Project management is one of the most lucrative and prestigious positions in the management sector. Any manager can successfully manage the role of a project manager provided they know the industry inside out and have the critical technical, hard and soft skills. Also, project managers are some of the most underappreciated professionals in the world because nobody knows what a project manager has gone through to complete the project within the speculated time.
They work as the sole medium of connection between several departments and individuals. They take care of the planning and management aspects of a project. The digital world has been throwing many challenges in the project managers' way as well. Though project managers have an opportunity to work for large multinational corporations and international projects through digitalization, there are still numerous hurdles in making the project a success. Multi-time zone shifts, distant clients, and travel restrictions due to disease and war are some of the external factors that can hinder a project. However, the list does not stop there. In this article, we will discuss some common challenges a project manager goes through and how to overcome them with ease.
Common Challenges that Project Managers struggles with
Every industry and job has its own challenges and so does project management. Project management challenges can be broadly classified into two major categories: internal and external. The former is within the PM's direct control and the latter is most probably not. The internal problems can be overcome by observation and self-assessment, and personal changes. However, the external challenges depend on several factors. Still, they can be overcome with different management tactics. We have further classified them into 4 more categories.
The personal challenges for Project Managers
These internal challenges must be addressed by the project manager themselves as it is in their control. Identifying these challenges requires self-assessment and an understanding of one's self. Knowing what one can do and what one can't do. If one is not able to do it in one way then is there another way. This makes a difference in management. Before getting into a project management role, assess all the key strengths and weaknesses and make a personal SWOT analysis. Even with the best planning in the world, you will certainly run into some problems like the following problems. Along with technical expertise, the lack of following skills can hinder the success of the project.
Communication: Communication is the single most important skill a project manager must-have. 77% of employers say that these soft skills are as important as technical skills (Source: AOL). Without communicating clearly and concisely, a project is doomed to fail. These errors can haunt the project in the later stages of the project. Personal communication with each team member and project stakeholder must be the number one priority for a Project Manager.
Let your team know that you are approachable and available at any given time. State the project goals and the steps towards achieving them clearly and concisely. Talk with the clients about all the aspects of the project and its outcomes.
As a project manager, you will be the single point of contact between several departments, boards and teams. Make it clear to every member of your team that you can be contacted if there is something important that needs to be discussed. Becoming a channel of communication that is available to clear the doubts of team members will avoid many hurdles in the project due to misinformation.
Planning: As the popular saying goes, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Plan all the way through. Failure to plan causes most of the project failures (Source: Wrike). A project is like a funnel. In the beginning stages of the project, the project team must pour all the efforts in. Afterwards, the project will be more about refining the groundwork than about laying the foundation. If your project client will pay you every quarter work 25%, 50%, 75% and after the completion, make it clear to yourself how much work needs to be done at each stage and how much funds are needed at each stage. Documentation for your work, costs involved, and staffing will help you in later stages.
Time management: Time management is the next crucial skill for the project manager. Meeting deadlines can be a daunting task if you and your team waste all the time chasing petty issues or scope creeps. As a Project Manager, you must understand that time is a limited resource. Plan all the way through the project and guess how much time you will need to finish the project. Remember the 80/20 rule - 80% of the job is done with 20% of effort and time, and the rest 20% of the job takes 80% of the time and effort. Keep in mind that the latter stages of the project need much more time than you might have guessed and have a backup plan in place. This will avoid unreasonable deadlines from the clients.
Not asking for help: Often, Project Managers struggle with making the ends meet. This can be stressful and hurt the PM's mental health. Remember that you don't have to take all the stress on yourself. If some work needs to be done immediately, ask for help.
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Challenges for Project Managers from the Project Team
The project team is the next decisive factor in the success of a project. Choosing and leading the perfect team will make all the difference in project management. Here are some of the challenges project managers face in managing their teams.
Lack of Accountability: 59% of US workers said that a lack of accountability is the second biggest obstacle to their team's success (Source: Atlassian). Procrastination can lead many team members astray from the project goals. Blindly trusting a team member to finish their work once you have assigned it, can jeopardise the project's success rate. Humans are susceptible to procrastination and lose valuable time in that. Procrastination can be in many forms. Putting off a critical element of the project until the last moment and working tirelessly on the less important elements altogether can also be a form of procrastination.
The antidotes are accountability and assessment of progress. Project management software can help you with observing the daily input of your team. Just discussing the lack of progress every day can pump up the productivity rates of individuals. Keeping an eye on the progress will help you in identifying the negligence of critical elements of the project.
Communication: Communication can be not only your problem. Even the lack of communication among your team members can negatively impact the project. Communication errors between team members can also pose a problem.
Making yourself approachable and available is the antidote to communication problems between you and your team. Hire great communicators to avoid future conflicts and productivity losses within the team. Build an inclusive office culture. Create opportunities that help your team get to know each other. Look out for communication problems from time to time.
Lack of skills: Many project managers realise after the project is already underway that their team lacks the critical skills to succeed in the project. It can be technical, artistic, or managerial. As a project manager, it is up to you to decide how to fill this gap.
Choose if you can upskill someone from your team or have to hire someone else. To hire extra staff, refer to your budget structure if you have the necessary funding. If not, try asking for more funding from the client.
Behavioural problems: The behaviour of each team member can be a hindrance to the project's progress. Finger-pointing, tantrums, and workplace politics can affect employee satisfaction. These can trigger psychological responses and might lead to walkouts during the project.
Having a healthy and strict office culture must be the first step to ensuring smooth progress. Also, anti-racial rules can be taken into account to counteract superiority complexes from team members.
Time tracking: Time tracking is one of the overlooked aspects of project management. If the employees come and go without a strict schedule the project's time gets elongated. However, it is wise to consider these possibilities like a team member's health and family issues and set reserved time for such scenarios.
Tracking a project's total time will give you better premises to work on in your next projects. This also helps in negotiation and in asking for more funds from the clients. Again, project management software can be useful.
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Challenges for Project Managers from the Project Client
Clients can pose many challenges to project managers. This can be a lack of interest in understanding the project. Here are some of the common challenges faced by project managers by clients.
Scope creep: Scope creep is one of the most expected challenge by the client. Nearly 50% of the projects experience Scope Creep (Source: PMI.org). Scope creep or requirement creep is caused mainly by key project stakeholders. Sometimes, internal miscommunication and disagreements can also lead to this trap. Scope creep happens when additional features, requirements or scopes are added to the project once it is underway.
When a project is not properly defined, controlled or documented, this will lead to scope creep resulting in the addition of time, resources, and costs. Lack of communication on the part of the project team and clients can also lead to this. Most of the time, key project stakeholders change the requirements, and features due to disagreements causing this issue.
This can be avoided by clearly defined project scope and adherence to the agreed-upon goal. Effectively communicating these scopes to the team members will minimise the risk of additional work from team members. Keeping the key project stakeholders in the know of the progress, cost, and time of the project might keep them from adding unnecessary features.
Ego and ambiguity: Disagreements between key project stakeholders can negatively impact the progress of the project. Disagreements can lead to resentment and a lack of cooperation and guidance from the stakeholders. Sometimes, withholding crucial information from the project team can lead the project astray. Ambiguity in the approach, scope and key aspects of the project must be communicated before the starting of the project as well as a request for extra funding staff and time. There is little that a project manager can do in such cases. Communicating might help to some degree.
Lack of interest, support, funding, or engagement: Lack of interest from the key project stakeholders can also affect the progress and outcome of a project. Project managers must communicate ahead of the project the outcomes, funding, staff, and support from each of the project stakeholders.
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Challenges for Project Managers within the Project
Project risk: Every project comes with risks. Having proper risk management can significantly reduce the failure rates of a project. Assessing all the risks and having a defensive strategy for the risks involved is crucial.
Time cost quality triangle: Meeting the iron triangle of the project's scope can be a major challenge for project managers. Often, overlooked factors play a major role in lengthening the time, increasing the costs, or lowering the quality of the project. Completing a project that meets all the three requirements can make a project manager successful and earn a reputation. According to PMI.org, only 57% of projects are finished within budget and only 51% are finished on schedule (Source file: PMI.org).
Task management: Task management is often overlooked by many Project Managers. This can result in more input being wasted on less important tasks or fewer efforts being put into more important tasks. Lack of adequate task management can also result in procrastination and additional time, cost, and work at the last stage of the project.
Also, the bigger the project is, the more the project management team gets overwhelmed by the amount of work to be done. Hence, a project manager must have a proper task management system in place. The work breakdown structure must be properly planned even before the start of the project to maintain the momentum, earn the confidence of the client, and reduce stress.
Neglecting PM tools: With the advent of digitalization, there is a myriad of project management software at the disposal of a project manager. These tools can significantly increase productivity and simplify project management. The work from the home era has proved the efficiency of project management software. Virtual offices will be more common in the future with the outsourcing of many key elements of a project. Indeed, project management software brings together different departments of a project on a single platform. This enables project managers to quickly identify progress and challenges and helps in estimations. Some of the most popular project management software are Trello, Kissflow, and Microsoft Project.
However, only 1 in 4 organisations is using the benefits of Project Management tools (Source: Wellingtone). The rest are using Excel, paper, and sticky notes. Neglecting the benefits of these project management software can lead to unnecessary hurdles and extra work hours, and stress for a project manager. There will also be a lack of documentation that will help in future negotiations with the project clients. This can significantly hinder the progress in the standards of the modern world.
Others: Small mistakes from data entry, designer, writer, and quality checker can go a long way at the end of the project. There are many instances where a large project was doomed just because of the neglect of a seemingly unimportant team member. To avoid such defeats, a project manager must choose his/her team members wisely even though the role of the team member is unimportant.
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Conclusion
Being a Project Manager is not an easy task. There will be challenges everywhere. A project manager will face challenges from himself/herself and others like his/her project team, stakeholders, and others. Planning, communication, and team management skills decide the success of a project. Key management skills will save you and the project. This is why any manager can take on the project management role if they have industry knowledge.
SNATIKA's UK Masters Degree program in Project Management has the potential to exponentially increase your academic reputation. It can also refine your industry expertise with its immersive syllabus and assignment-based assessment system. Moreover, a Level 7 Diploma in Project Management is also awarded as a bonus for SNATIKA learners. If you want to increase your academic reputation without sacrificing your career, SNATIKA is your chance.
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