There are many challenges experienced while managing projects that transcend business units, companies and even industries. They are common and sources of risk that until now are simply accepted along with lower quality project results. The industry, project scope, technology etc. change but the issues for project professionals and for those who manage projects, are consistently the same issues.
Challenge: ‘Although I have a
recurring scheduled meeting weekly, to go over the progress of my projects,
booked into my teams’ calendars, the people I need to have in my meetings to
move it forward don’t attend and when they do they aren’t prepared with the
answers I need.’
Challenge: ‘Although I spend time
pouring through the details of my project daily, I never seem to feel like I’m
controlling my project. Instead, it feels like my projects are controlling me.
I’m always playing catch up.’
Challenge: ‘I always feel like I
have too many projects to manage and I have to cut corners on the amount of
time I spend on the project plan maintenance just to stay on top of things that
are in progress.’
Challenge: ‘I spend way too much
time preparing and providing status updates on my projects. I just don’t have
time to produce all of these status reports and effectively manage my
projects.’
Challenge: ‘as a project professional,
I know that I am only as good as my last project. I also know that it’s vital
that I build and establish my brand. I can’t do it in such a busy environment,
as I am forced to cut corners to get my job done. How do I increase the value
of my brand without having to give up my workload (especially projects I really
want to work on) to do it?’
A large
chunk of a project professional’s day is buried in administrative work that
requires a great deal of time, concentration, plan & progress analysis to determine
the impacts of a project’s current progress. This then needs to be clearly
communicated to the team in order for the plan to be executed effectively.
There are a lot of moving parts
of a project that can help or hurt your project. If your analysis is done badly
or not at all, many of the challenges above become the norm. If done well, the
number of projects that can be managed by the same project professional reduces
dramatically. There seems to be no solution to this, so sub-par quality is
simply accepted. More project professionals are hired to compensate for this
shortage.
At least 75% of a project
professional’s job is focused on clear, concise and timely COMMUNICATION! The
successes of your projects rely on your ability to communicate the right
information to the right people at the right time. While this sounds simple,
determining the right info, people & time is a challenge that requires
solid preparation and plan analysis.
While there are dozens of project
planning & execution software solutions available there are no software
solutions that support the project professional with the heavy administrative
element of their jobs.
The administrative element of a
project professional’s job directly impacts: the number of concurrent projects
they can manage, the efficiency with which they manage their projects; the
efficiency with which their team executes and the level and effectiveness of
the involvement of the project sponsors and executives. Ultimately this
leads to an increase in the amount of control you as a project professional and
your sponsors and executives have over the projects.
No matter how well-crafted your
plan is, if you aren't communicating the right info to the right people at the
right time to produce the right results your project will struggle.
Most organizations either do not
understand or see the value in hiring a project administrator. In many cases
the kind of analysis that the PM needs done, needs to be done by the PM in
order for the PM to gain a greater insight into the deliverables of their
projects and the dynamics of their team.
If any of these challenges ring a bell or if there are challenges you've experienced I haven't mentioned here please reply by commenting on this blog. And thanks!!
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