Teams miss project deadlines sometimes even though they know from the start what deadlines are in most cases. Here are the 10 most common reasons teams miss deadlines. Guard against them so that you won’t have to offer any awkward explanations why a project wasn’t done on time.
Ambiguity
Sometimes the project is unclear from the start. This can quickly lead to delays as modifications are needed to make the project what it was meant to be and to keep all the parts of the project working together. This is easily solved by getting clarification early on.
Client Changes
Sometimes clients want to change projects when they are already well underway. Changing direction on a project that you have already put a great deal of time and effort to is discouraging and often means that the completion of the project will take longer than originally anticipated.
Project Managers Not Preparing For Client Changes
Often project managers do not foresee the very real possibility of clients making changes and they do not institute penalty clauses and revised delivery dates. If changes are made to the project then many times changes should be made to the deadline as well.
Poor Communication
A project is about a team working together toward a common goal. If there is poor communication then the team may not be working toward the exact same goal or they may be working on their subprojects that may not work perfectly together when they finally do come together. This is just a result of poor communication.
Team Members Not Admitting Problems
Sometimes team members run into problems but they don’t want to admit it. Maybe they think the problems were their fault or that they should be able to handle these problems without any help. When problems are not brought to light right away then solutions may be found too late to meet deadlines.
Resources Not Available On Time
Sometimes you need certain resources for projects. If these resources, whatever they may be, do not arrive or are not available immediately then the completion of the project will be delayed. This leads into the next common reason for missed deadlines.
Unrealistic Deadlines
Deadlines are often unrealistic. They may fail to take into account how long it will take to put together resources or a project team itself or they may just not give enough time to complete the given project. This happens when the person making the deadline either doesn’t know how long the work will take or ignores this fact.
Poor Project Management
When a project is poorly managed then it can fall behind schedule. Projects need strong leaders. That is what project management is all about.
Inexperienced Or Unqualified Team Members
If the people you have can’t do the work they need to do then this will slow down progress. They may be able to learn but learning takes time.
Uncooperative Team Members
Uncooperative team members can be a nightmare but they sneak onto teams sometimes anyway. Anyone not working with the team, or even working against it, will hold back progress.
Tommy Rhein blogs on a variety of topics, with a specific focus on where to find accredited institutions offering masters of project management degrees.
