Where to begin?

Rebecca, congratulations on your promotion. It sounds like you’re stepping into an exciting role. Even without prior experience, this is often one of the best ways to learn

To address your question, I recommend starting by breaking each project into smaller, manageable tasks. This approach makes it easier to estimate durations, identify dependencies, and establish timelines.

Wishing you the best of luck in your new role!

Rebecca -

As Rami has said, to make the unmanageable manageable, you could consider using a tool such as a WBS to decompose your scope. The work packages within that will then form the basis for soliciting estimates from team members on effort & cost. You can then further break the work packages down to activities, sequence them in a network diagram and then build a schedule based on those.

I'd suggest taking a foundational PM course which takes you through the above steps using a fictitious project - that will give you the confidence to do it on your "real" projects.

Kiron

I know you are starting a new and exciting phase as project manager - congratulations! I know that you will put all your effort and talent into this new responsibility. Based on my experience, I want to share with you some tips that will be very useful in your first projects: - Start with a solid foundation: Make sure you have a clear scope of the project, a detailed plan and a committed team. - Communication is key: Maintain open and constant communication with your team and stakeholders. Good communication will avoid misunderstandings and delays. - Use the right tools: There are many project management tools that can make your job easier. Explore options such as Smartsheet, Asana or Trello. - Don't be afraid to ask for help: Don't hesitate to consult with more experienced colleagues or seek out mentors. - Learn from your mistakes: We all make mistakes, the important thing is to learn from them and improve on your next opportunity. - Stay calm: Project management can be stressful, but staying calm will help you make better decisions. Remember, project management is a constant learning process - enjoy the process and don't hesitate to share your achievements and challenges! Best of success in your new adventure!

Hi Rebecca,

Congratulations!

Although you can use Smartsheet’s project planning features, you can also start out with a simple spreadsheet to manage and track your first projects. Using the menu on this platform, go to the following for an example and select the “Excel” download option.

Templates --> Project Plans --> Sample Project: Effort-Based Project Forecasting

Your first projects will necessarily be adaptive as you learn the art of project management. Don’t focus on the tools, but instead on structuring/molding a practical plan to reach your objective. It’s always helpful to search for work breakdown structures that others have shared which are of a similar nature to what you are being asked to deliver.

George

Don't over-complicate things to start out. That can lead to analysis paralysis. You can start by roughing out the high level activities required to go from your starting point to your solution. In many projects, you don't know all the details at the beginning anyways. You learn more about those as you progress much like a sculptor first roughing out the shape of their work, and then refining it as they go. Likewise, when people go on a road trip, they usually plain the major route first but not every fuel and rest stop before they leave the house.

Once you have an overall high level roadmap, then you can start to estimate durations and there are many ways to do that. Ask your team how long they think each activity will take. Some might look at it top down such as this whole activity will take 3 people 6 weeks. Others will create more sub-tasks, assign durations to each, and add them up. There is no right or wrong way; it depends on what you know, and very importantly documenting what you don't know and must figure out.

I rarely start with a formal PM tool at the beginning. They often require inputting too many details that slow you down. You can't see the forest for all the trees. I like to whiteboard an overall outline first without getting bogged down in the minutia we don't know yet. With the outline, you can then go a layer deeper and ask how much you know about each major activity, essentially peeling the onion one layer at a time. Can you create a SIPOC (supplier, input, process, output, customer) for each step? That helps you fit them together in a logical way.

Fundamentally, you will probably have a lot better results by understanding as much about the solution path as possible, before you try formally documenting it in the tool of choice.