Melvin Feller MA Discovers How to Make Project Management Less Stressful and More Forgiving

Melvin Feller MA Discovers How to Make Project Management Less Stressful and More Forgiving

Melvin Feller is known as “The Entrepreneur’s Mentor” because Melvin walks his talk. Melvin Feller has been there and done that and more importantly, Melvin Feller knows how to transfer the skill set for success. This is main reason that he has been the sought after coach to hundreds of small business owners, entrepreneurs, Realtors, Real estate investors and service professional internationally. Melvin Feller’s main talent is to show you how the step by step process to build and enjoy a successful 6-figure plus business while having a balanced life. Melvin Feller is currently pursuing another graduate degree as an MBA.

Make Project Management Less Stressful by Melvin Feller MA

I bet you have a project that you meant to finish, but months have gone by, and it’s still on your to-do list.

As a result, you rob the world of something that could make a difference in other people’s lives. You are missing out on opportunities, including revenues. But most importantly, an unfinished project is weighing on you emotionally, making you feel guilty that you haven’t gotten around to it.

In my opinion, you have two options: forgive yourself and let go of this project, or commit to completion and make it happen.
Seriously. If it’s a project that no longer seems important or if it’s a “nice-to-have,” but your heart is not in it, cross it off. Release it from your will-I-ever-get-to-it list with a light heart and a clear conscience.

On the other hand, if it’s a project you wholeheartedly want to accomplish, let’s plan it out together, so that you can start taking action.
I promise that the following five steps will make it less stressful and more forgiving and even fun!

Make Project Management Less Stressful by Melvin Feller MA

Step #1 Define The Project

Go beyond just giving it a name. Get really clear what you are trying to do and why. Envision the end result.

When you define the real purpose of a project, it’s as if you are bringing the telescope into focus. Things get clearer. You feel energized to get into action. Your mind starts buzzing with ideas. You can almost touch the path to get there.

An equally important component at this stage is knowing where you want to end up. How will a successful outcome look like? Your vision for it will help you establish the guidelines to keep you on the right path and help you make decisions, that otherwise would be impossible to make.
Let’s look at a couple of examples.

Say, you want to make a surprise gift for your sister, as a thank you for helping you prepare 50 gift bags for an event you’re holding. You can already picture her face, glowing with happiness, feel her tight embrace of appreciation, and hear the two of you giggling.

That’s your what, why and vision. Simple, isn’t it?

Let’s go now a bit bigger — your event — and apply the same principle.

Say your event, Little People Who make Huge Changes, is aimed at celebrating 10 kids, who have collected 25,000 books to send to a school library in Kenya.

Make Project Management Less Stressful by Melvin Feller MA

You can envision the official part of the event — kids walking off the stage, proudly holding their awards, moms, getting emotional in their seats, reporters interviewing the largest contributors… And then the wild second part of the evening with kids running around laughing with their fancy shirts unbuttoned, huge half-eaten cake, and parents chatting in little groups, moving out of the way of the running kids just in time to avoid collision.

So far so good, right?

Step #2 Brainstorm

I bet that now that you can have a clear vision, your imagination is running wild. LET IT. Don’t edit anything out at this point.

Take a piece of paper and capture your ideas. Have a friend or team member you to share in the fun? Invite them over or have a Skype brainstorming party.

Of course, for the event your list will get a bit longer: you’ll have to think about who you want to invite, where to hold the event, who should cater it, who could make a great sponsor, what media outlet might be interested in covering it…

Don’t get overwhelmed when you brainstorm a long list of items for a complex project. Remember, what will make it approachable is your using the same logic for a complex project as you do for something common.

Step #3 Organize Your Ideas

Now that you have a preliminary list of things that need to happen for each part of the project, it’s time to organize them.

Make Project Management Less Stressful by Melvin Feller MA

Depending on the project, you might organize the tasks into categories (e.g. promotional activities, production, entertainment, media), divide the project into chronological stages (pre-event, event, and post event), or sequential phases (like survey the audience, create a product, promote it, follow up).

Take a look at your project and decide what organizational structure makes most sense to you.

What works best for event is a combination of chronological stages and categories: pre-event: invitees, venue, props, media; event itself: order of topics, line-up of guests, fun activities for kids; post-event: thank you notes, update from the Kenyan school, media.

Step #4 Schedule Your Actions

Now it’s time to put these actions on your calendar.
Working backwards from your ultimate goal is a great way to plan.

For larger projects, like events, start with a preliminary list of deadlines. Once you’ve mapped out the milestones, share your deadlines with everyone involved.

Going back to the event example, once you’ve finalized that the venue is available on the date you need it, you can take each category of tasks and assign deadlines for each component. For example, for the invitees category you’ll schedule:

1. When the invitations need to go out,

2. When invites must be received from the printer,

3. When you have to have proof the copy on the invitations,

4. When to have a finalized list of addresses for all of the invitees and

5. When to finalize the list of people you are inviting.

Make Project Management Less Stressful by Melvin Feller MA

Another thing to consider for large projects is a place to track all those tasks. You can use anything from a spreadsheet to project management software. Either way, you need to ensure that as tasks get completed, they are checked off the master to-do list.

Step #5 Identify the Next Step

What often intimidates us when we are dealing with a BIG project is that there is way too much to do and items on the to-do list are so vague we aren’t sure how to approach them.
In order for you to make steady progress on a project, you need to give yourself realistic deadlines and be clear on your next step.

Revising your project master-list on a regular basis and breaking items down even further, so that they become manageable, is a great tactic to keep yourself on track and not get overwhelmed.
For the event, call up the venue, where you want to hold the event and confirm that it’s available as early as possible.

Make Project Management Less Stressful by Melvin Feller MA

A plan is a guideline, not a cage

Project planning can be intimidating, no doubt about it. But once you approach the planning for your next event or product launch the same way you approach planning a birthday party for a friend, the intimidation will subside and you’ll see that your plan is nothing else but a compass to keep you on track.

Melvin Feller MA Business Consultant, Business Owner, Melvin Feller ministries and MBA Graduate Student Candidate

Melvin Feller MA Texas and Oklahoma. Melvin Feller founded Melvin Feller Business Group and Melvin Feller Ministries in the 1970s to help individuals and organizations achieve their specific Victory. Victory as defined by the individual or organization are achieving strategic objectives, exceeding goals, getting results or desired outcomes and a positive outreach with grace and as a ministries. He has extensive experience assisting businesses achieve top and bottom line results. He has broad practical experience creating WINNERS in many organizations and industries. He has hands-on experience in executive leadership, operations, logistics, sales, program management, organizational development, training, and customer service. He has coached teams to achieve results in strategic planning, business development, organizational design, sales, and customer response and business process improvement. He has prepared and presented many workshops nationally and internationally.