Project time tracking is a difficult job. There are constant deadlines that need to be met, and it can seem impossible to keep up with everything at once. The good news is there are many ways you can improve your efficiency as a project controller, saving both time and money for your company.
In this article, there are 7 simple tips that will help you get the most out of your day and improve the efficiency of your team!
How To Improve Your Efficiency
As a project controller, you are in charge of managing the time and cost for your company in addition to project time tracking. However, it can be difficult to carry out this responsibility when deadlines are constantly approaching or project requirements change. Moreover, you will be responsible for managing multiple people at once. The tips below will help you get the most out of your time and help your team to be more efficient.
Tip #1: Prioritize Your Tasks
This is a crucial first step to being more efficient with your time. If you don’t know what needs to be done, how can you work on it? Goals should be set at the beginning of each day and list out the tasks that need to be accomplished by tomorrow or later in the week. If there are too many tasks to tackle in a day, pick out which ones can be done later and put them on the back burner.
This tip is simple but crucial! By implementing it for your team, you will not only improve efficiency in general but also save time by getting more things done at once.
Tip #2: Take Advantage of Your Company’s Resources
Take advantage of the resources your company already has in place to help you be more efficient with time. For example, there may be a template that is being used by many teams and could easily fit one of yours depending on what type it is for (i.e., annual reports). Many companies use software that makes project management easier. The use of Digital Project Control is one of those tools. This will not only help your team be more efficient but also save you time by using pre-existing resources.
This tip is important for all project controllers to make the best use of their company’s tools that are already available. Not knowing where those resources may lie could result in a number of wasted hours searching and trial and error with different formats.
Tip #3: Use a Calendar/Schedule
This tip is one of the easiest, but most important to implement for your team. By using an online calendar or paper planner (preferably both!), you make it easy to keep track of everything and see what tasks need to be accomplished by when. This will help immensely by organizing and prioritizing your tasks, as well as making sure deadlines are met.
Tip #4: Prioritize Your Tasks for the Entire Team
This tip is another very important step to improving efficiency within a team. By discussing what needs to be done at meetings or in email threads, you will ensure that the whole team has the same goal and will know what needs to be done. This also ensures that the workflow of a project is always going smoothly, especially if tasks are delegated at meetings or in email threads as well.
Tip #5: Use Team Members’ Strengths
This tip takes advantage of your team members’ strengths by getting them involved with tasks that they are best at. This will help your team be more efficient because everyone is contributing their unique skills and talents, rather than trying to tackle the same tasks by themselves.
Tip #6: Use Tools for Time Tracking
This tip may not seem like much on its own, but it’s incredibly important to improve team efficiency. One of the best ways that your team can be more efficient is by tracking time on tasks. By doing this, you will know when a task was started and finished, how much time it took to complete, etc., which helps with prioritizing work so nothing falls through the cracks (i.e., missing deadlines).
Tip #7: Take Breaks/Get Some Exercise
This tip may sound simple, but it is important to keep everyone in a healthy mindset and body. Whether this means taking walks outside or going for runs throughout the day, your team will be more productive with breaks instead of being burned out from sitting at their desks all day.
The tips above will help you be more efficient with your time as a project controller. You can start by setting goals at the beginning of each day and listing out what needs to get done by tomorrow or later in the week, taking advantage of any resources that are already available for your company’s team (i.e., templates), using an online calendar/planner, prioritizing tasks for the entire team, and using individual strengths to complete different tasks.
