Exhibition Stands - How To Organise Your Projects and Get the Most Out of Your Team.



Posted: Tuesday, July 21, 2009

by Matthew Theobald
Exhibition display solutions

Congratulations you have pitched for a job a won it. But now what? What is the best way to get the job done, and make sure that the whole team are working together?

Once a brief has been established, it is then the task of the project manager to assertain how the team will be able to achieve it.

The first stage is the planning process, delegating specific roles to your team and outlining key tasks which will be required of them.

It is imperative that all tasks assigned are documented and that all involved are clear about what outcomes are expected and their ability to achieve them in any given timescale.Project Managers should be well acquainted with the particular skills of each member of the team and be able to assign tasks appropriately.

Projects in all industry sectors can become extremely complicated and the exhibition industry is no different - the project manager needs to be able to divide the project into manageable tasks. Using a "Work breakdown structure" or "WBS" is a good visual way of representing these tasks. Picture it as a form of family tree starting from concept branching its way to completion. The larger the project the larger the structure of the WBS.

Give the different levels a name such as Phase, Task or Activity. These names will vary between organisations, but it is important to be consistent when referring to them.

With some of our more complex exhibition and installation jobs, it has been necessary to split some of the tasks into completely seperate sub-projects. Treating them as almost seperate design jobs which will only be merged back into the overall scheme further down the line. these tasks can often include jobs not necessarily familiar with your teams normal output and may very well be the types which may need to be outsourced. However it will still be someones job to make sure that these task are not only delegated but also completed to the required timeframe and budget.

Don't take on too much yourself! If you try to do too much yourself you may become part of the problem rather than part of the solution. You will be over-worked, over-stressed, and shown to be the weakest link in the chain, highlighting your inabilities to plan accordingly. Likewise by passing too much of the workload to other collegues you then run the risk of over-working them to the point of tension and resentment.

Once your team begin to familiarise themselves with this way of working , you should find that not only productivity is increased, but that the WBS from this project can also be utilised to other similar projects. Projects tend to be more unsuccesfull when not properly planned out.

Obviously, the brief is likely to change or develop over the life-cycle of the project, but if mapped out effectively, the WBS can be modified to encompass these changes.

Remember if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Good Luck!

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www.exdisplay.co.uk Matthew Theobald has been involved in the architectural design and visualization industries since studying industrial design in the UK and Italy. He is now a superfly pimp working at Exhibition Display Solutions in Maidenhead www.exdisplay.co.uk
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