Well-managed projects boost client satisfaction and business success.

However, construction projects encounter numerous project management problems that can derail even the most meticulous plans. Fortunately, many of these can be avoided. With a deep understanding of standard project management hurdles, project managers can effectively prepare themselves and their teams to handle these obstacles and deliver successful projects.

This blog post discusses the most common project management problems and describes how to solve them.

11 Common Project Management Challenges and Their Solutions: 

1. Unclear Project Objectives

When objectives are unclear, several issues, such as lack of direction and expectation mismatch, appear in the project. These issues cause more work and frustration that could have been avoided otherwise. At the same time, as the success criteria are not clearly defined, measuring success becomes increasingly tricky.

Solution:

Clear project objectives are the foundation of success in any project. “SMART” and “CLEAR” are popular approaches that can help you set clear objectives and lead your construction project to success. Further, you can break down the project into simple tasks with clear outcomes and assign these tasks to the relevant people. Remember to document and share them with the team.

2. Scope Creep

Scope creep is a common project management problem that means an increase or change in requirements that were agreed upon at the project’s onset. Such changes usually occur due to changes in client priorities, poor communication, or inaccurate project scheduling.

Solution:

A proactive approach to project planning can significantly avoid scope creep. Get in touch with the client in the planning stages and understand their expectations. Define the project scope clearly and get the client’s approval in the initial stages of the project. It is best to adopt a formal change management process and project management information system to avoid delays in the project deadlines due to ad-hoc change requests.

3. Unrealistic Deadlines

Unrealistic deadlines are another major problem that can lead to various project issues. Unachievable timelines negatively impact the team’s morale, leading to burnout, and a lower-quality product. 

Solution:

As a project manager, you should know your team members’ strengths and weaknesses. Break down the project into smaller tasks and estimate the duration of each deliverable based on their capabilities. Use software to help set a realistic project timeline and map the availability of resources. You can also share these details with team members and stakeholders to improve transparency.

4. Inadequate Resource Management

Due to several business constraints, projects often run with insufficient people, equipment, materials, budget, or other resources. The resource crunch leads to lost project momentum and problems throughout the project lifecycle.

Solution:

Efficient resource allocation and utilization are project managers’ most significant challenges. Project management tools are the best way to track resource allocation and analyze its consequences. These tools can also identify areas where resources are excessively used or underused and help you optimize the allocation for effective resource utilization. 

Related: The Ultimate Guide to Resource Management in Construction

5. Lack of Risk Management

Construction projects are always prone to risks, both anticipated and unforeseen. Even well-planned projects and highly experienced project managers face such risks. These risks may severely impact the project’s progress while demanding additional time and resource allocation required for risk management. 

Solution:

Design a clear risk management plan that details how to identify, manage, and mitigate project risks. Share the contingency plan with the team so everyone knows how to adapt. When the project encounters a risk, the team can handle it according to the protocol while minimizing its impact on your project’s development. 

6. Insufficient Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholder engagement is one of the project’s foundational steps. However, inadequate communication channels and a lack of policies for sharing stakeholder preferences and expectations lead to knowledge gaps and miscommunication. These issues ultimately compromise both work quality and business relationships.

Solution:

Identify your stakeholders and understand their interests at the initial project stages. Also, develop a communication plan and arrange regular updates and feedback sessions to align with them. The plan opens a communication channel, ensuring transparency and credibility in the system. As the stakeholders feel heard, it reduces the gap while improving the quality of deliverables and strengthening business relationships.

7. Budget Overruns

Budget overruns occur when the project’s expenses exceed the allocated budget. The usual culprits are inaccurate budget estimation, unanticipated changes in the plan, scope creep, and other unexpected changes. If not attended on time, budget overruns hamper project execution. Project managers need efficient cost management to avoid complications that eventually impact project success.

Solution:

From the financial point of view, the most crucial point is remembering the budget while defining the project scope. At the same time, other aspects of project management also contribute to effective cost management. Project managers must gain control over resources, scope, change management, etc., which are essential to avoid any extra costs to the project. 

8. Inconsistent Project Tracking

While busy executing the project, some teams ignore the process of recording its progress. Inconsistent project data creates another project management problem, as it generates incomplete or outdated information. This misleading information leads to further communication gaps in the construction project. Ultimately, it gives project managers, team members, and stakeholders an incorrect image of project completion.

Solution:

Standardize the project tracking method for consistent tracking. You can use project tracking software to help recognize unfinished tasks and compare progress to the actual plan. These tools also enable assessing workload and milestones to solve the project management problem. With consistent tracking, you can access the data in real-time and keep your team in the loop.

9. Lack of Team Collaboration

Construction projects, big or small, are a collaboration among stakeholders such as owners, architects, engineers, and contractors. However, every member has different roles, perceptions, backgrounds, and experience levels. This diversity sometimes leads to poor coordination, conflicts, and a lack of accountability.

Solution:

Collaboration software is an effective strategy to ensure that teams can access all the project details in one place and share updates. Further, project managers should hold the torch and guide the teams to successful task completion. This way, they automatically set the right tone for prioritizing collaboration in front of their team, avoiding one of the most significant construction project management problems.

10. Inadequate Project Planning

Inadequate project planning occurs due to several project situations, such as short deadlines, client pressure, and incomplete assessment of project requirements. When a project plan is inadequate, it leads to delays, decreased team morale, and low output quality.

Solution:

While creating the project plan, cover all the project details, such as objectives, tasks, timelines, resources, and risks. A detailed analysis requires proper time and knowledge of the task. Also, keep reviewing the plan as the project progresses. You can consider project management solutions to upgrade the planning process further and execute the project successfully.

11. Resistance to Change

Unanticipated changes occur in construction projects for several reasons: changing client preferences, bad weather days, material shortages, and labor strikes. Teams may face difficulty adapting to such changes, which causes unnecessary delays and affects the quality of the deliverables. 

Solution:

A rigorous change management process is the answer to this project management problem, as it helps manage changes easily. Technology like change management software effectively addresses the challenges without impacting the pace and quality of the project. On the other hand, communicating the changes and the reasons behind them helps the team understand and adopt them quickly.

OnIndus: Your Trusted Project Management Partner

Knowledge about common project management problems and their solutions is only the beginning of good project management. The next step is putting this knowledge into action: EXECUTION.

However, successfully executing these solutions requires additional learning, resource allocation, and excellent project management skills.

OnIndus, a leading capital project management consulting and asset advisory firm since 2018, has been guiding construction projects to success by helping them overcome project management problems. We provide expert advisory services and technological solutions such as PMIS integration to support your project management journey.

Our comprehensive services facilitate consolidated operations, improved efficiency, and optimal resource optimization.

Related: OnIndus – Top Project Management Consulting Firm in the USA

Conclusion

A good understanding of standard project management problems and solutions sets the ground for the project’s success. Additionally, implementing the correct construction technology solutions with precision significantly improves your project outcomes.

OnIndus is your trusted partner in achieving project goals while effectively dealing with the construction industry’s common project management challenges. Talk to our experts’ team now, and let us help you overcome the management challenges.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What is scope creep, and why is it problematic?

Scope creep is an unchecked expansion or change in a project’s scope. It is usually the result of an ill-defined scope, a change in the client’s priorities or market conditions, the development of new technology or products, etc.

This results in additional tasks, more resources utilized, extra cost, extended timelines, team burnout, and poor-quality work and hence, hampers the project’s success.

Q: How can poor communication affect a project?

Poor communication affects a project in several ways:

• Team conflicts
• Poor decision-making
• Project delays
• Client dissatisfaction
• Missed deadlines
• Safety issues

Q: Why are unrealistic deadlines a common problem in project management?

Unrealistic deadlines are one of the most common project management problems for two reasons.

First, project managers usually accept unrealistic deadlines to win contracts or to secure funding.

Second, stakeholders might underestimate the time required to complete the project tasks due to vague requirements or poor task understanding.

Q: What issues arise from inadequate resource management?

Inadequate resource management hinders the project’s progress and overall organizational efficiency. Following are some common problems that arise from poor resource management:

• Decreased team morale
• Missed deadlines
• Poor-quality work
• Reduced innovation and creativity

Q: How does insufficient stakeholder engagement impact a project?

Insufficient stakeholder management potentially results in unclear requirements and misaligned expectations. It may also lead to resistance and a loss of enthusiasm from stakeholders. Because of their lack of trust and support, various other issues also take over the project. This causes delays, conflicts, and hurdles in achieving project goals. Effective engagement, on the other hand, promotes alignment, informed decisions, and teamwork toward the project’s success.