Finding Clarity in Project Management

Clarity is at the core of effective and practical project management. When a team sees clearly, they can work towards a common goal. 

Unfortunately, chaos can often quickly become the default state of projects as priorities shift and benchmarks change. This can lead to ineffective work; duplicated efforts, missed deadlines and details falling through the cracks.

Moving a team from chaos to clarity is one of the best things a leader can do for a project. Let’s explore two types of clarity, and how they can be used to deliver a successful project.

Clarity of Purpose

For a team to thrive, it’s important for them all to have a clear understanding of the goals they’re aiming to reach, and why they’re working on them.

As Catherine Pulsifer, an esteemed novelist, said: “Setting goals, along with a detailed action plan, has changed my life from one cast in frustration to one of purpose.”

Clearly identifying each team member's purpose is a practical way to bring clarity to a project, as members of your team will have to make judgement calls on a daily basis. By providing them with context and purpose, they will be able to do it effectively; a marketer may find it easier to decide which headlines resonate best with their audience; a graphic designer may need less rounds of edits, and create on-spec first drafts more efficiently..

Clarity of purpose also motivates your team, both on an individual and team level. When a team has a clear understanding of the goals they’re working towards and why, they will navigate challenges and difficulties with greater ease than their counterparts.

What purposes could we provide our teams?

We’ve established that to succeed, our teams require a clear purpose to work towards. Whilst monetary rewards, like making shareholders profit, is a purpose you could use, it won’t be the most effective!

Instead, highlight a purpose that will inspire and motivate your team. The purpose you select might differ from team to team, but here are a few you could consider.

-          Successfully launching a new platform.

-          Giving back to the community.

-          Better connecting with other parts of the business.

Whichever purpose you present, take care to ensure it shows your team how your purpose relates to the outside world, how your team relates to the work, and how their individual efforts can help the team achieve success.

Define a mission statement

A great way to bring all of the above together is by providing your team with a mission statement. By doing so, you define the project’s purpose in an easy-to-understand way that your team can come back to time and time again.

Clarity in Planning

As Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom said, “Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan.” 

You’ve provided your team with purpose, a destination to reach. Now it’s time to outline how they can get there. Achieving clarity here takes time, effort, and layers. You’ll have to discuss and define your mission until it has clear actionable steps.

Think of it as a pyramid of clarity, a business approach proposed by Jennifer Nan and Dustin Moskovitz.

-          Mission: Your mission will be at the top of the pyramid. It’s everything we’ve covered before—what your team is doing and why.

-          Strategy: At this stage, your strategy should be succinct and clear. Everyone on the team should be familiar with it. To achieve this, aim to keep it at 3 bullet points.

-          Objectives: Measurable, medium-term goals can be classed as objectives. There should be more objectives than strategies.

-          Key results: Unlike your objectives, which were medium-term (e.g. one year), key results should be shorter-term (e.g. three months). For your plan to be successful, these need to be measurable. When considering which key results to provide, you might choose to have them contributing towards the success of an objective.

-          Projects: Small missions that lead to achieving key results.

-          Tasks: Small, individual steps needed to achieve any of the above.

Through considering all of the above, you should be able to concisely and clearly make an effective plan that your team can execute to successfully complete your project.

By finding clarity in planning and purpose, you’ve laid the path to lead your team to success—in your current project and beyond! 

As problems arise, stay vigilant and keep clarity in mind when resolving them. That way, everybody will find themselves on the same road towards success... even if it may zig-zag at times, your team will still be on track!

Written for Empowering a Billion Women, July 15 2021