How organized are you? Take 5 minutes for a brutally honest self-evaluation

One week ago I asked the readers of tacticalprojectmanager.com: What do you want to become better at with regards to managing projects? As it turned out, many of you weren’t so happy with their level of self-organization. Some of the comments I received:
  • “I struggle with organizing all the tasks”
  • “I sometimes fall behind on work”
  • “I want to be more organized with my work space”
  • “I’m looking for a way to make it easy to remember every detail so that my project succeeds”
The thing is, building up a system for managing project work takes time. And you need to know what a systematic approach looks like. I could write about a lot of things on getting organized. But without knowing what systems you already have in place, this wouldn’t make much sense. So, I’m playing the ball back to you.

Here’s a 5 minute self-assessement

Go through the following list. Check which of these points you have already implemented. (You don’t have to send me your feedback although I always enjoy hearing from you.) Which of these statements applies to you?
  1. I have a contact list for my project team (name, email, phone no.). No more than 2 clicks away or in printed form.
  2. I have a list of all action items (tasks, deliverables) incl. deadline and responsible.
  3. I know which of these action items are critical for the success of my project.
  4. I have a printout of the project plan next to my desk (download my project plan template here)
  5. I know exactly what each of my team members are doing this week.
  6. Project documents are stored in a shared drive, using a clear folder structure (and I’m not the only one using that folder).
  7. If I’m looking for a specific e-mail, I’m able to find it in less than 5 minutes.
  8. I have a 3-5 page PowerPoint explaining what my project is about, incl. project goal, timeline and project organization (helpful for onboarding new team members).
  9. I write the meeting minutes for every meeting (or have somebody write them). And the minutes are actually useful to read.
  10. I am using pre-defined templates for things like meeting minutes or product/project requirements. And everyone in my team uses these templates.
  11. You know exactly how much project budget is left.
  12. I know when my team members are on holiday so that I can plan properly.
How did it go? Which of the things have you NOT implemented yet. And why? Share your result in the comments below. Adrian

Author

  • Adrian Neumeyer

    Hi, I’m Adrian, a Senior Project Manager and the Creator of Tactical Project Manager, where I teach a pragmatic approach to project management. Led large-scale IT and business projects for over 10 years. My goal is to enable you to lead any project with confidence.

    View all posts