How to Avoid Epic Failure in Managing Projects

When you are managing projects for a company, the task is a lot more difficult than it sounds. You need every break you can get in order to ensure the process of managing a project goes smoothly from start to finish. Being a competent project manager may open up the doors to you for higher positions within the company. To get that promotion you have always dreamed about, here are five ways you can avoid epic failure in managing projects for your company.

1) Scope creep: set deadlines

One of the worst things that a project manager can do is fail to set deadlines for projects. A deadline keeps things moving along, and it also keeps all of your stakeholders aware of the amount of time that they have to complete the project. If your stakeholders do not have a deadline, then they may continue to move the project onto a list of items that are of low priority. It is also essential to set controls on the costs of time and money that the project will incur. This will keep your stakeholders aware of the budget restrictions throughout the project and will help ensure the project is a profitable endeavour.

2) Quality control: establish guidelines

Putting forth guidelines is essential for your project. Guidelines will help your stakeholders feel more comfortable with the project. They will always have a resource to turn to in the event of a question or problem.

3) Lack of user training

Educating your stakeholders and users is essential for managing a project. It is a good idea to anticipate the challenges that you will face in running a project and conveying these challenges to stakeholders and users. They will be much less likely to suffer from frustration if you do this at the outset of a project.

4) Lack of milestones

Milestone events help your employees stay on track in working on a project. It is also a motivating force when your employees have milestones that they can attempt to achieve. Employees feel more inspired to continue working on a project to get to the next milestone. Make sure that you think about each step of a project and establish milestones early on for all of your employees. They will appreciate the extra thought that you have put into managing the project. It will also help your employees to have a vision of the start of the project to its completion.

5) Lack of regular audits

As a project manager, it is vital that you do your job and monitor a project. Too many project managers allow a project to go unnoticed for months at a time. You must keep your eyes on the project and hold employees accountable for results. You should do regular spot checks and audits to keep everyone on their toes in working on a project. It always helps employees to work in a more efficient manner if they know that an audit is coming up for the project.

As a project manager, you can reach success in managing projects if you just remember to follow these few tips along the way.