That moment in which you sit staring at your project plan, yanking your hair from the roots, as you try to figure out where it all went wrong… This is the nightmare that every businessperson spends countless hours trying to avoid, but the truth of the matter is, there is no single moment that can be attributed to the de-railing of a project.  Most often, it is a continuous piling-on of small changes that slowly erodes the foundation of a perfect or near-perfect plan.

When managing a large or even a small project, the best plan is one that allows for the minor setbacks. People get sick, shipments come in late, and often pieces that began as simple tasks become much larger. The key to avoiding that looming midnight moment is keeping track of all the minor changes and set-backs. Often, when they first appear, it is the instinct of the project manager to simply brush them off and rework the original plan to fit with these small, seemingly insignificant changes. Keeping track of small changes, however, allows you to keep the scope of the project in plain sight and stay on schedule.  

There are many ways to keep up with the scope of a project, for instance, simply penciling in a change in a shipment arrival and using the time between to tackle tasks that are scheduled for later can help you to maintain a working schedule. When working with a larger project, however, it may become tedious, time consuming, or nearly impossible to keep up with all the changes made throughout the day. In this case, many people have turned to using online resources for aid, such as www.HelpMove.US.

Such online project management systems allow for each team member to enter changes, delays, or accomplishments in real-time, so that the manager of the project knows exactly where they stand in getting the project done. A system of continuous updates can save you, your team (and your hair) from that stressful moment when everything seems to have gone wrong.

Erica Brock
Social Media Specialist
HelpMove.US