Introduction
It’s finally summer! July and August mark the season long awaited by our teams to relax and recharge their batteries. However, this summer season can bring many challenges to business managers, including IT project management. ndeed, with the arrival of the holidays, work teams find themselves at reduced capacity, which can disrupt the deliverables to be achieved.
What can we say about the days of oppressive heat when the team would undoubtedly prefer the view of a beach rather than that of a screen! Despite absences and reduced motivation, we can’t always afford to slow down!
So how can you make sure you stay on track and successfully complete your technology projects?
What do we mean by an IT project?
An IT project consists of planning, design, development, the implementation and management of an IT system or technological solution to achieve specific objectives within an organization.
Examples :
- Development of a mobile/web application : Create a mobile application to allow bank customers to carry out online transactions.
- Implementation of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system : Integrate the different management processes (finance, human resources, production) within the same platform to improve operational efficiency.
- Cloud migration : Moving a company’s data and applications to cloud services to improve flexibility and reduce infrastructure costs.
- Deploying a cybersecurity system : Protect sensitive data and IT systems against cyberattacks.
The Challenges of IT Project Management in Summer
It is not always easy to collaborate effectively during the summer period! Let’s first discuss the main challenges before exploring effective solutions!
Reduced availability of teams
After months of hard work to achieve your business goals, it is important to take some time off, experience the joys of summer and enjoy the holidays. However, this period can profoundly affect the proper management of your IT projects and it can seriously impact your business.
Indeed, the reduced availability of human resources can cause several problems such as missing business opportunities, creating tension within your team or even disappointing your customers.
Team motivation
We know that temperature greatly influences our emotions and behavior. So, it is common for the summer heat to cause a drop in energy and motivation. After all, with the sun shining, it is much more pleasant to be by the pool during the summer and it can be difficult for some members of your teams to put in a constant effort.
Obviously, this affects the productivity of your team and the progress of your projects and can have significant consequences on your strategic objectives.
Difficult coordination between employees
During vacations, coordinating team time off and fluctuating workload often becomes more complicated to manage.
The need to reorganize tasks and reassign responsibilities adds a layer of complexity to IT project management.
Furthermore, this method is usually the cause of internal conflicts and dissatisfaction. After all, being delegated an additional workload when motivation is at its lowest and the need for vacation is at its highest is not exactly the most pleasant news!
5 effective strategies for successful IT project management in summer
To overcome these challenges and ensure optimal team productivity as well as the continuity of IT projects during the summer, rigorous preparation is essential! Here are five effective strategies to help you navigate this time successfully.
Advance planning
Planning vacations in advance is crucial to effectively managing IT projects dduring the summer. It is recommended to collect leave requests from employees at least two months in advance.
If you have access to an HRIS or any other software that allows you to manage your internal resources, this will greatly facilitate your coordination! Otherwise, just use an Excel spreadsheet or Google Sheets. This will help you centralize all planned absences and optimize the availability of remaining resources.
Additionally, establish rotations between resources to ensure projects continue to progress. Above all, make sure critical tasks are covered even when key managers are away.
Use of IT project management tools
To effectively manage your IT project, you can use tools such as Trello, Asana, and Slack which simplify coordination and remote communication.
These tools allow you, among other things, to monitor the progress of your projects in real time, assign tasks, and stay in constant contact with team members.
By integrating these tools, you can improve the clarity of your communication and the accountability of your team while ensuring that each member is fully aware of their responsibilities and expected results.
Encourage the possibility of remote work and vacations
In 2024, remote work has become essential, and a new trend around vacations is also emerging: the ability to combine vacation time with exclusive remote work periods, allowing your team members to diversify their work locations while continuing to work remotely.
For example, some companies offer their teams the option of a set number of fully remote work weeks each year. This way, an employee could be physically away from the office for a full month and schedule a few days or weeks of remote work during that time.
In addition, for those who travel, this allows them to enjoy a longer period outside and, for those who stay at home for the holidays, it allows them to better manage their time and energy. This workplace flexibility reduces the stress associated with daily travel, promotes employee satisfaction, and improves the atmosphere within the team.
This also allows interesting compromises to be made to achieve certain deliverables. For example, the possibility that the employee will work a day or two when his or her expertise is specifically needed while he or she is away.
At the same time, remote work demonstrates a modern corporate culture that adapts to the current needs of employees and helps attract and retain talent.
This is our case at OnCode and we can say that our teams greatly appreciate the opportunity to be physically absent for longer without using up vacation days!
Allocation of dedicated expertise for IT project management
The allocation of dedicated expertise during the summer months is a winning strategy adopted by many large companies in Quebec to successfully carry out their technology projects.
It involves temporarily hiring specialized resources to address the challenges of summer or any other period when the number and specialization of the resources needed to achieve objectives may be problematic.
Indeed, aside from the summer season, the temporary allocation of resources is a very attractive solution in various situations. For instance, if you cannot wait for the internal recruitment of a new resource or if you need a specialized resource for a specific task.
How does it work?
It’s simple! At OnCode, our partners benefit from an allocation of specialized human resources across a wide range of information technology fields, and this has been the case for over four years.
Beyond competitive pricing and flexibility, we handle, among other things, the administrative management of resources, their engagement, and their development.
Additionally, resource allocation allows you to introduce new perspectives and skills within your team, which can be extremely innovative.
By opting to allocate dedicated expertise, you can also accelerate the implementation of new technologies and optimize your existing processes to increase the competitiveness and efficiency of your business.
Our partners strongly affirm the benefits of allocating resources!
The difference with “freelancers”?
What is most important when dealing with an external partner is trust! With OnCode, you ensure that the work is done, completed on time and with the requested quality (often even exceeded!)
We eliminate the uncertainties and instabilities that you may face with “freelancers” in addition to offering our resources access to various senior tools and resources to perfect your project.
Integration of New Technologies
In the summer, some companies experience peaks in activity, while others go through slower periods where everything slows down.
Whatever your situation, summer can be an ideal time to focus on technical updates and improvements, preparing your business for a dynamic restart in the fall.
OnCode can be your ideal technology partner to integrate new technologies and modernize your infrastructure during this time.
By investing in innovation and modernization, you can not only improve the efficiency of your current processes but also better prepare to face future challenges with increased confidence and resilience !
Conclusion
n conclusion, while the summer season brings its own set of challenges for IT project management, they can be overcome with careful preparation. By applying these five strategies, you can turn summer challenges into assets, ensuring the long-term success of your projects.
With the support of technology partners like OnCode, you can navigate this season with flexibility and confidence, maintaining high productivity and uninterrupted project continuity.
Summer doesn’t have to be a time for slowing down; instead, it’s an opportunity to strengthen your company’s technological foundations!