To Do In Progress Complete - Project Management and Team Building Activity

team building project management managerial leadership project expert michael cardus

A team-building, project management, goal-setting, communication idea. I walked into the ‘war room’ of a team that I am coaching/ consulting and saw something similar to the image on a large whiteboard.

I pointed and asked them, “What’s that?”

They replied, “Mike that came from our last team-development meeting. You were talking about recognizing success and all the small steps we each take, which lead to project completion. After the meeting, we met and decided that you were right. Then we asked ourselves, how can we do that? And this is it.”

I responded, “That is freaking awesome!”

To-Do : In-Progress : Complete: Chart

What is it?

A visual progress chart.

The project team uses post-it notes to write the task in brief language. Then as the work goes from To-Do –> In Progress –> Complete they move the post-it notes as needed.

The team already knew the Goal and defined Roles. We were continually re-working and adjusting its procedures… they created a visual progress chart that the team could look at and measure success and completion.

Red Ring

Tasks that need to be done. At the beginning of the project, and each meeting things that need to be completed and started and explored and written on post-it notes. They are affixed to the outer ring.
One person is listed as the responsible party to focus on that task. Other people may be needed, BUT only one person is responsible for managing that task.

Yellow Ring

Tasks that are in-progress. Post-it notes are moved from the Red Ring to the Yellow ring when they have been started, and progress has been made.
This way the team can see small steps and determine if a responsible team member needs extra resources, assistance, and support for that task.

Green Ring

When the work is complete and meets the QQTR requirements, it is moved from the Yellow Ring to the Green Ring.
This way the team can see how much it has completed and recognize the progress and success of the project.
When everything is in the Green Ring (ideally within the time-frame of the project planning map and scope) then the project is complete!

The team I am working with reported that they enjoyed the visual metric of progress, plus it has proven effective in communication and delegation of tasks.