7 Common Project Management Challenges

Whether you are someone just starting your career in the field of project management or have a lot of experience, you’ll agree that being a project manager is not simple.

You need to constantly stay on your feet by learning the project management basics and ensure that the project remains within all the agreed-upon project fundamentals like; Time, Resources and Budget.

Here is a list of 7 common challenges and how to tackle them when they arise;

1. Poorly defining goals and objectives

Poorly defined goals or goals without objectives pushes a project in danger. You might not be knowing what exactly to expect from the project. If the goals and objectives are not clearly defined, the project is doomed to fail.

To tackle this challenge, first of all, you and your team members should concentrate on making a focused execution strategy for a particular project. The strategy with clear and defined goals helps the team members to complete the project successfully.

2. Keeping teams on the same page

Managing a team that is widely spread out is one big challenge for project managers. Keeping your team on the same page will make things happen interactively. Each team member will know exactly what’s going on, what they need to do, and what each of them is working towards.

Solve this by, staying on top of your schedule and know what’s coming up with calendar views. Know who works on what part and get notified of tasks moving from one stage to another, keeping everyone together. 

3. Unrealistic deadlines

Do you always impose a deadline on your project members that they possibly cannot meet? A big thing that most teams or project managers struggle with is the unrealistic project deadlines and expectations clients and stakeholders have of them.  

Project managers can take care of the project deadlines and other related issues with impeccable planning, alternative analysis and proper communication of the real-time progress to project participants and other key decision-makers. Plan your events, manage your schedule, and keep track of important dates with a project calendar. 

4. Lack of communication

How many times have you heard of communication issues as an excuse or explanation to unfinished tasks, projects don’t meet deadlines, conflicts or not working together? Miscommunication, poor communication, is one of the biggest project management challenges that get in the way of delivering projects successfully. 

Determine proper communication flows for project members and develop a way to inform what information needs to be informed to project members.

5. Budget Issues

Most managers consider financial issues as one of the biggest hurdles in effective project management. It is absolutely necessary to adopt a proper budgeting procedure and make realistic assumptions to avoid cost overruns.

6. Poor risk management

Having the foresight to identify potential ‘what if’ scenarios and making up backup plans is an important aspect of project management. Projects rarely go exactly as planned because there are so many variables that can create unlimited possibilities.

Deal with it by coming up with alternate plans that the team may adopt if the project begins to spiral out of control. Having a project risk management system helps in identifying the types of risks and mitigating them.

7. Lack of accountability

A project team performs really well when every member feels responsible and tries to fulfill the role assigned to them. Lack of accountability on the part of team members can sink an entire project.

Effective project managers assign responsibilities to team members and direct the team toward the common goal of successfully completing their project.

Conclusively,

Project management isn’t what it seems to be, it’s much more than that. It’s a skill that takes time, patience and perseverance.

Looking for a chance to sharpen your project management skills and advance your career? Enroll for this Short Project Management Course!