Over the course of my career one of the things I’ve been called on to do many times is to take the lead in orchestrating the completion of a project that requires participation from multiple people and teams. Something as simple as arranging a series of meetings and taking notes so that everyone stays on the same page, or rallying the troops to handle an unexpected issue that needs resolving. Sooner or later most of us are called on to perform project management tasks, big or small.

I recognize that “project manager” is a formal career path all by itself. Do a web search for “project management techniques” and you’ll see thousands of articles, books, and courses where you can learn the formal discipline and the many techniques available for this wide field. My advice can’t hold a candle to what’s out there, for people interested in making project management a career focus.

Rather, I’d like to suggest that even a basic ability to manage simple projects can be a very valuable skill, regardless of your job title. The ability to coordinate the actions of multiple people heading towards a common goal is highly prized in most organizational structures, and the ability to do this even without formal hierarchical powers, even more so. Even if you’re just organizing the Friday team potluck, successfully steering a project from plan to execution can get you noticed as a leader with potential to do more.

Cat-herding 101

A project gets dumped in your lap. Or you’re taking the initiative and volunteering to be cat-herder for a team initiative. Good for you! Based on my experience managing many projects over a 40-year career, here are some suggestions for how to get started.

Step 1: Find out what the expectations are. This is often just a conversation with the person or people who want the project to get done, to find out exactly how they are imagining a successful outcome will look like. Don’t underestimate the importance of this step. If you make assumptions that x result will make them happy, you’ll waste a lot of time and look like a chump if they were expecting y instead. Also use this step to get advice on who to ask if you need help getting others to put your project on their to-do list.

Step 2: Make a list. Brainstorm, both by yourself and by talking to others with knowledge about the project, and jot down all of the work you can think of that might need to be done to complete the project. Don’t try to organize things in any particular order. Just start writing a bulleted list of whatever occurs to you. Big things, small things, stuff you’ll be doing, stuff others will need to do. No detail is too trivial.

Step 3: Make some time guesstimates. For each item on the list, assign a rough estimate of how much time the task might take. Doing this will help with scheduling, and will also give you a clue which tasks are too big to manage effectively. Break tasks into smaller chunks as needed. One task that spans several days and has multiple parts is usually easier to manage as several smaller tasks, taking only a couple hours each.

Step 4: Figure out a schedule. Start with the deadline date and work backward. Whatever amount of time you have from now to that deadline, break into smaller intervals: months, weeks, days, even hours. The smaller your working window, the smaller the interval you’ll want to use, to ensure you keep things on track. Say your project needs to be done in two months. Start with a weekly schedule, with the goal of being able to monitor your progress every Friday afternoon.

Step 5: Organize your list based on your schedule. This is simply refining your original list and putting tasks in the proper order based on when they need to be completed within the schedule you’ve defined. Think about which tasks can be done at the same time, versus steps that must be done in sequence, with one thing finished before the next thing can start. Build in some extra time here and there to allow for unexpected delays along the way.

Step 6: Communicate to the players. You can’t do this alone, so now’s the time to distribute the tasks. This can be intimidating, since the people doing the work may be from other teams, with fancier job titles than yours, and of course everyone is busy. But here is where you can show your leadership skills. Assume that everyone just wants the work to get done as quickly and smoothly as possible, with minimum disruption to their day-to-day. Also remember that a little understanding and gratitude goes a long way. In my experience most people are happy to help if they feel like they are actually helping, and not being dumped on.

Step 7: Set calendar reminders. For yourself, and for others. Every step along the way that has a specific due date, especially ones where other tasks can’t be started until that one is complete, should get a separate reminder.

Step 8: Communicate some more. Periodically and as you get your reminders, send quick follow-up messages to the players, or stop by and chat to ask how things are going. Offer to help. Be prepared that emergencies and unexpected roadblocks might mean you have to adjust your schedule…but you already built in some extra time, right?

Step 9: Check things off the list. This is the best part. Having a very detailed list and following up often means you get to check things off often. Lots of checkmarks help you see progress toward the finish line. Share that progress with the rest of the team now and again, too!

Step 10: Completion! Congratulations, you did it! Take a moment and pat yourself and others on the back, and thank everyone for their contribution to the end result. Then take another moment to jot down ideas for what you learned, and what you might do differently next time. Keep those notes – they’ll be a great place to start when you start working on the next project!

Even if your project is simple, you should do at least a quick-and-dirty version of all of these steps, if only in your head to get yourself organized and make a start. If your project is really large and complex, do a web search check out one of those thousand resources already mentioned for some additional tools that might help.

Give it a try

Don’t let the term “manage” intimidate you. You don’t need to have that word in your job title to manage a project. And it’s okay to start small. People are often happy to let someone else herd the cats so they don’t have to. So speak up and volunteer. Sometimes all it takes is an air of confidence and a willingness to do the work. And after you pull off that team potluck without a hitch, others (and you!) will gain confidence in your ability to handle the next thing that comes along.