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ways of tackling banana projects
What is a banana project?
Hi Oghenedoro,
I am assuming by Banana project, you mean a project which has gone 'bananas' or whose timelines have gone awry and not a project which involves selling or buying actual bananas. To rephrase your question, how do you keep a project on track? The first step is to know the end result and make a plan to reach there. The end result is known most times. The next thing is to break the task that is to be accomplished into subtasks of smaller size. Next is to schedule them using a Gantt chart. Involve the whole team in this activity just to make sure the timelines are reasonable enough. The more time you spend with the team on this one, the better it is. Most times managers make the timeline themselves and circulate expecting the project mates to adhere. It might not be the most appropriate approach. :)
Next comes the hard part - the execution. This is where a manager's micromanagement skills come in. On a daily basis, the teams that are working, should be given as small tasks as possible with as small deadlines as possible. For example, if there is a report to be presented, break it into number one - collect data for the report by10AM , churn out data by midday and prepare the detailed formatted report by5. The project manager should keep following up on this and guide the person in charge instead of admonishing in case there are slight delays. This sort of micromanagement is perfect for non creative tasks like coming up with an excel report. But counter productive for creative tasks like creating a brand logo for a company.
Finally, if you earn the trust of your team members they will voluntarily take the special step to complete the work on time.
