So, you’ve just been handed a project that you’re overseeing from fruition to completion – congrats! Managing a project is a really exciting step and means that you must be doing something right!

However, as exciting and interesting managing a project is, it’s important to take the responsibility seriously and understand what is involved. There are some things that we all think of when we think of ‘managing a project’, like managing stakeholder interests, building and working to timelines, and managing an array of people to meet the end goal.

These are all crucial parts of the puzzle, however there are also some classic elements of project management that people forget about. Often, these tasks sneak in at the last minute and create a sense of overwhelm that can be avoided altogether if people knew what to look for at the start.

To help you smash your project, we’re compiling a short list of the things people often forget about when running a project. Take a look…

1. Permits to work

This is crucial to allowing work to commence, however often people leave it to the last minute or forget about it altogether. Once you’ve found the right employees or contractors, it’s essential that you give them a permit to work that officially and formally notices their skills.

Permit to work is going to ensure that you have the right people on the job, that are able to carry out the work safely. Not only does this reduce risk, it also means that your business will be closer to achieving compliance. 

2. Communication channels

When managing a project, there will be a lot of people that you need to communicate with at one time. This means that you will need to have the right infrastructure in place to do that. Before the project starts, think about how you will communicate with your teams and ensure that everyone is comfortable with how they will work. 

Everything from visitor management to the project timelines will need to be shared and communicated, so setting up clear channels of communication prior to the commencement date will set you up for success.

3. Risk assessment 

Don’t forget to assess the risk before you start and then continuously manage it as the project goes on. Risk assessment is one of those things that people tend to forget about until they realise that they need it – by which point it is often too late as an incident has already occurred.

Get to grips with some risk assessment tools that will help you proactively manage risk and reduce incidents as much as possible.

4. Monitoring and control

When running a project it can be easy to forget to monitor and control any changes to the original plan. This is where clear communication comes in, and it is important that you have alerted everyone to the fact that changes need to be tracked and documented so that everyone is on the same page.

Good monitoring and control practices will help to manage everything from risk, quality, time and cost and will keep you on track with the project life cycle.

5. Documentation

When things get heated and pressured, sometimes the documentation can be the last thing on your mind. However, effective documentation is crucial to running any project and will cover your back in the event of anything going wrong. 

Despite the importance of clear and accurate documentation, often project managers forget to keep on top of it. This is often because companies still work with paper based systems that require hours of labour to complete. They then need to be passed around to several people to sign off and filed (usually in a quick paced environment where things can get lost).

To reduce the likelihood of documentation getting lost or mis-managed, it’s a great idea to look into easy-to-use documentation software that will make managing your project a breeze. Beakon specialises in these kinds of documentation aids that cover everything from risk management, to visitor management, to contractor management and ensure that all of your most important documents are online.

To learn more, head over to our contact us page and drop us a line. We’re always keen to discuss your project management needs, no matter what industry you work in!