Coaching Business Builder
  • Home
  • Services
  • About
  • Blog
  • 60dayAccelerator
  • Coaching Biz Growth Lab
  • The Buzz
  • Virtual Program Support
  • Virtual Book Club Calls - Coaching Business Builder
  • Daily Planner
  • PlanDoTrack Virtual Retreats
  • Learning Lab and Design Studio Annual Membership Group
  • Upcoming Events
  • Join the Conversation - Conversation Sparker Zone
  • On-Demand Program - 19 Productivity Tips
  • Virtual Biz Planning Retreats
  • The GUIDE and CBB Facilitator
  • Weekly Planning Hack Facebook Lives
  • Calendar of Programs
  • test

5 Key Skills in Project Management for Any Solopreneur

1/21/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
This week our attention is going to shift to quickly explore 5 key skills in project management. Whether you are creating an e-book, designing a new program or deciding on new systems for your business, as solopreneurs we are regularly managing projects as a team of one.
​
In project management, historically, the foundation has been that for any project there is a triple constraint – time, budget and scope. Like a triangle, it is said that these things are fixed (at least in traditional project management). So if my budget gets reduced, it might take a little longer to do things as we now need to do them in-house OR the scope of the project may change given that we no longer have resources to complete a six month project, so instead we may need to do a three month project.
 
With this in mind the first project management skill I think is important is getting good at identifying project requirements.
  • What is the project?
  • What are the deadlines?
  • What are the milestones along the way? These are checkpoint activities where you can see progress?
  • What resources are needed? Project manager of all kinds have operated in this framing of being aware of the triple constraint ….
Other key questions to be asking here are:
  • What is the project scope?
  • What’s involved with it?
  • What is IN focus? What is outside of focus (or scope)?
 
Spending additional time making sure we have this first step of project requirements right, helps to make the rest of it flow more smoothly (usually!).
 
It was in this phase of project identification that I first became aware of the adage that “10 minutes of planning can save 2 hours of unfocused effort”. So true!
 
With this is in mind, let’s look at five key project management skills that solopreneurs will want to boost:
  1. Knowledge of self and skills – Self- awareness is key to solopreneurial success. Knowing what we are good at, what we can learn, and when we need to reach out to others, can make the difference between a project that flows and one that gets deadlocked or becomes a source of frustration. In knowing ourselves, we want to be able to identify key skills which are important in the immediate term, as well as ones we will be using regularly. Creating a robust network to reach out to, to find others short term who can round out of skill needs, is critical for solopreneurial success. “No person is an island!”.
  2. Time estimation – Estimating the amount of time required for a task is also critical. One part of this equation is getting better at knowing how long tasks really do take. Part of this is experience, and we may have peers and mentors that can advise us. It can be useful to build in some contingency time for our own learning curve, given that tasks will take longer to complete the first few times we do them, or if we do them infrequently. I’m thinking of a recent experience I had where I had to set up a welcome auto-responder for a give-away. I do this about once a year and while I should “retain it”, it was as if the task was totally new!
  3. Clarifying what’s required - Given that most of us are working on our own, we will be needing to reach out to others to help us get work done. Whether it’s going to a site like Fiverr or Upwork, finding good experts (graphic designers, financial experts) that can work with us to make our projects happen, is crucial. In making this successful, we need to be good at clarifying what’s required (think – What will a successful end result for this project/task look like? – be specific, get granular), as well as finding people.
  4. Relationship Building and Negotiation – At the end of the day, things need to get done and projects need to get completed. If we can’t complete projects, it may have a significant impact on the business. As solopreneurs, we can’t go to a boss to negotiate the triple constraint – i.e. give me more time to complete this or give me more money – we have that under our control. In some ways this makes project management that much easier. What is may mean is that we need to go out and enroll others to our projects – requiring both relationship-building and negotiation skills.

What do you see as essential project management skills for solopreneurs? Which ones have you been leaning into as a project team of one?

Share with us using the comments below.

Jennifer
​Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
Author multiple books including the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner (2018), Effective Group Coaching (2010)
Potentials Realized
Phone: 416-996-8326
Check out the November 2018 CBB Book Club Call entitled "2019 Planning. Already?". You can view it here.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Upcoming Programs:


    Mentor Coaching Group for ACC/PCC -Mondays 1230 - 130 pm ET: June 7 - mid-September - Reserve your spot. ACC and PCC for ICF Credentialing

    Program Design Hack - 45 minutes - $97 - Sketch Out Your Next Program  in this Facilitated Process!  - Click here to Register

    Group Coaching Essentials (8.75 CCEs) - Next group will start  Tuesdays on July 6th. Fridays 10 - 1135am ET: June 4, 11, 18, 25 (4 weeks)

    Virtual Facilitation Essentials (8.5 CCEs) - Join us for an upcoming one day program!

    Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum - starts - Tuesdays July 6th (5 weeks)  (10 CCEs): Focused on providing you with virtual practice and feedback around your group coaching skills.

    Team Coaching Essentials for the Virtual, Remote and Hybrid World. Kicks off Monday June 14th

    60 Day CBB Accelerator - Now as an On-demand Program.

    Picture

    Bonus! This month's 1BizStepADay

    Picture

    Author

    Coach Jennifer Britton has worked with entrepreneurs across a variety of sectors since the late 1990s, even before she was in business herself. From supporting micro-entreprise and eco-tourism businesses to working with service based entrepreneurs and coaches, her PRACTICAL and TACTICAL approach to business coaching is ACTION focused, with emphasis on AWARENESS as well. Jenn is the author of the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and planner, and 3 others books related to group and team coaching and virtual conversations. She also hosts the Coaching BIzGrowth Lab, an open-enrollment group coaching program for coaches. Jenn founded her business - Potentials Realized - in April 2004. 

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018

    Categories

    All
    1BizStepADay
    60dayaccelerator CBB
    Blogging
    Book
    Business Development
    Business Foundations
    Coaching Biz Builder
    Coaching Business Builder
    Coaching Business Development
    Collaboration
    Content Creation
    Daily Steps
    Delegation
    Design
    Effective Virtual Conversations
    Focus
    Goals
    Group Coaching
    Habits
    Journaling
    Learning
    Marketing
    Mentor Coaching
    Monthly Planning
    Networking
    Neuroscience
    Organization
    Partnering
    Planning
    Planning Hack
    Planning Tools
    Productivity
    Productivity Hacks
    Program Design
    Projects
    Quarterly Planning
    Questions
    Reflection
    Relationship Management
    Remote Work
    Renewal
    Resources
    Routines
    Signature Programs
    Solopreneur Myths
    Speaking
    Stand Out Virtually
    Systems
    Time Management
    Upcoming Programs
    Virtual Business
    Virtual Conversations
    Vision

    RSS Feed

    Become a CBB Facilitator

Services

Business Coaching

CoachingBiz Growth Lab(TM)
​
Effective Virtual Conversations

​​Everything DiSC

Pick up a copy at Amazon

Company

About

Our Main Site: Potentials Realized.com

Group and Team Coaching Training for Coaches

PlanDoTrack 

Support

Contact
FAQ
Terms of Use
© COPYRIGHT 201819  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Services
  • About
  • Blog
  • 60dayAccelerator
  • Coaching Biz Growth Lab
  • The Buzz
  • Virtual Program Support
  • Virtual Book Club Calls - Coaching Business Builder
  • Daily Planner
  • PlanDoTrack Virtual Retreats
  • Learning Lab and Design Studio Annual Membership Group
  • Upcoming Events
  • Join the Conversation - Conversation Sparker Zone
  • On-Demand Program - 19 Productivity Tips
  • Virtual Biz Planning Retreats
  • The GUIDE and CBB Facilitator
  • Weekly Planning Hack Facebook Lives
  • Calendar of Programs
  • test