Avoiding operational meltdown when managing multiple projects

• August 8, 2011 5:17am

Projectization or the ability of people and organizations to manage projects effectively allows companies to maximize precious resources and tools while responding quickly and efficiently to changing market conditions. But in many companies, it is not uncommon to see project managers have to simultaneously juggle as many as five to 13 mid-size projects without dropping the ball.

California Smart Business interviewed Vish Hegde, associate professor of management for the College of Business and Economics at California State University, East Bay, about the challenges of managing multiple projects and how executives can avert operational meltdown by providing guidance and considering multiple characteristics when organizing projects. Read article.

“Managing multiple projects is a competitive necessity,” said Hegde. “But unless executives provide direction so projects are prioritized and aligned with the company’s strategic and financial goals, they can create an operational mess and cause project managers to fail.”

 Realistically, project managers can't handle too many simultaneous projects without affecting quality and efficiency. If they're juggling too many ventures, project managers will spend most of their time transitioning and won't have time to dive into detail, devise a plan and actually lead the project. In fact, they'll be inclined to simply go with the flow, which is symptomatic of an over-leveraged project manager.

“Help project managers avoid conflict and optimize scarce resources by providing benchmarks or a decision template that spells out the company’s priorities and the best way to schedule and allocate shared resources in various situations,” said Hegde.

Princeton Review has rated Cal State East Bay as one of the country's "Best Business Schools" for five consecutive years. 

KL