Kronos Group

Improving timeline visualisation through project management training

Summary  

Timelines are a critical tool through which you can stay on track to achieving your goals and objectives and create more accurate business strategies for the future. 

In order to carry out timeline visualisation as accurately as possible, you must cover all aspects from estimated timelines before project inception, real-time charts to ensure that your project stays on track, to the final completion date of your project. 

More accurate timeline visualisation can lead to targeted and effective business strategies, informed decision making, efficient resource allocation, and teams that are communicating clearly and meeting expectations. 

Unlocking this value is easier through project management training. 

How project management training supports more accurate timelines: Training not only accelerates project timelines by boosting your teams’ efficiency, but it also streamlines your systems and frameworks, which supports better timeline visualisation. 

Training also supports the implementation of industry best practices, develops more skilled teams, and creates more opportunities for higher value addition and agile project management performance.

Today, timelines are an important part of any business process, including project management. They do not just offer a method through which strategies can be created and milestones along the lifetime of a project can be charted, but they also support the formulation of more accurate business objectives and goals. 

These visualisations can be defined under three key categories: the planned time before your project is underway, the actual time taken for each stage in the project in real-time, and finally, the time the project is slated to be completed. 

Each of these stages presents valuable information about resource allocation, manpower, the amount of value each project can deliver, and the position of your company at the beginning and at the end of the project timeline. 

Estimating the timeline of the project, and allocating resources to meet these estimates—without the necessary follow up through real-time updates and adjustments, however—will not yield the advantages of a resilient and flexible project management arm. 

Staying on top of your timelines, and following up on the assumptions with which you kickstarted your projects, can help cut down on the wastage of your resources. This will ultimately help your project deliver the value it is capable of.

Yet another advantage of visualising your project timelines is that you receive a more detailed and interactive view of your projects. The availability of this centralised view is useful for both project managers and leaders as well as teams to stay on track and on the same page at all times.

This is invaluable when you have large projects underway that require many moving parts and scattered teams, or if you have several projects being rolled out in the same time period. Accurate visualisation can mitigate risks and support smooth completion without unwelcome delays. 

The more accurate these visualisations are, the more accurate you can be when developing your project management strategy and planning the future of your business. 

How project management training supports more accurate timelines

Training is a sustainable form of value addition across many critical business functions from procurement and finance to project management. 

The latter is of particular importance to any business undertaking projects, because of the higher value addition that projects are capable of driving when they are strategically employed. 

When projects designed to drive higher value are supported by sustainable methods through which this value can be enhanced, such as training opportunities, the potential value each project brings multiplies.

Dynamic training can produce more consistent results, more aligned teams, the adoption of industry best practices across the board, new perspectives, and enhanced efficiency throughout your project timelines. 

While project management training will take a financial and time-intensive investment in the short term, the many benefits it helps you reap makes the investment all the more worthwhile.

Different forms of training can also deliver unique results. For example, diversity and inclusion training can help you unlock greater innovation within your project management teams and foster a more harmonious environment. 

The advantages of investing in training mean that your projects, and inevitably, your project management function, are able to operate with more efficiency and effectiveness when driving value and creating higher value addition opportunities for your company. 

This will, in all likelihood, accelerate your project management timelines as your teams are able to complete tasks at a much faster pace. 

It also supports your teams with the development of their skills and streamlining your processes. Group training can additionally ensure that your teams remain on the same wavelength and also understand their strengths and areas of improvement to communicate and collaborate more effectively. 

It will also mean that they are given access to the same insights and opportunities, and will know how to leverage them when the time is right. 

By leveraging the right types of training, you will not only be able to improve your project timelines but improve the timeline visualisation process as well. When these critical processes are optimised, resources can be freed up to focus on more opportunities for improvement with the assurance that your timelines are supported by skilled teams. 

Strengthen your project management function for the future

Staying competitive in the current market is no easy feat and there is no single solution that can create a competitive advantage out of nothing. 

That is why, for many companies, the best way to ensure a more resilient business framework, that can create sustainable value, is through internal value addition and strategic investments with high returns. 

Project management training is one of them.

Download our free eBook to learn more about how to optimise your project management function post-crisis

Julie Brand

A part of Kronos Group’s team since 2018, Julie is a leader who has honed her specialisation in business transformation and utilised her expansive financial expertise to power business strategy and add value to what we do. She has amassed experience (Pfizer, Sony, AXA, SMEC, Tradelink) all over the world in strategy, project management, analysis, and supply chain.