Anish AbrahamPrivacy Program Manager| University of WashingtonAuburn, Wa, United States
Team members are complaining about spending too much time in meetings to update project status. My understanding is that people often feel that this is not the best use of their time.
What tools or solutions do you use that allows team members to report back on project tasks instead of just relying on project status meetings? Saving Changes...
Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
I never hold meetings just to update project status. It's a horrible use of stakeholders’ time, and stakeholders are right to despise such meetings.
I gather task statuses from people via email, face-to-face conversations, phone calls, etc. before I meet with my team. I analyze the information submitted, then I send an email to the participants summarizing any significant information gleaned from the status updates. This enables everyone to walk into the meeting prepared to discuss important matters, instead of wasting time listening to people provide their statuses. It takes more effort on my part to do this, but it makes for much more productive meetings, and I show stakeholders that I respect their valuable time, which makes them much more likely to meet with me.
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2 replies by Anish Abraham and Santiago Cartagena
Dec 08, 2017 11:11 AM
Anish Abraham
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I agree with you, Eric and thanks for your feedback on this.
Meetings just for updating status is just a waste of time.
I think team tasks status could be easily captured through some tool like JIRA or daily stand up calls.
Then prepare a status update sheet/report for management and present them. In this meeting, team involvement is not mandatory.
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1 reply by Anish Abraham
Dec 08, 2017 11:12 AM
Anish Abraham
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Thanks Sonali for the insight on this. We normally use JIRA for reporting and tracking issues.
Status update meetings can get boring and consumes a lot of productive time, if everything is a news for attendees. Status of project should be updated and communicated to stakeholders as per their requirements and do get feedback on these updates. This will ensure a precise and crisp agenda of meeting (if at all it is still required).
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1 reply by Anish Abraham
Dec 08, 2017 11:18 AM
Anish Abraham
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Thanks Najam for your input on this.
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Sromon DasSenior Project Manager| Mara ConsultingHalifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Updating project/ task status is an ongoing activity. I'm guessing in your team each task/ activity has someone who is responsible for updating the status (do you have a RACI matrix built?). I find using traffic light indicators useful, so in the meeting only look at the reds.
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1 reply by Anish Abraham
Dec 08, 2017 11:13 AM
Anish Abraham
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Thanks Sroman for your feedback.
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Janice GrierSenior Technical Vendor Manager| ATTShelby Township, Mi, United States
I hold a conference calls 3x weekly for 1hr (normally lasts 30mins) to discuss project status and get updates. I think compiled data and forward on as necessary
You need to prepare a plan for it. In such a plan, everybody know when, what and how must report and deliver the final brief progress report to the client based on his/her need and agreed format and time schedule.
Have the status continously visible in the project team room and have regular update on it by the team. In consequence, no need to discuss status in meetings. It is better to use the time to discuss risk mitigation actions and improvement needs with focus on agreed/ delivered results.
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2 replies by Anish Abraham and Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
Dec 08, 2017 11:32 AM
Anish Abraham
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Thanks Peter for your valuable feedback on this.
Dec 08, 2017 5:28 PM
Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
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Peter, I would just add that sometimes stakeholders are remote, so you need some kind of electronic status board to keep them updated.
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