How our 6 Productivity Principles Apply to ANY Project
If you’ve ever had a project that seems absolutely unconquerable, you can join the club.
There are some projects and sites that seem to get more complicated as they go along. Maybe you’ve started developing a site with your team that feels more and more like a pile of loose ends. Maybe you’re trying to clean up a mess from someone else that your client is counting on you to fix, but everything seems to be held together with paperclips and bubblegum.
Throwing in the towel might feel like the best option, but if you’ve gotten this far in agency ownership, it’s pretty obvious that you’re no quitter.
Once I learned to implement our 6 Productivity Principles on ALL projects (not just web-related), my life completely changed for the better. More things get done now and fewer things get forgotten.
And that’s what this episode (22) of “Can We Talk About Your WordPress Projects?” is devoted to. In this video, I break down a recent project regarding my home renovation and how the productivity principles were applied. (originally live-streamed November 2020)
The 6 Productivity Principles for WordPress Project Success
In case you’ve forgotten them from our previous training or Academy lessons, here are The 6 productivity Principles for WordPress Project Success. As you watch the video, you’ll see how, with some minor modifications, they apply in everyday life too.
Why the Productivity Principles Matter
These 6 productivity principles are the key to ensuring that anything you’d like to accomplish in life gets taken care of.
Take my house, for example. If I wanted to get a good return on my investment, I needed to make sure that everything—and I mean, everything—was conducive to a positive outcome on our appraisal.
Did I get everything fixed up that I wanted to? No.
But did I do my darndest, making sure that the house problem was broken down by room and task? You bet I did.
Did it work? Well, yes it did. My house appraised far above what I was expecting!!
So how does this apply to you, the WordPress maverick?
If you take these productivity principles to heart, dividing your project into manageable tasks and subtasks and conquering them with research and the right tools, there’s no project that you can’t complete. I would say that there’s no client you can’t satisfy, but we’ve all been in this business long enough to know that statement would be a little too optimistic.
Additional Productivity Lessons Learned
In the video, I used my own home restorations as an example, but I want to make sure that you’ve got a clear picture of what we’re talking about, in between the paint thinner, gas logs, and whatnot. Feel free to reach out if you’d like any clarification!
Below are some more productivity lessons learned. I’ve found they’re useful when used in conjunction with those 6 principles, in both tech- and non-tech projects.
- When appropriate, set a “drop-dead date” (or be mindful of it), to make sure that your project gets accomplished within any agreed-upon timeframes. This helps you manage how far you’re diverging from the main goals, especially when you notice that your non-negotiable deadline is creeping up.
- Create a realistic budget. That means no frills, no fluff, but the right amount of money that it takes to get the project done well.
- Control of scope is crucial. This is why you need to take a good, hard look at what you’re prioritizing.
- Admit when you need help, as soon as you need it, and go get it from an expert. Your project, clients, and budget will thank you for it down the line.
Just as we discussed in Episode 21 (If you haven’t checked that episode out yet, please do!), make sure you’re following the change procedure that you established at the beginning of your project. Plans are fluid—but your procedures can’t afford to be if you want timely results and happy clients.
And last but not least, remember: “There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time.” No matter how complicated or daunting a project might seem, breaking it down into “chunks” will make it believable and achievable.
Want to learn how to consistently get your projects completed on time and within budget?
Join the WP Project Manager’s Academy – a FREE membership program where you can learn everything you need to know to consistently get your projects completed on time, within budget, with features that meet the client’s business requirements WITHOUT sacrificing profit.
You might also want to Join our Facebook Group where we have weekly live trainings on all things project and productivity management as well as a Friday chat session.
