What a Birthday Party Can Teach You About Project Management

Business Lesson #4:

Creating a Birthday Party is the Perfect Formula for Project Management

Last Thursday my son (Mikkel) had his 6th birthday! It was such a big day for him and I wanted to create the perfect birthday party for him in the weekend.

I realized what a huge project it really is to plan a birthday party. You have to set a date, select a theme, send out invitation, pick and buy decorations, bake, clean the house, decorate and so much more…

In the middle of it all I came to think about the project management course I participated in  November. To my surprise, planning a birthday party is no different than doing project management in real business life.

So you see, if you are struggling with your projects in your life or in your business you probably already know what to do. If not here is a great formula to follow:

1) Brainstorm what tasks are involved

- Select date, select theme, clean the house, bake, send invitations etc…

2) Set deadlines and prioritize the tasks after deadline and importance

- 1) Select date (1 month before)   2) Select theme (1 month before)   3) Send invitations (1 month or 3 weeks before)  4) Clean the house (1 day before)  5) Bake (in the morning)

3) Draw a timeline of the prioritization inkluding overlapping tasks

- draw a square for the first task, then one for the next task and an arrow in between. If two tasks start at the same time or overlap, draw them under each other. The timeline moves from left to right.

4) Assign a budget to the total project and to each task

- $200 Total, Invitations $20, Cake $20

5) Assign a person to be responsible for each task and make sure they know where to get help if they encounter problems

- Date, theme, invitations: Me  Clean house: Me with help of partner   Bake: Partner

6) If different tasks depend on each other, make sure the responsible people communicate.

7) Make a time table of team meetings where progress and problems can be discussed.

- Start up meeting (1 month before), Planning meeting (1 week before)

Remember to motivate and praise yourself and the team!

9) Celebrate the finished project

10) Have a team meeting where you give constructive feedback on the project and the process

So, there you have it…. there is nothing to it. The real problem is…. do you actually use this formula or do you just improvise as you go along?

For big projects I really recommend using a project management software program. Here is a site that makes project management software reviews: http://online-project-management-review.toptenreviews.com/

Good Luck on your next project!

Love

Marlene

PS… more great business lessons to come!