Roger Crawford once said, "Being challenged in life is inevitable; being defeated is optional."
Roger Crawford famously stated. This applies not only to life in general, but it also rings extremely well to project management.
A project manager should always look out for areas where the project might come loose and prepare plans on how to deal withthem should they ever arise. Of course, we may expect the best when a project is meticulously managed, but because we can't control everything, a project manager should plan carefully from Plan A to Z!
While all aspects of a project must be carefully evaluated, here are the more common but tricky pitfalls to look out for!
Poor Project Planning
Poor planning is one of the major project management pitfalls. Bad starts lead to bad outcomes. So for a project to run well, each area must be evaluated meticulously. From the simple ones to the more complex jobs, they must be planned and assigned correctly to ensure a better outcome.
Ambiguous Project Scope
If the project scope isn't clear, it will be hard to lead a project to success. As we work on projects, a client sees the project come to life. there are times when they would request additions. As a result, that could cause the project to take longer, cost more, or even fail.
Poor Communication
As they say, "teamwork makes the dream work." Teamwork is required to complete a project, and strong communication is essential. Poor communication can cause confusion, and delays, and lower the quality of the work and activities engaged in a project. Which in turn, jeopardizes a project's success.
Unclear Responsibilities
Team members must thoroughly comprehend where the project is headed and what is expected of them. To be capable of carrying them out as a project manager, you must ensure that duties are clarified and defined from the start in order to allow teams to become more organized and self-managed.
Lack of Trust
When you trust your team members, they will feel empowered and go above and beyond to raise the standard while at work. However, confidence is lost when judgments are made by a project manager who does not feel safe. If you lack trust, you may be able to complete your project on time. However, because morale is poor, the team will have a negative atmosphere which makes working on future projects together more challenging.
Unrealistic Budgets and Targets
When you're working with clients, the estimation of budgets and targets must be precise. As we must meet all deliverables on service-level agreements, under or overestimation will put your team under the bus and affect the quality of your deliverables. This also creates client dissatisfaction as this can greatly affect their return on investment.
Lack of Risk Management
Again, a project manager must and always have a contingency plan. The actual danger to your project is being unprepared for or caught off guard by risks. No matter how carefully planned a project is, unforeseen and unplanned mistakes can and will derail your efforts and cause them to fail entirely which is why a contingency plan is needed.
Unfit Project Management Software
When you're working on a project, no matter how big or small, having a project management software will be of huge help. However, if the software you have chosen isn't cut for your industry, let alone your project's needs, the chances for failure is higher.
Manage your projects confidently with JCVA!
With JCVA's combined experience of managing projects for over 120 years, expect first-class service from our leadership team. We've also created JCVA's AGILE and VAULT, an easily accessible web-based monitoring and reporting tool to help you manage your projects. Send us an email at info@jcvassociates.ph or visit www.jcvassociates.ph to learn more about our services.
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