You're managing a complex project. What are the most common causes of missed deadlines?

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Managing a complex project can be challenging, especially when it comes to meeting deadlines. Deadlines are essential for delivering value to your stakeholders, keeping your team motivated, and avoiding scope creep. However, there are many factors that can cause delays and derail your project schedule. In this article, we will explore some of the most common causes of missed deadlines and how you can prevent or mitigate them.

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1 Poor Planning

One of the main reasons why projects miss deadlines is poor planning. Planning involves defining the project scope, objectives, deliverables, milestones, resources, risks, and dependencies. If you don't plan your project well, you may encounter unrealistic expectations, unclear requirements, scope changes, resource shortages, or unforeseen issues. To avoid poor planning, you should use a project management methodology, such as Agile, Waterfall, or Scrum, that suits your project type and complexity. You should also involve your stakeholders, team members, and experts in the planning process and get their feedback and approval.

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Michael Lutz

IT Project Manager / Scrum Master / Squad Lead
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Excessive planning and structuring for months in advance seems to me to be the main cause of deadlines that cannot be met. Excessive planning does not do justice to our constantly changing world. When deadlines are necessary, I tend to prioritize and work towards them in cycles. This allows me to react to changes and deliver what is really needed and not what is planned.

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2 Ineffective Communication

Another common cause of missed deadlines is ineffective communication. Communication is vital for ensuring that everyone involved in the project is on the same page, understands their roles and responsibilities, and knows the project status and progress. If you don't communicate well, you may face misunderstandings, conflicts, errors, or rework. To improve your communication, you should use appropriate tools and channels, such as email, chat, phone, video, or project management software, that facilitate collaboration and information sharing. You should also establish regular communication routines, such as meetings, reports, or updates, and tailor your messages to your audience.

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3 Lack of Accountability

A third cause of missed deadlines is lack of accountability. Accountability means that each team member takes ownership of their tasks and deliverables and commits to meeting the quality standards and deadlines. If you don't foster accountability, you may encounter poor performance, low morale, or missed opportunities. To enhance accountability, you should set clear and measurable goals and expectations for your team and monitor their progress and performance. You should also provide feedback, recognition, and support to your team and address any issues or challenges promptly.

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Sarah Wizdo

Buyer Manager - Indirect Materials at Arkema Inc.
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Identify Risks and Assumptions: Utilizing the Pareto principle,for example, identify those high risk areas and actively manage progress on a weekly basis with those responsible to deliver the outcomes. This supports keeping project deliveries on time and on budget. Proactively address potential challenges with entire project team and outline alternatives to mitigate risks and ensure project deliverables.

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4 Scope Creep

A fourth cause of missed deadlines is scope creep. Scope creep refers to the uncontrolled changes or additions to the project scope that occur during the project execution. Scope creep can result from unclear or changing requirements, stakeholder requests, or new ideas. If you don't manage scope creep, you may face increased costs, time, and complexity that can affect your project quality and delivery. To prevent scope creep, you should define and document your project scope and change management process and get your stakeholder approval. You should also evaluate and prioritize any change requests and communicate their impact on the project schedule and budget.

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5 External Factors

A fifth cause of missed deadlines is external factors. External factors are the events or circumstances that are outside your control and influence and can affect your project negatively. Some examples of external factors are market changes, customer feedback, regulatory requirements, weather conditions, or natural disasters. If you don't anticipate and prepare for external factors, you may face disruptions, delays, or cancellations that can jeopardize your project success. To cope with external factors, you should conduct a risk analysis and identify the potential threats and opportunities for your project. You should also develop a contingency plan and a crisis management plan that outline the actions and resources needed to respond to any unforeseen situations.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Manikandan Subramanian

Leadership || IT implementation || Delivery Management || Program Management || Banking
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Poor project Governance, is also a major cause… For example, a project stakeholder who has huge influence on the execution without taking responsibility / acting outside their boundary that deviates from project’s / project phase’s objective, has given a free hand / encouraged / uncontrolled … lead to unwanted scope creep, plan failure, ineffective outcome, excess efforts, Governance should identify and put clarity on the level of involvement of such stakeholders.

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Nathan Gambill, MBA, CSM, LSSBB

Business Process Engineering/Consultanting | ServiceNow ITIL Alignment | SAAS/PAAS Cloud Applications | Governance Oversight | Customer Experience Focus | Data Driven | Six Sigma Black Belt | Agile Development | Veteran
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On really technical projects you need to spend time thinking about the go/no-go test criteria and also building in the expectation with leadership that several high to medium test outcomes that end up resulting in “defects” might end up causing a release delay. Testing and test-outcome risk assessments is sometimes left as last minute tasks by the project team, but this should be taken very seriously especially for projects having multiple technical workstreams and/or many data handoffs between various systems.

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You're managing a complex project. What are the most common causes of missed deadlines?

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1 Poor Planning

2 Ineffective Communication

3 Lack of Accountability

4 Scope Creep

5 External Factors

6 Here’s what else to consider

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