Project management in HR is important for the organization’s success, whether or not the HR team is composed of two members or 18. The Human Resources Department performs a myriad of essential functions for any organization. From recruitment, onboarding, employee performance and engagement, offboarding (and so much more!), the HR team has much to balance. And with shifting employee mindsets and attitudes towards workplace culture, HR professionals have been challenged to stay on top of all the various trends while keeping pace with all their own internal projects.

Let’s take a closer look at why project management in HR is essential, its many robust benefits, and different examples of project management in action within the Human Resources Department.

Why is HR Project Management essential?

Effective project management practices are an efficient way to keep track of projects with hard deadlines, provide the team with the latest updates, and produce a clear and achievable timeline while making sure that the core team isn’t overwhelmed by the proposed schedule.

HR professionals have a responsibility to keep their practices consistent, ethical, and fair. This extends to all branches of any given HR department including:

• Recruitment
• Onboarding
• Employee relations
• Promotions
• Workplace culture initiatives
• Training and development
• Compensation structure
• Performance management
• Intern programs
• Retreats or kickoffs
• Annual salary reviews
• Employee merits
• Offboarding
• Operational management

With all these moving parts, it’s easy to see why a strategic approach to the organization of a multitude of projects is important to the success of the organization. Often, many of HR’s responsibilities cross paths with other departments such as finance or outside counsel. Communication and collaboration with other professionals from different disciplines are frequently required to make effective decisions.

The appropriate project management tools can help to:

• Improve HR’s standard operating procedures, processes, and workflows – Standard operating procedures are quite common in HR, as many of the internal processes need to be managed in a specific way. If processes aren’t constructed well, it can be the cause of many communication issues for the team. This can often lead to mistrust and frustration that reverberates across the entire staff, so it’s important that effective project management tools be brought in to bypass this problem. When the right methods are incorporated into a project, this streamlines procedures and workflows, creating a robust process that everyone on the team can understand and implement. Most importantly, HR project management maintains consistency. While not every scenario will have the same solution, the basics of the necessary procedures will be present, allowing the team to use creative thinking and effective decision-making to come to the best outcome for all parties.
• Lower risk – Major projects that require a delicate solution need to be managed carefully. As project management gathers all the necessary information in the beginning stages, the process can reveal potential risks that the team may face. HR can then approach these situations proactively, having more time to analyze and assess the risks and plan strategically. This minimizes the chance of problems occurring later on.

• Increase the success of all ongoing projects – Depending on the organization and the structure of the HR department, some HR business partners don’t always have one specialty. In fact, the majority of HR professionals have interdisciplinary skills which they deploy over a wide variety of different areas. For example, you can have an HR business partner participate in various aspects of the recruitment process such as compensation recommendations, while in that very same hour, they’ll need to pivot directions and take some time to manage an employee relations issue. This type of transition happens frequently, so keeping various projects up-to-date is crucial for the HR professional. It’s so easy for smaller assignments to slip through the cracks, especially within a fast-paced environment. To avoid escalating issues, project management can help provide clarity on what is still pending and what dependencies exist in order for the HR professional to effectively prioritize their tasks, even with disruptions.
• Keep track of long-term HR activities – Long-term projects are common in HR, so it’s vital to keep track of these endeavors in order for them to come to fruition. For example, let’s say the HR team has decided to review their employee performance appraisal practices. The team wants to transition out of physically written reviews to an electronic platform which will help managers turn in their reviews on time and in a simpler way. However, for the team to be able to pursue this implementation, they’re going to have to spend some time reviewing various software that has the right capabilities that fit the organization’s needs. This is a long-term project, requiring the buy-in of all the leadership at the company. Once a platform has been chosen, there’s the training period for the appropriate staff, the implementation, testing, and then company-wide rollout. This is a huge project to take on! The organization of the meetings and milestones must be done carefully.

HR project management helps the entire team stay organized and up to speed on all aspects of their assigned projects. Given all the various aspects HR is involved in, having a transparent structure, where all members of the staff can see the progression and essential milestones, can create an efficient culture of trust propelled by productivity.

Now that we understand why project management is important in the HR department, let’s review some of the key benefits.

Benefits of HR Project Management

Project management in HR can help the team be more efficient, productive, thoughtful, and confident in their approaches to tricky employee situations as they can rely on their internal procedures to support their decision-making. Effective project management practices can keep momentum steadily moving forward, especially during high-volume times such as the submission of an employee’s annual performance review during a designated month.

HR project management can also benefit the staff in the following ways:

• Increases efficiencies in the recruitment process and eliminates too much back and forth between HR and the hiring managers which generally slows down the hiring process.

• Provides a way to expect the unexpected in project schedules by analyzing previous experiences and having contingencies in place to deal with those factors.

• Holds each team member involved in the project accountable for their part which eliminates the chance of duplicated efforts.

• Builds transparency and trust with effective project management practices.

• Encourages collaboration by providing a platform that allows for seamless communication in the HR department and throughout the organization.

• Supports high productivity by keeping the timeline moving.

• Promotes flexibility through constant communication, which allows for flexibility and the implementation of manageable adjustments.

• Tracks all major active and long-term projects especially those considered high priority including projects requiring buy-in from leadership where scheduling and availability may be a critical issue.

• Enables the team to plan out projects in a shared platform so that all the most important data is in one centralized location.

• Sets clear expectations of the team members participating in the project’s lifecycle so that everyone understands the necessity of their role and the importance of their individual contributions.

• Helps prepare HR managers to give important updates about project progression to leadership which includes company-wide events such as Town Hall. This can also happen at a smaller level such as weekly/monthly team updates.

• Provides insights into team priorities and identifies limited resources, allowing the staff to pivot direction if necessary if other demands were to come up.

• Allows visibility in your team’s commitments to manage workflow and avoid over-scheduling and overwhelm which can heavily impact motivation and productivity. This also helps to maintain a fair and evenly distributed workload throughout the team.

• Enables you to improve communication with other departments by using an interconnected platform, eliminating the constant need for emails.

HR Project Management Examples

HR project management not only benefits HR but also the entire organization. Let’s now take a look at some of these practices in action!

1. Recruitment – The recruitment process can certainly be complicated given that there are many parts to manage. For example, the hiring manager contacts HR/recruitment to discuss their hiring needs. This includes:

• Formalizing a job description
• Appropriately pricing the position
• Setting expectations about the interview process (who manages what)
• Testing (if the position calls for a skills test)
• Interview coordination
• Hiring decision/compensation package
• Verbal/Written offer and acceptance (or rejection) of offer
• Background check
• First-day scheduling – official meeting with HR for paperwork and logistics with associated department

The recruitment team needs a way to track this entire process from beginning to end. By tracking all these pieces of recruitment procedures, the team will be able to easily track where potential candidates are in their consideration process. This also makes it easier for the team to update the hiring managers in a timely manner instead of fishing through emails. The recruitment team can access a platform that simply pulls all of this information together in one central location.

2. Onboarding – Just like with recruitment, the onboarding process has various steps:

• First-day meeting with new employee
• Official employment paperwork
• Photo-taking (for badges, website, etc.)
• Tours (if applicable)
• Orientations
• Training

This is another opportunity where HR project management benefits both the staff and the new employee! Before the new hire has even started, a project management system can help the new employee know what to expect during their first week. If using the right system, new employees can feel more prepared with a customized checklist and a list of documents they can send beforehand, which expedites the onboarding process. HR can then interact with the employee on a whole new level, request that certain documents be corrected prior to the meeting with HR, setting the tone for their first day.

3. Performance review process – HR also manages the performance review process. The majority of organizations have a basic structure(or similar) for performance reviews:

• 30-day check-in (beginning of intro period)
• 60-day check-in (mid-way through intro period)
• 90-day check-in (the last of the introduction period)
• Annual review period (1 year from hire)

It’s important to remember that performance reviews are interactive discussions between a manager and an employee. The manager has an opportunity to have a fluid conversation with their direct report, talk about areas that need improvement, and what is working well. Conversely, the employee also has the opportunity to provide the same feedback to their manager. Having an efficient HR management system that can not only keep track of performance appraisals and their due dates, but can also track which ones have already been submitted, pending, or complete. It can also be a fantastic way to access the feedback and file it away in the employee’s file.

Project documentation is a vital part of any business. It ensures that all employees are on the same page, projects are completed efficiently and effectively, and processes are standardized.

Without a good system in place, employees will waste time trying to track down information, projects will be messier than they need to be, and company processes will not be as streamlined as they could be.

However, many businesses don’t have a good system for project documentation in place, which can lead to a lot of wasted time and money.

In this article, we will discuss what project documentation is and how to create a good management system for it. We’ll also take a look at the benefits of having such a system in place!

What Is Project Documentation?

Project documentation is a collection of documents and files that are related to project management. These can include things like scope statements, requirements specifications, planning reports, or meeting notes, for example!

The purpose of these documents is to maintain accurate records about what has been done already. Also, providing visibility into who owns which tasks within each project at any given time. A good system in place helps employees save time when they need information. It also helps managers track progress, so they know where everything stands on all their projects at any moment’s glance!

It can include any of the following:

• Project scope and objectives (e.g., a list of goals and stretch goals)
• Requirements or specifications for what needs to be done (e.g., how many people will work on it; what tools they need access to)
• Processes for everything from employee onboarding, break schedules, customer service, etc.
• A list of steps to follow when completing tasks/activities related to this particular project, as well as their status updates, so everyone knows where things stand at all times.

The Benefits Of Having A Project Document Management System In Place

When it comes to project management, having a good system for document management can have a lot of benefits.

Here are some of the top advantages:

Monitoring and Control

It helps keep track of information that has been relevant at different stages throughout your projects’ lifecycle, so everyone knows where they stand at all times!

Collaboration

It allows employees to collaborate more effectively by giving them access to documents related specifically to the task they’re working on right now. This means less time spent looking through other people’s material instead of focusing exclusively on their own duties & responsibilities.

Reduces Risk

When there is a good system in place for managing project documentation, then any potential risks can be identified and addressed early enough before they cause any significant issues – and this goes for both internal and external risks.

Standardization

Standardization of company processes is one of the main benefits of implementing a good system for project documentation.

It means that everyone within the organization will be working to the same set of standards, which makes it easier to manage projects as a whole and track progress. This can save businesses time & money in the long run.

Easier to Find Documents

When everything is well-organized and filed away in the correct places, it becomes much easier for employees to find what they need quickly and without any fuss. This can save a lot of time during the course of a project!

Less Wasted Time

When employees don’t have to spend so much time looking for documents, they can focus on their work and get more done.

It is also easier to find errors before they become costly mistakes. When everything is well-organized, it’s easier to identify issues early on before they become major problems later down the line!

Improved Communication Between Teams

A project document management system can help improve communication between employees and managers. It allows them to have better insight into what tasks are being completed by whom, so there’s never any confusion about who owns which task within each project at all times.

Project Management Document Types

There are different types of documents that you may need to create when managing your project documentation:

• Meeting Minutes: these document everything that was discussed during meetings, including decisions made, action items assigned, and deadlines agreed upon.
• Issue Logs: these logs track all issues (and their resolutions) encountered during the course of a project.
• Change Log: these logs track all changes that have been made to the documentation during its lifecycle, including who made those changes, when they were made and why they were necessary.
• Status Reports: these report on how well each team member is doing with their assigned tasks, which helps keep everyone accountable for what they’re supposed to be doing.
• Project Plan: This document lays out the entire project, including its goals, objectives, tasks, and deadlines.
• Design Specifications: these documents detail what needs to be done in order for a design project to meet its requirements.
• Project Risk Register: this document lists all risks that are associated with the project, along with what can be done to mitigate those risks.
• Project Calendar: this document lays out when tasks need to be completed and by whom, so everyone is aware of what’s happening when.
• Task List: this document contains a list of all tasks that need to be completed for the project, along with their associated deadlines.
• Project Checklist: this document is a handy checklist of everything that needs to be done in order to launch a project successfully.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, as each business will likely have different documentation needs. What’s important is that any document your business creates has a proper place that is easy to access.

Project Document Management Best Practices

While there are many benefits to implementing a good management system for your project documents, it’s crucial that you follow best practices in order to get the most out of them!

Here are some tips on how we can do just this:

Organize Documents By Project Or Team Member Name

This makes it easier for everyone involved with each specific task or activity-related document within their projects at any given time. It also helps keep things organized, which improves productivity levels as well as reduces the chances of misplacing documents.

Create A Master Folder Structure

This will act as the primary repository for all project documentation, making it easy for employees to know where everything is and find what they need with ease.

Include A Table Of Contents In All Project Documents

This helps make navigating long and complex documents much easier, as well as allowing employees to quickly get an overview of a document’s contents without having to read through every single page.

Use Templates Whenever Possible

Templates help ensure that all project documents are consistent in terms of layout, font choice, style, etc., which makes them easier to read and understand. This also eliminates the need for employees to spend time formatting new documents from scratch each time a new project starts.

Include Version Numbers

This allows employees to keep track of different versions of documents and which one is the most up-to-date. This is especially handy when multiple people are working on the same document at the same time.

Store Documents In Electronic Format

Not only does this save physical space, but electronic files can also be easily searched, sorted, and accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. Plus, they’re less likely to get lost or damaged than their paper counterparts.

Label and Date All Documents

This makes it easy for employees to quickly find what they’re looking for, especially if there are multiple versions of a document. It also serves as a form of record-keeping, so you can track how changes (or lack thereof) have affected your project over time.

It becomes easier to track when a document was created, who last modified it, and why. It’s also helpful for quickly finding documents based on keywords like ‘project plan’ or ‘budget.’

Make Sure Everyone Has Access To The Right Documents

This will help ensure everyone is on the same page throughout any given project, which will lead to better results in less time. You can restrict access to sensitive information to ensure that only the relevant employees can access classified documents.

Keep Refining Your Processes for Project Document Management

Project document management is not something that can be set and forgotten. You’ll need to keep refining processes as time goes on to make sure your project documents are in tip-top shape.

How to Start A Project Document Management System

The first step in creating a project document management system is to identify what documents your business needs and why. This can be as simple or complex as you want – it just depends on how much time/money you’re willing to invest into this process!

Next, determine where those documents will live (e.g., online folder or project management system). Once these steps have been completed, it’s time for employees to start filling out their respective documents within the new system so that everyone knows what their responsibilities are at all times.

Once you’ve created your document inventory, it’s time to start creating the actual management system. You can create a system of folders on your business’s intranet, but the best option is likely to be using a dedicated project management tool such as Teamly.

Once the new system is in place, the next step is to train employees on how to use it. This can be done through quick tutorials or by having employees shadow someone who is already familiar with the system.

It’s also essential to enforce the new system by holding employees accountable for using it correctly. After all, the whole point of implementing it is to make everyone’s lives easier!

Archive Old Documents, Don’t Throw Them Out

When it comes to document management, one of the most important things businesses can do is archive old documents instead of deleting them. Not only does this help reduce clutter and keep your business organized, but it also provides a valuable archive of information that can be accessed when needed.

Here are some tips on how to archive your old documents:

Start by identifying which documents can be safely archived. This can be done by sorting documents into two categories: active and inactive. Active documents are those that are currently being used or referenced. In contrast, inactive documents are ones that are no longer needed or relevant.

Once you’ve identified which documents should be archived, the next step is to create a system for doing so. One way to do this is by creating a specific folder for archived documents.

Another common method is to use a project management software that has an archive function. This makes it easy for employees to find what they’re looking for, even if they don’t know where it’s located.

You’re also creating a searchable archive of information that can be accessed when needed by archiving old documents. This can be helpful for businesses that need to comply with legal or regulatory requirements.

While the saying “Okay Boomer” may have kicked off what appears to be a war of generations, the truth is that generations have been butting heads for centuries.

“[Young people] are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances.”

Rhetoric, Aristotle, 4th Century BC

Had Aristotle had a Twitter account, rest assured that the generational frustration would have been much better known. Social media has made it much easier to not only point out differences between generations but also enable the creation of stereotypes that have trickled into our workplaces.

Thankfully, there are a number of studies that show, without a doubt, that a generationally diverse workforce is not only good business but makes for much more effective teams.

Working Generations

At this time, there are five distinct generations that occupy the workforce or are in positions of authority and influence over the workforce conditions.

The Silent Generation (born between 1928-1945)

While the majority are formally retired, you will still find them sitting on boards as well as other positions in which we rely heavily on their experience. This generation experienced both WWII and/or the Great Depression so it’s no surprise that this shaped their views and work habits. The Silent Generation tends to value tradition and loyalty above all else and are significantly more likely to have spent their entire career with one employer than other generations. Given their experience with the Great Depression, they are known to be thrifty which can be excellent quality in the workplace but sometimes hinder their ability to embrace new technology or take risks. Other words often associated with The Silent Generation include resilience, determination and work ethic.

Baby Boomers (born between 1946-1964)

This appropriately named generation was the result of a steep increase in children being born following the war. Boomers don’t tend to get enough credit for the role that they played in challenging the status quo and initiating some of the most profound movements and changes in our history. Because of their sheer numbers, Boomers grew up in a world of competition meaning those that worked the hardest, saw the advancements in their careers and reaped the rewards as a direct result. Because of favourable economic conditions, most Boomers were able to afford things that are considered luxury today such as homeownership and affordable education. They are known for their discipline and hard work.

Generation X (born between 1965-1980)

Sandwiched between two very loud generations, Gen X is often forgotten or tends to be lumped in with either Boomers or Millenials depending on the year they were born but there are important distinctions that set them apart. After women entered the workforce, birthrates dropped significantly making Gen X much smaller than the Boomers before them. They are known for being incredibly adaptable and resilient, the first generation where it was common for both parents to work outside the home. Gen X has a unique perspective on technology because they have lived through the development of it all, knowing both life with and without it. Though not to the extent of The Silent Generation, Gen X also lived through a recession in the 90’s and that certainly encouraged them to be resilient, thrifty, and flexible.

Millennials (born between 1980-1995)

If you ask any Millennial, they will tell you that they got the short end of the stick and that isn’t entirely untrue. Being raised by a generation that valued good employment, many Millennials were pushed into post-secondary education at a time the cost was significantly higher. While Gen X technically has the most student debt, they have much better employment prospects to manage their payments than Millenials. It isn’t all doom and gloom though, Millennials have challenged the notion that money is the ultimate driver and they demand a work-life balance and want to work for businesses that care about something other than profits. They value connection and work best when they are inspired. Millennials are also known as the pioneers of remote work. When it comes to technology, they are significantly more tech-savvy than previous generations and have high standards of working conditions.

Generation Z/Zoomers (born between 1996-2015)

Zoomers are looking to change the world and they have the best technology in their back pocket to support their movement. Young, energetic and incredibly diverse… just don’t call them Millenials… they really don’t like that. While many Millennials enjoyed their childhoods without social media, Zoomers live on it and it has shaped how they interact with the world. Their name is also appropriate as they are very quick to figure things out, especially technology, taking very little time to learn a new program or even research topics of interest. Much like Millenials, flexibility is a must for this generation and they are driven to work for organizations with a purpose other than just making money.

Managing Distinct Generations

Every single person is influenced by the world around them and although we live on the same planet, experiences differ greatly depending on time, location and even resources available. These experiences shape our motivation as well as our sense of purpose which ultimately effect our work habits and preferences. The sooner that you can embrace this idea, the closer you will be to having a fully functional intergenerational team.

But this won’t come easily.

For example, older generations tend to gravitate towards phone calls or physical meetings over texts and emails that younger people tend to prefer. If your assumption is that young people lack social skills to have phone or in-person conversations, you will miss the true motivation behind this preference and miss an opportunity to understand how experience shapes this preference.

While it is true that the thought of a phone call can be anxiety-inducing for some people, the preference for text or email is actually often based on the consideration of time, their own but also someone else’s. A text or email can be answered at the earliest convenience while a phone call is assuming that someone has the time, then and there, to chat. If you are used to being available and value a short and concise call as was the norm in older generations, this is a non-issue. However, if you are used to the flexibility and less micromanagement of your time, a phone call can feel very intrusive.

There is no right or wrong way to communicate but understanding the motivation will go a long way to opening those doors and building mutual respect. Understanding the origin of these differences opens the doors to a reasonable compromise and reduces tensions.

10 Tips for Managing an Intergenerational Workforce

How you manage or participate in an intergeneration team will vary greatly. There are a lot of personalities at play and generalizations (even the ones given above) can create an unnecessary block. Take a step back and consider implementing the following tips to build cohesion in your team.

1. Throw Out Harmful Stereotypes

It isn’t helpful to take stereotypes into your workspace but it is helpful to understand the different generations that make up your team to better meet their needs. Stereotypes generally focus on the negative so shift your perspective to some of the positive attributes that we understand from different generations and use that as a starting point.

A recent study found that even the threat of age-based stereotypes meant that people did not perform as well and were less likely to work towards longer-term professional goals. If you assume that a Millenial will be entitled, or that a Boomer may push back the thought of updating new technology, you will miss out on the unique perspective that comes with that generation.

Check your unconscious bias at the door and get to know people as individuals. You may be surprised.

2. Understanding Motivations

Consider the conditions of the time that certain team members entered the workforce. Did they start their career in 2020 when a global pandemic forced people to work remotely? If so, chances are that they have come to expect a flexible work environment with the option to partially or full work remotely. If someone started work during any period of recession, they likely value stability and predictability over flexible work arrangements.

While these are generalizations, giving yourself a starting point based on significant historical events will give you an idea of what to expect. From here, simply ask! People are happy to share what motivates them to work and the conditions that they would work best in. Many people share motivations and differ only in how they reach for them.

3. Communicate Preferences

Most issues can be mitigated if only people would clearly communicate. Make it a priority to sit down and speak with your team and provide a safe space for them to express their work and communication preferences… there is no need for guesswork!

There is a time and place for just about every style of communication so finding a balance and offering a compromise will go a long way to building mutual respect. Showing that you will embrace a style opposite of your preference will give a positive example for someone else to move a little bit too and find a happy medium.

4. Educate Your Team on the Value of Diversity

At this time in history, there is really no excuse to not value diversity in the workplace. Whether you have a small or large team, prioritize getting a diverse group of people around the table, age is just one of the measures of diversity but is a great one to start with. Consider also ethnicity and gender identity.

There are sufficient studies from all disciplines including economists that show diversified teams see more success. The initial challenge of finding your balance as it related to managing an intergenerational team is well worth the outcome.

5. Embrace Commonalities

In your quest to mitigate differences, don’t forget to highlight commonalities. What are the common values present in your team? You may be surprised to find more overlap than expected because people can live and express the same values in different ways.

Just about everyone in the workforce wants to:

• Contribute beyond themselves
• Be fairly compensated for their work
• Feel valued and appreciated
• Provide for themselves/their family
• Be happy

These are all things that we can get behind and anything that gets in the way of those desires will cause frustrations among the team.

6. Be Flexible

At first glance (at least for this Millenial), you may assume that flexibility is simply time and space-related. That is certainly true, all studies are pointing that the new generation of workers is expecting their employers to offer some kind of flexible working arrangements but there are a number of areas that you should expect to be flexible in. Do not bend completely in one direction if your team has a diverse generational makeup. Some people truly prefer traditional work hours and expectations and their preferences are valid and should be respected.

Another way to be flexible is in offering personal and professional development based on the needs of your team. Consider what each person is interested in developing or even exploring when it comes to professional skills. Allow your team to work across silos (within reason) and encourage collaboration where ever possible.

7. Respect boundaries

This is one of the hardest parts of managing an intergenerational team and the larger the age gap, the more profound the distinction tends to be.

As younger generations enter the workforce, so do their more progressive views on a number of issues and topics that were once considered taboo to utter in the professional environment. We have them to thank for helping to reduce the stigma and draw attention to a number of important issues such as mental health, gender identity, and diversity. That said, this can cause some tension in an environment with a workforce that was used to simply going to work and doing a job.

It isn’t possible that every single person will agree but it is necessary that they understand why an organization will place a higher value on their stance on these issues. A good example is that of race relations. A 2020 Pew Research study found patterns in responses to the question of Black being treated less fairly. The younger the generation, the higher likelihood that the respondent would indicate that they believe that Blacks are treated less fairly than whites.

The word “respect” often gets thrown out in conversations between generations because their experience has shaped how respect is given over the years – some people feel respect needs to be earned and others that it is implied. This is a balance that will have to be struck within your team.

8. Commit to Learning

Learning is everyone’s responsibility, not just the young people starting out but also the senior-level employees who have been in the workforce longer than the young ones have been on this planet. At its core, committing to learning about each generation is a sign of respect and will help to mitigate any frustrations that may come with differing motivations.

Committing to learning starts at the individual level but can be facilitated through management by creating and structuring teams with complementary personalities and motivations but different perspectives. These pairings will help to break down the silos and appreciate commonalities.

9. Provide Unconscious Bias and EDI Training

While it may seem like a cop-out, outsourcing unconscious bias and EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) training is a smart and easy way to start the conversation about working with different groups of people.

10. Set the Standard

There is no better way to encourage change than to walk the walk and talk the talk yourself. Make an effort to connect with people of different generations. This does not mean treating everyone the same, that will inevitably leave some people left out and unappreciated. Respect and acknowledge differences, be intentional about connecting with your team no matter what your position is.

Stop running project chaos and start planning for the unexpected…

Contingency plans are intended to handle situations in which things fail to go according to plan. They let you keep pursuing your project’s objectives with confidence even when everything appears to be going horribly wrong.

A contingency plan in project management is an important part of what you do.

During the course of any project, there are times when circumstances may change dramatically or even go out of control, requiring your project to be re-evaluated. As you make your initial plans for your project, it is recommended that you include both what should happen and what could go wrong and what you will do if the situation arises.

The steps for what to do when something goes wrong depend on the magnitude of the problem, and what’s causing it. This article aims to give you an idea of what steps to take, what considerations need to be made, and what the key elements are for creating a contingency plan.

All fields require a contingency plan

Contingency planning is essential for any endeavor. It’s what coaches do for their team when they are preparing for the next game, it’s what governments do when they build alternative bridges, and what hospitals do when they prepare for pandemics.

It’s what project managers do to plan for what happens if a team member gets sick, or if there is an emergency shutdown of the company’s building, or if the client isn’t happy with what you’re delivering.

What is a Contingency Plan?

A contingency plan is what you use when something unexpected happens to your project plan. Contingency planning ensures that your projects stay on course by helping you prepare for obstacles, making a way for better solutions to arise should you encounter difficulties along the way.

For example, what would you do if you client had to cancel the project in the middle? Or what if one of your team members doesn’t return from vacation on time, leading to a delay with completing certain parts of the project?

If you are not prepared you might have to abandon what you’re doing and come up with a different solution in a hurry. This is what contingency planning will help you avoid, so you can finish what’s been started.

Having a contingency plan in place for what to do when things go wrong ensures that your project won’t get derailed by what could have been prevented.

Purpose of a contingency plan.

When Apple did their IOS 14 update in the summer of 2021, it really put facebook in a bind. That update made it very difficult to retrieve users’ personal information. This made it more difficult for Facebook to track users behavior, resulting in less ad revenue.

Whatever your opinions are of whether this was a good thing, what it illustrates is how important contingency planning is.

Problems like this happen for all businesses of varied sizes. This is why it’s important for companies to have contingency plans in place. Contingency plans are born out of what is uncertain or what could happen that would be detrimental to your project.

Sometimes it’s not what you do but what you don’t do that puts your company in a bind.

Number of problems…

You can run into a number of problems when your team is executing a project. You could have a lack of deliverables, a lack of funding, or not enough time. The printer could break down, people could get sick, supply chains can get bogged down.

Many things can go wrong like:

• Your client’s not satisfied with your work.
• Your client decides to cancel the project leaving you without a source of income for your business.
• Significant changes in product requirements.
• Market changes.
• Even weather conditions could make it difficult for a collaborator to show up to perform what they have been contracted to do.

Whatever the case may be, you need to answer the question: what do you do when your project strategies are put in jeopardy? This is what contingency plans are for. They are meant to be the anticipatory steps in what to do when things break from the original plan.

Don’t fall into the trap…

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you don’t need a contingency plan because you’re certain your project strategy is solid.

Even what seems like the most foolproof project needs contingency plans in place, because what if your suppliers drop out? What if nobody shows up on time? What if you run out of supplies or money?

A project manager’s job is all about mitigating risks and preventing problems before they happen. If you don’t do this? Well, then by definition it’s what is known as a “risky project.”

All projects need contingency plans just in case something goes wrong, and what that will look like is different for every project.

How to write a contingency plan in 4 simple steps

It’s now time to create your project contingency plan.

Remember your contingency strategy should be placed within the broader context of your project plan. Which means, you should have answered the following questions: What is the scope of your project? Who’s going to do what? When are they going to start and finish what they’re doing? How much is this going to cost? What equipment is needed?

Remember, contingency plans should be developed before work starts, and should cover what you’ll do if things go wrong. So after your ideal plan is written it’s time to hedge it against the potential pitfalls.

Step 1: Sketch out your project flow.

Picture what’s going to happen throughout the life cycle of your project. The better you are able to identify and articulate what the project flow is, the easier it will be for your team to understand what contingency plans need to be made.

Answering the following questions will help you identify what could go wrong:

• What’s the project’s objective?
• What are the major milestones and the corresponding tasks needed to accomplish the project’s objective?
• What are the major tasks and their dependencies?
• Who are the project’s key personnel, and what talents or talents do they have in their roles on the project?
• What resources are required for the major tasks?
• Is there specialized-uncommon-equipment used to complete the project?
• Is the project dependent on a specific location?
• Is the project dependent on a specific time of the year?

These questions may seem tedious but many of them are basic questions that directly relate to your project. And once you get a handle on what the major project milestones are, you’ll be able to identify what your contingency plan should include.

Step 2: Create a list of risks for each major milestone.

Here is where you can get creative and try to think of what could go wrong.

Let’s use an example of a project that’s dedicated to adding a new and updated store page to your company’s website.

The milestones may look something like this:

1. Initial planning meeting with key personnel to determine what the project entails. For the sake of the example our key team members will be product suppliers, web designers, coders, copywriters, media buyers, and customer support.
2. Determine what products need to be included on the page.
3. Create a mockup of what the store’s new look will be like; using what was learned during step 2.
4. Order the products.
5. Research the marketing. What keywords are needed for the new page? What are the demographics of our current customers?
6. Design, code, and implement new webpage on companies website.
7. Launch website.
8. Start running ads for your store.
9. Check in with customer support.

There are several risks that could happen at each of these milestones. One of the risks is what if your supplier decides they don’t want to work on what you’re asking them to do? What’s your contingency plan for this problem?

Or let’s say your ads get great traffic, what happens if your servers can’t handle the amount of viewers?

What if your traffic source, for the sake of argument, is buying Google ads and gets rejected because of a bug in Google’s algorithm?

All of these problems can be mitigated with contingency plans.

Step 3: Determine what actions to take if problems occur.

This is where things get a little bit fuzzy and you may have to rely on your team member’s talents and expertise.

Once you know what normal project completion looks like and the potential risks, determine what the contingency plans should be for what could go wrong with each task, milestone, and dependency.

Example:

Let’s say because of supply chain issues in the wider market you run the risk of not being able to get what you need from your supplier. There are several things that could happen.

The supplier may not be able to give you what you’re looking for because of what they think the market is going to do.

Maybe there’s a chance they will, but it will cost significantly more money for them to do so. Maybe what you’re asking for can’t be done. Or what if what your supplier is telling might not be the only option?

Is there another product that has most of what you need and it won’t cost what they want for their products? Do you have to use this supplier at all, or could you find what you need somewhere else?

Creative solutions are what helps create contingency plans.

Once everything that might go wrong has been determined, the project’s necessary actions will be outlined. And once it’s clear what resources are needed for each stage and how long it’ll take, your contingency plans will be what helps you to execute what needs to happen.

Step 4: Share and periodically revisit your contingency plan.

The last step of contingency planning is to share what your plans are with both team members and any project stakeholders. This ensures everyone has the same information which means no one will be caught off guard if something goes wrong.

Then, after each milestone, revisit what you’ve done so far, what worked well, what could have gone better, what you can do to improve what’s going on in the project.

Have you ever written someone a letter and then it sat on your desk for a week because you didn’t get around to finding a stamp and putting it in the mailbox?

It’s so easy to mentally check something off as “done” before it’s “done done.”

Yet the intended purpose of something like a letter isn’t achieved until the other person receives it. In project management, these sort of tangible tasks are known as deliverables.

Every project involves completing them. Writing code, planning a budget and creating slides are all examples of deliverables. Service businesses like consulting have deliverables as well.

It’s only by handing these deliverables off to their intended recipient that a project can flow from one task to the next.

For this reason, creating good deliverables and bringing them to completion are integral to success in project management. In this post, we’re going to cover two methods for developing and completing deliverables. But first, let’s define just what deliverables are.

A Definition of Deliverables in Project Management

A deliverable is the completion of a specific and tangible amount of work that includes handing off the newly created increment to the appropriate person. For example, in software design, you might design some software, write it, debug it and do quality assurance, but the customer needs to receive it before it’s complete.

The Project Management glossary defines deliverables as:

“Any tangible outcome that is produced by the project. These can be documents, plans, computer systems, buildings, aircraft, etc. Internal deliverables are also produced as a consequence of executing the project, and are usually only needed by the project team. External deliverables are those that are created for customers and stakeholders.”

And so a deliverable, generally, is something that you can really touch and see. It’s a physical item or a file on a computer.

For many projects, the ultimate objective is a deliverable, such as a house or an airplane. However, smaller deliverables accrue throughout the entire project. They include things like reports, code repository and powerpoint slides.

Teams have deliverables they share amongst themselves. This could be something like debriefing the client, writing up a summary, then presenting the summary to the team.

Or at a retrospective, the team may create goals for the next sprint that are written up and shared with the project leader.

Examples of Deliverables

Deliverables look a lot different depending on the type of industry you’re in. Let’s look at some examples of deliverables within various types of projects.

Construction

Deliverables are easy to grasp in a visual, tangible setting. In construction, the final deliverable is whatever the project is set out to create: possibly a house, an office building or a parking lot.

But the team completes many smaller deliverables as it moves toward the end goal. In the initial stages, the architect submits plans to the client, and the contractor makes a bid. And throughout construction, each completed step is another deliverable. This includes laying the foundation, building the frame, adding wiring, electricity and insulation, mounting drywall, installing flooring and tiling, and finally things like appliances, cupboards and lights. Final deliverables are tests to ensure the building is up to code.

Software

The final deliverable in a software project is usually something like an app, a website or an e-commerce site.

Many software teams complete projects in an agile framework these days. This means they select small individual batches of work to complete in one iteration which takes around two weeks. At the end of this iteration, they’ve created a deliverable, called increment, which is one small portion of the final deliverable. This increment is passed onto the client for review.

The team has many internal deliverables throughout a project as well. For example, if the project is running over budget one person may be assigned with coming up with a plan to rein in costs, then write it up and present it to the rest of the team.

Consulting

Consulting, essentially, is giving advice. People come to a consultant when they have a pressing need and believe the consultant has more insight or expertise into the area than they do. The service, then, is the answers to questions that the consultant provides. Since advice isn’t tangible, this doesn’t qualify as a deliverable.

However, oftentimes this advice is presented in a tangible way. If you’re laying out a migration plan for a company to go from an old system to a new one, a deliverable may be a flow chart that visually represents the path and timeline you recommend the team follow.

In another instance, a consultant might advise a company on how to go mobile. This assignment would require a lot of research and interviews, and so the deliverable would be a report which summarizes the research and concludes with a recommendation.

And so even a project like consulting includes deliverables in its project planning.

In sum, deliverables look a lot different depending on the type of industry and the nature of the service provided. However, deliverables are always a tangible product. Many deliverables are completed in a short time frame of a week or two. And a large project is the compilation of a long series of deliverables.

Checklists for Deliverables

In its simplest form, a project is a list of tasks that leads to a desired outcome. Project management is about creating this list and developing a strategy to complete everything within the project’s budget and timeline.

This isn’t an easy job. When a task is too vague and includes only a few specifications, a team may create something different from what the client had in mind. It’s also easy for a team to mark something off as done before it’s really complete. This prevents a project from moving onto the next item on the list.

In order to prevent these two scenarios from occurring, it’s good to have some systems in place. Let’s look at two list exercises to assist with this; one for creating deliverables and another for completing them.

The “Is-is not” List

Have you ever asked someone to pick something up for you at the store, and what they brought back was the wrong brand or the wrong flavor? At this point, you realize that you needed to have explained your request more clearly.

The same thing happens in projects all the time. The client or project manager communicates a deliverable, but the team hears something completely different.

In order to keep a project on track, the parameters of a deliverable need to be outlined so that everyone understands the expectation. One easy way to do this is with an “is-is not” list.

This list entails making two columns on a sheet of paper, with “is” and “is not” written at the top of each column. The stakeholders in this particular deliverable then each contribute to determine what the deliverable will and won’t be.

If the deliverable is a marketing plan, for example, then some items in the “is” column might include: “under 30 pages,” “organized with headers to be readable and scannable,” “uses photos alongside text,” and “include a social media plan.”

The “is not” column might include: “no long paragraphs,” “no passive voice” and “no magazine ads.”

This list is useful in defining all sorts of deliverables. Even though it’s a simple exercise, it really gets everyone clear on the expectations.

The Done Checklist

Have you ever walked around an office looking for a report, and then someone pulls it from below a pile of papers and says they finished it last week?

If so, you’re not alone. It’s easy for all of us to think we’ve finished something, mentally check it off as done, and move on to another task entirely. However, as mentioned earlier, the deliverable isn’t complete until it’s been received by the intended recipient.

The Scrum methodology has created something called the “Definition of Done” to address this issue. Here is how Ken Schwaber’s organization, The Home of Scrum, defines it:

“Definition of Done is a formal description of the state of the Increment when it meets the quality measures required for the product. The moment a Product Backlog item meets the Definition of Done, an Increment is born. The Definition of Done creates transparency by providing everyone a shared understanding of what work was completed as part of the Increment. If a Product Backlog item does not meet the Definition of Done, it cannot be released or even presented at the Sprint Review.”

(In this definition, “increment” means the same thing as “deliverable.”)

The Definition of Done, essentially, is a list of all the criteria that must be accomplished to mark a deliverable off as complete.

To this end, many teams create a “done checklist” around a deliverable, to ensure that everyone understands the hoops that need to be jumped through before calling it a day.

For example, on a software team, the “done checklist” might include: writing code, testing, debugging and quality assurance. The final item on this list always includes presenting the deliverable to the end user, who is either someone in the office or the client. The value really hasn’t been added until this final step is “done”!

In sum, deliverables need to be created with a lot of TLC, and it takes stick-to-itiveness to bring them over the finish line. Having processes in place helps to achieve this.

Final Thoughts on Deliverables

A deliverable is easy to see and touch and measure. For this reason, clients like to see deliverables in a project. For example, it adds some weight to include things like slide decks or reports to a consulting proposal.

This leads to a tendency for a team to define success around the deliverable. This isn’t always the best bullseye to aim for, however. The real objective in any project is adding value to the client. That’s ultimately what you’re working to deliver.

To this end, it’s usually good to plan small deliverables around shorter time frames. Clients may not entirely understand what they want in terms of a final deliverable at the beginning of a project. They may only be able to clarify their overall objective.

When a project is completed piecemeal, it creates an opportunity for the client to look at what has been developed and assess how the project is going.

And so rather than look at a deliverable as one enormous task, it’s generally much safer for the team to get into the practice of decomposing projects into smaller units that can be completed in a short time frame. Based on the feedback from the client, the team can then determine its next plan for deliverables.