When I was first introduced to project management 20 years ago, it was love at first sight! Getting more involved in the projects my executives were working on meant I got to exercise my attention to detail and my obsession for organizing at a much deeper level. And I loved gaining a deeper knowledge of how my company worked, the impact our services had on the consumer, and knowing I had a direct role in bringing those product launches to life. It was so much more invigorating than the monotony of travel arrangements, setting up meetings, and editing documents all day long.
Back then, I organized my projects with three-ring binders, tabbed dividers, and project plans I created in Word or Excel. While I automated some, it was largely a manual process to keep project plans up-to-date for weekly status meetings and communicating with the project teams.
Today, I’m still a huge fan of three-ring binders and tabbed dividers for projects. But I also rely heavily on a project management app called Teamwork to keep track of all of the moving parts. This allows me to assign start dates, due dates, owners, and track all of the actions of my team members from start to finish on any project that we have open at any given time. It automates the process almost entirely and allows everyone to stay abreast of the project developments up to the minute, if needed.
Organization is critical for everything we do as admins, but one of the most important and useful places to implement it is project management. This week, we’re explaining the best ways to organize a project and all its moving parts on our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages. We’re also giving you tips for tools and technology that can make the process easier. And our feature article explains how to use templates and project plans to better manage projects.
Supporting your administrative success,
Julie Perrine
P.S. Are you #AdminProud? Tell us why you choose the admin profession and share your advice for aspiring admins!
