Developing better communication strategies benefits everyone and helps improve the overall workplace environment. It increases employee engagement, improves customer relationships, and can help to boost productivity and performance, while also creating a more positive workplace environment for you and your staff. Whether you want to avoid bad habits from developing or you simply want to build upon the communication systems you have in place, here are some strategies to help improve communication in your business. 

Make conversation a regular occurrence

The first step in developing better communication in the workplace is to provide staff with the opportunity to raise concerns or discuss goals and projects. Not only should there be regular team meetings so that everyone is aligned and can collaborate more efficiently, but you should also schedule weekly 1-to-1s which will provide a safe space for staff to discuss individual concerns or bring up topics that may not be appropriate for a team meeting. 

Create a communication-friendly company culture

It’s one thing to provide the staff in your company with the platform to communicate effectively, but it should also be a priority to develop a safe environment where people feel comfortable sharing ideas, bringing up difficult topics, or discussing how they feel about things. If you want to develop better communication in your business, you have to provide a culture where people feel safe talking and being open with their thoughts. 

This is something which recycling firm Countrystyle worked on throughout the pandemic, using the time to improve areas of the business: “The pandemic gave us the opportunity to analyze the core of the business and establish where we can create better support structures for departments.” 

Deliver constructive feedback

In order to manage expectations, you need to ensure that the feedback you’re providing to staff is constructive and clear. Feedback can very easily appear as criticism if it’s not delivered carefully, so it can help to show employees where they’re performing well and how they can improve, rather than simply focusing on the negative.

Some tips for ensuring that feedback is constructive and helpful to staff is to base it on observation and facts, rather than personal judgments – make sure you use specific examples to back up your statements so that employees can see what type of behavior you’re referring to. But it’s also important to give them a chance to respond to what you’re saying and to turn that feedback into a discussion.

Choose the right platforms

Certain topics should be kept to specific platforms, depending on the appropriateness of the discussion. For example, if someone in the team is dealing with a personal emergency, it wouldn’t be appropriate to talk about it with the rest of the team in a weekly meeting. Likewise, big decisions for a project shouldn’t be talked about on Slack, where details might get missed or certain members of the team might not see the messages.

As a business, make sure that everyone is working to the same rules when it comes to the correct processes to follow and that anything that involves important data or information is retained in a way where the details can be checked at a later date if necessary, such as through project management tools.

If you’re discussing something via Slack or email, and you’re noticing that there’s a lot of back and forth, book an in-person meeting with everyone involved to ensure that all staff are clear on the details and that nothing is lost in trail. 

Final thoughts

To keep a business running smoothly and making sure that goals are met, everyone needs to work on their communication skills. Internal communication is the key to the proper functioning and great performance of your company as a whole and individuals within the team, but it can be a challenge when you’re dealing with a diverse workforce.

By using the correct tools, making time for regular discussions with staff, and focusing on the delivery of feedback, businesses can create an open environment for interaction. 

The post 4 Ways to Improve Communication in the Workplace appeared first on PM Column.

Whether it be through the form of medical negligence claims within the hospital industry, legal malpractice in the pharmaceutical industry or a loss of consumer trust within the digital marketing hemisphere, it’s vital to do all you can to avoid project management fatigue when you start to recognize things taking their toll.

The following five effective methods listed below could help significantly as well, allowing you to overcome any feelings of project management fatigue you are feeling both now and in the future.

1. Take breaks

When you’re ill, you take time off work and rest. So, why don’t we treat feelings of burnout and fatigue in the same way? After all, it’s so important to take care of your wellbeing and get more rest when you can – in certain industries it can be potentially fatal if you don’t. 

In the hospital industry, for instance, if a midwife is feeling burnt out, they could easily make an unintentional mistake – a misdiagnosis, an incorrect treatment dosage, a poor patient handling – and land a claim of medical negligence against them. 

As such, it’s important to be aware of your own situation and not be afraid to ask for some time off. And, even if you aren’t in a position to take a sick day, there are still ways you can incorporate respite into your daily schedule and reap the benefits. 

Taking small breaks from work throughout the day can leave you feeling more refreshed and ready to tackle the next challenge, for instance. In fact, scientists have found that planning your schedule in this way can actually make you more effective and productive.

There’s some debate as to what the optimum work-to-break ratio might be, but the most recent data suggests the ideal method is to work for 52 minutes and then take a break for 17 minutes.

While this may seem like a simple strategy on the face of it, taking time to disconnect from your desk can offer so many benefits – from helping you feel less tired during the day to ensuring you manage projects at your optimum. 

2. Write things down

One of the easiest ways to tackle project management fatigue is to simply write things down. This is because studies have shown that writing out outstanding tasks frees up brainpower and minimizes the effects of negative emotions on your workflow.

Other studies have also found that people who write down their goals in vivid detail are between 1.2 and 1.4 times more likely to achieve them; a phenomenon said to be due to something called the ‘generation effect’. 

This effect essentially means that we, as humans, are better at remembering material that we have generated ourselves over the information we have only ever read. Therefore, by writing down a goal or task that you have previously only thought about, you naturally reduce the risk of something slipping through the cracks. 

3. Quantify your goals

It’s no secret that it’s helpful to visualize your goals. But, a lot of the time, the vision we have in our heads can feel like an unreachable dream – especially while experiencing project management fatigue.

So, how can you translate your goal into something tangible when you’re simply too exhausted? Well, a simple strategy you could think about employing is to quantify your goals.

Giving your goals measurable parameters has a huge range of advantages; as well as putting your longer-term goals into perspective, it can help you to direct your focus more effectively, save you time and make it easier to take any added pressure off your shoulders.

One of the best methods to utilize for this is known as the SMART technique – a set of criteria that provides you with the framework to use, meaning less work for you and your already tired mind.

4. Prioritize

You might already be using an effective to-do list but, if you’re still experiencing project management fatigue, you may want to start prioritizing your workload.

While you’re experiencing burnout, it can feel like you have no energy to accomplish your project aims. As such, putting the most important tasks first will allow you to tackle the big things when you have the most energy, instead of having to push on.

Deciding which of your tasks should take priority will also make any bumps in the road a lot easier to manage. If you’re burnt out or experience a setback, for example, your other tasks can be deferred much more easily, because they are smaller or not as pressing. 

Arranging your work in this way gives you a bit more breathing room while you’re feeling fatigued and prevents you from being under extra pressure to catch up, which will only benefit you over the long run.

5. Abandon perfection

When it comes to managing projects, it can be all too easy to get caught up in the end goal. But, while sticking to a perfect ideal of project outcomes sounds great in theory, in reality, it can be a practical and emotional nightmare.

That’s not to say perfectionism doesn’t come with its benefits but, when it comes to managing multiple projects, it can also result in a number of negative side effects.

Research has shown that being a perfectionist increases the risk of depression, anxiety, and feelings of burnout, for example. This isn’t great at the best of times but, if you’re already experiencing fatigue, it could end up being potentially disastrous.

Therefore, if this sounds like your current situation, you may wish to follow in the footsteps of Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg by embracing the “done is better than perfect” mindset. This will not only free you from the paralysis of perfectionism but could also prevent it from exacerbating your existing burnout.

Final thoughts

Project management fatigue is no joke. It has wide-ranging effects on your physical and mental health and can even lead to legal complications. And, while the best way to tackle burnout is to prevent it, there are several things you can do if you’re already struggling.

By writing down quantified, prioritized goals and changing your approach to perfection and rest, can make a massive difference to how you navigate the difficulties associated with project management fatigue.

Read more:

• The Future of Project Management in the Post-COVID-19 Era
• Daily Team Empowerment in a Nutshell
• Dispelling Five Cosy Project Management Myths

The post 5 Tips to Overcome Project Management Fatigue appeared first on PM Column.

In the world of project management specifically, there has been a huge dynamic shift as the months of lockdown have drifted on by, creating new and unique opportunities for managers and business leaders to ponder.

Whether it be implementing technological advances, upgrading systems, or refocusing their business’s infrastructure, the future of project management – albeit bleak and uncertain at times – looks full of promise; a new age likely to redefine the industry as we know it.

So, what sort of changes can you expect to see over the coming years? And how are project managers likely to fare as a result of the pandemic?

Well, that’s what we’re here to discuss. This article will look to answer both questions and more, ascertaining not only what’s likely to happen in the future of project management, but why you should be excited by it as well.

Project Managers Will Need to Upskill

Put simply, if you want to survive in business, you have to keep up. And, to do this effectively, you have to remain motivated to learn – keen to improve your skillset for both the good of the business and for yourself as well.

In light of COVID-19, learning new skills will become more important than ever, and especially now that we find ourselves moving into the post-pandemic landscape.

Whether it be honing soft skills like communication, enhancing management skills like learning how to develop an emergency plan, or improving hard skills, such as getting to grips with data-driven systems, project managers will need to identify and embrace different skill-based opportunities.

Flexible Working Will Reign Supreme

If the coronavirus pandemic has taught project management businesses anything, it’s that they can cope perfectly fine using an at-home-based setup. This is unlikely to change moving forward either, largely due to the number of research-proven benefits that working from home is said to provide both employers and employees.

From increased productivity levels to improved flexibility, the COVID-19 pandemic has only sped up the implementation of flexible working arrangements, forcing the industry into an unprecedented shift towards remote work.

However, it also came with its challenges. Remote working, after all, completely changes the dynamic of the workplace, making certain work-based processes more difficult to handle.

Spontaneous collaboration, team-building, and other project management tasks, for example, typically work much better when all the team members are present and can bounce their ideas off each other.

Therefore, moving forward, project managers will need to think of new and improved ways to encourage this same level of collaboration when their employees aren’t in the same room. This will largely rely on being able to communicate effectively with one another which – while on the subject – brings me nicely onto my next point…

Communication Will Be Key

Remote work comes with its various advantages but one of the key disadvantages to consider moving forward relates to employee engagement, i.e. the level of attachment a remote employee has with their work.

In order to ensure your employees stay well motivated during the pandemic and beyond, having effective communication channels in place will be imperative both now and in the future.

As such, online communication tools like Slack and video conferencing platforms like Zoom will become more and more embedded within the workplace, while managers will also need to make a more active effort to keep on top of their employee’s productivity, mental health, and wellbeing.

Technology Will Play a Pivotal Role

Over the years, technology has truly revolutionised the workplace and the way projects are managed in particular. Going back just ten years, the idea of working from home effectively would have been laughed at, yet here we are.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one such area likely to have a huge impact on how admin-based processes are run, saving a huge amount of time when it comes to data management, scheduling, or tactical planning-focused tasks.

And, following the rise of the internet, cloud-based systems are likely to become more and more used in project management. As such, data storage, server access, management systems, and a whole host of HR tasks will become much more streamlined, changing the internal working setup of many companies.

However, this transition will also raise questions over data security, effectively forcing project managers to hire employees equipped with the skills to protect their company’s online presence.  

Hybrid Project Management Approaches Will Be the Norm

Going back only a couple of years, project managers would normally pursue all their projects using a single project management-based methodology.

In recent years, however, that has all changed. Project managers are now a lot more adaptable in their work, often creating ‘hybrid approaches’ unique to the needs of their specific project that adopt various alternative project management methodologies.

This trend looks set to only continue going forward as well, with recent surveys finding that hybrid project management approaches tend to be more successful than the traditional single framework process.

Therefore, if you are hoping to evolve your business within the project management industry, then you should make an active effort to familiarize yourself with a range of other potentially useful methodologies. After all, you never know when a collaborative-based approach might come in useful.

Final Thoughts

The coronavirus pandemic may have had a catastrophic effect on the project management industry, but it has also provided companies with the opportunity to pause, reflect, and rethink their strategies going forward.

Rather than staying stuck in the past and utilizing an outdated working model, therefore, now is the ideal time to start looking to the future, embracing the trends likely to shape the industry over the coming months.

By implementing technological-based systems, refining your work from home approach, and assessing any new skills you need to learn, you can ensure your company not only survives the pandemic, but thrives from it too.

The post The Future of Project Management in the Post-COVID-19 Era appeared first on PM Column.