Top 3 Challenges in IT Project Management

If you’re already a true professional or just planning to start a career in project management, you probably know that this field is full of challenges. Yes, as a project manager, you enhance your communication skills, gain expertise in risk management and conflict resolution, and overall become more adaptable and decisive.

According to a study by the Project Management Institute, only 58% of organizations fully understand the value of project management.

We have collected the 5 most common challenges encountered in IT project management and will provide practical strategies on how to effectively tackle them.

Challenge 1: Lack of Personal Planning

Project planning can be compared to walking through a maze with many difficult obstacles. In order to achieve an ideal result, it is important for the manager not to miss a single detail. At the same time, it is important to meet the deadlines and the agreed budget.

A good IT project manager not only monitors the progress of the team and controls changes in work processes, but also competently organizes his personal space and schedule.

To learn how to effectively plan his or her day, a project manager can use a simple time allocation technique. To begin with, it is worth clearly outlining the goals of the project, its stages and tasks. This will help to focus on the key points. Next, evaluate and calculate the time and resources to fit into the deadlines and budget.

An equally important point is to prioritize tasks. Highlight for yourself which tasks are critical and which are secondary and can wait. At the same stage, you can delegate some tasks to other employees if possible.

Also, don’t micromanage your colleagues and be aware of every minor edit. Allow team members to be more independent and make their own decisions. Use useful tools such as Jira, Trello or Asana to track progress on tasks.

Challenge 2: You’re Standing Still

A project manager who fails to develop his or her skills loses flexibility and the ability to adapt to change. New technologies or automation tools are disruptive and the project manager does not have time to adjust on the fly.

In addition, there are other parts of the project that are often subject to change: project scope changes, new team members, shifting deadlines, and budget cuts. These factors can be classified as external, and it is almost impossible to influence them.

But there are internal factors that depend on the project manager’s own willingness to develop and learn new technologies. For example, if a project manager owns outdated and out of date tools and methods, and cannot learn new methodologies and services, the team may face delays, budget overruns and other problems, up to aggressive communication and loss of team spirit.

The project manager is simultaneously affected by a large number of external and

Let’s be honest: if a project manager is unable to adapt to and manage change – he or she is not fit to work in this profession.

Striving for new knowledge is the key to a project manager’s personal success. Attend conferences, trainings, share your experience with other expert project managers. Take training courses, strive to obtain prestigious certificates and put your new knowledge into practice.

Challenge 3: Communication Problems

The work of a project manager, first of all, is work with people. Loss of mutual understanding between team members and stakeholders often leads to serious mistakes in the project implementation process.

After all, it is effective communication in the IT field that helps to define the initial project goals, expectations, necessary revisions, and required resources. If there are misunderstandings between the project manager and other team members, the project can face missed deadlines, unplanned rework, and wasted budget.

Avoiding the occurrence of this problem is possible. To do this, the project manager, first, needs to make sure that all of his team members have the same understanding of the project plan, its original goals, objectives, and budget.

Second, it is also important to regularly monitor the progress of the tasks being performed. Third, the project manager should involve his colleagues in discussions about the project to prevent future misunderstandings and miscommunications. Fourthly, a project manager should have risk management skills and be able to predict possible risks and be able to prevent them. And lastly, apart from the team itself, the project manager should be in touch with stakeholders and inform them of all changes in the project.

Final Thoughts

It may seem that working with people is easy. Even according to statistics, the majority of specialists who want to build a career in IT start from the position of a project manager.

But it is project managers who most often face a lot of challenges and difficulties that can lead to mistakes on a project. They are like a link between all team members, they have a great responsibility to lead and successfully deliver the project.

But it is important to realize that mistakes and misunderstandings are normal and inevitable in any activity. The main thing is to adequately assess the situation and learn from your mistakes. Only an experienced and skillful project manager can build a successful project ecosystem to fulfill all project goals and maximize the involvement of all necessary specialists.