Startups are known for their agility and the ability to experiment with new ideas. But your startup’s agility can become chaotic if you’re not careful. That’s because effective project management requires discipline and a plan — two things that are often in short supply at startups. Here are some tips to improve project management in your startup:

Start Small and Build Up Your Team
You don’t need to hire an entire department of people just because you have a few projects on the go. Instead, hire a virtual assistant to help with all aspects of your business. You will have more time and your family but also be able to take advantage of their expertise when needed.

Set Clear Expectations Upfront
The next step in good project management is setting clear expectations upfront. When you start a new project, in project management software make sure everyone involved knows exactly what their role is and how it fits into the overall picture. This will help avoid confusion later on down the road when things inevitably change. It also helps keep everyone focused on their goals and prevents them from working on tasks that aren’t as important as others.

Define Success Clearly and Early
It may sound obvious, but many startups fail because they don’t know what they want from their projects. While the company’s vision is evident in their heads, they struggle with translating it into tangible goals. They often end up doing things that are not aligned with their goals. This leads to confusion among employees as well as customers.
Startups need to define success clearly and early on in the project lifecycle so that everyone knows what they’re working towards and can contribute their best efforts towards achieving it.

Learn From Failure and Adjust Accordingly
Don’t let one failed project derail your entire company. The key is to consider failure as a learning experience and adjust your strategy accordingly. When you fail, ask yourself why it happened, whether there was anything you could have done differently and what factors contributed to the outcome of your efforts.

Don’t Let One Person be Responsible for Everything
This is crucial if you have a small team or are the only person in charge of your business. Having too much responsibility can cause burnout and make it difficult to focus on any one thing at the expense of another. If you do this, you’ll waste valuable time trying to juggle everything yourself instead of keeping your focus where it needs to be — on the big picture.

Don’t Forget About the Human Element
It is quite simple to be caught up in spreadsheets and advanced reports when managing projects, but don’t forget about the people involved. Find out what motivates them and what they need from you as a leader. Be transparent about where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. If someone isn’t pulling their weight, talk with them before making any decisions about their role on the team (or whether or not they should stay).

Break Down Large Projects into Smaller Chunks
It is sometimes easy to lose sight of the end goal when working on a large or complex project. To stay on track and make sure everything gets done correctly, break each phase down into smaller tasks that can be completed independently of each other. That way, if one phase takes longer than expected or if something goes wrong halfway through, it won’t derail the entire process and cause major delays for everyone involved in the project.