Do you need a project manager?
Whether you run a small Internet company or a large, offline one, you will eventually get bogged down in details and problem solving that could slow down your production and sales.
When you plan your projects and determine the objectives for each project, you will normally be surprised by the number of distinct tasks it will take to get even one project off the ground and making you money. Trying to multitask several projects at one time might prove to be more than you can integrate into all the other tasks and problems you need to take care of on a daily basis.
Consider hiring a project manager
This might be the time to consider hiring a project manager to take on the responsibility of creating the objectives needed to guide your projects to a successful end…time, cost and quality.
Three common priorities for business owners
You will have to integrate your project manager into your business profile and objectives. In order to be successful, you will have to decide what is most important to your production success and make that a priority for your project manager’s attention. There’s three common priorities most business owners want addressed:
- Improving quality of the products to raise customer satisfaction and perceived value.
- Reducing costs across the manufacturing process to increase profit and eliminate duplication and waste.
- Meeting deadlines, which includes setting realistic deadlines that can be met without loads of expensive overtime.
The one major benefit of using a project manager to you, the business owner, is the freedom you will gain to deal with employee problems, daily meetings, inventory control, product catalogs, customer service and marketing campaigns, to name a few tasks that will take up your time.
A project managers major task
The major task for a project manager is actually the most basic skill you can ask for, time management. Your manager will have to know how to manage his or her own time and that of your production teams. Each day should be planned to move your project forward without depleting your resources.
Productive project managers can explain each day’s production plan so everyone is clear about what they need to do and the scheduled milestones that keep everyone on track.
The 80/20 rule
Make sure your project manager knows the 80/20 Rule and will be able to determine which issues are important enough to affect the end result. You should remember that the 80/20 Rule could apply to your daily activities, as well. If you concentrate on the 20% of your activities that will produce the most dramatic benefits to your business plan, the other 80% could easily be given to the specific departments already involved in the processes.
Meetings and micro management
When you interview possible project managers, ask about some not so easily determined attitudes that will have a great impact on your business, like useless team meetings and micro management.
Meetings should be used for brainstorming and creating ideas for product improvement, not updates on production status or technical discussions. If you should be unlucky enough to hire a micro-managing project manager, you will be stuck with a manager who ends up doing the work the employees should be doing instead of concentrating on the goals that move production ahead.
So, do you need a project manager?
Back to the original question: “Do You Need A Project Manager?” If you have been balancing more than several production processes and falling behind everyday, the answer is “Yes!” If you are interrupted frequently with problems or difficulties to solve that take your focus off the bottom line in your budget and the goals you’ve set for production, your answer is “Definitely Yes!”
Kathy Dobson is a free spirited business owner and entrepreneur dedicated to helping others achieve financial and personal freedom through Internet marketing with an emphasis on outsourcing to grow their business. For further tips and resources visit “Dedicated to Freedom”: http://www.kathydobson.com