5 Mistakes Bad Project Managers Make

What To Avoid At All Costs

Your primary responsibility as a project manager is to deliver your project’s end product on time, within scope, and on budget, but the path to getting there is full of potential pitfalls. One of the surest ways to succeed is to avoid five critical mistakes that even the most seasoned project managers make.

Saying yes to everything

As much as it can be tough to say no – especially to someone in senior management – it’s your job as a PM to understand the scope of your project and the strategy of the organization, and to say no to requests that don’t align with them.

Saying no can be tough, especially if you’re new to an organization or to managing projects. But I guarantee you that saying yes to every request is one of the worst mistakes you can make as a project manager.

It will derail your project, and quite possibly lead to you burning out in the long run. Do yourself a favor and learn how to say no professionally.

Not planning for risk

Risk is inevitable on any project – it’s not a question of if it will occur, it’s a question of when, and this is something I’ve taught every one of the hundreds of project managers I’ve trained.

Identifying potential risks – and having a contingency plan for them – keeps you from scrambling when risk shows up. Whether your project is big or small, planning for risk is an absolute must.

Other crucial mistakes to avoid

There are three more pitfalls to avoid on your projects and they all involve being proactive. I want to make sure I explain these ones clearly, so I made a video that breaks them down in detail. ?

Follow me over to YouTube and learn what mistakes to avoid at all costs on every one of your projects.

And, if you want to not only avoid mistakes, but also have your project run smoothly, make sure you check out my SLAY Project Management course where I give you all the templates, tips, and techniques to implement to make every project successful.

Adriana Girdler, PMP | Creator of Slay Project Management?

P.S. Check out what one of my students said recently about SLAY:

“...very engaging. Adriana spoke clearly and made the entire session interesting. As someone new to Project Management, this course was very informative and helpful especially with all of the downloadable templates.” SR