Practices: Project Management Skills

Choose a small project (personal or professional) and write down SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). Break the main goal into smaller milestones, and assign deadlines to each. Review progress weekly.

Pick a task and outline all the steps needed to complete it. Use a tool like Trello or Asana to organize tasks into a timeline. Assign deadlines to each step and practice estimating how long each task will take.

List 10 tasks from your current project or day-to-day life. Use the Eisenhower Matrix to categorize them into urgent, important, not urgent, and not important. Focus on the “urgent and important” tasks first and schedule the others.

Take a project and list all resources required, such as time, people, tools, or budget. Practice assigning each resource to the tasks where they’re most needed. Reflect on any potential shortages and plan alternatives.

Practice writing clear, concise project updates. Share a status report with a friend, colleague, or imaginary team, and include key details such as progress, issues, and next steps. Ask for feedback on your clarity and tone.

Take a project and brainstorm potential risks that could delay or derail it. Categorize risks by likelihood and severity. Develop a mitigation plan for each high-priority risk and practice updating it as the project progresses.

Use a tool like Toggl or Clockify to track how much time you spend on different tasks for one week. Analyze the results to identify distractions or inefficiencies. Create a new schedule to optimize your productivity.

Choose a small project and pretend you have a team of three. Write down who you’d assign each task to based on strengths and workload. Consider what instructions or resources they’d need to succeed.

Plan and conduct a 10-minute mock meeting. Create an agenda with clear objectives, assign roles (e.g., timekeeper, note-taker), and set a time limit for each topic. Practice summarizing action items at the end.

Ask a friend or colleague to complete a small task. Provide constructive feedback on their work, focusing on specific improvements and positives. Then, ask for feedback on how you managed the project or your communication style.

Use a tool like GanttProject or Microsoft Excel to create a Gantt chart for a simple project. Include start and end dates, dependencies, and milestones. Practice updating the chart as the project progresses.

After completing a project, write a short reflection covering what went well, what didn’t, and what you’d improve next time. Create a list of lessons learned and share them with a peer for feedback.