Since leaving the rat-race in 2009, I have taken on several SME clients whom I manage in parallel. I am often asked how I manage multiple projects, without getting confused, side-tracked, and without letting deadlines slip.
Personally, I don’t know any project managers 100% dedicated to only one project, so I initially thought I was not so unique—but perhaps I was wrong.
Even in my past full-time career, when I was managing extensive projects with multiple strands of work underneath, I treated them as diverse, different projects. This was the only way to keep different project streams (and teams) focussed and manageable.
Although I am both Prince2 and ITIL trained, these framworks don’t prepare you for massive multitasking. You need different skills for managing multiple projects from those you use for simply managing one.
Let’s say that you have three projects on the go that have the overall aim of streamlining processes and getting rid of paper. You could formally manage these as a program, or they could be standalone pieces of work. While they all might look broadly similar in aim, those projects might involve working with different products (so different vendors), different technical teams, different business teams, different timelines and different locations. You’d want to manage them as separate projects, but how do you keep all the tasks organized?
I am not perfect—but here are some tips that I use for managing tasks, resources and time across several projects at once.
Managing Tasks Across Multiple Projects
Weekly reports: The weekly report covers what work we did this week and what work is due for completion the following week. On a Monday morning, I read the weekly report for last week and it tells me exactly what I should work on this week. Admittedly, sometimes I do this on a Thursday (although I never could get the hang of Thursdays—go read the HHGTTG if you don’t understand that reference. You will thank me!) and then have to work very hard to get tasks done. This is not for long-range task management; it only helps you keep on top of the week-by-week priorities.
Action Log: Keep a separate action log for each project. The action log is the go-to place for everything that I need to do, or that I need other people to do. I will even review my bullet points or other various notes I may have made over the past week. Of course, I have a proper project plan (Gantt) too, but I don’t put every minor item on there. I use a simple online spreadsheet for the action log. Online (which at the moment is Google Sheets) because I can access it from anywhere and also share read only copies with team members as necessary. Pick whatever tool works for you.
Task List: The task list is a summary of the action log and the weekly report together, shown as bulleted items. Go through your task lists and remind yourself of what is on there. It doesn’t take long to scan the list to see what your personal obligations are. As project manager, you want to keep abreast of everything that is happening and have overall visibility all team tasks.
I don’t have a ‘to-do’ date on my action log, but I prioritise each task with a red/yellow/green traffic light system. I also keep a notebook which has a list at the back for non-project work such as updating my objectives, tasks related to me helping on other projects, department budget work, and so on.
Managing Resources Across Multiple Projects
For all my love of spreadsheets and notebooks. They really don’t cut it for managing resources. Diaries change too often, project schedules move around. It’s a full-time job keeping a resource spreadsheet up-to-date.
This is where you really need proper project management software to make your life easier. Just one pool of resources and you can drag-and-drop bookings to move them or assign them to someone else. Powerful filters allow you to focus on specific resources (by skill, location, department, and so on) and mean you don’t have to do so much scrolling.
When you’ve got the same group of people working on different projects, it helps them (and you) to have transparency about what tasks are coming up. It also helps you to schedule people effectively. The greater visibility you have over how people are allocated, the easier it is to fill up their slack time and avoid the use of expensive contract resources. You can also more easily see resource clashes.
Resources aren’t just people. Proper project management tools let you schedule the availability of meeting rooms and other resources.
Managing Your Time Across Multiple Projects
I have a team conference call with each project team at least twice a week. It’s just a check-in, between 10 and 30 minutes. The major benefits are:
- I get to find out what everyone has done all week
- We share what’s creating problems and work together to unstick them
- I pick their brains about what to put in my weekly report.
- However, the most important thing for the update call is the ability for my team to hold me accountable for moving the project forward.
How to work out what’s a priority!
I find that some weeks, one project just isn’t a priority and the weekly report will reflect that. You find out what is a priority by:
- Asking your execs in each organisation;
- Taking direction from the PMO (if there is one);
- Your intuition/judgment. Don’t underestimate your own ability to know what’s a priority. You should have an idea about how your project helps the company move forward. You should be able to work out which of your projects are important and what can wait;
- Being good at scheduling. All projects, however important, have slower periods for you as the project manager. Projects are normally busy at the start and towards the end of phases, but while the team works well, your involvement for monitoring and controlling should be manageable. When your projects have slower periods, pick up priority work on your other projects or just get ahead for the next busy time;
- Working for who shouts the loudest is a terrible strategy, but in the absence of any other direction at least try to make unhappy stakeholders happier.
Set time aside to catch up with the paperwork and to think.
It is very important to get the more administrative side of project management done, such as those weekly and monthly reports and reviewing resource calendars to deal with over and under allocations regularly.
Managing Expectations
The biggest tip I can give you for managing multiple projects at the same time is to keep communication channels open. Keep talking to the team leaders, the project sponsors, the managers. Stay close to what they are expecting from you. Then deliver it.
If you can’t deliver it, you should be honest and upfront about why. Tell your line manager or project sponsor why that is the case, and what you are doing about it. They may help you manage your workload or priorities. The key here is to make sure they are not blindsided. Remember, they report to someone too!
Key Notes
- Stay on top of your task lists per project. You need to keep each project organized and clear.
- Book time in your diary each week to review your progress and outstanding work on each project.
- Use resource management tools if you have access to them.
- Make time to speak to each project team every week
- Know what is a priority and work to that
- Manage expectations.