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It’s not easy to get a project done and deliver what you promised. Even the most experienced project managers will admit that there are many obstacles that can prevent them from doing their best work, completing projects on time and within budget.
Below are 5 common project roadblocks. I have also included some tips to help you address them.
This article:
Roadblock #1: Lacking Collaboration
Roadblock #2: Too Few Resources
Roadblock #3: Poor prioritization
Roadblock #4: Poor Planning
Roadblock #5 – Lack of funding
Next steps
Here’s a quick video that highlights the key points if you prefer to watch rather than read.
Roadblock #1: Lacking Collaboration
Teams are what make projects successful. This fact is unavoidable, so embrace it!
This means that projects require a lot of collaboration. Projects require a lot of collaboration, from working with third-party data center employees to getting advice from your legal and PR teams to outsourcing development to experts off-shore.
If you don’t believe in this mindset, you will have to change it if your projects are to succeed.
Address by: Online collaboration tools for project managers allow you to work together on documents even if you’re not in the same place. Technology can be used to improve collaboration but it won’t solve all of your problems if there is a lack of team culture.
Spend some time and effort on team building. Even making the end-of-week stand up meeting a time for you to talk about something other than work is a good start. You can also find small ways to interact with your team members in meetings and via online calls. It can be difficult to foster a culture that encourages collaboration when everyone is online, but it is possible. It is possible to find a way.
You don’t have to work in the same office if you all do!
Learn more about how collaboration tools can work in my book Roadblock #2: Too Few Resource
These days, everyone is under pressure for resources. You can skip this roadblock if you aren’t. Even if you don’t feel stretched, you will still need to manage the resources required to share them with other projects or teams.
Resources include access to specialists, materials and equipment, as well as money. However, we will be looking at the impact of funding issues later. You will hit a roadblock that is very hard to overcome if you don’t have the resources you need to complete the work.
Address by: A thorough and detailed planning will help you plan your resources for when you are required. It should be easy to share your plan and make it available to others in the group.
Project managers have to manage resource management. It can be difficult if your organization culture doesn’t support time tracking and has a mature approach to helping people organize their work across multiple project. Experts are often required to work on multiple projects. Someone who can measure their work in hours and is able to track it in time will be able to provide estimates for resource management.
Next: The Ultimate Guide to Resource Planning
If you are unsure if you can get the project delivered on time, within budget, and at the required quality, you should speak to your project sponsor.
Roadblock #3: Poor prioritization
Is everything really important? It is not.
Sometimes projects fail.