Even the most experienced project managers will sometimes find themselves scrambling to manage projects that miss deadlines, go over budget, and produce results that the client isn’t thrilled about. But the difference between being a good project manager and a great project manager lies in your ability to get a project back on track when things don’t go to plan.
Project failure rates may be larger than you expected – especially in the tech industry, where IoT projects fail at a massive 75% with every three out of four projects never making it. For project managers, the daily reality of their role includes quickly turning the unexpected around and dealing with doing damage control as efficiently as possible. You need to know what to do and be confident when realigning your teams and handling any difficult conversations that need to be had when things don’t go as expected. The good news is that there are several useful, efficient strategies that you can use to get any project back on track as quickly as possible.
Focus On The Small Stuff:
Just as every desert starts with one tiny, single grain of sand – every project is made up of smaller pieces that can often seem insignificant on their own but can actually have a much larger impact than you realize. All it takes is one meeting, task, decision, or even a conversation for a project to end up going in an entirely different direction to what was planned. So, before you look at the big picture and try to fix the entire project, it’s a wise idea to actually start sweating the small stuff for once and get a closer look at those finer, smaller details. It’s not unusual to track a big problem right back to its origins as something that actually started off quite small and unnoticeable.
As soon as you see little problems coming up, correcting them should be done immediately. To do this efficiently, it’s crucial that you can track your project. Compile as much information about resources as possible, including your budget, time, team members, and any tools you use for the project.
Implement An Efficient Project Management System:
If things are going off track and you’re only finding out why much further down the line, then you probably already know that you’re going to be losing more time than you probably need to when it comes to putting things right and getting your project headed back in the right direction. To minimize the risk of this happening, it’s a wise idea to implement an efficient project management system. Good examples include agile project management methodologies such as Kanban and Scrum. If you’d like to start doing this, Kanbanize has informative breakdowns of the tasks, themes, and benefits involved with each method on its website.
These methodologies allow your project management team to work in small increments, with regular quality checks to ensure progress. As a result, potential issues can often be caught much quicker than using traditional methods, allowing you and your team to correct mistakes and avoid any potential future catastrophes.
Shift your focus back to needs and musts:
If your project is going off-piste due to missed deadlines and overspending on budgets, then it might be time to ask yourself some uncomfortable questions. For example, is this occurring because you, your team, or even your client is focusing too heavily on the ‘nice to haves’ rather than on what the project needs to succeed? if somebody is saying ‘yes’ to every single new idea, feature, upgrade, extension, or add-on that becomes available, then there’s a high chance this is why the project isn’t quite going to plan.
All projects come with must-haves and nice-to-haves; at some point, it’s important to make sure that a line is drawn. Get together with your client to work out a prioritization technique that works well for everybody involved and ensures that the aspects critical for the project’s successful completion are right at the top of the list. This is another area where you can incorporate Agile methodologies, such as Kanban, into your practice. Kanban, in particular, is a method that is designed to limit the amount of work in progress and ensure that all tasks are prioritized correctly. Transparency is key, and this is created using a visual task board with cards that are allocated to each task and changed or moved across the board as the different progress points are reached. You can create a physical Kanban board or use digital software such as Kanbanize.
Position yourself for success with the right tools and techniques:
Finally, once you have determined the cause of your project falling behind, remember that the same approach that steered it off track the first time will probably have the same effect all over again. So, it’s important that you get a clear picture of the project to spot any holes in the tools and techniques you are using.
Undoubtedly, project management is often a game of trial and error. But you can keep this to a minimum by asking yourself some important questions before you develop a new plan to ensure that the project gets – and stays – back on track. Ask yourself:
- Do you have realistic expectations?
Projects can be full of assumptions, and an issue with this tends to be rooted in the initial planning phase when requirements are gathered. If necessary, schedule a meeting with the client so that you can be assured of what they are looking for.
- Is communication working?
Not having a proper communications plan can quickly send a project off the rails. A strong communication plan will work wonders for the relationships between you, your client, and your project management team.
- Are your estimates correct?
It’s worth revisiting your estimates and budget to ensure that they are correct and realistic before proceeding, especially if the issues are predominantly with spending.
All projects have the potential to go off track, but with these strategies, you can quickly and efficiently get things back on track.
