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Spring Cleaning with PM
 April is the perfect month for project managers. It’s your first chance to assess the projects in your life – both at work and at home – from the perspective of the end of a quarter.

If “spring cleaning” (or “fall cleanup”) has you thinking along the lines of lawn/leaf garbage bags, you might want to rethink your philosophy. Purging only eliminates clutter in the short run; think about developing long-term solutions to your clutter problems so your projects keep moving along, and you can enjoy your success.

Here are three ways to apply your PM knowledge to Spring Cleaning. For more spring cleaning tips, read this month’s Know How Network article and check out our second article, Cleaning Out that Inbox, if you’d love to have an empty inbox this spring.

  1. Think Before You Print
    Electronic filing systems are not just green, they help you keep projects on track. If you’re printing files out before deciding what to do, you may be printing by reflex, not necessity. Think before clicking to print and not only will you have less paper, but the paper you do have will be what you need to have in front of you.
  1. Right Brain, Meet the Left Brain
    Cleaning up misunderstandings to align a team is also important. Sometimes, people forget to “walk in each other’s shoes.” To help everyone understand various viewpoints, put polar opposites together (the team neat freak with the team mess maker) to spend the day working as a team and learning from each other. The goal is for them to understand that everyone contributes differently and uniquely.
  2. Probe the Pile
     If there’s always a pile in your office and home work space, it’s time to determine what’s in it – or them. Sorting the pile will show you the missing link in your current system. Maybe you need a spot for receipts or reading material or statements. Whatever it is, if you create a system for the clutter, it will disappear.
 

… think about developing long-term solutions to your clutter problems so your projects keep moving along, and you can enjoy your success.