While most of my blog entries focus on juicy topics in communications, occasionally it’s wise for me (and you too perhaps?) to focus on the nuts-and-bolts realities of preventing bad things from happening. And so, the need for effective project management always rears its head.
Whether you’re planning a communications strategy or executing one, it’s always a good idea to issue biweekly or weekly updates for projects that span more than a month. They’re useful to keep your project plan well-managed and on-track, and they provide internal partners and clients with an overview of achievements, next steps and issues requiring attention. The fifteen minutes or so they take to draw up are highly worth it—not just for communicating about the project’s progress but also as a reporting mechanism for documenting any problems that arise.
For example, if an internal client was given a deadline for approving a draft and missed that deadline, the biweekly project update can highlight the ‘domino effect’ delays that will be triggered in subsequent steps of the planning process (and ultimately in the strategy’s eventual implementation). I guarantee that you’ll be glad to have such an issue documented in an update and shared with relevant internal partners.
I can attest that investing in this small step has generated huge rewards for my firm. It enhances client relationships and protects us from holding the bag if delays caused by others put our deadlines in jeopardy. For more information, check out our Best Practice Paper in Employee Engagement & Communications.