Multiple Projects: Issues And Solutions

Many technical specialists, like product owners and project leads, often work on multiple projects simultaneously. Unlike project managers who usually have only a superficial understanding of projects, these specialists have to have a deep understanding of each project and everything related to it. It is relatively straight forward in case of one project but may be tricky in case of multiple projects. This article describes various project issues and ways to deal with them.

Technical Area

Technical issues related to multiple projects handling are very similar to regular technical issues. Hardware setup, architecture, internal project structure — technical specialist should be able to cover all these items without any problems. However, if he has many such projects, it may be tricky to switch between them. Virtual machines or containers can solve environment-related issues. Proper documentation should contain information about the architecture and project structure.

The second type of technical issues on multiple projects is repeatable issues. If many projects experience the same problems under similar circumstances, then the technical specialist has to analyze what these projects have in common and search for the source there. Another best practice is to apply fixes to all projects that may experience the problem, even if it was not reported yet.

Communication

Communication is not affected a lot by having multiple projects simultaneously. One way or the other, the technical specialist has to discuss project requirements and issues and find proper solutions. It is recommended to group communication activities if possible, to spend less time switching between them. For example, if there are several projects implemented by the same team, it may be easier to discuss them one by one to spent less time on team gathering and small talks.

One more small recommendation is always to have an agenda. Yes, this is important for any project, but it can be crucial if many projects require discussion. Good agenda can save up 30% of the time, and this saved time can be spent to work on other projects.

Management

There are many management issues related to multiple project handling. First of all, this is time management. The technical specialist has to be able to plan his time correctly, schedule the required amount of time for every activity. Calendar and list of priorities are the very first tools that may help in this situation. It is also possible to delegate some secondary or less important activities to other team members with enough experience.

Another common issue is context switching. It is hard to switch between the projects a lot — it does not only take time but also raises the level of stress and may lead to health issues. Technical specialists should organize his schedule in a way to decrease the number of such switches as much as possible. Some people prefer to group projects by some criteria (team, level of involvement, language, complexity) and dedicate each day of the week to a specific group of projects to make similar activities during each day.

Every professional often has to work on multiple projects simultaneously, and technical specialists are not an exception. It is crucial to follow the best practices in every area and avoid known issues to save time and stay positive. Follow the best practices mentioned above and your life is going to become less stressful and more pleasant!