Project managers are probably belong to that breed of specialist jugglers who have to juggle hundreds of balls at the same time. When managing a project, you have to ensure quality, meet timelines, get resources, keep the resources happy, keep the boss satisfied and the client humored.

This is at the macro level. If I begin to talk about micro management then well… we all know how difficult things can get. So what does one do to ensure that we deliver every time? Here’s a little secret: Incorporate the three Eff- words into your management style. This means you must be ‘eff’ective, ‘eff’icient and do your job ‘eff’ortlessly.

I’ll confess, these aren’t my trade secrets. But isn’t it a good thing to share something that is ‘eff’ective? Well, let’s leave the games aside and try to understand why these ‘eff’ words are so important in management today. Firstly we must accept that we are trying to do too many things at the same time, which may result in a loss of quality or worse, a bad product.

So we must learn how to harness the power of time to our benefit. Effective time management allows us to avoid that horrible last minute rush to meet a deadline. Also we learn how to get the most out of a workday. Here are a few things you can do to ensure that you don’t lose time.

Firstly learn to say no to excessive workloads. We are not beasts of burden. Managing a project is not assembly line production. Next, ensure that you monitor the progress of the project at all times. You don’t want to discover a snag when it is too late to rectify. Finally, ensure that you don’t neglect long-term projects.