11. Communicate progress and changes

• Monthly or weekly progress review meeting
• Meetings with the customer as well as with the team – keep them informed of problems sooner rather than later
• Delegation of tasks and of the sorting out of problems
• Motivation – encouragement, conveying the importance of the task
• Thanks and appreciation
• Remaining positive in the face of adversity
• Encourage the team to be honest – don’t shoot the messenger
• Management by walking about
  
  
  • are tasks progressing as planned and as reported?
  • is the team working well together?
  • are individuals happy and motivated?
• Doing some of the tasks in order to show willing and to show competence, while not being drawn in and losing the over-view
• For tasks where progress is hard to monitor (e.g. team member writing software) keep tabs on their estimated completion date – is it slipping?
• You may find it useful to keep a diary, perhaps weekly, just in note form, where you record current problems, planned solutions, did they work, expected completion date. Reading this back at the end of the project could be a very useful learning experience.