Project managers wear many hats: facilitators, managers, problem-solvers and even interpreters -- translating business needs into actionable plans for teams and aligning resources. They must work around constraints, map skills and set timeframes to ensure positive outcomes for the business. In a “do more with less,” digital era, project managers are critical to the success of a business, especially in the fast-moving world of IT and software. Project management software firm Workfront recently polled project management (PM) professionals across industries and from various business sizes -- from small businesses to large enterprises -- to glean the best tips and tricks for improving project management skills and experience. Eighty-one professionals weighed in, sharing responses to help PMs improve in five areas: communication; time management and productivity; building community; framework, workflow and project scheduling; leadership and collaboration; and management tools. Here are the best pieces of advice based on those results.

One of the problems I see most frequently on projects is that the initiation phase was done badly. Or not at all. This causes all manner of issues later from unclear roles and responsibilities to lack of buy in at senior levels, unapproved spending and poorly defined requirements.

Have you worked on a project that hasn’t had a defined start? Where you’ve suddenly inherited a piece of work and are asked to get on with it, but it isn’t totally clear what you are supposed to be doing?

Some projects do have unclear objectives. You can manage a program of work with a defined goal but an unclear journey. That’s normal, and quite likely in a world where there are high levels of innovation and plenty of uncertainty in the market place.

What I’m talking about is where the project isn’t kicked off appropriately so you don’t have an approved mandate or clear objective in the first place.

Do you struggle with sharing information between team members? It’s too common to hear phrases like:

• If I’d known that I would have done it differently
• I didn’t know we had a template for that
• It would have saved a lot of time if I’d known…
• There’s already a process for…

There is a lot of knowledge in people’s heads. Getting it out is the hard part, and making sure that it gets into the heads of people who need to know it. At the right time. And then making sure it isn’t forgotten again.

Knowledge sharing can supercharge your productivity because it saves time and streamlines processes. It stops people doing rework. It makes people happier because they don’t have to do tasks that don’t feel rewarding and the sharing itself can be a team building activity.