6 Tips For Completing An Intimidating Project
Great article by Anita Zinsmeister, President of Dale Carnegie Training of Central & Southern NJ.
Greetings!:
One of our clients was given the opportunity to head up a complex and high visibility project. Although he was excited about the opportunity he also found it daunting. He found himself not sure of which way to turn to get the project started and how to execute it most efficiently or productively.
Many people let fear get in the way of progressing in at least one area of their lives. Don’t let fear of an intimidating project at work cripple your chance to get ahead at the workplace and take on additional responsibilities. Tackle that project head on and everyone will be better off. We’ve put together a list of tips to make this easier for you.
The 6 Tips For Completing An Intimidating Project Are:
Tip # 1. Make Sure You Are Organized - If you are not organized you will find yourself floundering, making the project seem more difficult than it is. Create a list of things that need to be done in order to bring your project to completion. Organize the list by what needs to be done first as well as order of difficulty.
Tip #2. Get Started Now - Look at the task list you created and decide whether you want to tackle the most difficult parts first or just get the easy parts over with. This will help you start momentum on the project. Looking at a large project in smaller steps will help you get over your fear of a "huge" project. Prioritizing what is most important and needs to be done first can give you a sense of self direction.
Tip #3. Set Deadlines - Set appropriate deadlines for milestones in the project (hourly, daily or weekly). Check your progress against your deadlines at least once a day to be sure you are on track. Make adjustments if necessary and continue on your path. Don’t allow yourself to get flustered if you get stuck on something – move on and come back to that part later with fresh eyes.
Tip #4. Take Breaks To Keep Yourself Working At Peak Performance - If you are tired or hungry your productivity will slow down immensely. Do yourself a favor and schedule in lunch and snack breaks and do not skip them. Invest a few minutes to take a short walk or get some fresh air. It can invigorate you. If the project is being completed over the span of a few days, choose a time to leave work for the day and stick with it. Overworking yourself is not an efficient way to get your project completed.
Tip #5. Ask For Help If Necessary - If you get stuck on something, ask for help or feedback from your co-workers. This will help give you another perspective on something you may have overlooked. If the project is truly more than you can handle or you are falling behind on deadlines, see if you can delegate parts of the project to others. Further increase efficiency by matching each task to the person who is most likely to do the best job on that particular item.
Tip #6. Step Back And Review - When you are finished, or almost finished, step back and review the whole project. Doing this will enable you to correct any mistakes and will help you be sure that the project is cohesive. The completed version of the smaller tasks that you broke the project into needs to fit together well.
Summary - These tips will help you stay on track to complete any large project in a timely manner. Don’t let fear get the better of you at work – take a logical approach to breaking a project down into manageable pieces and you will reap the rewards.
