I loved this question and the responses stated so far!
Everyone benefits by ensuring the project data is current and accurate. Here are some practices I have used and seen across many work management products. These have worked in clients across many industries and business focus areas. One or more may help you.
Avoid the wars between planners, users, teams, and departments? Implement a cultural shift with a theme of "we are in this together?" Everyone is converted to owning the data and its quality. Everyone is responsible for their part as they fit in with the whole. Everyone helps another appropriate for the whole to succeed.
Babysitting the project data daily is essential for on-demand work management applications. The project planner becomes the steward for ensuring the data is current and accurate. The project planner should be checking and updating data daily to avoid the trap of weekly panic-like project updates. Resource managers become responsible for user assignment utilization conflicts. Like the project planner, the resource manager should be checking and updating assignments daily, lessening conflicts and overloads. The users become responsible for executing assignments, calling for time-outs with planners and resource managers when conflicts or overloads occur
Pursue the cultural practice of "what have you completed today?" Focusing the users on what has been completed shifts their thinking to prioritizing work towards what can I finish today instead of starting too many items. This shift then leads to increased updates of the completion status and dates. These then move into reports on user accomplishments being shown for users, teams, and groups. There is more to this practice, but this is the essence.
Get off the computer! The project and resource planners benefit from talking with the assignees more often than weekly. Consider the daily walk-about technique. Make a daily list of important items to cover with workers, peers, leads, managers, etc. Use the list to start a conversation, in person or on the phone. These conversations often result in happier teams, more cohesive work efforts, and improved data quality. In one experience example, I did this with a marketing team member back in the early 2000s. Each day, I showed up with her morning coffee (one sugar and one cream) to talk over what she had done the day prior and what was coming up. She was ready to work on my project each morning and finished always on time with better quality. It was a wonderful experience.
Reduce the email reminders and notifications. The use of these only creates more work for the users. Consider the amount of time needed to check emails, which these notifications are creating more of. Focus users on developing the habit for having the work management tool open for active, all day use. The data in one place will help build better engagement, naturally leading to improved data quality.
Make tasks relevant, easy to understand, and easy to manage. Focus on finished (interim or final) deliverables instead of actions steps. Assign work tasks (no parents) to keep work precision aligned to the work management tool functions. Avoid the use of reminder tasks that are in the plan as quality checks of simple to do items; these clutter up assignment and resource management data. Other tricks to this technique include:
Task Name or Issue Name
Compose a very short version (200 characters) of the description.
Use noun-prefixed phrases on the parent tasks.
Use verb-prefixed phrases on the work assignment tasks.
Use noun-prefixed phrases on issues.
Task Description or Issue Description
Explain what needs to be done and why.
Explain what will be reviewed to ensure the task or issue is completed - mentioning the deliverable by name is handy.
Task Duration
Plan with greater time durations. Small time durations create extra work for users based on how work management tools show data across functions.
Assignments
Use the project management equation of one task = one owner. This single named assignment technique ensures that one person is always responsible for a work assignment. Single assignments reduce the likelihood that a social loafer will wait on someone else to do the work. This technique also helps in easing resource management overhead across all tasks and users.
Documents
Exploit the use of document attachments or external file references to include desktop procedures (SOP) that should be followed for a work assignment. This formalized SOP technique reduces the "how do I?" factor on work assignments, especially for new people who may need help from others like the planners.
Use targeted and purposeful reports. Implement standardized reports for the standard involved personas. Reports for all users should show work assignments coming up to start next 5 days, already started, and overdue to start. This style of reporting keeps users moving along in a daily work management rolling window. Reports for planners should show something similar but across the active projects. Reports for resource managers should also show something similar but filtered on the users involved with the resource manager, one or more teams, and one or more group. All the reports should be implemented with inline edit in mind, especially to reduce the navigation overhead of opening each item to make updates like status and percent complete.
Use the work management tool in meetings! Consider taking notes, adding action items, and making updates directly in the tool instead of updating later. For example, many traffic management teams are composed of the planners and resource managers. Together, they open the assignment management reports to talk through the workloads and priorities. Assignments are updated during the session. Dates on plans are updated too. Action items are added as issues on related tasks and projects. Follow up is tracked immediately. The meetings are often run twice weekly; Fridays and Tuesdays are preferred.
There are many more ideas to use, but these are the ones I had time to reflect on this morning.
As always, you are welcome to message me for more information. Doug Williams NETSource Consulting
