My Daily Project Management Task List

In order to do a decent job leading projects I have found that there are several tasks that I need to do on a daily basis. Past projects where I was able to do the tasks consistently by far outperformed the projects where I was not.

My daily Project Management task list:

1. I have spoken with each member of my team.
2. I have spoken with my customer(s).
3. I have taken actions to remove any impediments highlighted by my team.
4. I have updated and published progress information.
5. I have updated and published minutes/action items for any meetings held within the last 24 hours.
6. I have reviewed project risks and taken appropriate actions.
7. I have had fun and feel confident about tomorrow.

The first two tasks on my list have to do with communication. If I was only to have two tasks on my list one and two would be the list. I need to know what is going on in the team and with my customer(s) in order to lead the project. Even just a small chat with each team member individually gives great indications on how that person and the project are doing.

The third task has to do with the fact that I consider being a servant to the team one of my most important roles. I can't develop half as effectively as my team members and my time is therefore better used making sure that they have optimal conditions to be productive.

The fourth and fifth tasks also have to do with communication, but in a different sense than tasks one and two. In order to make sure the team and other involved parties are aware of the current state of the project they need to be informed. I prefer to use a burn-down chart to display progress information. I post it on the wall in the project room and on the project collaboration portal for anyone involved to see.

The sixth task has to do with making sure that the project does not run into serious trouble caused by an unforeseen event that could have been prevented. At least once a week I go over the physical (electronic) list of risks, but I try to give it some thought daily

The final task might seem silly, but I think it's extremely important to be able to have fun on a project, but also to be able to go to sleep at night confident that you are well prepared to face whatever challenges are thrown at you the next day.

When I notice that I can't perform the tasks on the list above every day, it's an early warning that the project will suffer if I don´t do anything about it.

This post was originally published on http://www.agilethoughts.dk/ on January 22nd, 2009.

Photo credit: http://www.humphriesmortgage.com/pages/Checklist/images/checklist.jpg

Comments (1)

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written by Jim Kinter, June 01, 2009

Combined with a number of firefights and a certain amount of internal business process consulting and evaluating potential development projects, this pretty much describes my "average" day. Great list. Thanks!

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