Major Project Management Anti-Patterns

Human beings are naturally creative and born problem solvers. But they too tend to make mistakes or end up in bigger problems while solving one. Hence all life is nothing but a bunch of varied problem-solving exercises. We think each person is unique and the mistakes we make too are unique. However, if we segregate the mistakes and failures of different individuals, we can find a pattern getting generated. This makes us so predictable and mistakes we make as common.

Project managers are no exceptions – you may think you are a smart project manager, but still you may be following some of the well-known anti-patterns. An anti-pattern is a way of solving a particular problem but not in the right way.

“An anti-pattern is a common response to a recurring problem that is usually ineffective and risks being highly counterproductive.”

Below are some of the major project management anti-patterns and most scenarios encountered by project managers can get classified under one among the following in groups below:

Analysis Paralysis

Striving for perfection and completeness in the analysis phase often leads to project gridlock and excessive thrashing of requirements/models. The refactored solution includes a description of incremental, iterative development processes that defer detailed analysis until the knowledge is needed.

Viewgraph Engineering

On some projects, developers become stuck preparing viewgraphs and documents instead of developing software. Management never obtains the proper development tools, and engineers have no alternative but to use office automation software to produce pseudo-technical diagrams and papers.

Death by Planning

Excessive planning for software projects leads to complex schedules that cause downstream problems. We explain how to plan a reasonable software development process that includes incorporating known facts and incremental replanning.

Fear of Success

An interesting phenomenon often occurs when people and projects are on the brink of success. Some people begin to worry obsessively about the kinds of things that can go wrong. Insecurities about professional competence come to the surface.

Blowhard Jamboree

The opinions of so-called industry experts often influence technology decisions. Controversial reports that criticize particular technologies frequently appear in popular media and private publications. In addition to technical responsibilities, developers spend too much time answering the concerns of managers and decision-makers arising from these reports.

Corncob

Difficult people frequently obstruct and divert the software development process. Corncobs can be dealt with by addressing their agendas through various tactical, operational, and strategic organizational actions.

Intellectual Violence

Intellectual violence occurs when someone who understands a theory, technology, or buzzword uses this knowledge to intimidate others in a meeting situation.

Irrational Management

Habitual indecisiveness and other bad management habits lead to de facto decisions and chronic development crises. We explain how to utilize rational management decision-making techniques to improve project resolution and for keeping managers on track.

Smoke and Mirrors

Demonstration systems are important sales tools, as they are often interpreted by end users as representational of production-quality capabilities. A management team, eager for new business, sometimes (inadvertently) encourages these misperceptions and makes commitments beyond the capabilities of the organization to deliver operational technology.

Project Mismanagement

Inattention to the management of software development processes can cause directionlessness and other symptoms. Proper monitoring and control of software projects is necessary for successful development activities. Running a product development is as complex an activity as creating the project plan, and developing software is as complex as building skyscrapers, involving as many steps and processes, including checks and balances. Often, key activities are overlooked or minimized.

Throw It over the Wall

Object-oriented methods, design patterns, and implementation plans intended as flexible guidelines are too often taken literally by downstream managers and object-oriented developers. As guidelines progress through approval and publication processes, they often are attributed with unfulfilled qualities of completeness, prescriptiveness, and mandated implementation.

Danger of E-mails

E-mail is an important communication medium for software managers. Unfortunately, it is an inappropriate medium for many topics, sensitive communications, and confrontational discussions. Tempers flair and feelings get hurt easily in e-mail debates. Worse, e-mail makes a public event out of disagreement. The productivity and morale of a software project can quickly degenerate when other staff members get caught up in lengthy e-mail confrontations.

Fire Drill

Airline pilots describe flying as “hours of boredom followed by 15 seconds of sheer terror.” Many software projects resemble this situation: “Months of boredom followed by demands for immediate delivery.” The months of boredom may include protracted requirements analysis, replanning, waiting for funding, waiting for approval, or any number of technopolitical reasons.

The Feud

Personality conflicts between managers can dramatically affect the work environment. The employees reporting to these managers often suffer the consequences of their supervisors’ disagreements. The animosity between managers is reflected in the attitudes and actions of their employees.