5 Reasons Why Your Team is Failing at Project Management

Project management is the single most important aspect of bringing any idea or initiative to fruition. It will make or break progress; it will either drive a project over the finish line…or right over a cliff. Having worked with so many different teams of varying dynamics, styles, sizes, and industries, I can say confidently that every successful project was driven by effective project management.

But how do you know if your team’s project management style is effective? And if it’s broken, how do you fix it? These are the questions everyone needs to be asking! It doesn’t matter if you’re working on a team of 2 or 200, for a corporate giant or on a small nonprofit board, paid or volunteer. “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” And effective project management will surely help you and those you work with do all of your jobs well.

So let’s dive into it. Here are the 5 most common reasons why teams fail at project management and how you can address them head-on.

Reason #1 – No one knows their role.

Most projects first begin as an idea or a goal that’s trying to be accomplished. When things progress from an abstract idea to a concrete deliverable, this is when you also need to formalize the role each member of the team will play. So often we focus on the what and who, but not the who. We figure people will know their roles and pitch in when it’s their turn. But ambiguity in this area will always lead to people feeling unsure, left out, and disengaged. If roles aren’t communicated, it’s highly unlikely the right people will know what to do and in what order. Make this a clear part of your initial project planning!

Reason #2 – The goal and strategy are unclear.

Project management will fail if no one knows what they are doing and why they are doing it. I’ve worked on many team projects where there’s a problem to solve, and ideas are shared, but a true, refined strategy never develops. This is a recipe for disaster! Or more likely, a recipe for inaction. Deliverables and deadlines are abstract or nonexistent, and no one feels ownership over any particular step to completion. So day or weeks roll by, a few meetings may happen, but nothing tangible gets accomplished. The solution? First, make sure people know their roles (i.e. point #1) and assign the task of developing a clear strategy with deadlines for each step in the process.

Reason #3 – Communication is slow and complicated.

Another pitfall is having overly complex communications where everyone is involved, yet no one is involved. Here’s what I mean. The team is larger than it needs to be and you have people micromanaging, yet really just serving as cogs in the wheel. Rarely is it malicious, but it still happens all the same. Who is the lead project manager? Who is the ultimate decision maker? And what is the standard for communication? Be clear from the start who needs “looped in” and keep that circle small. Have a clear decision-maker and respect their authority. Finally, set a standard for how quickly responses are expected (i.e. within 24 hours) as this is essential for keeping tasks moving. If you allow people to sit on a response for a few days or more, your project timeline will expand exponentially.

Reason #4 – Team culture isn’t healthy.

You can find out pretty quickly how healthy your team culture is when you assign a group to work together on a project. It’s a pressure cooker for misaligned expectations, communication styles, and passive-aggressive behavior. If I sound jaded, it’s only because I speak from experience. Maybe it’s personality conflicts, maybe it’s a past grudge between co-workers, maybe it’s the feeling of being overworked and undervalued. The list goes on. When teams fail at project management it’s often due to a deeper, underlying issue (or many issues) that have nothing to do with the particular project at hand. While this poses quite a challenge, it’s also an opportunity to find the root cause and address it. Not only will this save the current project at hand, but it will greatly help weed out toxicity moving forward.

Reason # 5 – No one feels invested in the project’s outcome.

And finally, when no one feels truly invested in a project’s outcome, tasks related to this project will continue to slide further and further down their list of priorities. If the project feels like a formality, lacks purpose and urgency, or is disconnected from the organization’s overall goals, your team is going to find every excuse to avoid spending time on its tasks. How can you incentivize progress? Make sure the end goals are clearly communicated! Help your teammates visualize the finished product and its impact. Need extra motivation? A paid day off work or a small bonus works wonders. We’re human after all!

What’s been your experience with project management? Do you agree with the reasons listed above, or do you have another one to add? Let’s spark a discussion in the comments!

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