Today on the Scale your Small Business podcast, we’re talking about project planning! It can be easy to get lost in the chaos these days. With everything going on in the world right now, sometimes keeping track of your projects–what they are, when they should be finished, who is working on them–can be especially difficult. But there are methods and practices you can use right now that will help you get a good grip on your schedule.
Jillian’s first tip is to have a centralized location for all of your projects and what comes with them. She recommends some sort of planner or notebook where all those important ideas live. This is crucial because there are always those moments where you have a great idea, jot it down on the back of an envelope, a sticky note, or on a napkin and before you know it, it’s gone. That wonderful thing you thought of is lost somewhere in the pile of scrap paper who knows where. Resist the urge! You’ll thank yourself later.
Another step in this project planning process is the brain dump. This is when you’re letting your brain take over and scribe anything that comes to mind associated with that project. This is a great way for you to jog your memory now and in the future, it’ll spark ideas you hadn’t thought of before and will let you clear your head to execute the tasks at hand. Even in the middle of the night, writing down those things will let you revisit and revise in the future. Remember to put enough information that will allow you to remember what that original thought was, otherwise you’ll be asking yourself “what was I thinking here?”
Once you’ve got all your ideas down, the next step is refining your tasks to those that take two minutes or less. This is super important when you’re creating your schedule. What can happen is smaller, but equally important tasks, can fall through the cracks and you won’t realize until it’s too late. By blocking out time for these things, you make sure you’re on top of what needs to get done.
Finally, keep your delegation lists handy. That way you can keep track of what you can accomplish yourself and what other people on your team might be better equipped to handle. It doesn’t make sense to muddle through a task and struggle when you’ve got someone working with you who is an expert!
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