4 Things You Need to Know About Finishing a Project with A Small Team

While working for BYUH Food Services, I had the opportunity to work on many different projects. One of the biggest ones that I've worked on was integrating a restaurant management system into our department. I worked with a small team in our department and we all had other responsibilities, and that means that we all get to work on the project on a part-time basis. With that in mind, it comes with its own challenges.

The priority level of a project by the project sponsor will affect how many resources the team will have and how long it will take to finish the project. This is especially true when there are multiple projects being juggled. Most companies are run by their daily operations, and it will always be the first priority. To some companies, projects may be treated as an appendage to their operations. If you've worked on multiple projects, you may have experienced it as well. Well, it does make sense because the end goal of some projects is to enhance the operations, and in my case, it was to make operations more efficient. It may or may not be applicable to every company or organization but a project critical to near-term operations will most definitely receive the top priority.

I realized this when we were preparing to open up a new building. Since I was the marketing specialist for the department, I had to make marketing campaigns to increase awareness about the new building. At that time, I was also working on integrating a restaurant management system. I was part of a small team, which means that I get to do multiple tasks and projects. I was asked to prioritize the marketing campaign for the new building and received help and resources from my boss to make sure that it gets done. On the other hand, we didn't receive a lot of help for integrating the new restaurant management system. As a result, it took us more than a year to finish that project.

Now looking back to the time when I was working on that project, there are a few things I would do differently.

1. Learn the best process early on. This would have saved us a lot of time because we did a lot of trial and error to look for the best way to integrate the new system. This could have been done by contacting the system's technical service representative or another company using the same system. Tapping into an available resource is more time-efficient than figuring it out by yourself through trial and error.

2. Help team members become accountable. Working with a team is the best way to push the project forward. Unfortunately, sometimes one person can drag the whole project down. Following up with each team member whether it be through weekly in-person meetings or through email can be a good way to make people accountable. Be aware that you wouldn't want to micro-manage your team members because they wouldn't like that. Look for the right balance that will work best for you and your team.

3. Clear communication. Communicating early on about the priority level of a project will set the expectation for each team member. By doing so, the team will know how much time they can devote to the project. It is a simple solution but it can save the team and the management a lot of time and money.

4. Relay unfinished tasks to others. For a lot of organizations working on projects, especially small companies and organizations, we don't have full-time project managers and a team. Most of the time, we are part-time project managers and part-time project team members. That means we also put a lot of our 8-hour work schedule into our day-to-day operations. Some tasks get started but are left unfinished because of other important day-to-day operations. When these things happen, it might be best to teach other team members about their jobs so they can pick up the unfinished tasks.

A project with a small team can experience a lot of challenges such as project lag and delays. Delays are time-consuming for the team and it eats a lot of the company's money. Completing a project even when it seems like it is not a priority will leave you and the management satisfied (I guess as long as the expectations are met for both sides). To complete a project with a small team, get all the help and resources that you will need, follow up with your team members, clear all expectations from the project sponsor, and help one another with their unfinished tasks.