What are the challenges of project implementation?

Setting clear goals and objectives

Getting clear on what you need to do is pretty critical for successful project
completion.

Failure to set appropriate goals and objectives can lead to a whole host of
issues, including poor resource and stakeholder management.

In fact, a recent survey revealed that 29% of project professionals cited an

inadequate vision or goal for their project as a primary cause of failure.

Goals should be clearly stated and realistic. You should also be able to show
how every action taken moves you closer to achieving the goal. This means
you can measure the impact of the team and individual project members.

Scope creep
Scope creep is a classic project management challenge that refers to how the
requirements of a project change from what was originally agreed at project
initiation.

It’s common — one of the top challenges cited by project professionals — and

doesn’t need to cause too much drama if managed effectively.

Take this hypothetical example from the construction industry:

A client makes unauthorized changes to the initial drawings of a building. The

changes have a bearing on both deliverables and the purpose of the project.
Managing this scope change is possible within the project team if an increase
in funds or project duration can be agreed.

Budget restrictions and changes

When scope starts to creep while managing projects, so does the budget.
Budget management can pose a big challenge for project managers.

For example, let’s say a project manager on the marketing team discovers
that to promote a new product, she’ll need to increase her online advertising
spend from what she initially planned. If the campaign is necessary, the
manager may request more funds or stretch what she has to work with.

Project managers must plan their budgets accurately and ensure that projects
remain within budget. They should adopt efficient cost management strategies
to prevent straying from the agreed-upon budget.

Lack of communication
Communication can make or break a project.

Good communication means team members work well together, tasks are
allocated efficiently, and stakeholders are kept in the loop about project
progress.

Bad communication means, well, none of the above.

Team conflict
When asked about project management challenges, lack of strategic direction
and leadership was another biggie.
This is a problem, as 14% of project managers reported that lack of direction
was a cause of conflict in their projects. Additionally, 12% reported
miscommunication and misunderstandings within the team as a major hurdle.

Ignoring team conflict isn’t an option for project managers. You’ll need to
figure out the root cause of the issue, then take a deep breath and get it
sorted.

Mismatched team skills

As a project manager, you want to create the best work environment for your
team. A productive work environment comes from matching tasks to team
members with the right skills to deliver.

If there’s a mismatch between requirements and skill level, the project is

bound to suffer inefficiencies that could lead to failure.

Appropriately matching skills to project tasks requires the experience to know

what skills are required for what tasks. It also requires project managers to get
to know their team well so they can understand their skills and motivation.

Absence of accountability
Accountability means every member of your team is responsible for their
decisions and actions. This isn’t about handing out blame if things go wrong.
It’s empowering your team to get things done the way they want to, without
micro-managing their every move.

Accountability in the workplace is associated with an increase in work

commitment and higher performance.
However, most project teams lack accountability. When your team members
aren’t accountable, commitment to the project goal — and the likelihood of
project success — is reduced.

Impractical deadlines
Have you ever heard the warning: “don’t overpromise and underdeliver?”

We’ve all sat on the sidelines and watched project managers who haven’t
heeded these pearls of wisdom. Perhaps we’ve even been those project
managers. It’s not pretty.

Ignoring this advice means deadlines are missed, quality is reduced, team
members are stressed, and stakeholders are disappointed.

Unrealistic deadlines are a classic way to overpromise.

An effective project manager knows their teams’ strengths and weaknesses

— along with what their team can deliver within a specified duration. They can
then negotiate for achievable deadlines without rushing the work.

Giving impractical deadlines might win you the project, but it’ll also frustrate
you and your team, severely affect your work outcomes, and ultimately taint
your reputation.

Poor risk management

Project managers have to evaluate and manage risks throughout the life cycle
of their projects.

Project managers aren’t psychic and — no matter how much you plan —
some risks are going to occur.
However, experienced project managers mitigate the impact of these pesky
problems by identifying “what-if” scenarios and devising contingency plans.

Finding effective project management

software
Many project managers rely on project management software.

The biggest advantage of these platforms is that they can be accessed

remotely, and project managers can track progress in real-time. They also
centralize data and enable access by all stakeholders via multiple devices.

monday.com isn’t project management software. It’s so much more than that.

monday.com is a customizable Work OS that empowers teams to build their

dream project management software. It’s easy to use and keeps all data in
one central place.

With monday.com, you can tackle every challenge you might face during a
project’s life cycle as swiftly and seamlessly as possible.

What are the factors that impact the project implementation ?

Background
Although many transit construction projects are ultimately completed on time and on
budget, a closer examination is likely to reveal that the original budget and schedule
were revised/increased, and the original goals were not achieved. Since Federal Transit
Administration’s Full Funding Grant Agreements (FFGA) of major transit projects
generally require grantees to complete the work within the terms outlined in the FFGA,
the Grantee bears the responsibility to complete the project in accordance with the
budget and schedule specified in the FFGA.
With increased competition for transit project funding, there is likely to be a sharper
focus to achieve the initial project budget and schedule. The FTA Project Management
Oversight Program was created to provide independent feedback to the FTA regarding
the project status including scope, budget, schedule, management practices, quality
assurance and to ensure that the grantees’ Project Management Plan (PMP) is
adequate and being implemented. Various State and Local agencies that provide
funding for major transit projects also have implemented similar oversight programs.

The Lesson
Based on the experience of several PMOC staff that held a variety of leadership
positions in the transit industry, the following 10 key factors that contribute to a project
being successfully implemented relative to completing the grant scope within budget,
on schedule, and meeting quality requirements, were identified:

1. Project participants are realistic about to the project’s team performance, i.e.,
clear recognition as to what can be achieved with the resources available at each
phase of the project.
2. Adequate Project Management Plan and supporting documents including:
o Well developed change order procedures and documentation. Often
changes mandated by operating departments should be controlled. In
some cases the change order process does not include features to
categorize the reasons for the changes permit the identification of trends
associated for such increases.
o A well-developed PMP at the beginning of the project phase should be
undertaken.
o Well developed supporting procedures with good checks and balances.
o Adequate safety procedures and practices.
o Adequate QA/QC procedures and practices.
3. Adequate input during planning design and scoping, i.e.,
o Good relationships with outside agencies, such as utilities, local political
units resulted in timely and adequate inputs during the design, and timely
implementation of their responsibilities.
o Agencies are able to control and document project scoping issues.
o Timely and unchanging input and continuing coordination and
participation from the agencies operational staff.
o Timely and decisive decision making relative to processing of change
orders and other project issues.
 o Strong control and documentation of project changes.
4. Adequate project management and project control capability that includes:
o Experienced staff
o Adequate number of staff positions
o Define Succession or Attrition Plan
o Adequate project management tools and systems
o Strong control over project scope changes
o Good QA/QC program and implementation
o Good safety management program and implementation
o Timely acknowledgement and respond to project issues, submittals,
requests for information, change orders, and other unanticipated issues
o Acknowledging and addressing issues quickly
o Use of partnering techniques and quickly resolution of disputes
5. Well managed ROW acquisition/project access
o Adequate plan for determining required permits and obtaining these
permits as early as possible (Project Development or early in Engineering)
o Experienced Real Estate professionals part of project staff
6. Adequate Schedule
o Well developed and documented schedule logic, basis, and assumptions
o Flexible contractor interfaces to accommodate mitigation of potential
delays
o Realistic schedules with adequate float to accommodate unknowns
o Adequate schedule contingency.
o Well developed schedule trend identification and analytical tools
7. Adequate cost estimating and budget
o Well developed, documented, and implemented cost estimating process
including trend identification, risk analysis, and forecasting
o Adequate contingency is provided considering the level of project
completion and related project risks.
o Appropriate construction delivery process and contract packaging
process to achieve project and agency goals and objectives
8. Comprehensive public outreach, information and communications program
o Good management of the public outreach programs to identify issues
important to project partners.
o Good public relations with timely identification and mitigation of project
issues.
9. Well developed, fair and comprehensive contract documents
o Plans and specification are complete.
o Contract documents with adequate project management tools.
o Fair contract documents that allocate risks to the parties who can best
control the risk.
 o Design changes are controlled and acted upon on a timely basis
o Tools to facilitate partnering concepts and dispute resolution are
supported.
10. Adequate underground investigation during preliminary engineering of:
o Private utilities
11. Public utilities
o Soil conditions
o Hazmat conditions
o Physical location utilities that are likely to impact the project
o Record drawings to verify and identify actual conditions
o Environmental issues
12. Realistic constraints
o Transit Agency Board/senior management/political leaders understand
and support the project, project staff with realistic expectations of the
project staff.
o Independent internal project management oversight is used as a positive
management tool.
o Design consultants are encouraged to provide independent input and
creative ideas and solutions to project issues.
o The project scope, budget and schedule are not artificially constrained to
inhibit achievement of the project goals and objectives.

Applicability
Major transit related projects are among the most complex type of planning, design,
construction, and construction management activities. Use of the best practices in
these areas is essential for successful implementation of such endeavors. This is
especially true for major transit projects where scope, schedule, cost and quality are
strongly influenced by outside forces. A continuing record of successful projects will
increase transit agencies’ support for additional future projects from the public and
funding partners.

The "Key Factors for Successful Project Implementation" are not intended to be a
complete list of factors that will have positive impacts on a project nor are they
intended to be a "Silver Bullet" that, if implemented, will guarantee the success of a
project. However, if these factors are implemented during the project planning,
development and implementation they will reduce the risks and increase the likelihood
of achieving a successful project goal. These factors are applicable to all projects
regardless of size.
How do you successfully implement a project ?
Understand and determine your projects requirements
The chances are that you’ve already identified the key project stakeholders. The
first step in project planning is to gather requirements from the stakeholders.
Based on this information, you can determine what you need to deliver to your
stakeholders. This requires strong communication skills so that all stakeholders
are on the same page and communicate their requirements loudly and clearly.

Define the Scope and Value of Your Project

Once you have input from your stakeholders, you can define the scope of your
project. A scope is a detailed outline that highlights all aspects of the project,
including:

 Major deliverables
 Timeline
 Resources
 Related activities
 Project boundaries

When creating the project scope, ask yourself if everything seems viable, logical,
and achievable. If it feels like fiction, you might have to rework the scope. If it
sounds pragmatic, you can go ahead and start breaking it down into smaller
components. 

extensive research
It’s important to eliminate any guessing game before kickstarting the project
planning facts. Be sure to know all the facts, and if you don’t., conduct research.
Delve into all the resources related to the project. These can include recordings
of sales calls with clients, relevant documentation, etc.
Before committing to the project, ensure that you understand the details. As a
project manager, here are a few things you should know before starting to create
a project plan:

 Project goals
 Requirements and expectations of the client
 Client’s team makeup and decision-making process, including who’s the project sponsor,
project manager, and stakeholders

Ask tough questions

It’s wise to schedule a meeting with the main client and ask some tough
questions about the process, organizational structure, general risks, etc. You can
also include key stakeholders and other decision-makers in the process. 

Some questions that must be answered are:

 How will you collect feedback?

 Who owns the project?
 What’s the deadline?
 How will the communication take place?
 Are there any specific considerations that we need to keep in mind?

When you ask tough questions, two things happen. First, you leave no stone
unturned, so there’s absolute clarity between you and the client. Second, you
present yourself as a competitive team that knows what it’s doing.

What are a project's major risks in terms of time and

costs ?
Here is the list of the 9 common project risk that we will be learning in detail including
the ways to tackle them:

 Cost Risk 

 Schedule Risk

 Performance Risk 
 Operational Risk 

 Market Risk 

 Governance Risk 

 Strategic Risk 

 Legal Risk 

 External Hazard Risks

 How to tackle and avoid the risks