Project delivery is a complex endeavour, fraught with potential pitfalls that can derail even the most well-intentioned initiatives. It is the role of Program Managers, Directors, and Business Leaders to face the varied challenges of project delivery in IT implementations, culture and people changes, new product innovations and more; while facing scope creep, budget overruns, and missed deadlines.
In this blog post, we'll delve into the top challenges that plague project delivery and explore practical strategies available through change management to overcome them. From managing stakeholder expectations to mitigating risks, change management provides the key to help you steer your projects to success.
The Top Challenges in Project Delivery
Scope Creep
Vague or changing requirements can lead to scope creep, where the project's scope expands beyond the initial plan. High expectations from stakeholders can push project boundaries, leading to increased costs and delays. Misalignment between leaders and teams, and poorly understood outcomes can exacerbate the pressure of expectations about what the initiative is capable of delivering.
Understand the stakeholder landscape early and monitor stakeholder sentiment throughout the project
Resource Constraints
Insufficient funding can hinder the project's progress and quality. Designing and limiting budgets is a necessary activity for organisations to exercise due diligence and sound financial control. The budget provides a window within which work must be done to complete the project. However difficulty in finding and retaining skilled professionals can impact project timelines and overburdening team members can lead to burnout and decreased productivity.
Partner with change management to drive benefits
Risk Management
Identifying and mitigating all potential risks can be difficult. Unforeseen risks can plague initiative delivery, especially if risk management processes are only sporadically carried out. Balancing risk tolerance with project objectives can be a delicate balancing act.
Understand the impacts of change on people, and mitigate them through change management planning
Communication Challenges
Poor communication between team members, stakeholders, and vendors can lead to misunderstandings and delays in the best of circumstances. When the time constraints of a project schedule are added into the mix, communication becomes an essential consideration. Too much information can overwhelm stakeholders and hinder decision-making. Too little can result in misunderstandings, errors and strain on working relationships.
Technological Complexity, Security and Compliance
Keeping up with the latest emerging technologies is proving challenging. Most large organisations are reliant on their enterprise-scale legacy systems. Keeping existing architecture relevant and compatible with new directions in technology is complex and integrations of different systems and technologies can be time-consuming.
In addition to the technical workload of a project team, adhering to data privacy regulations can be complex and costly. Understanding the data involved in the project, the implications of changing or using it and protecting sensitive data from cyberattacks is an ongoing challenge.
Unpack complexity by having expectations of what new systems will deliver well understood
Vendor Management
Ensuring vendors deliver on time and within budget requires management systems and time to carry out effectively. There can be contractual issues when working with vendors and complex contracts and negotiations can necessitate dispute resolution and create delays.
Eliminate costly delays with rapid resourcing solutions
Stakeholder Management
Balancing conflicting priorities and needs of different stakeholders can be challenging. Stakeholder reactions to change and project initiatives vary widely and therefore managing expectations can be a full time job. Setting realistic expectations and communicating effectively with stakeholders is crucial and requires time and attention to understand the various perceptions, needs and requirements at play.
Understand stakeholder needs by building relationships early and often
Project Timeline and Budget Constraints
Once project plans are approved, they create deadlines. Looming milestones put pressure on the team to deliver to the plan, and the many expectations around the plan. When deadlines are tight, meeting them can be stressful and impact quality. When deadlines are missed, cost overruns can occur and jeopardise the project's reputation and ultimate success.
Combine people readiness and project readiness into an integrated schedule with change management support
Change Management
It's all the things change managers do in setting change strategies, developing change plans and executing change activities that reduce general resistance to change. Without sound analysis of change impacts, and planning to mitigate these accordingly, employees may resist new policies, technologies or processes, slowing down adoption. Merging different organisational cultures, bringing on new vendors or outsourced partners, demonstrating the benefits of change and getting people ready to work in new ways are challenging; and do not happen when peoples' needs are treated as a by-product.
Getting the Most from your Change Manager
Did You Know?
A skilled change manager can significantly reduce the risk of project failure by anticipating and mitigating resistance to change?
A key role of a change manager is to build strong relationships with stakeholders at all levels of the organisation to ensure their buy-in and support?
Effective change managers are excellent communicators who can tailor their messages to different audiences and adapt their communication style to suit the given impacts in various situations?
Change management is a continuous process, and takes time to set up the right information base to help the project move forward; a good change manager will monitor the impact of changes over time and make adjustments as needed?
To Maximise the Value of your Change Manager:
Work with your change manager as a partner and ensure they are integrated into the project from the outset. Through a collaborative relationship and by empowering your change manager, you can significantly increase the chances of a smooth and successful initiative.
Involve them in early planning stages to start developing relationships and building trust with stakeholders. This should help identify potential resistance points and inform strategies to address them proactively.
Provide them with the necessary resources, such as training budgets and access to key stakeholders, to effectively execute their role.
Regularly seek their input on project plans and decisions, as their expertise in human behaviour and organisational change can guide the project's success.
By recognising and proactively engaging the team to address the top challenges in your project, Program Managers, Directors, and Business Leaders can directly improve project outcomes. Effective project management goes beyond adhering to timelines and budgets to fostering collaboration, mitigating risks, and delivering value to stakeholders.
Engage and partner with a trusted Change Manager. Book a briefing session to get started or for more information.
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