Project Management is an essential under-appreciated area that is often by the wayside in many sectors. A lot of companies present the process as a way to meet reasons of compliance only. It’s also designed to help make the “company” appear attractive and appealing to investors – absolutely nothing more or less. However, a few firms use standard methods when they negotiate contracts.
Here are the five most prominent pitfalls organizations should be aware of when they plan their projects:
Pitfall 1: Assuming that a skilled engineer can be capable of leading and managing teams:
Beware of the “halo effect” is A well-known statement mentioned when discussing HR management. It basically means that the sponsors often assume that any competent technical manager can be competent enough to lead an entire team to execute contracts. They think their technical skills are sufficient to meet their obligations. They don’t realize that managing projects are not something that managers can inherit or learn through accident. They aren’t aware that it takes years of experience and specific skills that one cannot just by accident acquire when they are involved in projects at the managerial or technical levels.
Pitfall 2: Planning for just the sake of it:
Project managers organize their projects which is the core of their project management. If they fail to plan their projects properly, the project is at risk of failure. They prepare for quality, costs as well as human resources, procurements as well as risks. Managers of the project then share the plans with all project participants. If the sponsor and the principal stakeholders agree with the necessity of “proper” managing projects, the plans are simply put aside. The manager could receive an acknowledgment message, like the well-known response received for many projects. It reads like this: “Noted with thanks.” When the project manager is trying to adhere to and implement the plan, they do not receive any help from their team or any of the major participants. The planning is more of a game for the accountable manager to get “very” knowledgeable about the scope of the project.
Pitfall 3 – Participating in the process of assigning a manager following having signed the agreement:
Businesses definitely require an aggressive business plan and require sales personnel who are motivated and who can be “self-driven” to win business contracts. When they are negotiating these contracts, they do not realize the importance of having project managers. Project managers are experts in the areas such as scope as well as schedule along with overall performance. Engaging them early in the process helps offer valuable suggestions on how risky the deal is or feasible or if there are any significant problems that require more discussion. Unfortunately, some sales managers deliberately do not invite project managers to meetings before the project begins because they believe they could be compromising their chances of getting the contract. They are, after all, not particularly concerned about the company’s overall strategy. They’re more focused on themselves and do not discern (sometimes deliberately) how their project is contributing to the overall corporate strategy.
Pitfall 4 – evaluating the scope of the project following concluding the agreement:
In their desire for large-scale contracts, numerous companies contract on fixed-price agreements without a specific explanation of the scope in the undertaking. They think that the substantial revenues derived from these contracts will be sufficient to cover the project’s scope and believe that the technical team must be able to handle the task. When they sign a contract, they assign the project manager to look over the technical requirements as well as check the scope with the client and hope that everything will happen as planned.
Pitfall 5: Managing projects using whatever skills set is in place:
To reduce cost, many businesses hire unqualified personnel to handle projects that exceed their skill-set. For instance, they often think that the IT professional must be adept at handling the requirements of a network or system administration needs databases, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations, or any other type of business intelligence system. They aren’t aware of the fact that every one of those areas requires an established skillset that cannot be obtained by anyone IT professional. It will be years of learning before any professional is competent in these diverse applications.
