Not every project is going to end in a huge success. Sometimes, the product that is delivered will be less than impressive. In other cases, you might over-run the budget or there might be some other negative outcome.
The best thing you can do in this case is to work out how to avoid your future pieces of work from going the same way. By adopting PRINCE2 techniques, you can do everything possible to make the improvements that you need.
How can you use this popular project methodology to ensure that your next piece of work is a lot more successful than the last one?
Consider What Went Wrong
Can you see what it is that went wrong on the last project? This might be obvious but it might also need some effort to work out what exactly failed you.
It is only by working out what didn’t go to plan that you can avoid making the same errors in the future. It is possible that some minor tweaks to your way of working are enough to sort out this issue.
Generally speaking, by sticking to the tried and trusted PRINCE2 processes you will find that your team gives you consistently good results.
Get More Training Arranged
Were you let down by a lack of expertise in your team? While some projects are relatively simple, if you took on a complicated piece of work then any shortcomings in the team are likely to have been exposed.
To remedy this, you can arrange more PRINCE2 Course Dublin for your staff to learn more skills. You can also look for them to pick up other skills such as programming languages, advanced Excel and other useful abilities.
The ideal situation is for project managers and business analysts to carry on learning new skills all the time. However, it is important that they get the chance to put these skills into practise as soon as possible, before they forget them.
Make It a Short Piece of Work
Was the last project a long, arduous piece of work that left everyone drained? Even if it wasn’t, the problems that it involved may have left everyone feeling as though they have been through a very rough time.
A sensible way of helping them to build up their confidence levels is to now give them a short, fairly simple project to try out. It should be something that lets them see the results of their hard work fairly quickly.
This will also allow you to give them positive feedback. They can then move on to the next piece of work feeling as though they are heading in the right direction once again.
Change the Teams Around
Another possibility is that the make-up of the teams was all wrong. Were the skills distributed poorly or was it just the wrong mix of people in some of the teams?
The end of a project can present you with a fine opportunity to switch things around. This will freshen up the teams and will also give you a chance to try and find the perfect balance of skills and personalities.
Naturally, if a particular team has been working well you may be tempted to leave them together in the future. This is another good option but it can be awkward if some teams need to be changed and others don’t
There is no need to feel that a poor project is the end of the world. If you react to it in the right way then you can ensure that your future pieces of work are far more impressive.