How to Carry out Project Management to Improve Work Efficiency in Telecommuting？

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Due to some unavoidable factors, our company has been working from home for more than one month. Working from home could save commuting time and allow me to spend more time working for myself, which should be more efficient. But every day is either in a meeting or about to have one.

Suddenly, the cost of communication becomes higher, the progress of handling things slows down, and everyone is confused about what they are doing. During this period, we explore and adjust, hoping to find the most appropriate way.

1. What to Do: Set Clear Goals

As the saying goes, preparedness ensures success, and unpreparedness spells failure. At all times, we must ensure everyone on the team has a clear understanding of the goal.

As product managers, we need to be responsible for our products, which requires a clear plan for our short-term goals. If you haven't done it before, you must take advantage of this opportunity to make up for it.

If you have done it before, you need to inform everyone in the team, at least the lead, to the people in UI, development, and testing, as these are the people directly involved.

At ordinary times, it's easy to deal with goals because you're in the company and see each other almost daily. Everyone communicates face to face, so there's a lot of opportunity for contact. Everyone has a general idea, even if there is no specific scope. But because of the particularity of telecommuting, everyone is invisible and only concerned with their work area.

If the company is a single-line product, at least everyone has the same focus, and it is easy to correct in the process of execution.

If the company is a multi-line or multi-project product, in this case, everyone will deal with a lot of things every day, and it is easy for everyone to see only trees but not forests. Everyone is busy every day, but when you ask him what he has done, he can't tell you.

Therefore, first of all, we have to know what to do. That is, we have to define the scope of our goal.

2. When to Do: Specify the Node

When we know what to do, we must allocate our time. The time allocation method can be divided into forward and inverted schedules. Our company uses both of them so that we can discuss it.

Generally, the forward schedule applies to the common product development model, while the inverted schedule applies to project-based products.

2.1 Forward Schedule

Once we have a product plan, we need to set a start time for everyone to start processing and assigning individual tasks. Then each person makes a rough estimate of their work and comes up with a rough end time.

For example, I want to eat a fried dish. Start at 8 am, and the general division of labor is as follows:

• 08:00 - 09:00 - buy vegetables
• 09:00 - 10:00 - wash vegetables
• 10:00 -11:00 - cook dishes

So it takes three hours, so if it starts at 8 o'clock, I can't have food until eleven o 'clock.

The common problem with a forward schedule is a delay because the time is estimated, and a little delay in the middle will affect the subsequent series of processes.

2.2 Inverted Schedule

The so-called inverted schedule is a project. Firstly, we have an exact end time and the general scope of function, and then we start from the end time to divide the tasks.

Continue with the fried dish as an example, and this time the requirement becomes that I want to eat a fried dish at 11, then the general division of labor is as follows:

• cook dishes - 1 hour
• wash vegetables - 1 hour
• buy vegetables - 1 hour

It takes three hours in total, which means that if you're going to eat at 11, you must start preparing at 8.

The problem with an inverted schedule is that the function is not complete because the end time is stuck, meaning the product must be launched at that time. As for which product is launched, whether the number of products is more or less is negotiable.

2.3 How to Do: Split the Task

Once you know what to do and when to do, the next thing you need to figure out is how to do.

Of course, this process and time allocation are synchronized because you must know how to estimate time accurately.

Take products as an example.

• First, we need to break the whole product into specific modules. Usually, it is classified according to the menu, which is easy to understand, and everyone has clear criteria. The simple product is divided into the first-level menu, and the complex product is divided into the second or third-level menu, which depends on the specific situation.
• Secondly, the specific function of each module should be clarified. The purpose is to ensure everyone involved is on the same page and the content is aligned. Otherwise, everyone will work according to their interpretation, and the result may differ.
• Finally, you need to specify a responsible person for each module. The person in charge of products, UI, development, and testing should be clearly confirmed, and the division of labor and time node of everyone should be clearly defined so that each person can perform their duties and cooperate.

If time and energy permits, it is best to have another meeting with the relevant personnel to ensure that everyone clearly understands their tasks after the above are allocated.

2.4 More Feedback: More Communication in the Process

Don't expect everything to go well after the task is split. There will be all kinds of unexpected problems, which requires us to maintain communication in the implementation process.

If your company is small, you can adopt agile development methods. Spend 10 minutes each morning chatting with everyone about their problems, what they did, and whether they needed to support the previous day.

If the company is large and has a dedicated project manager, it is the ideal situation. The project manager will collect and summarize everyone's progress daily and then maintain it into a unified project scheduling worksheet directly into a Gantt chart.

Another thing to note is that we must schedule time for ourselves daily. For example, I'm going to do two functions today, each of which will take about three hours. If it's done, go ahead. If it's not done, you need to find out the reason.

• If it's just because we don't have enough time, there's something wrong with the task split, and the task needs to be refined.
• We need to adjust the inverted schedule if it's because of some temporarily inserted requirement. Unless you work overtime, the later progress will be affected.
• We need to adjust the inverted schedule if it's because of some temporarily inserted requirement. Unless you work overtime, the later progress will be affected.

If there is a problem, give feedback immediately, find it in time, and deal with it at any time. Project management is a process of continuous subdivision. The goal, time, content, and communication are mutually reinforcing and indispensable.