Standard operating procedures (SOPs) map out how your company or team performs a specific procedure or work process. You can use SOPs to improve communication and consistency among team members and make training easier for new hires. Read on to learn how to write an SOP. The most efficient teams have processes for everything, from best practices to naming company file folders. Teams perform these processes routinely and get better at them over time.

Timeboxing is a simple but efficient time management method where you set an allotted time to work on a task, then evaluate your progress afterward. This gives you valuable control over your schedule. Because the timeboxing technique is so versatile, you can apply it to both project management tasks and your day-to-day to-do lists. We’ve all had that 30-minute task that spirals out of control and takes up a whole day’s work.

A perceptual map is a chart used to illustrate where a product or brand and its competitors are positioned according to consumer perception. Learn how your brand can unlock industry insights through perceptual maps and identify paths into new marketplaces. When it comes to positioning your brand or product in the marketplace, consumer perception is king. But for marketers, it can be difficult to distinguish between your actual position and where you perceive yourself to be.

A business contingency plan is a backup strategy for your team or organization. It lays out how you’ll respond if unforeseen events knock your plans off track—like how you’ll pivot if you lose a key client, or what you’ll do if your software service goes down for more than three hours. Get step-by-step instructions to create an effective contingency plan, so if the unexpected happens, your team can spring into action and get things back on track.

Project managers and teams can struggle to make balanced resource allocation decisions, often opting for too much or too little. But the key to navigating this delicate balance is continuous adjustment and real-time responsiveness to project needs. This approach ensures that resources are optimally utilized, preventing both surplus and shortfall and steering towards project success with precision and efficiency. When you think of the most important elements of project planning, what comes to mind?

A proof of concept (POC) demonstrates the feasibility of a proposed product, method, or idea. You must prove why your idea will work in the real world, so stakeholders and investors feel comfortable moving forward with the project. In this piece, we’ll explain how to write a POC and why this presentation is a beneficial part of product development. Before you spend time, money, and energy on a project, it makes sense to research whether your idea is worthwhile.

We all love it when a project runs smoothly. When there’s a clear plan, everyone knows what needs to get done, and they follow deadlines, projects tend to get completed on time and within budget. But all that doesn’t just happen—it takes a lot of careful planning. Project planning takes time, and tends to require a lot of manual, repetitive work—like defining project goals, creating timelines, drafting tasks, and distributing information to stakeholders and collaborators.

Managing resources effectively is crucial for large enterprises to succeed. As organizations grow in size and complexity, work that was once manageable becomes a multifaceted challenge as more projects, cross-functional teams, and objectives enter the mix. Often, enterprise leaders find themselves tackling demands and shifting priorities to maintain efficient and effective resource management.

When team members struggle to understand their individual responsibilities and deadlines, it can lead to confusion and delays. And without a clear view of a team’s project progress, it's difficult for managers to identify which tasks are lagging behind or need immediate attention. Project tracking addresses these issues by providing a transparent and real-time overview of all tasks, responsibilities, and due dates, ensuring everyone is aligned and on schedule.