How to Deal with Project Overload

Do you find yourself suffering from ‘project overload’, trying to manage too many conflicting priorities?

Do you have to keep multiple bosses happy, or have more new ‘initiatives’ to start than you can complete?

If so, you are not alone, and there are ways to manage these situations effectively. However, you need to be careful to not fall into the trap of creating systems and processes that take more time to manage than they save.

The first point to accept is that you can’t do everything.

Whatever your position in your business or however many people you have in your team, you are very likely to have more work to do than the time available (if you haven’t then that is an entirely different problem).

Avoid Project Overload: Say “No”

Learning to say ‘no’ is a great skill to have, but unfortunately too many people see it as a weakness and the desire to please others can cause stress and ineffectiveness. This is one of the most common causes of project overload that I have come across.

One of the best books I have read on this subject is from the ‘One Minute Manager’ series, called ‘The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey’ by Ken Blanchard. It is a very easy and humorous read with some excellent advice.

Once you’ve accepted that you can’t do everything, you can start to make sense of the rest. The first step is to get visibility over everything that isn’t categorized as ‘business as usual’.

Proactively manage your time

There have been hundreds of books written about time management so I am not going to even try to reproduce any of these tips here, other than to say that the one thing that has helped me to better manage my day is to take control of my Outlook Calendar (other tools are available…).

This involves spending time on a Friday looking ahead at the following week and blocking out chunks of time to spend doing the things I know I need to do. It might be an hour to write a monthly status report for a project steering committee, another hour to review a document, or two hours for marketing and content creation etc. Whatever it is, if you put it in your diary you have a fighting chance of getting it done.

This approach is better than maintaining a to-do list because it allocates specific time slots for the tasks. This has an added benefit of blocking out the time meaning others can’t use it to insert other meetings.

Compile a Project Register

These will include formal projects – IT and business-led, regulatory or government-related changes, improvements to processes, ad-hoc initiatives, and many other ‘good ideas’. When you start to compile this list you will be amazed at a) how many things are going on and b) how much time is being consumed.

Don’t be surprised if different parts of the business are doing similar things with little knowledge of what the other is up to.

Think about how much more effective your business could be if all this energy was channeled into doing the ‘right things’?

When you have your list you can start to align it to your strategy or business plan and prioritise. This requires an open and honest conversation with your senior team/board. It can be very difficult for people to accept that their number 1 initiative is not a high priority. To get projects completed some things will need to be deferred to later in the year, or stopped completely.

THe Power of Smartsheet

Unless you have a very small business, I would advocate using a dedicated information system to manage your portfolio of projects/initiatives. In the past, I have used Excel-based systems. However, automated, cloud-based systems like Smartsheet, with low-cost subscription models, are accessible to any size of business.

I particularly like Smartsheet because it enables you to hold all the information you need for management purposes and provides simple dashboards to help decision-making. It also includes comprehensive resource planning and financial management functionality if needed. Add a comment or use the contact form if you’d like further information or a demo.

Once you have your portfolio established you will have clarity on what is important and you can start managing more effectively. I’ll provide more information on this in a future article.

Free Consultation

In the meantime, I am offering a free 60-minute consultation (face-to-face or by Teams) to help you deal with ‘project overload’ in your business. I can only do a couple of these sessions a month, so if you need help contact me now to schedule your appointment.

If you have found this post useful, why not download our free Ultimate Project Health Check Tool.

Paul Every
Assurify Consulting, Jersey