Common Project Management Mistakes

Project management mistakes is costing companies all around the globe.  The fact that 25% of project management offices close within a year of their inception and 50% within 2 years proves that the project management industry continues to make mistakes.  This can cause delays and affect overall business performance. Mistakes are inevitable but do we sufficiently learn from these mistakes and minimize project failures? 

Let us look at some of the most common project management mistakes that can be avoided.

Not Leveraging Project Management Tool

Over time project managers have understood that PM software can get things done faster. Several successful companies are already leveraging more advanced programme management tools. 

These tools support managers to plan, execute, and control the phases of the project management process.  These PM tools enable project tracking for all projects and make it easier for the team to understand complex tasks and their status.

One of the most common mistakes of PM is the lack of a central tool for projects.  A project management tool can make teams more efficient and productive by offering a one-stop hub to manage projects.  Teams can work on critical tasks first to meet deadlines and promote project success. Lack of a central tool for project management decreases efficiency since resources are potential inappropriately adequate and the overall portfolio delayed.

Misuse of Available Resources

If your resources are used improperly, the probability of project failure increases.  It is sad to see team members often chosen as per their availability and not because of their capability, experience and skills. 

Picking a team that’s not well-cast and appropriate to the project can put the project in jeopardy.  Expected deliveries are missed when you cannot utilize your resources properly. Poor resource planning can create a system of inefficiencies compromising the success and stability of organizational workflow.

Organizing and managing your resources carefully ensures that equipment is available, skillsets are optimized, and projects run smoothly.  Proper use of resources provides stability to the organisational workflow. 

Poor Communication

When you work on projects, poor communication can hold a task or the whole project back.  For instance, a project can stay on hold for hours if a 5-minute task demands approval from a team member from a different department who got the requirement late due to poor communication.  It’s important that everyone associated with the project stay organized with their comments. Companies can save time and resources by streamlining communication and keeping every associated person on the same page. 

Lack Of Project Evaluation and Lesson Learned

Unfortunately, many project managers never evaluate a project once completed. Whatever the outcome, PMs should review previous projects at least once. They can make note of all the loopholes after analysing previous projects and avoid similar issues in the future. 

Many new AI project management tools analyse previous projects and suggest new techniques that can help the next projects. Analyzing previous projects is a critical part of risk management- one of the top factors influencing project delivery. You can avoid unwanted risks and move with proper planning by reviewing previous projects and correcting your mistakes. 

Misunderstanding Project Requirements

Another common mistake that organizations often do is- misunderstanding or missing the project requirements.  Imagine something as basic as somebody mishearing the deadline and ignoring to verify it. This can lead to disastrous consequences and the end result would be a failed project. 

Misunderstandings can also be generated if the goals and objectives are poorly defined.  If team members do not have enough clarity and forethought over the project, a lot of confusion and chaos is inevitable.  Following one requirements method or having one place for forwarding concerns or queries can help control the number of misunderstandings and doubts.

Underestimating the Required Budget

A successful project is the one delivered on-time with quality work and without overrunning the budget and enabling the release of benefits.  Cost overrun is a common term in project management that means an unexpected cost due to an underestimation of the required budget at the beginning of the project.

Everything else such as quality work and timely-delivery can go out of the window if the project goes over-budget.  There can be three types of budget overruns in project management including technical, psychological, and political-economic. 

Conclusion

This multi-billion dollar industry of programme management wastes millions of dollars every year due to the common PM mistakes mentioned above.  Find out how these mistakes are influencing project management and how they can be corrected.