Projects can produce a dizzying amount of informationââ¬much of which is needed to get an accurate view of the projectââ¬â¢s health. The problem is that thereââ¬â¢s also a lot of information that winds up being so much junk. The deluge can distract us from information that really matters, and can cause us to waste valuable time processing useless details. Suddenly, project monitoringà becomes needlessly difficult.
It isnââ¬â¢t just project managers who have to deal with this. Team members and even clients also have to sift through the pile to find the bits that really matter to them. So how can we stem the flow of information so that weââ¬â¢re sure weââ¬â¢re only getting what we really need?
Categories
One helpful method is to categorize information. Whether youââ¬â¢re using colored post-its or a full-blown project management system, segregating can be a great way of streamlining the flow of information. That way the team can zoom in to the information they want to see, and not have to spend valuable minutes paging through aà cluttered database.
Filters
When I managed design projects, I would filter email notifications based on sendersââ¬clients, production, and QA respectively. I would only dive into the production folder after QA notified me of any issues. It was a lot more efficient than following a two dozen-long email thread as QA and production batted a website back and forth.
Formats
In addition to controlling the flow of data, you can control its structure. Puttingà status reportsà in a template format encourages standardization and helps make it easier to read than just randomly writing it down in an email or Word doc.
People
Project transparency is all well and good, but too much can be harmful. Donââ¬â¢t send blanket emails to everybody in the team unless everyone truly needs to read it. Instead, use targeted distribution lists to minimize e-clutter. Also, be very careful with meeting invitations. If you only invite people who have something valuable to contribute, it will make yourà meeting run smoothly.
If we can structure and filter our information for relevance, then we wonââ¬â¢t have to worry about being paralyzed by information overload. Neither will we have to worry about valuable information getting drowned out by useless data. We make ourselves and our teams more effective. Itââ¬â¢s not simple, nor is it easy, but itââ¬â¢s definitely worth the expense.
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