Welcome to the micro task ‘Lead a project’
Having leadership skills and knowing how to communicate transversally is important in any business. Project management skills are useful when you build a strategy or a plan.
So, by leading a project, you are able to summarise key performance skills that your company will appreciate.
And even if you are a junior and you are not able to get to lead a project, you can only ask to be part of a project, which will give you an insight on this as well. However, if you led many projects in the past, I hope these guideline will also help – feel free to message me if you have anything to add!
So, how do we start?
I used to go out with a work friend from a different department and I was telling him that I am working on these projects. And he blankly said that he doesn’t have many projects in his department.
And I said that I was not assigned to projects, I created my own!
So, during the normal 9-5 day, I would constantly ask ‘how could I improve this task’? How can I make my day easier?
And I came up with ideas on how to improve a task. For instance, for a task that took me 30 minutes to perform, if I could automate something that will reduce 10 minutes a day, that was a winner!
10 minutes a day means 50 minutes a week, few hours a month and many a year!
So, the first step you do is to resolve a problem: think about how you can improve your work, based on each task that you perform on a daily basis: find solutions.
When you have a solution is when you check it with someone: your manager or a supervisor, or a colleague that does it as well. This is how you test out your solution.
If you get an OK, it would help, now you consider how long it takes you to make it work – what do you need to reduce that time. Here is where you find what resources you need approved. You need to understand clearly before asking your manager anything.
For me, I worked a lot with excel VBAs, so most of my projects involved reducing the steps by either creating a button in my file that will automatically run 3-4 old steps, or finding a full new path of doing it.
So after you found a solution and you understand what you need to implement it (it could be time to try out your solution, people’s help, etc.), then you put it all into a proposal.
It doesn’t have to be fancy and complicated. In fact, the simpler, the better!
The proposal is where you show the problem, the solution, the resources needed and the wanted result. And of course, you need to highlight what does the company / department gain by you completing it. If it’s few hours of only your time and you articulated well the advantage of your project, the chances of a YES are high.
Here is a zone of negotiation: you may have to debate it but don’t feel taken aback to do it. Try and put it down on paper the pros and cons for both sides, so that you are prepared for any difficult questions. Welcome the questions as part of collaboration. Ask for other points of view, as it can widen your vision.
If your project is approved, then you need to execute it. So depending on your project, it can be only you who needs to do it, or others may be involved. No matter the case, you need to plan it out: who does what, how long does it take, test and review.
You need to make sure it works as expected. If you’re stuck, make sure to ask for help. During a project there are a handful of things that can go wrong or obstacles that you never considered. That’s fine. You just need to understand what the bottleneck is and find a way to solve it. And here is where you can ask people for help. It’s OK to struggle. And it’s good to get other people involved – letting others know that you are working on interesting projects helps you.
When all is done, make sure you double test and find a way to highlight the work done and the result.
You then need to present it to the same people you proposed it to.
If you get the OK from them, then you may have to update procedures that include this development. You may also have to present it to the team, in case your project involves others. For instance, for my updated tasks I had to put a note to someone who would run them in my absence and of course my manager/supervisor.
I encourage you to find the tiniest project and got through all these phases. Be sure to ask for help and guidance if you are stuck. And make sure that your team knows that you are doing it. You need to be the one to blow your own trumpet.
By leading a project, you will be seen as proactive ( you found solutions to every day work, you are improving yourself and others as you go). You also develop a natural flow to proposing things to others, especially to people above your level. And you put yourself on the map as someone ambitious who wants to improve how things are done – embracing change. You learn how to debate or understand both sides, even a bit of negotiation. Doing the project may be the least important part of it. Presenting it to team or management also provides new lessons to be learned and growth.
So, what could you solve for your team?
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