How Project Management and Managing Work Fit Together

 

On the way home from work, do you ever feel like you've been riding a unicycle, trying to keep your balance while juggle everything you do throughout the day? If you do, you're not alone.

A big part of the average workday typically includes a lot more than working on structured activities and formal projects. If you're day is like mine, there are requests from colleagues, personal tasks, and the stuff I do every day that isn't related to any specific project (like writing this blog), that I try to do.

Because contributing to projects is only a part of what the average person does each day, managing all of their work life and enabling them to collaborate with co-workers regarding the work that matters most is critical. Simply because it's not all project-related doesn't mean that people don't need to collaborate and share insights regarding all the work they do. What's more, does your boss have visibility into all the "drive-by" initiatives you work on every day?

I was speaking to a friend of mine over the weekend who complained that she struggles to get her project work done because of all the other incidental tasks that get dropped on her desk (which are important, but don't seem to be acknowledged at the end of the quarter when she faces her performance review). Sound familiar? If your boss could actually see everything you were successfully accomplishing in addition to your "defined" project-related work, would he or she be surprised?

Before we can effectively increase project productivity and improve our ability to successfully manage projects, we need to better understand all the work done by project teams. In my mind, project management is a critical part of work management, but it's only a part of managing work. When we have a better handle on all the work that is accomplished each day by the workforce, then we'll really be able to accurately plan and schedule, realistically manage capacity and resources, and actually get the right work done.

What do you do to manage all of your work?