Time Management Tip: Use a PERT Chart

Do you have a project you need to have completed by a certain deadline? Not sure how to go about planning it?

Excellent time management and project management starts by having and writing down a clear plan.

A great way to plan your projects is to create a “PERT Chart.”

What is a PERT Chart?

When you create a visual representation of your larger tasks and projects you and others can see it in its totality. This is often called a PERT chart. This time management technique is used by the most efficient and effective companies worldwide. This chart enables you to see a variety of ways to achieve the task with greater efficiency.

Begin by determining the goals and objectives you must achieve to enjoy the outcomes you desire. Start with the end in mind. Take the time to develop absolute clarity about what your goals would look like if they were accomplished in an excellent fashion. Then, work back from the future to the present. Make a list of the logical steps, in order, that you need to take to get from where you are to where you want to be.

Time Management Plan Using a PERT Chart

The use of a PERT chart, (“Program Evaluation Review Technique,”) sets out graphically all the steps you need to take, and when each one needs to be finished for you to achieve the final goal.

Perhaps the most powerful tool you can use to maximize your effectiveness and dramatically increase your level of accomplishment is a checklist. A checklist consists of a written series of steps, in chronological order, which you create in advance of beginning work in the first place.

Clearly Define Your Time Management Goals

Your ability to clearly define and determine the steps that you will have to take from where you are today to the completed project is a mark of superior thinking and excellent project management.

The rule is that every minute spent in planning and creating checklists will save you ten minutes in execution and getting the job done. This is another example of slow thinking that can dramatically increase your effectiveness and your output and your ultimate value to your business.

How to Create a PERT Chart

This graphic is an example of a PERT chart. There are many forms and styles available online for you to choose from. From the time you begin using a PERT chart, you may be quite amazed at how much more you accomplish and how few hiccups or conflicts there will be between the steps.

1) Start With the Final Product

Draw a line with each of your objectives or goals plotted backward from the required date of completion. Lay it out on paper so that you can see when you have to accomplish each part of the task in order to have the entire job completed on schedule.

2) Stay on Top of Your Projects

By thinking on paper and using a PERT chart, you take complete control of the sequence of events. You have a track to run on. You have a series of tasks that you can check on to be sure that they are completed on schedule and to a satisfactory level of quality. By using a PERT chart, you avoid being overwhelmed by deadlines. You are always on the top of your work and your major projects.

3) Set Your Deadline

If you need something done by the end of the month, you can set your timeline with plenty of cushion at the 15^th or 20^th of the month just in case unexpected delays or problems arise. Always remember Murphy’s Law, “Whatever can do wrong, will go wrong.”

Project Management Tip:

The superior executive assumes that there will be problems, obstacles, unexpected delays, and failures to complete the job on the schedule agreed upon. These are normal and natural parts of business life. Your job is to keep your hand on the pulse of the project continually, and then to solve the problems and remove the obstacles that are bound to arise.

Think Things Through in Advance

Remember, the most wonderful time management talent you have is your ability to think, especially to think things through in advance. The more time you take to think and plan, on paper, the better results you will get, and the faster you will get those results.

Take Action

Thank you for reading my blog on time management and creating a PERT chart. If you enjoyed what you read and you want to learn more about how to develop successful habits like using a PERT Chart, click the button below to get my free report, The Power of Habit.

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