Biggest mistakes project managers commit

I have seen project managers fail, even though, they had the experience. The one significant reason why they fail is their inability to focus on the project. There could be several reasons for it. One major factor, according to me, is handling too many projects at the same time. This could appear a very bizarre reason, but it is a very significant one. 

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Project managers fail to track the nitty-gritty of a project, because they miss vital details, believing that everything will fall in its own place on its own. It never happens that way. You have to put the effort in knowing how the project will run, even though, the same process takes place every month. 

When you begin the rigorous schedule of knowing things about how the project should eventually run, you develop a sense for tracking results – whether your decisions are having any positive impact on the outcome or not.  

Lack of time for the project

Some project managers assign different tasks to different people, leaving themselves with nothing. If you don’t have anything to do in a particular project, you are bound to lose interest in the project itself. It’s important to assign a role for yourself, no matter how small the role is, it should involve a job that you expect others to do. When you begin doing jobs that is not assigned with your role, you understand the degree of difficulty with that job, and other jobs that are closely related to it.

However, when you don’t leave anything for yourself, you are bound to lose interest, and therefore, you won’t give any time to it.

Choosing a man for the most hot job, and not verifying the accounts

It is perhaps, the most essential factor, which decides how smooth your project runs. There had been plenty of cases, when the project manager appoints the all important admin guy, and authorizes him to take important decisions. If this man starts to manipulate the functioning of a project in a wrong way, he can effectively destroy a project. Project managers will never be able to track the problems, unless it comes out in the open somehow. 

And if, an important admin guy also handles finances, the results can be disastrous. 

Transferring money within projects 

Never transfer money assigned for one project to another project. It can become your habit, because it appears so convenient. In the beginning it may look much easier, and in fact, sometimes it helps in the running of a project. 

However, in the course of running of a project, sometimes the financial problems could start creeping in, and that’s where funds may starve in one project. And if the starvation continues in more than one project, financial imbalance could occur, which again can be disastrous for any project.

By Rajiv Sighamony