How to Master Your Work Week: Project Management Software For Individuals

Whether you work in a team or as an individual, you face challenges that hinder your workflow. In our blog articles The biggest challenges as a solopreneur and 10 common challenges in project management, we've already addressed this and also discussed possible solutions.

However, there's one point we'd like to shed some more light on, and that's how project management software like Merlin Project can help you manage your work week as a solopreneur.

Focus on The Right KPIs

The abbreviation KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. They can be used to measure the success of a business activity or even the degree to which a specific goal has been achieved.

Use KPIs to evaluate your efforts over the past few weeks and compare progress. This will help you narrow your focus and better decide which strategies to refine or abandon.

For a favorable outcome, consider the following KPIs:

• Project completion rates
  Did you meet the deadline?
  How many times did you fix a problem?
  How much time is spent per task?

• Customer satisfaction
  Whether you are in the business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) market, you should use surveys to identify opportunities for growth. The Return on Investment, abbreviated ROI, is an important metric for measuring the return on your entrepreneurial efforts, taking into account success relative to capital employed. It helps you turn your efforts into measurable financial gains.

Use S.M.A.R.T. Goals

S.M.A.R.T. goals are designed to provide structure and direction. Use SMART goals and align them with your KPIs to develop objectives and achieve key results.

You'll achieve less procrastination, avoid distractions, and it will be easier to identify actionable steps that will drive you to achieve a larger agenda.

Avoid Failures in Communication

Communication is paramount in the business world. However, failures to communicate are an ongoing problem for many; especially where knowledge and expertise transfer is essential.

Most of us use various apps and services to store data (iCloud, Dropbox, GoogleDrive, OneDrive or others), communicate via text and video (Messages, Skype, Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts and others) and even write regular emails. Quickly, you lose track of where which information can be found and can no longer track processes.

Therefore, it makes more sense to collect all information, files, comments, i.e. the entire communication in a central place. This way, no notification is lost and you keep track of everything. It also creates an environment for organized, accountable and transparent communication with your teams, partners and customers.

Record Potential Risks and Create a Contingency Plan

Business and risk go hand in hand. Take the time to identify and assess the risks to your project. You can then analyze the likelihood and magnitude (low, medium or high) of a risk and measure the impact on all operations.

Once you have identified a risk, work on a solution or contingency plan should it occur.

In a Merlin Project project plan, you can note down a possible solution to each risk you have recorded, in order to prevent a possible failure of the project.

Structure Your Tasks Visually

You process visual information many times faster and memorize it better than plain text. Manually transforming data into meaningful information is a tedious task. This is especially true if you need quick and reliable reports to monitor unexpected changes.

Use a Kanban board as a personal workflow system (Personal Kanban) for your numerous to-dos. This way you can better plan, monitor and control the workflow. Personal Kanban follows two simple rules:

1. I see my work
By visualizing your work using a Kanban board, it's easier to understand it in context and maintain control. You can better visualize any bottlenecks and unexpected factors, instead of just focusing on the obvious elements of your work such as time, effort and resource.

2. I only work on two tasks at a time
Limit the number of your tasks that are in progress (work in progress). This will allow you to focus your attention on the tasks that are important at the moment. Don't set the limit of tasks to work on too high, or you may lose your focus and be less productive.

Our blog article Kanban in personal project management provides more information on how to organize your workflow with Personal Kanban.

Project Management Software as Your Teammate

As an individual, it can be difficult to organize and keep track of your individual workflow. With project management software like Merlin Project, you centralize all tasks and information in one place, so you always have access and don't lose track of what's important and when it needs to be done.