Nowadays, in the dynamic, knowledge-based business world, it’s not surprising to see project managers juggling as many as 10 IT projects simultaneously—with all types of complexities, durations, and sizes. Project managers handling multiple projects are often simply overloaded or frustrated. So how to make the work successful when juggling act is part of it?

• Efficient time management;


• Developing group skills or dynamics;


• Encouraging using employees individual project management skills to successfully deliver multiple projects.

Managing Multiple Projects – Main Challenges

Managing numerous IT projects within the company can be a daunting task. It’s stressful and takes someone special to even begin managing a project portfolio. In fact, many project managers say that they would gladly scale back to only one or two projects vs. managing multiple projects. The reason is simple. Managing multiple projects is not something that everybody can do. Experience counts! When looking at the single-project concept, the roles and responsibilities prove themselves substantially simpler than for larger projects. However, the larger the project, the more coordination and tracking are needed to ensure that project deliverables are met. A project manager will undoubtedly have on average three to five team members on each project. If you have five projects going at once, you will have to manage 15–25 team members. Besides, you’ll have to communicate and interact daily with the client. The challenges can be the following:

• Not enough visibility on the detail being performed by project teams (i.e., developers, testers, etc.);


• Not enough time to attend to meetings and still track tasks and milestones (i.e., tight deadlines)


• Multiple risks and need to resolve multiple issues;


• Lack of experience in managing multiple tasks and meetings;


• Limited resources;


• Conflicting priorities among projects;


• All projects and their target dates integration is not always clear;


• Difficult communications among so many people.

A Few Techniques for Multiple Projects Management

Here are some of the techniques to try when managing multiple projects:

• Managing time – Project managers who are often overloaded seem to be constantly fighting one crisis after another. It’s like an endless race. So, what a project manager is to do is quickly determine what to do and to make a plain schedule. As a program manager, a person can’t micromanage every single task but to start focusing on managing one’s time among all one’s projects.


• Using a checklist for managing multiple projects: A portfolio checklist should be created so that multiple projects management is easier. A life-cycle checklist could be used for help. 


• Prioritization of projects: If a project manager want to do the job on time, one will have to determine which projects are more important than the others. When faced with multiple projects, it’s important to decide what to do and what is more important in which order it gets done. It’s no use simply selecting any project you like and paying attention to that project alone. The order in which projects are arranged, should not depend on your personal preferences but on your company’s strategic objectives and target dates.


• Categorize your work: it helps reducing complexity. You have to make progress on all fronts when managing multiple projects. Don’t leave one until next week and expect results. Check the progress of each project on a daily basis.


• Sequence work tasks: A project manager should be sure that for every project the tasks have been properly sequenced and that they make sense. Running from project to project, grabbing at straws can only cause delays. It’s important that each project is clearly broken down into manageable tasks and that these tasks are correctly sequenced.


• Create a dashboard: Using a digital dashboard to effectively capture and report on all the projects can be really helpful and useful.

To make it clearer, we’ve posted Figure A that shows how you can easily determine the time allocated for each project. It’s a simple spreadsheet, which tells you if you’re overcommitting yourself.

 

Figure B illustrates a process for managing multiple projects, and the dominant opinion from people who have used is that it works rather well. It’s based upon your available time and your current workload, prioritizing each new project handed to a project manager. This prioritization allows to determine exactly when to start the project and how it affects other project timelines.

Being a project manager you should also have in mind that it’s essential to:

• Determine how much time you have available for each project (use the technique in Figure A).


• Prioritize your projects according to the client’s business and IT strategies.


• Spend enough time and effort on tasks A for each project, and then proceed to categories B and C as deemed necessary (e.g., technical meetings or workshops).


• Notify the client if you cannot meet a deadline or complete a task.


• Determine whether you are overloaded or overwhelmed. If you are, the chances are likely that any new project you take on will fail.


• Habitually and constantly prioritize project tasks.


• Ensure that you have committed enough time for each task or milestone.


• Learn to delegate and work as a team.


• Be able to track multiple tasks at the same time.


• Create a master project calendar with a timeline for each project—identifying the major project milestones and their dates. You will then be able to determine which projects’ milestones to concentrate on.


• Don’t use different reporting formats for each project. Use an integrated project-reporting tool, which allows you to capture and report using one standard.


• Create a single master project schedule for yourself. This gives you a better sense of what’s going on.


• Don’t sit in your office or cube and expect results. As program manager, start wearing sneakers, and move among your teams on a daily basis.


• Provide regular reviews of your progress to your executive team. Project priorities or other things may change, and you may want to hear the news directly from the top.