How Can Project Management Scale Your Business?
You’re a small business owner who’s got big plans to scale your business! The ideas are flowing out of you faster than you can even get them written down. Your “big picture” of where you want your business to be in 6 months is there. You love the creative part of your business. It’s the implementation that’s not quite within your zone of genius.
If this sounds like you – I get it. As a former restaurant owner, interior designer, and current business owner, I’ve been there. I understand how important it is to break that big picture down into more digestible projects and then delegate those projects to the right people using the right tools. No matter what type of business you’re in, hiring the right people is key to accomplishing your goals efficiently. But more people and projects, also means project management is a MUST.
Why is project management so important? Continue reading for four actionable ways project management can take your small business to the next level.
Accountability
One of the biggest reasons that big visions never become realities is because there is no accountability factor. What do I mean by this? You and your team know where you want your business to be one day. But you haven’t taken the time to write down a step-by-step plan to actually MEET those goals.
With the right people and project management tools in place you can easily stay accountable to yourself, your team, and your business. You can actually put pen to paper (or more likely, fingers to keyboards) and set deadlines for the goals you’re wanting to achieve. This also gives your team the ability to see what needs to be done and step up in the areas they know they are passionate about.
Documenting all of your operating procedures, deadlines, and even meeting notes within a project management tool takes the guessing game out of projects. You have documentation of exactly what needs to be done. When it needs to be done. And who’s responsible for making sure it’s completed. This all sounds so simple and intuitive, but so many businesses DON’T implement effective project management tools. This leaves them sitting on the sidelines while other business owners who DO have project managers and project management systems in place are growing exponentially.
Communication is Streamlined
Another reason many small businesses stay stuck, is that there’s a lack of communication. Of course the lack of communication is almost never intentional. It just happens! A key player is accidentally left off of an email chain and chaos ensues. But when important communication is kept within one, cloud based platform there’s a one-stop shop for communication.
Project management tools allow your team to communicate effectively within the platform you’ve chosen and your project manager can check in to make sure everyone has what they need.
Deadlines Are Being Met
We all know that “life happens.” Which is why project management is wonderful, because deadlines can be set WELL in advance of when things REALLY need to be done. So, when bottlenecks inevitably occur in your business, instead of your business totally derailing two things happen;
- It’s easy to identify exactly where the bottleneck is occurring so it can be remedied.
- Your team isn’t rushing around at the last minute trying to get things done.
There’s nothing worse than waking up at 2 a.m. panicked because you feel like you’ve forgotten to accomplish something vital within your business. With project management, those panicked wake-ups can be a thing of the past and deadlines can be met much more easily.
You Don't Have To Do It All Yourself!
Personally, I think the best part about project management is that both you and your team members can stay within your zones of genius.
Your marketing manager doesn’t love making social media graphics? No problem! You can have them delegate graphics to an awesome graphic designer. Your project manager can ensure a “good fit” is hired. Then you can all check in on your project management tool to be sure everyone is on track to hit deadlines. All while everyone is doing things they love! And if you’ve hired an amazing project manager all you have to do is give them a vision, some goals and some deadlines and voila – those things you’ve only talked about before are now coming to fruition. Without YOU having to do it all.
If you’re interested in finally, actually scaling your business vs. just talking about scaling your business I’d love to chat. Schedule a free, no obligation call with me today. We’ll talk about where your business is and where you want to take it. I’ll help you get those KPIs moving in the right direction WITHOUT spending more time in front of your computer.
In the meantime, I’d love to know; Do you currently have a project manager or project management tool in place? How does your version of project management keep your business growing?
