you need to focus the team by restating the objectives, providing incentives and boosting morale. You need to be their shining star when things get dark and gloomy.

Step 2: Prioritize

If there is simply too much to do in the timeframe you’ve been given, then prioritize all of your tasks. Identify the key deliverables that must be produced and then identify the tasks involved with producing them. It’s those tasks that you need to focus on now. Then get the priority list approved by your project sponsor, so that you have their buy in. Only with their acceptance, can you confirm that the tasks you’re working on, are the most important tasks required to deliver your solution.

Step 3: Reduce Scope

After you’ve focused the team and prioritized your work, then update your schedule. If you’re still likely to deliver late, then request approval from your Project Sponsor to leave the low priority tasks to after the project deadline. This will reduce the scope of your project. It will also boost your chances of delivering the high and medium priority tasks by the deadline date. Reducing scope is by far the best option to take, as the smaller the project scope, the lower the risk of project failure.

Step 4: Increase Resource

If your Project Sponsor will not extend the end date of the project or reduce the scope, then ask for more resource to help you complete it. With more resource (people, money, equipment and materials) you will be able to complete more tasks in parallel and boost your chances of success

Step 5: Communicate

Ok, so if you’ve tried all of the above and there is no hope—your project will be delivered late regardless of what you do. You then need to accept it and communicate this to as many project stakeholders as possible. Set their expectations as early as possible that you will be late. If they understand the reasons for late delivery and they know it’s coming, then it will be less of a shock when it happens. And if you are able to miraculously deliver it on time, then your team will be seen as hero’s!

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There are tons of ways of delivering projects and one of them is using an “Agile” approach. To show you how agile can change your project life, we’ve listed here 3 examples of the agile approach. They suit projects of any type, size or industry:

Sprints

Have you ever been involved in a project that has so many deliverables and such short a timeframe, that it all gets “overwhelming”. Well using ‘sprints’ you can cut through this. Basically, you break down all of the tasks that a team has to deliver, into 2 week groups. These 2 week periods are called “sprints” (Note: You can have sprints of any duration, but we recommend 2 week sprints).

At the start of each sprint, you get together as a team and set yourself goals for what you’re going to achieve over that 2 week period. Then you “sprint to the finish”. In this way, your team only have to think about what they need to complete in the next 2 weeks, so the weight of the entire project is lifted off their shoulders. And the best thing is that if they achieve their goals at the end of the sprint, you can recognize and reward them for it.

Sprint Meetings

To help your team keep focused during the sprint, you hold daily meetings. Urgh—daily meetings! Actually, if your team meet every day, first thing in the morning just to talk about what it is that they will achieve that day, then the team become incredibly focused. If the meetings only run for 15 minutes, then it boost communication and helps build a sense of accomplishment. It will reduce politics and increase efficiency, as everyone knows exactly what they have to do that day. Let your team take ownership of the meetings, you’re just there to focus them if they go off track.

Sprint Reviews

At the end of each sprint, the team leaders should meet to review the outcome of the sprint. They should then present to you for 30 minutes, telling you whether they have achieved their sprint goals, where they succeeded and where they failed. They will tell you what the lessons were that they have learned and how they are going to use those lessons to improve their own performance in the next sprint.

If you break the project down into sprints and use the above methods to deliver your project, then you will find that the team will “run themselves”. They will be responsible for managing their own progress, reviewing their performance and improving their actions. You are then treated like a customer, allowing you to oversee the project “at a helicopter level”, reducing your stress and improving your chances of success.

You can create your own “sprint” methodology using MPMM Professional. This will allow you to manage time, cost and quality while your team use sprints to keep the project on track

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Success Tip

Octopus Balance:
Insights on the Myths and Realities of Life Balance

Jeanette was a typical go-getter who wanted it all. Mother to three children, owner of a thriving consulting firm to Fortune 500 companies, chairman of her industry association and wife to a successful doctor. Jeanette had goals, dreams and visions of a billion dollar company but there was just one problem.

Jeanette was chronically exhausted and couldn’t grow her business to the next level.

Her days started around 5:30 am and ended around midnight. Between client meetings, homework and school activities for the kids, and fitting in time to balance her check book, Jeanette barely had time to shower and brush her teeth, let alone eat a balanced meal or exercise. She was desperately trying to balance all of her priorities but always ended up feeling torn, depressed and like a failure. Inevitably, some area of her life was crashing and burning.

In our first coaching conversation, I asked Jeanette what her immediate goal was. “Life balance,” she said.

“With everything on your plate, is that ever going to be possible?” I asked her.

Silence. More silence. Sounds of holding back tears. More silence.

Bingo!

For most people on this planet, the idea of life balance is a complete fantasy. Somehow many of us try to manage our lives like an octopus –balancing eight things when we only have room for two – with nothing winning and everything losing. There is always way more to do than there is time in the day. Priorities can fill a yellow-pad and yet time is limited.

How does someone who is super busy ever create life balance? Reality check: you don’t!

People who are able to create a lifestyle-business don’t have a magic pill. A freedom-based lifestyle occurs with a constant evaluation of priorities followed by discipline, tough choices and focused resolution to always say yes to the best options that are aligned with our desired outcome.

Typically, something must lose our attention to win our desired outcome. Which leads me to one of my favorite sayings:

“Everything you say yes to means you must say no to something else.”

In an October 2004 issue of Fast Company Magazine, the author of article “Balance is Bunk!” makes a bold statement: “Many of us live by a horrible myth that — by making a few compromises we can have it all – that is all wrong and is making many of us crazy!”

My personal philosophy is life is a constant series of choices.

Some days work gets more attention, other days my spiritual practice, on others I carve out sacred time for my friendships and treasure every second. There are days I get all my exercise and other days when I barely can catch my breath between coaching calls. Unlike the octopus who can balance multiple things at one time, we truly can’t. The brain can only really handle 5 plus or minus 2 “chunks” of data at one time. Anything more and overwhelm sets in.

You know your life is working if you are happy. If you are spending time on what’s important to you. When you are achieving your desired goals.

If you want something else to fit into your life then say NO to something that is a lesser payoff. Or outsource it to someone who can do it faster, cheaper or better than you while you focus on your bigger, and more joyful, opportunities.
I’d like to share a coaching challenge with you from our Fast—Track to a 6 & 7 Figure Lifestyle Business Mastermind program. I think of it as an “octopus recovery” technique and I encourage you to explore this new strategy this week.

1. Identify just one thing that you’d like more of in your life

2. Determine how much time you would need for it

3. Identify what you would be willing to STOP doing to make room for it

4. What will you do to eliminate it from your task list

o Delegate it. Outsource it to someone else.

o Delay it. Reschedule it to a future time.

o Delete it. Just get that it doesn’t serve you anymore and get rid of it.

5. Schedule the new event/opportunity/task into the new free time in your calendar (before something else shows up and takes your time away.)

If life balance is a myth, then priority management seems to be the key. Be willing to make the choices every day for what truly serves you, your family and the world around you. It’s the best short-cut to happiness and fulfillment that I know!

Be sure to share your “octopus recovery” on our blog!

Don’t have time to read? Want to hear The Success Connection tips in audio format? You can now have these editions podcasted to you in just one simple step. Get the podcast now!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You are welcome to use this article anytime, just be sure to include the following author/copyright information:

Melanie Benson Strick, The Million Dollar Lifestyle Business Coach, teaches entrepreneurs how to stop feeling overwhelmed so they can create more money, more freedom and more prestige. To find out how close (or how far) you are from the ultimate lifestyle business, take the Free Ultimate Lifestyle Business Quiz.

© Copyright 2008, Melanie Benson Strick and Success Connections Inc.

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