Manage Your Next Project with a Little Bit of Fun

BY Courtney Huckabay
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It's project management time. Starting a new game plan can be overwhelming, but also pretty exciting. I ran across a few ways to make the process fun on Monster​.com. Take a couple of Shannon Sweeny's tips to your next planning session. Bonus points: she also provides avenues to show your boss just how great you are at managing projects!

Boost morale with an efficient kickoff meeting

"If your project involves your whole staff or an entire department, then having a kickoff meeting with the whole team is a great idea to gain moral behind your project and get buy-​in from leadership," Sweeny says. "Make this meeting short and effective, requiring everyone’s undivided attention so they make it a priority. Going into this meeting with a very well-​laid-​out plan with tasks delegated specifically and easy to understand visuals will really impress your leadership and make it more difficult for them to pick the project apart. This is a great opportunity to show your management skills and ability to work as a successful team."

Show it off visually 

"Setting up a timeline in a word document or in an excel spreadsheet can be helpful but setting up an interactive timeline through PowerPoint or another graphics creator shows how much work you have put into the creation of your project. Create a timeline that graphically represents all the phases of the project and then animate it to reflect all of the people that were responsible for each step. This makes the timeline engaging and easy to understand for everyone. Taking pride in presenting your project will show that you truly care about your work and will impress your leadership."

Whether it's your first big assignment, or your 99th project, it can't hurt to incorporate some enthusiasm and energy. Getting others involved can go a long way in fostering team spirit and general appreciation for a new plan. So don't get too bogged down about the deadline. Be sure to make it a little fun so everyone actually wants to work on the next strategy with you.


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