7 Most Common Project Management Pitfalls (And Tips To Avoid Them Like a Pro)

Introduction 

Imagine yourself as a project manager who just stepped in as a fresher into the world of project managers. You got a boss who is so lovely to you, and most of the projects he worked on have achieved great success. You pumped up to work with him, but later, you realized he is good at stealing all the credit to his name even if you put so much effort and sweat into it. 

My only question: will you work with him just to have a promising career? Stop and think about it a bit, as most careers start this way and lead to a severe impact on work-life balance and burnout. 

What Are Project Management Pitfalls? 

Project managers work on multiple projects in an organization depending upon time. Managing the whole project can be a tedious task being the only person. And there are high chances that might lead you to feel burnout and can’t give your best to everything you do. 

All these lead to some common pitfalls that lead to loss of money, time, and confidence. In this blog, we’ll discuss the most common pitfalls that hinder your performance and how to avoid them from the start and complete the project successfully. 

Let’s get started with:

7 Most Common Project Management Pitfalls That Might Ruin Your Project (And How to Avoid Them from Very Start) 

Pitfalls have a direct impact on the budget; they are something that can be avoided before the final submission of the project and made more effective. But most project managers lately understand this, and that gets a massive negative impact on the projects. Here is the list of seven major pitfalls and how to avoid them. 

Impotent Project Manager and His Team

Project managers who lack experience and PMP certification fail to handle teams and projects in the right way. That took them to bear the significant loss and overspent of money, resources, and time. Therefore, if you’re yet to get your PMP certification, you must check out how to crack your PMP certification in the first attempt.

Pro tip:

Managerial skills are not enough to boost the effectiveness of the project. You need to have good project management skills for the same, right from the scope to the final delivery of the project and everything in-between. And this include:

• Resource management 
• Cost management 
• Risk management
• Training on tools, etc. 

When you have PMP certification, you understand the project in a lot better ways than other project managers. You have the blueprint of sheets and tools that will help you deliver the project successfully, have one common goal, and establish effective communication among the members and stakeholders.  

Poor Communication Between Teams and Stakeholders

Communication is highly crucial to the success of the project. Poor communication leads to a gap between the team members and the project stakeholders; that’s when the disaster happens. 

Pro tip:

Therefore, it’s highly essential to communicate effectively between the team, stakeholders, and the team. On the other hand, it has multiple advantages: it will help you understand your team members, their highs and lows so you can provide the necessary training and upskill them. 

Project managers’ duty must create a realistic environment and establish open communication between the client, team members, and stakeholders. It will help you in better brainstorming and manage the whole thing smoothly. 

Poor Resource, Scope, and Risk Management Skills 

There is no project without resources, scope, risk, and overall plan to have a smooth run. And for that, you need to take everything into account and plan each process precisely. These three might be your hurdles, but again these are driving forces to carry forward your project. 

Pro tip:

Everything depends on planning; the best way to do it is to take note of everything in detail and start your planning. That’s what the project’s scope is all about. It’s about documenting the project tasks, goals, deliverables, costs, deadlines, etc. 

Looking for the available resources, what you lack, and if they are affordable within the budget. Finally, what possible and probable risks might arise, the best ways to elude them, and what training is essential for the same.   

Not Acknowledging the Team for Good Work and Not Celebrating Small Wins.

Team members need motivation for their best work, and surprising rewards pump them up to be more focused and be better at their work. But when you don’t acknowledge them for their best work or not celebrate the small wins as a team, that won’t make your bond strong, but your team members will find you lacking as a good project manager. 

What you can do instead:

Never let any loopholes get bigger between you and your team; if, in any case, you find them, solve them right away. Stealing the team efforts and credit on your name doesn’t make you a great leader. 

You become the best when you share the credits and rewards your team members deserve. That’s what makes you an effective leader. 

Not Defining Clear Roles and Responsibilities.

Do you know what makes the team? The bond you share or support each other in difficult times. But what happens when there is no apparent allotment of roles and responsibilities? Everything messes up; there won’t be any specialists. The team loses its interest in working together and blames each other for whatever following happens.

What you can do instead:

Talk to your team members, understand their interests, what and what they are capable of, and then assign them the roles and responsibilities. If you feel they lack or make them crisis-ready, upskill them and help them with the proper training that will help them hone their skills. 

Not Using the Right Tools to Simplify and Maximize the Effectiveness of the Project.

Handling a project is always risky, even complicated, when you take everything on yourself, start overdoing, or ask your team the same. Instead of making things simpler, that will make them difficult. 

Your project needs to be successful with the best resources and minimum investment. What if your plan is so perfect, but your processes are not appealing? The project could be a disaster.

What you can do instead:

Make a set of tools you need or that will help you complete the project successfully. That will not make your work simpler but enhance the effectiveness of the project. 

Use them to break out your project into multiple small processes. And assigning them to your team with the right tools, resources, and budget reduces the complexity of the process. If your team members find difficulty using resource planning tools, train them to become the best at it.

Use Trello or Asana to break your work, assign roles and responsibilities and update on the projects. A paid version can give you enormous advantages with more storage space, customization, and integration facilities. 

Setting up Unrealistic Targets and Deadlines 

Target and deadline are best to complete the project on time and make it the best. Ever thought about what will happen if the targets and deadlines are unrealistic or impossible to achieve. Team members will lose their interest and lose their focus on work. Slowly your plan will be a failure, and you never want this in your dream. 

So what you can do instead:

As a project manager, you should understand your team members, stand for them, and include them in open communication. If the clients or stakeholders give unrealistic deadlines or projects, discuss the same with the clients and stakeholders and set what is practically possible and done effectively. 

When you understand them being in their shoes, you know them better and love working with you without burnout. Once you earn your PMP certification, you will have the skills necessary to be the next great leader. 

Final Words

People don’t leave their projects; they leave their managers for obvious reasons. That’s when they can’t see themselves growing, or the best things stop happening to their careers. These are the seven big blunders that push the project into the failure category, but again, the above tips can save you from making more mistakes and completing your project successfully.