Why you need a project manager

Being a successful business owner depends largely on how well you manage all the moving parts of your business. And as you know there are a LOT of moving parts! Let’s explore why a project manager might be the solution to business success.

It’s important to realize that every little TASK you have to get done is equal to a PROJECT in and of itself. If you don’t think of tasks in that way and don’t have systems in place for managing projects of all sizes you will quickly find yourself overwhelmed and spinning in circles when you want to be productive and moving forward.

Let’s look at a simple example of keeping your janitorial supplies stocked to see how ALL tasks are projects!

Task = Project Example

The task of keeping your janitorial supplies stocked might not seem like a project at first, but when you break it down into steps and delegate each task to the appropriate staff you quickly realize it isn’t as easy as clicking a button. You need to have a process for when to check supplies, a list of suppliers, a staff member in charge of checking and ordering supplies, funds available in your janitorial budget, and access to funds for the staff member doing the ordering.  By simply having this process mapped out in a checklist you can be sure no steps are missed and ordering supplies goes smoothly. 

When you see how quickly something as simple as keeping janitorial supplies stocked can turn into a project, it’s easy to see how stressful it can be to keep track of bigger projects.

So how do successful business owners manage everything? 

Project Management Platforms

Some hire project managers, many use good old fashioned pen and paper and others leverage software designed to help you stay on top of it all.  While most businesses will use a combination of staff, paper and technology to create a system that works best for them, I highly recommend taking advantage of the awesome technology available that makes managing projects more efficient and less stressful.

Here are my Top 3 Picks for Project Management Platforms:

1. Monday.com
2. Asana
3. ClickUp

I personally have experience with both Monday.com and Asana and have found both of these platforms to be great tools to manage various projects solo or with a team. While I find Monday.com a bit more intuitive and user friendly, Asana is pretty straight forward plus there is a free version as well. I’ve just started to play around with using ClickUp and find it easy to learn and robust without being overwhelming.

There is a learning curve as you start using various platforms to help manage your business, but don’t let that keep you from taking advantage of the great technology out there. If you aren’t super tech savvy or don’t love Googling or YouTubing “how-to’s”, you might consider hiring a certified educator from the software you are using to give you some hand-ons training to get started.

Must have skill

Project management is an essential skill for entrepreneurs to develop in order to manage and grow healthy businesses.  If you find this isn’t your strong suit and you have zero interest in using paper or technology to stay on top of everything, I highly recommend hiring out a project manager to help your business run like a well-oiled machine without you having to worry about all the things. 

To get a more detailed look at these 3 and more head over to “Top 10 Best Project Management Software 2021” by ChartGuide.