How Project Manager Handle Multiple Projects Simultaneously?

POSTED ON September 16, 2021

A project manager often has to manage multiple projects at once. It can be overwhelming and sometimes, chaotic too. Here are some tips from an experienced sourcing project manager to help you manage multiple projects at once successfully:

Priorities your tasks/projects in the order of their importance. Without setting your priorities right, you will keep working all day and may not see things progressing too well. So, it is essential that you work on the right things. All projects have different priorities on different days and within the projects also there are different priorities. So, identify what needs your attention the most, and complete the critical tasks first before proceeding with the others.

When you are working with multiple projects, each one demands your time and attention. It is important that you create a schedule for yourself and divide your time between projects and tasks based on priorities. Stick to the schedule and complete the task within the stipulated time so that there are no overlaps and delays.

As a project manager, you are handling multiple projects, activities and situations at once. Always keep a to-do list handy so that you know what to focus on. Make sure you use a digital planner to plan your daily activities so that you don’t unnecessarily burden yourself with a workload that you can’t handle. Also, make note of tasks/dates that are flexible and which ones are not. This can help you make adjustments based on how your workload is panning out for the day.

Although you would think that you are the best person to carry out a task, there will certainly be tasks that your team can handle for you. So, just check your to-do list and identify the tasks that can be delegated. Once delegated, it is your responsibility to oversee the task and ensure that it is done in the right way, and at the right time. Splitting of tasks and overlapping tasks can be handled very efficiently with the help of project management software. You can record all the major milestones of different projects separately and keep track on what key deliverables are due on a given date. You will know the days that require more of your time and attention and you will able to plan your schedule better.  Keep adding milestones and deliverable dates to your work calendar for efficient management.

No matter how well you plan the multiple projects you are managing, if you don’t organize tasks well, you will be in a chaotic situation. There are systems and tools available that can help you stay organized. Keep all the documents and plans related to each project organised in a way that you can access them easily. Also, your project schedules, work calendar and to-do lists should be organized well and easily accessible.

Even with the most effective planning and organising, there is always a chance of things going astray. So, it is essential that you track your progress to see how things are progressing. The project management tool you are using would have a time-tracking feature to help you monitor the amount of time each project is taking up. Use this to understand which project is taking up more time and which ones need to be allocated more of your time.

The key to managing multiple projects at once is great communication. You need to keep all lines of communication open and keep interacting with all the stakeholders across different projects. You must also keep the stakeholders informed of the project’s progress.

If you too are planning multiple sourcing projects in China and need a virtual project management office, we are here to help. We are a full-service sourcing company with expertise in procurement project management. We are headed by a PMP-certified project management professional and we are fully equipped to handle multiple projects effectively. So, get in touch with us now to discuss your project.