Top 7 Tips for Managing Multiple Projects

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Top 7 Tips for Managing Multiple Projects

By Kevin Kearns

My mom belongs to a group called the Red Hat Society. When she says "Great, another hat!" she actually means "Great, another hat!" When you hear this at work, the person means something entirely different. The difference is, my mom actually has a new hat, whereas the rest of us simply have another responsibility. Taking on new projects and multi-tasking seems to be common across all industries. The good news about this trend is that people accomplish more. The not-so-good news is that most people are not natural born multi-taskers. This results in more work at sub-par quality and/or burned-out leaders! These seven tips have been created to help you manage multiple projects, with less stress 1. Just Say No!: "Not Gonna Do It - Wouldn't Be Prudent." We can all agree, it is disappointing to have people say "no" to us when we ask them to accomplish a task. We can also agree it is more disappointing when a person says yes and then does not complete the task. If you honestly cannot accomplish a task, say "no." It may be painful at the time, but you save everyone from more pain later. You may be in a position where saying no is not an option, or your "no" response is rejected. When that is the case, continue to the other six tips. 2. Think Big Picture: How Do All of These "Hats" fit on The Big Hat Rack? If you can see how all these hats fit together to help your organization achieve its objectives, it may make the extra effort worthwhile. Another part of the big picture is that you will learn and grow from the experience of dealing with more hats. The hat handling of today will build your capacity to handle more in the future. Looking at the big picture, allows you to see that there may be a big return on investment in these hats. 3. Pass It On: Delegate Appropriate Tasks or Projects. Help build the hat handling capacity of your staff. You are hurting them and yourself by handling...