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5 Project Management Mistakes that You Need To Stop Making

In spite of modern project management techniques, 70 percent of projects still fail. What’s even more surprising is that most of the time this failure is not because of something that happened while the project was underway. Instead, it always leads back to something that happened at the very beginning of the project. Here some of the common project management mistakes that most businesses make:

Failing to Define Project Objective

You’d be surprised to know how many projects start without a clear goal in mind. The purpose of the project plays a very important role in determining its success. Without a clear goal, you cannot determine the right strategies or allocate proper resources. Goals are also useful in motivating the team. People need to know that what they’re doing is valuable. If your project does not have a predefined objective, then you need to stop wasting resources on it and go back to the planning stage.

Failing to Set Priorities

Prioritization is very important in a project. It helps determine the allocation of resources. This could be raw material, human resource, time, money, etc. You also need to identify the critical bottlenecks in a project and prioritize how you’re going to deal with them. Failing to do this will cause delays in your project.

Not Using Project Management Software

Most project managers still believe in opting for traditional project management techniques. They do not take advantage of online project management software. Opting to use software can improve the efficiency of your planning. Project management software also helps organize your efforts and improves teamwork. You can use for reporting and control as well. It helps you stay on track and notifies you of any potential delays in the project. This helps you prepare for any disruptions and deal with them accordingly.

Hiring the Wrong Person as Project Manager

Given the title, it is obvious that the success rate of a project also depends on the person you hire to manage it. Some individuals may have a lot of knowledge, but if they lack the ability to lead a team, then your project is likely to fail. A good project manager is able to define team responsibilities, keep track of activities, and also have the ability to deal with any potential hiccups. If your project manager is unable to keep a cool head and gets stressed out by every minor problem, then your project is doomed to fail.

Working in Isolation

A project is only successful if the whole team provides input. A lot of organizations consist of individuals that choose to work in isolation and fail to communicate with each other. Strong communication is extremely important to the success of a project. It helps identify potential delays and also helps in finding a solution to a problem. If you want your projects to be a success, then you must propagate a culture of open communication in the company. You can also use online project management software for this purpose as it provides a platform on which project team members can communicate.

To Sum It Up

There are many reasons that can cause a project to fail. However, most of them require some minor tweaks in management style and the use of online project management software.