The PMI Training Series: 3 Common Challenges in IT Project Management
It is a known fact worldwide that despite the technological innovations sweeping the globe, and despite the process improvements that have made project management a breeze for many companies; IT projects are still not very easy to manage, for even the most expert teams.
Any number of challenges can potentially derail a project, and if the right teams, equipped with the right tools and expertise is not on the case, the project may be lost completely.
This does not have to be so in every case though. In this article, we will be discussing some of the common problems faced by IT project managers, as well as their solutions, for seamless project management.
IT Project Management Failure Rate
Back in 2012, McKinsey came out with a report detailing the failure rate of IT projects globally. According to this report, IT projects that were larger, exceeded the budget 45 percent of the time, and exceeded the deadline 7 percent of the time. Additionally, they delivered 56 percent lower value than initially planned. This report was based on projects that had a budget of $15 million and over.
Additionally, it is estimated that only about 2.5 percent of IT firms successfully conclude their projects. These are damaging statistics for any company involved in rolling out IT projects, no matter the scope.
The main areas of unrest that led to project failure and shortcomings was a lack of communication between the teams, a lack of cohesion between the developers and the operations, an absence of change management on the managerial front, and very little adherence to best practices, among other factors.
3 Frequently Faced IT Project Management Challenges + Solutions
Following are some of the challenges in detail, commonly faced by project managers and their teams when working on an IT project, as well as how to overcome them.
No Clear Goals/Project Mandate
This one may seem like a non-issue for proficient IT project teams, especially in today’s technologically-charged IT environments. However, it is a very common issue, and often leads to failures at the very early stages if not detected and rectified.
The goals of a project serve as the blueprint on which the essential elements such as project justification, success criteria, business case and high-level requirements are based. If the goals are not defined as clearly as possible, and IT project managers don’t ask the right questions during the initial planning stage, then the project very little chance of success, if any.
The Solution: Simply put, the project managers need to ask all the right questions from the get-go, in order to establish a set of goals which the teams stick to, keeping in mind the deadlines and allocated budget. Additionally, since the decisions taken during the initial planning stages affect every process later on, it is better to have it in writing, and to share it with every involved team member. Communication of the goals is key, and project managers should play the all-important role of communication centers here.
Lack of Communication between IT Firms and the Target Market
A basic mistake for IT-based firms is going ahead with the project before communicating all the expectations of the internal and external clients, with the latter two. The teams responsible for developing and rolling out solutions and the business that uses said solutions often do not speak the same language, and the latter can be forgiven for not always agreeing with the solutions that the former produces.
The Solution: Communication is very important; especially communication with the clients regarding their demands related to the project. The more end-user input a team receives, the better they will be able to craft solutions that suits customers, and the lesser the chances of project derailment. Also, make sure to confirm what the executives demand from the project, and what aspects of the projects their employees will actually end up using.
Insufficiently Skilled Teams
It is seen often that a team will be assigned to a project without first confirming that all the members possess all the skills necessary to see the project through completions, while staying within the budget and the confirmed deadlines. More often, if a worker is available to work on the project, they are chosen for it without first confirming whether they have the skill-set to integrate with the rest of the members, or even to function well in their specific organizational niche.
This leads to the less skilled players putting the performance of highly-skilled ones at risk, which then puts the entire project wither on hold until the weak links can be smoothed out, or trained enough to work with the rest.
The Solution: IT project managers need to make sure that the entire teams that is working on the project has a uniform set of skills, as well as all the skills needed for the project in question. Even if the workforce is lacking in manpower, sufficient skills can see the project through.
Not Enough Project Management Training
On the managerial training front, if the project heads do not have an adequate amount of project management training under their belt, they will be obviously unable to guide their teams through the project. Continuing project management training, regardless of position and seniority is always a good step for a project manager, since they are expected to head all aspects of an IT project, and circumvent any potential problem that may arise.
The Solution: High quality IT project management training, or PMI training, can help both current and potential project managers overcome the challenges they are likely to face throughout their professional careers, for both themselves and their teams.