Some surprises are fun—like finding $20 in your coat pocket.
But most surprises (especially in business) are best avoided. For example, no one wants a chance encounter with cost overruns or an unforeseen product launch delay. Yet project management setbacks happen more often than anyone would like.
Achieving project management excellence means not only avoiding these project management pitfalls but also recognizing why they occur in the first place.
With intentional planning, you can proactively set yourself up for project management success and dodge common pitfalls.
The fundamentals: Start with intentional planning
Alexander Graham Bell (you know, inventor of the telephone) said, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to succeed.”
He’s not wrong. For a smooth project management experience, you need to understand your goals or objectives and have early, upfront conversations on all aspects of the initiative, including the why, the what, the how, and the who.
“If there isn’t clarity or vision on what you’re trying to do, there won’t be clarity around how you’re going to do it or who’s going to be involved,” says Brian Kuettel, Head of Strategy and Operations at Nintex.
Once you lay out the basics, you can set your governance structure and outline your processes. These will provide guardrails so that everything runs smoothly—and help you avoid common issues and setbacks.
But let’s face it: it’s hard to avoid every unforeseen challenge that might pop up. Should an issue arise, says Kuettel, return to your North Star—your vision and goals for the initiative. Then, your team can take a step back, realign, and continue driving toward the shared goal.
Project management pitfalls—and how to avoid them
Even the best laid plans get shaken up every now and then. Here are four of the most common project management pitfalls we see—and how the Nintex Platform can help you avoid them.
1. Failure to communicate the value of the project
Ineffective project management focuses on tasks to be done instead of outcomes to be achieved. This is typically a path to demotivation and burnout instead of enthusiasm and buy-in.
Solution
Start by defining priority actions that will have the highest return on investment (ROI). Then, consider what you can do to support your team in tackling these tasks.
“You need to create capacity in the organization to drive progress on the highest value priorities,” Kuettel says.
To build capacity, you can:
- Eliminate lower-value work
- Reduce multitasking
- De-prioritize certain initiatives
- Renew focus on the initiatives that matter
- Automate manual processes through technology
Example
Automating communication workflows during the project design phase can help project teams minimize back-and-forth communication, so they can spend their time on value-add tasks instead.
Say a marketing manager named Joe needs to add a new page on his company’s website. Let’s look at what it would look like if the entire process were automated:
To initiate the project, Joe fills out a Nintex Workflow Cloud request form from his browser. This triggers an email to his website manager, Kate, with a link to review the form.
Once she approves the request, Joe gets an update via email. Simultaneously, a project folder is created to store the request form based on its related metadata (requestor, date requested, type of request, etc.), so that project information can be easily retrieved and archived.
Kate is also automatically assigned a card on the Trello board she uses to keep track of website projects. Joe is added to the card so that he can track project status. The website development team gets an email to alert them to the new project, with links to the auto-generated project channel in Slack. Everyone receives links to the project folder in Box.
At the end of the project, Kate simply responds to the initial email with the word “Done.” Joe receives an email notification, and the project status is updated in Box, Trello, and Slack.
Nintex helps orchestrate the moving parts and keep communication flowing. And that means higher-quality projects delivered on time and on budget, with fewer opportunities for miscommunication and wasted time and resources.
2. A clear lack of a change management mindset
A typical organization faces constant change and iteration as its projects evolve. Without a change management mindset—embracing learning and growth as part of continuous improvement—you risk your project falling apart due to employee pushback, loss of focus, and confusion. Plus, connecting all the dots to accurately forecast and schedule resources can be tough, especially when different pieces of the puzzle are scattered across teams and systems.
Solution
Managing change while keeping teams informed and aligned requires tools that are as agile as your people.
With the right process management platform, you can:
- Reduce silos and improve access to data through standardized processes and centralized documentation
- Identify and mitigate risk by capturing critical security information and automatically updating your records
- Integrate disparate systems to get a single view of resource availability and plan for optimal resource utilization
- Revise automated workflows quickly to adapt to change
Example
With Nintex, it’s easy for project managers to revise their automated workflows, or generate new ones as needed.
Here’s an example from Kate and Joe’s webpage project.
Kate assigns Jane—a member of the in-house legal team–to review a key document before it goes live on the new web page. When the document is ready for review, Jane is out of the office and the project can’t move forward. To change reviewers, Kate simply replaces Jane’s contact information within the existing workflow. With a few keystrokes—and minimal coding knowledge—she can assign the task to another team member, and the project keeps flowing.
Kate can also trigger a new workflow based on updated project requirements—for instance, adding copy editing into the flow. New processes can reuse components of an existing workflow to make the process even easier.
Even for agile project teams, change can drain time and energy. For teams using Nintex, change management is as easy as drag, drop, and done.
3. Lack of effective process for managing a project
Projects designed around impractical timelines and unclear processes are often doomed from the start—stakeholders make commitments based on false expectations, and project teams are overwhelmed with demands to produce too much work in too little time.
Solution
Ditch ad hoc tools and approaches. Instead, you need:
- Clear goals
- Tight governance
- Documented processes with assigned roles
- Accurate timelines
All of this is a lot easier with the right process tools. “Consistent use of tools lets you track progress, elevate roadblocks, and provide visibility,” Kuettel says.
Example
Unrealistic deadlines often stem from a lack of historical data to inform new project timelines. With Nintex, you can track and analyze projects from start to finish, so teams have an accurate picture of how long it typically takes to complete a task or set of tasks.
For example, Kate can use Process Intelligence to identify common bottlenecks that other teams have encountered with similar assignments. A detailed audit trail of historical projects helps the team anticipate delays, predict who will respond most quickly to a request, or understand how working with international colleagues might affect the timeline. Armed with the information she needs, Kate can confidently set expectations with Joe and set reasonable deadlines for her team.
The life of a project owner gets much better when they have insights and intelligence that project teams need to accurately forecast and establish realistic timelines.
4. Ineffective (and siloed) tool usage
A major challenge for project managers is figuring out how to work with the apps and tools that people prefer, rather than impose new tools on teams. Another modern challenge? Avoiding tool sprawl when there’s always another “shiny object” vying for your attention and space in your tool stack.
Solution
Be intentional. Start by deciding on your objectives and mapping your processes. Then, look at each step to decide whether to delegate, eliminate, or automate it. Once you’ve made those choices, you can choose tools that will provide the support you need.
Prioritizing tools that align with your needs allows you to slow tool sprawl. Looking for all-in-one process management tools can help, too. Just make sure that you find one with features that will provide visibility and velocity.
Example
Kate and her project team can leverage the Nintex Platform to rise to the challenge.
Out-of-the-box connectors with common collaboration tools like Office 365, Salesforce, Google Docs, and others—as well as an Xtensions® framework that allows for custom integrations—mean that teams can work in their preferred environments without creating app silos, and project managers can stay on top of dates and deadlines.
Kate loves the fact that she gets all the information she needs in one place and can communicate with teams through the tools that they prefer.
Better project management starts with Nintex
With process management tools, project teams sidestep problems for a smoother experience all around. These tools help you prioritize value, improve change management, create effective processes, and use tools effectively to keep your project on track.
With Nintex Process Manager, you can build digital workflows that easily connect the people and systems you and your teams use every day to better manage projects.
“Nintex works across disparate systems and processes, bringing them together in a coordinated way that drives efficiency and effectiveness for your organization. It cuts the time, the cost, and the effort of your projects through orchestration and coordination,” Kuettel says.
Learn more about how to identify, optimize, and drive efficiency across your organization with Nintex Process Manager.
