Ever thought about a career in project management, but then your inner critic whispered your way, NO NO NO! “You’ll fail, what if you don’t know where to start?”.

BUT what if you don’t give it a try!

What if you can have that incredible job and grow into the position you want to achieve?

Let me share with you some insights in the life of a project manager in the manufacturing industry and some practical habits to develop right now.

New product development can be a lengthy process. It starts with idea generation followed by product development, manufacturing and finally product launch. A lot of different disciplines, internal and external departments and suppliers are involved are part of this process.

And like in all professions, days can be hectic for project managers. They work with people from different departments, different countries, and different nationalities. Not to speak of the expectations of many stakeholders that need to be managed carefully.

Keep on scrolling to learn more on the 5 Practical Habits for Project Managers in the Manufacturing Industry.

How to Structure Your Day as Project Manager

One way to keep your day organized as project manager is to plan and schedule time blocks in your calendar to get things done and stay in control. Having a structure in your day, keeps you from feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

Habit 1 Block time in your calendar to check your emails.

When you check emails continuously throughout the day, you probably are less efficient than when you schedule two blocks of email checking. The chance of getting distracted by other topics is gone because you simply don’t see them popping up. You can stay focused on your priorities and finish them as planned.

Open your calendar and block one or 2 hours at the end of the morning and block one or two hours in the afternoon to reply to your emails. Also, de-activate the email alert function on your computer and your phone, so you will not be alerted on new messages.

Habit 2 Block time in your calendar to work on certain topics.

When you want to make sure you have time during the day to work on certain topics that are important, it helps if you schedule them in your calendar by blocking time and indicate ‘busy’. Your team can see that you’re unavailable at that time frame. And it helps you to stick to your schedule and not be tempting to do something else less important.

Color code your projects in your calendar so you can easily see which project requires your time and your calendar stays organized and brings you clarity instead of overwhelm.

Organize Your Projects and Your Calendar

Habit 3 Schedule your weekly project team meetings as recurring event for as long as the project will run.

By meeting with your core project team on a weekly basis, you’ll be more in control which gives you peace of mind, even if this weekly meeting takes up thirty minutes or one hour per week in your busy schedule. It’s worth it!

If you like to learn more on why regular core project team meetings are a must, check it out by clicking here.

Having an effective morning routine

Managing new product development projects comes with lots of moving parts. It can be complex and challenging sometimes. If you want to stay in control, keep overview and be focused on your project goals, you need structure in your days.

It all starts with having an effective morning routine.

Habit 4 End your working day by planning what you need to start with the next day.

Always close your working day, with a list of actions that you need to do the next day. This is your priority list. Whatever happens, the actions that are on this list are important, therefore they need your attention.

Habit 5 Get your priority list in front of you first thing in the morning.

The first thing you do when you start up your computer is open your priority list or open your planner where you’ve noted down the actions that need your focus first. Make sure you finish these first before you start working on other topics.

My experience is that handling my priorities in the morning gives me the best results. I wrote a blog article on this topic, go check it out by clicking here.

Now it’s Your Turn

Here you have it! Some actions you can take right now to adopt 5 Practical Habits for Project Managers in the Manufacturing Industry.

If you like to learn more….

Download my free guide: 3 Ways to Boost Your Project Management Skills by clicking the link below!

Yes! Give me the free guide!