Step 7: Direct and Execute the Work

Plan approved, team engaged: now it is time to make it happen. Based on the schedule from Step 4, you coordinate the people responsible to deliver what was planned. Execution is where the first deviations appear and the pressure rises — and where the project manager becomes a leader: connecting stakeholders, keeping the team motivated, dealing with conflict, speeding up decisions, finding the causes of deviations and knowing the right amount of pressure to apply.

Skills that make the difference

Conflict management. Competitive environments create conflict. Map the stakeholders and their interests quickly — especially the most resistant ones — and create strategies to reduce resistance. A common source of conflict is a demand that pleases one party and displeases another; always favor what adds the most value, listening to the customer first. Techniques from the PMBOK® Guide: collaborate/problem solve (consensus), compromise/reconcile (win-win), force/direct (win-lose), smooth/accommodate (papering over) and withdraw/avoid (postponing).

Negotiation. Because resources are scarce, negotiating is indispensable — above all to free up people from other areas. “Silence is golden”: listen more and understand the other side’s interests (that gives you the advantage). Look for win-win trades, give away what matters least to you, and keep a good relationship with whoever controls the scarcest resources.

Tools

• Expert judgment — leaning on people who have already been through situations that are new to you (including the community forums).
• Information system — from a file server to a corporate solution. The ideal one integrates schedule, spreadsheets and communication to generate the Status Report and remind each person of their activities. Favor the infrastructure you already have.
• Meetings — prepare the agenda and invite the participants; run the meeting recording decisions and actions (with an owner and a date); circulate the minutes quickly and follow up on the actions. In video calls, make the prerequisites clear and test beforehand.

On your board (ProjectAdm)

Work on the deliverables and activities of the WBS → Schedule list: in the predictive approach each action becomes a task (a subtask of the work package), and you execute by marking each card as done as you deliver it (and, if status is enabled on your board, move it Open → In Progress → Done) — not by moving it between lists. Keep owners and dates up to date and record decisions and impediments as they come up.

Predictive × Agile

In the Agile approach, execution gains a cadence of short rituals: Sprint Planning (sets the goal and pulls stories from the backlog), Daily (up to 15 min — it stops small delays from becoming big ones), Sprint Review (demonstrates the increment and collects feedback) and Retrospective (PDCA applied to the team itself). The work stays visible on the Sprint Backlog (To Do / In Progress / Done), which feeds the burndown chart.

📢 Even in predictive projects, adopting a fixed cadence of follow-up (for example, one short weekly meeting) reduces delays dramatically. The discipline of cadence is worth more than any tool.

Critical success factors of execution

• Execute according to the project plan;
• Customer participation;
• Team commitment to their deliverables and milestones;
• Risk management and implementation of the responses.

🎯 Your turn — Direct and execute

🎯 Objective: make sure every person has the direction, the motivation and the commitment to deliver on the agreed date.

✅ Before you start: the stakeholders engaged (Step 6).

🗃️ On your board: work on the deliverables and activities of the WBS → Schedule list.

📋 Checklist:

1. Run the kick-off with the whole team. Bring everyone together to align on the project and make sure each person: (a) knows their responsibilities and everything they have to deliver; and (b) has the right conditions to deliver at their best. Make it clear that if some condition is missing, the kick-off is the best moment to ask for it. (The course also generates the Project Kick-Off (.pptx) for you from your board.)
2. Activate the owners and clear the path. Make sure each person has direction, remove impediments and speed up day-to-day decisions — starting with the critical path.
3. Establish a fixed follow-up cadence. A short, regular meeting (weekly in the predictive approach, the Daily in agile) keeps the team aligned and turns small delays into adjustments instead of crises.
4. Update progress on the cards. Mark each deliverable as done as it is completed (Open → In Progress → Done) and keep owners and dates current.
5. Execute the risk responses and handle conflict. Implement the responses planned in Step 3 and resolve conflicts favoring what adds the most value.
6. Record decisions, conflicts and how they were resolved. The minutes and the history protect the project and feed the Status Report in Step 8.

🎁 Your deliverable: the project in execution, with the cards up to date.  🛠️ Tools: ProjectAdm + conflict management, negotiation and productive meetings.

💡 Accelerate with AI: run Step 7 in the course menu. It takes a live picture of your board and hands you the prompt already filled in — it asks the AI which activities are late or due soon, and which actions and messages to send to each owner. Paste the answer into the “0. Inbox” card and run Step 7 again to record it. For a conflict or an impediment, describe it to your AI and ask for approaches that consider both parties’ interests and the value for the project.

💬 Tip: executing without measuring is driving with your eyes closed — which is why the next step is monitoring.

In Step 8 you monitor schedule and cost and generate the Status Report.