The empty champagne bottles from New Year’s might still be in your recycling bin, but your resolutions are already in trouble. If it happens on the diet front or with your promise to read more, that’s one thing. But fall behind on a professional project, and you could face serious problems.
But don’t despair. There’s still time to get back on track. Here are a few steps you can take to catch up on a project once you fall behind:
Use Your Team Better
People often fall behind because they try to do too much. At the beginning of a project, the deadline seems so far away that even giant tasks appear achievable. However, as time drags on, it becomes apparent that more help is needed.
If that happens to you, you need to find ways to get help. Delegate smaller tasks to subordinates so that you can focus on the higher-level parts of the project. Meanwhile, look for ways to move forward on multiple fronts simultaneously. By finding tasks that can be accomplished in parallel, you cut down the amount of time needed to complete your entire project.
Limit Distractions
Part of using your time wisely involves focusing on the most critical tasks first. This requires prioritizing your time and eliminating distractions. In other words, don’t let yourself get pulled in numerous directions at once. Train yourself to say “no” to certain requests, at least until you pass the time crunch you’re facing.
Break Up Larger Tasks
A huge project, even one with a long timeline, can seem impossible to finish. The discouragement fostered by a daunting task can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. You always feel behind because success seems like such a long shot.
Short-circuit this psychological barrier by breaking large tasks into smaller chunks. Create mini deadlines, which will feel less remote and impossible. What’s more, these smaller work bundles are easier to delegate and to schedule.
Review Your Process
If you’ve fallen behind your expected pace of progress, it might be a reflection on your process. Don’t just keep doing things the same old ways and continually coming up short. Instead, take a look at how you’ve gone about completing your project and look for inefficiencies. Small tweaks in your method could drastically quicken your pace.
Reevaluate Your Goals
If you fall behind a project timeline, your technique might not be the problem. You might be working as efficiently as possible. Instead, the problem might lie with the goals they set. Specifically, the objectives you set might have been too aggressive. If you’ve reviewed every aspect of your progress, and it doesn’t seem like you can make any improvements, it might be time to reassess your timeline.
Qualified Staffing Helps You Stay on Track
Falling behind on a major project can seem overwhelming. Getting back on track requires a strong team. Using a top-ranked recruiter, like Qualified Staffing, allows you to bring in the type of workers who will maximize your productivity.
Contact Qualified Staffing to discover how to upgrade your staff today.