Project management for small business

Use those project management processes!

Project managers seem to be very popular with large corporations, but what about businesses with fewer than 100 employees? Can project management help them?

Small business owners and managers tend to have everything on their plate. Marketing, sales, payroll – everything is the owner’s responsibility.  Which means that all the projects that are part of those ongoing efforts are being run by one person – the one person who doesn’t have the time.

The top four tips

If you’re a small business owner that is skeptical, here are the top four things a small business owner should know about project management.

It’s a defined process

Project management is a process designed to produce results. All small businesses are focused on results. With fewer staff members available, using a defined process is a great starting point to finishing that marketing plan or figuring out how to relocate the office. Just do it.

The process is five steps: Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Control, and Close-out. It seems likely most small businesses are following this process instinctively  – but every project is a new experience. Stop reinventing the wheel and do it the same way every time.

It’s not as hard as you think

Following a project management process is not as hard as you think.  For most small business projects, start small and focus.

1. Determine what success looks like. Write down everything you can think of that must happen in order to get success.
2. Clean up the list, grouping tasks under two or three milestones. Add estimates on how long it may take for each task.
3. Start work on the tasks and track your progress.
4. Go back to your definition of success in step one when the project is done. Is that the result?

Keep it simple. Don’t try to build Rome in a day. Break up your projects into small chunks, finishing something every two weeks to 30 days.

It doesn’t take as long as you think

Many small business owners lament, “I need to get going now! I don’t have time to figure out the tasks and success and durations. I just need to start!” Start where?

How will you know if you are successful if you don’t know what success looks like? Entrepreneurs are often strategically driven, big picture people. Sometimes they’re not so great and slowing down enough to ask why they’re doing something and what, exactly, they want out of it. “More sales!” is not a goal. Increasing sales by 10% in 30 days is trackable.

Pick an organized employee who loves to get things done and sit with them for one hour. Go over that marketing plan you need to finish and work out the success criteria, milestones, tasks, durations, and who is assigned to what. Focusing for that hour reaps great rewards.   Your staff knows what to do, you know who’s doing it, and now it’s a few minutes every few days to check in and handle status.

Time is best spent up front detailing the plan and the outcomes, not at the end of the project when the deliverable turns up wrong and you’ve got to fix something.

You don’t need a certified PM to follow the process.

Small businesses often don’t have budget for a specialized project management skill set. Anyone that is organized and can follow a process can handle most project management tasks. Keeping projects small and easily tracked helps. There are plenty of tools on the market that can help staffers develop a plan and status the project. At the bottom of the post there is a link to a project checklist and resource guide. Many of these tools have free versions to try out. Find something that works with your staff and use it.

Use basic project management

Small businesses can use project management tactics to get that marketing plan done or that relocation planned. It’s a matter of focusing on the final result, finding a staff member that likes to be organized and get things done, and following through with the plan. As a results-oriented small business owner, this is music to the ears.

For a free project checklist and resource guide, click here.
Project checklist and resource guide

How do you use project management in your small business? Let us know in the comments below.