New managers can make these six mistakes
Project management requires you to juggle many balls at once - project scope, timelines, budgets, stakeholder communication and team performance for example. And sometimes things can go wrong. So, what are the most common mistakes to watch out for if you are a new project manager?
- Failing to commence the project on time ...... Sometimes this is simply because of delays in other work in which you are involved. However, the risk is that your completion deadline won't be adjusted accordingly
- Underestimating the time and resources required to complete the project. Many experienced project managers compensate by adding a 20% contingency factor to their initial estimates. Few things are worse for a project manager than gaining a reputation for time or cost over-runs
- Embarking on a project that fails to have a clearly defined scope to it - particularly if you remain uncertain about any aspect of the outcomes that your stakeholder requires and how success will be measured
- Projects being put forward for approval without a sound business case having been prepared to substantiate it. Or it's a poor business case with a cost-benefit analysis that is based upon flawed assumptions and projections. Or whose business case fails to show the proper strategic alignment with business goals
- Communication breakdown with project stakeholders. Too often project managers neglect to include in their project status reporting the type of information that is actually required by their different stakeholders. By the way, we offer a short course for project managers that provides templates to help you clearly identify stakeholder needs and communication requirements - Project Management courses Melbourne
- The project team has not been comprised with the proper mix of skills or experience required for the project. It's worth pushing hard at project initiation stage to ensure you will get the right people on your project team.
