Problems in Management system in Bangladesh and way to mitigate them

Management problem is a fundamental challenge for the country. It is essential to have efficient
cost management if we want to see ourselves as an industrialized nation Problems in the
management systems are:

1.Problem of managing fund:

The major problem a Business firm faces in its establishment period is the problem for capital or
sufficient financing problem. One of the first questions any potential entrepreneur must ask is,
"How do I get the money"? The type of the business may be anything but the money necessary
for finance is must. Without necessary fuel (money) no ship (Small Business firm) can run As a
new Business, there is very few chance to raises the capital from share market. Only personal
and family funds and personal loan from the friends are major source. But in this way it is very
hard to raise a sufficient amount of capital.

2.Lack of Govt activities:

There is a nonstop echo by the government leaders, Come Sun, Come Rain; trying to state that
there is a constructive and favorable atmosphere for investment in Bangladesh. The authorities
are either not working together with the relevant people with adequate response, or they are
aware of the reasons for the investors stepping away, however still do not want to resolve
problems purposefully with the presumption of ostrich attitude. Administrative coordination
problem Policies and the implementation processes are not materialized simultaneously because
of lack of administrative communication and coordination among the government agencies. This
situation results in high business costs and hassles for investors Good governance Good
governance can be defined as a desired condition of management and operations. Good
governance along with efficient leadership is achieved by bringing accountability in politics and
bureaucracy. Government has to reform its policies and business practices to attain good
governance. Good governance can bring about efficient and productive sized government,
necessary reformation of legal and judicial system, Fiscal policy and infrastructural reforms,
eradication of corruption, bureaucracy and dishonesty, and many more improvements in the
country.

3.Corruption:
Culture and society have become corrupted through sick politics. The bureaucrats and regulatory
bodies are steeped in corruption. For business enterprise, corruption works as taxation or
lubrication cost. This corruption would not go up to such an extent if there were appropriate and
strong legal and regulatory controls and motivational salary levels. Many companies regard
bribery as just one of the costs of doing business (Lubrication Cost) and show these payments
as legitimate business expenses. 4.Political and Social Instability:

Political and social instability is another big problem. Whether it is a giant company or a Small
Business the success of a business is greatly dependant on the political and social stability of a
country. Every business firm is dependant on production or purchasing and selling. In
Bangladesh our political and social climate is not stable at all. There is a condition of pre-war
between the ruling party and the opposition. Always they are face to face with each other. Very
often they call Hartal and strikes. Such a loss can not be sustained. According to a UNDP
research strike has led to 3-4% GDP losses during the 1990s. In the period of 1991-1996, 173
days of Hartal were been called in total. It was 140 in 1996-2001 sessions. This creates
immense burden on the business firms as the shops often get vandalized during strike violence.
5.Poor law and order situation:

A sound law and order situation help flourish business. But the situation has deteriorated over the
years. Recent drive to improve the situation has helped but it has done damage to the business
communities confidence.

6.Shortage of Power and Utility supply:

Electricity,...

Positive Factors:
1. Growing economy, scope for fresh and new projects, need for
infrastructural facilities
.
2.Availability of resources.
3.Abundance of manpower
4.Urge for development
5.Adaptability of manpower vis--vistechnologies.

Negative Factors
:
1.Poor & very inadequate technical bases.
2.Inadequacy of research & trained manpower.
3.Serious brain drain.
4.Lack & inadequacy of infra structural facilities.
5.Corruption (resource utilization is only 40% effectively).
6.Very poor project planning.
7.Data bank lacking & highly inaccurate.
8.Dearth of experienced & hardworking and honest entrepreneurs.
9.Poor g
eneral economic conditions & low per capita income.
10. Size of market & buying capacities.
11. Uncongenial legal frame work.
12. Absence of good governance.
13. Unfriendly administrative machinery.
14. Irrational fiscal policy.
15. Weak & ineffective capital market.
16. Inefficient monitoring of banking structure& banking policy.
17. Default culture.
18. Absence of business ethics.
19. Lack of political will.
20. High political risk including instability.
21. Precarious law & order situation.
22 Bangladesh is classified as high riskcountry.
23. Low savings -GDP ratio.
24. Majority of the population lives below poverty level.
25. Low literacy rate & lack of civic sense, patriotism and sense of
belongingness
.26. Unhealthy distribution of income and concentration of most of the
wealth of the country in the hand of several thousands.
27. Absence of social values and social justice with its serious
erosion.
28. Serious exploitation of society and country by educated people.
29. Inadequacy of physical resources.
30. Growth of population.
31. Wrong conception about religion & week socio-cultural institution
,of which family is the weakest.
32. Cumbersome custom formalities.
33. Very low contribution of service sector.
34. Imbalance between direct and indirect tax structure.
35. Very loose boarder and smuggling
.36.Very wide trade gap that is unfavorable balance of trade & balance
of payment position (Export earning is about 40
% import bills).
37. Ineffective balance of growth of agricultural & industrial sectors.
38. Initial industrial base was planned on the basis of different
geographical dispersion and market
.39. Inadequacy of basic, heavy and mother industries.
40. Irregular flow of foreign funds.
41.Lack of interdepartmental, inter ministerial coordination &
ineffective sectoral adjustment.
42. High frequency of natural calamities and disaster
.
43. Serious impacts of ozone unbalancing,warming up
of atmosphere, increase of sea level, probable flood and erosion of
landscape.
44. Serious problem of time and cost overruns
of project implementation
.
45. Lack of motivation in implementation of projects with serious
snags.
46. Political unrest impedes projects implementation & absence of
network analysis or project scheduling is hardly pursued
.47. Impacts of open market economy & formation of regional
economic blocs.
48. Ineffective & corrupted banking structure.
49. High degree of propensity to incur unproductive expenses out of
project funds both in public and private sectors
.50. Trading mentality of entrepreneurs, lack of business
farsightedness resulting into interest towards painstaking industrial
projects.
51. High degree of irresponsibility, callousness & indifference on the
part of project managers of public sector projects.

Abstract:

In a developing country like Bangladesh, where resources are scarce and where the private sector
is still in its infancy,efficacy in managing the projects is proportionately and directly,conjoined to her
growth and well-being. Delayed implementationof projects, which is a regular phenomenon in our
country, distorts the very objectives of the projects and diminishes the benefits of the projects. As
such effective implementation of projects in time and within the budget is vital. In this context
this paper makes an attempt to identify the problems of project implementation Bangladesh and
recommend measures for improvement.

I. Introduction

a. Statement of the problem One of the most critical and gigantic problem which most of the developing
countries have been facing is that of poverty and special backwardness. These countries tend to be
very anxious to overcome these problems. During the last two decades these developing
countries have been initiating a number of development programmes and projects under their
development plans aiming at increasing production, adopting technologies for modernization and
social change, optimizing use of scarce resources, and above all raising the standard of living of
the millions of people condemned to poverty, inequality and unemployment. Thus the public sector
growth is one of the natural consequences of planned economy. It is the public enterprises which
constitute the most important Institutional framework for achieving these objectives.The problem of
poverty, inequality and stagnation in the developing countries to be as daunting as ever inspite of
massive programme of modernisation and social change were undertaken by these countries. This has
happened due to unsuccessful implementation of development projects. Existence of a plan does not by
any means ensure its effective implementation. Effective management is vital for the development of
any economy because development itself is the effect of a series of successfully managed projects. This
makes project management an extremely important problem area for a developing economy.
Bangladesh being a developing country is no exception to this.

b. Rationale and objectives of the study In a country where resources are scarce and the
development projects are heavily dependent on foreign aids and grants, the burden of the poor or
unsuccessful implementation of developing projects can not be imagined. But in actual practice in
Bangladesh we find that many development projects remain incomplete or abandoned, and while
others are completed after the expiry of the schedule as are sult the objectives of those projects are
very much distorted and the general publics are deprived of the benefits. Most macroeconomists will
agree that in a country like Bangladesh, where the private sector is still in its infancy and where the
development activity is largely steered by centrally controlled pecuniary resources, efficacy in managing
projects is proportionately and directly conjoined to her growth and well-being. It is, therefore,
important that the efficient management of the development projects are vital. The findings of the
study would private valuable indication for policy makers looking forward to improving the project
management.

Against the background of the above circumstances, this paper is an attempt to

identify the factors that help the project implementation; the factors that delay the development
projects, the factors that effect the cost barriers of the projects; and elicit effective ways and meansto
overcome the problems of project implementation in Bangladesh.

c. Review of the Past Studies

To have a proper insight into the different aspects of the project management in the developing
countries, it would be useful to have in brief a review of the studies made in the past.
However, wholesale comparison of the experience of one country with that of another country
may not be proper. Nevertheless a lot of knowledge on the subject can be gained from the
experiences of the other developing countries. Youker, Robert and Burnett made comprehensive
study of implementation of development projects in developing economy and identified the
following problems: (i) lack of supportive policy environment;

(ii) inaccurate demand forecasts and cost of the project estimation

(iii) Selection of wrong technology;

(iv) defective project design; and (v) personnel management problems. While Rondinelli in his
article summarise an extensive analysis of international assistance agencies project management
procedures in developing countries.He pointed out some serious problems in the project execution
which include: U) Ineffective project planning and preparation; (ii) defective project design; (iii)
problems in start upand activation; (iv) inadequate project execution, operation and supervision;
(v) ineffective external co-ordination of project activities; (vi) deficiencies in diffusion and evaluation
of project results and follow up action .Israel pointed out in his study that the main reason for project
failure is the lack of country's or agency's commitment to the project objectives. Shaw and Bruce in
their case study revealedthe following shortcomings of the project planning and implementation: (

ino system exists to ensure systemization of project approval and appraisal process; (ii) industrial or
other projects are not related to Macroplans, rather than appraising the individual project in its
perspective, (

iii

) annual budget is the source of

allocation of resources a

nd lies

with the Ministry

of Finance; (iv) lack of equitable economic and social

devel

pment of the country is due to lack of comp

ehensive and consistent system of project planning

and implementation; and (v)

delay in implementation causing cost overruns.

Youker in his study emph

asizes m

naging time, cost and performance of a project. The reasons for cost

overruns have been identified by him as follows: (

) bad estimates, (ii) inflation; (

iii

) lack

n cost control;

(iv) change in design; (v) acts of god; and (vi) bad decision

. Th

e reasons for overruns in

schedule

are (

Changes

in technical s

co

pe; (ii) over

optimistic time estimates; (

iii
) problems with supplies; and (iv)

changes in economic conditions and monetary fluctuations including devaluation of currency.

Baker and Fisher

identified a number of f

ctors contributing to cost growth. These factors are: (

) early

contractor cost esti

mates

; (ii) early government

cost estimates for Planning; (iii

) early government cost

estimates for budgeting; (iv) cost

estimates for contracting

(v) contract negotiation and forward

procedures; (vi) contractor performance; (vii) contract changes; (viii) follow

on contracts; and (

v) other

factors. Wrong or inaccurate cost estimation is occurred mainly due to (a) lack of an adequate data
base;

(b)

lack of adequate job definitions; drawings and sp

e

cifications; and (c) lack of experienced and

qualified estimated personnel. Shared identi

ied in his study that delays and cost overruns w

re mainly

due to lack of frequent and periodic planning an

review

meetings.

d. Methodology of the Study

The research method of documentary analysis has been used in this study. It required a thorough
probe

into various reports, documents relating to development projects. These documents were collected
from

the relevant

authorities. Much useful quali

ati

ve

information was collected from the planners, policy

makers and the personnel responsible for the project implementation by interviewees. All possible
care

has been taken in recording various information and views from

different relevant sources. All available

literature and studi

e

s on the subject were reviewed. In addition, some actual proj

ct cases are also

studied, which gave some insight to the problems and issues relating to project implementation
in

Bangladesh.

II

. Project Management Scenario in Bangladesh

Just after liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 the major portion of the industries was nationalised
and

brought under the direct management of the government. Since inception government of Bangladesh
felt

an urgent

need for a planned and rapid development in an att

mpt to solve economic and social problems.

Consequently, the public sector investments have been playing a dominating role in the e

onomic

development of the country. Although, political changes in the mid

seventies brought about

hanges in

favour of private sector, the role of public sector development until now remains dominant as is evident

from the following Table

-

1:

Table 1 :

The share of Public and Private Secto

Despite recent progress in Bangladesh in the areas of poverty and human development indicators such
as literacy and life expectancy, inequalities in income and consumption rates have increased, with 32%
of the population living below the poverty line.

Bangladesh is one of the worlds most densely populated countries; the size of Illinois, Bangladesh has a
population of 156 million people, half the population of the United States. Despite recent progress out
of poverty and increasing human development indicators such as literacy and life expectancy,
inequalities in income and consumption rates have increased (UNDP 2005). 32% of the population lives
below the national poverty line, most of whom are women and children. The prevalence of child (under
5) malnutrition is 33%, one of the highest in the world.

The disproportionate poverty faced by women and girls comes as a result of discrimination and
exclusion within Bangladeshi society, struggling to establish their rights and influence in decision-making
processes. Traditional practices such as dowries, child marriages and the relegation of being last to eat
have created a demeaning and dangerous sociopolitical context for girls and women. (World Vision,
2014)

Following many years of political turmoil after independence in 1971, Bangladesh emerged as a
democracy in 1990. However today, Bangladesh suffers from political instability and agitation, weak and
dysfunctional governance and institutionalized political violence (UNDP 2005). This climate has led to
one of the highest concentrations of NGO activity in the world, ranging from service delivery to
community mobilization working with the poorest of the poor, often marginalized within Bangladeshi
culture.

Bangladeshs stability is further threatened by increasingly common environmental disasters, and is

extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Furthermore, many Bangladeshis above the
poverty line do not have economic safety nets, and therefore could fall back into poverty if they are
struck by natural disasters or lose their jobs.

Our Work
The Hunger Project has been active in Bangladesh since 1990 and is currently the countrys largest
volunteer-based organization. The Hunger Projects strategies in Bangladesh occur on two scales: one
focuses on the local landscape, the other on the national, with significant strategic overlap.

At the local level, The Hunger Project works with the Union, Bangladeshs smallest unit of rural
government, through the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Union Strategy. The MDG Union
Strategy empowers both the local electorate and the elected Union Parishad (or Local Council), which
represents a cluster of villages, putting THPs three pillars within the reach of the Bangladeshi people.

At the national level, The Hunger Project addresses two pernicious cultural conditions that form major
barriers to ending hunger in Bangladesh: corruption and gender discrimination. This is done through the
National Girl Child Advocacy Forum (NGCAF) and Shujan (Citizens for Good Governance), a country-wide
advocacy movement for preventing corruption.

The centerpiece of The Hunger Projects strategy is the grassroots training and ongoing support of more
than 145,000 volunteer animators, 40% of whom are women, who organize mass action campaigns in
their areas. The animators focus their actions in their Unions and work closely with the Union Parishad
(UP) members to encourage decentralization and increased access to resources. UP-based initiatives
include ensuring 100% sanitary latrine coverage, 100% birth and death registration, and open budget
meetings to provide transparency and accountability.

The Hunger Project also works in the following capacities in Bangladesh:

Reducing Gender Inequality

The Hunger Project catalyzed the creation of a national alliance committed to ending all forms of
discrimination against girls. Each year on September 30, this alliance organizes National Girl Child
Day events across the country. A formal alliance of 500 organizations, the National Girl Child Advocacy
Forum, also works to address domestic violence and the spread of HIV/AIDS.

In each union, we train and empower a team of women leaders, who are able to reach women secluded
in their households with education on basic rights, halting child marriage and improving nutrition in the
key 1,000 Day Window from the beginning of a womans pregnancy to her childs second birthday.
More than 6,000 womens leaders have organized themselves as the Unleashed Womens Network
(Bikoshitonari).

Strengthening Local Democracy

Shujan (Citizens for Good Governance) is a platform of committed, active and socially conscious citizens,
mobilized by The Hunger Project, to strengthen grassroots democracy, ensure transparency and
accountability of local government, and carry out advocacy initiatives at the national level. Shujan is also
working for political and election reform. In 2014, The Hunger Project and Shujan produced two reports
on candidate demographics for the 10th National Parliament Election for 300 constituencies. The
reports, whose objective was to allow access to information on high-powered candidates and candidate
wealth growth rates since 2008, served as valuable resources for voters throughout Bangladesh, and
resulted in a surge of first-time elected officials.

Promoting Youth Leadership

Youth Leaders bring the creativity and leadership of the youth population to the forefront while
stimulating a sense of social responsibility in more than 15,000 students nationwide each year.
Together, they meet monthly in chapters across the country, planning activities to improve their
communities with an emphasis on literacy and education. These leaders organize campaigns in their
communities throughout Bangladesh on issues such as nutrition, education, family planning, tree
planting and environmental education. They also arrange debates, math Olympiads, writing
competitions, roundtables and blood donation camps.

Volunteer Mobilization

As the mindset of dependency and gender discrimination begins to be transformed, and women and
men commit themselves to a new future, The Hunger Project empowers them to build the social capital
they need to fulfill their vision. We do this through establishing social units of highly trained volunteers.
Each unit is trained in how to organize themselves, facilitate group action and reporting, communicate
and handle decision-making. The Hunger Project has discovered that volunteers are often most
motivated and inspired by working alongside others who share similar interests and characteristics.
Page 2 Swot Analysis of Project Management in Bangladesh Essay

Looking at the set up of procedures and the continuous changes that are brought in it, one feels that the
systems are built on a generals assumption that everybody is dishonest unlike in the west , where by
and large Systems are built on general assumption thateveryone is honest. Project decision making is
inconsistence and hesitance in Bangladesh because that can turn out to be either right or wrong.

One is in deep waters if the decisions are wrong and appreciation for good deeds is rare. However,
Bangladesh govt. nd private organization should make strong concentrate that how project
implementation procedures make easy public oriented and result based of the project. B. Statement:
Bangladesh is a developing country. There are different projects in Bangladesh. To operate this projects
and make them successful; a strong project management is needed to implement in Bangladesh.
Therefore to solve the challenges of project management, there need a SWOT analysis of project
management in Bangladesh. C. Objectives: There are some objectives of this report.

A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and
often constrained by funding or deliverables), undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically
to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast
with business as usual (or operations), which are repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional
activities to produce products or services. In practice, the management of these two systems is often
quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and management
strategies.

The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while
honoring the preconceived constraints. Typical constraints (scarce resources) are scope, time, and
budget. The secondary and more ambitious challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary
inputs and integrate them to meet pre-defined objectives. B. Project management framework The
Program (Investment) life cycle integrates the project management and system development life cycles
with the activities directly associated with system deployment and operation.

These terms we find out here and this can helps to know about Bangladesh project which we can take.
Which have a opportunities and which are threat for us. In Bangladesh the project which is taken all
cant be fulfill because of some problem. This problem may be economic problem, social problem,
political problem, environmental problem. To know this and make a proper decision is to need. Which
make the Bangladesh more profitability and economically good and healthy.

See More on Management

Page 2 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats Essay

Strengths and weaknesses of Project Management Project management is an essential system in

handling projects which brings benefits to clients, manager and workers. There are pro and cons in
applying project management in term of quality, cost-savings and time of delivery. However, strengths
far outweigh weaknesses in most cases. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)
Analysis SWOT analysis is a tool that being used to evaluate an organizations strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats for development, formulation and assessment of project management plans.

This basic management tool is easy and straightforward to be used so anybody can use it for their work.
(Project management knowledge, 2007). Strengths and Weaknesses are categorized as internal factors
while Opportunities and threats are considered as external factors which are uncontrollable. Strengths:
An element which enable us to complete mission successfully which is the basis on which continued
success can be continued or sustained (Management study guide, 2008) Weaknesses: Qualities that
prohibit allow us to accomplish goals which will influence the organization growth and success.

Eg: poor decision making, narrow product range and etc. (Management study guide, 2008)
Opportunities: Opportunities are presented by the environment within which our organization
operates. These arise when an organization can take benefit of conditions in its environment to plan and
execute strategies that enable it to become more profitable. (Management study guide, 2008) Threats:
Threats arise when conditions in external environment jeopardize the reliability and profitability of the
organizations business. Threats are uncontrollable. Eg: unrest among employees, ever changing
technology. (Management study guide, 2008)

Page 2 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats Essay

financial performance, a quick SWOT analysis can give anyone with even a basic understanding of the
computer industry a sense of what Apple has going for it and where its weaknesses lie. For example:
Strengths include the well-designed products that the company puts out, such as the iPhone, iPad and
Macintosh computers. Apple has loyal customers and the strength of its products allows it to charge
more than its competitors.

Weaknesses include Apples relative softness in the business market. Most of its products are bought by
everyday consumers and arent widely used by businesses PCs are more common computers to find in
an office, and Research In Motion, which makes Blackberry phones, has long produced preferred tools
for those in the working world. That market gap is an opportunity for Apple, too. For example,
businesses have been using iPhones more frequently for their employees as the device has grown and
expanded its features.

Threats include the growing use of the Android platform for smartphones from companies like HTC and
Motorola, and the growing tablet computer market although the iPad reigns supreme for now. For
years, a SWOT analysis was the primary way to analyze how a company was doing financially, says Paul
Escobar, an investment consultant and founder of Somerset Financial Partners in Boston. More recently,
however, the federal government has changed the rules of how much data a company trading on the
stock market must release to the public, giving rise to more sophisticated analytical tools. Touch-feely
Stuff Not Enough

Plus, Escobar adds, a SWOT analysis is a long, qualitative process, meaning its based on a persons
observations and opinions and not as much on data and research. In the long run, for (people who buy
a lot of stocks), that touchy-feely stuff doesnt work as an investment analysis. No one has time to do it,
he says. You can argue about whether the accounting is bad or not, but in the modern world, thats
what we need. Even so, the SWOT analysis does have value in areas where data isnt available, Escobar
says, and can be used to determine what kinds of new companies and industry sectors are worthy of
investment.

If an investor wants to put some money into a start-up energy company that is environmentally friendly,
for example, a SWOT analysis can help him or her look at all segments of the emerging alternative
energy industry including wind, solar or geothermal and offer direction on the prospects for each
and on specific companies. If youre trying to say which of these small companies have an advantage,
you may have nothing more to go on than what you would see in a SWOT analysis, he says.

Strengths

Young enthusiastic

workforce

Reputation for having no

hidden charges

Strong brand image

Weaknesses

Narrow operating span

Centralised decision

making


Limited number of

manpower

Opportunities

Growing upper class

customers

Weaker marketing

approach by other local

and foreign IT companies

Growing need for websites

and social media

marketing

Threads

Cost of service is high

Increased number of

copmetitors

Speed of Interne
Project Management Challenges Within Corporate Projects

1. Undefined Goals When goals are not clearly identified, the whole project and team can suffer.
When upper management cannot agree to or support undefined goals, the project in question
typically has little chance of succeeding. The project manager must ask the right questions to
establish and communicate clear goals from the outset.

2. Scope Changes Also known as scope creep, this occurs when project management allows the
project's scope to extend beyond its original objectives. Clients and supervisors may ask for
changes to a project, and it takes a strong project manager to evaluate each request and decide
how and if to implement it, while communicating the effects on budget and deadlines to all
stakeholders.

Working With a Team: Challenges For Project Managers

3. Inadequate Skills for the Project A project sometimes requires skills that the project's
contributors do not possess. Project management training can help a project leader determine
the needed competencies, assess the available workers and recommend training, outsourcing or
hiring additional staff.

4. Lack of Accountability A project manager's leadership qualities can shine when each member
of the team takes responsibility for his or her role in achieving project success. Conversely, a lack
of accountability can bring a project to a complete halt. Finger-pointing and avoiding blame are
unproductive, but all-too-common features of flawed project management. Learning to direct
teams toward a common goal is an important aspect of project management training.

Project Management Challenge: Dealing With Risk

5. Improper Risk Management Learning to deal with and plan for risk is another important piece
of project management training. Risk tolerance is typically a desirable project manager trait
because projects rarely go exactly to plan. Gathering input, developing trust and knowing which
parts of a project are most likely to veer off course are aspects of the project manager's job.

6. Ambiguous Contingency Plans It's important for project managers to know what direction to
take in pre-defined "what-if" scenarios. If contingencies are not identified, the entire project can
become mired in an unexpected set of problems. Asking others to identify potential problem
areas can lead to a smoothe and successful project.

Project Management and Communication Challenges

7. Poor Communication Project managers provide direction at every step of the project, so each
team leader knows what's expected. Effective communication to everyone involved in the
project is crucial to its successful completion.
 o Project management training includes an emphasis on written and oral communication
skills

o Proper communication can help increase morale by establishing clear expectations

o Good project managers keep communication and feedback flowing between upper
management and team leaders

Managing Expectations: An Important Project Manager Attribute

8. Impossible Deadlines A successful project manager knows that repeatedly asking a team for
the impossible can quickly result in declining morale and productivity. The odds of successfully
completing a project under unreasonable deadlines are generally not feasible expectations.

9. Resource Deprivation In order for a project to be run efficiently and effectively, management
must provide sufficient resources. Project management training shows how to define needs and
obtain approval up front, and helps project managers assign and prioritize resources throughout
the duration of a project.

10. Lack of Stakeholder Engagement A disinterested team member, client, CEO or vendor can
destroy a project. A skilled project manager communicates openly and encourages feedback at
every step to create greater engagement among participants.

Project Management Training Pays Off

Effective project management skills can be learned and developed with quality project management
training. It's important to honestly evaluate your skills and work to improve those lacking. Continuing
education is typically the first step toward overcoming the challenges you'll likely face throughout your
project management career.

Project managers can learn best practices through training programs offered online. Villanova University
offers 100% online project management certificate programs that are delivered via a flexible, video-
based e-learning platform. Professionals can explore critical topics in Villanova's Certificate in Applied
Project Management program. Students enrolled in Villanova's online project management programs
also prepare for industry certification which can lead to expanded career opportunities and successful
project implementation.

. Low levels of competence

First up, one of the major barriers to effectively measuring and achieving benefits is lack of skill. Project
managers that dont know how to do this wont do it. Simple.

Qualifications and credentials can help, but I think you would also benefit from coaching or a PMO
manager who could guide you through the processes, especially the first time you do it. It starts with a
robust business case that explains what the benefits are and then carries on to go through processes to
identify how they are going to be measured and then actually measuring them. Its quite an involved
process so without prior experience or a lot of support its no wonder that people struggle.

Im not sure of any qualifications that particularly address the detailed processes of benefits realisation
management, but Im sure there are some.

Out-of-date culture

A culture that ranks projects on their project management performance (i.e. did we hit the budget and
deadline?) instead of their overall contribution to business strategy is one that doesnt value benefits
management. Ideally, the business culture should evaluate projects on their outcomes, not their output,
but that requires a change of mindset and a longer term vision or an awareness, at least, of the longer
term.

I feel it is hard to change culture, especially at the top, but at least if you are aware that success is being
measured in ways that dont tangibly relate to benefits then you can work accordingly.

3. Lack of integration

Integration across all areas of the business helps: no one gets much done in an organisation that is
riddled with silos. For example, in the area of benefits management youd want to be able to link the
processes of:

Portfolio management

Governance

Operations, and

Change management

with benefits so that you can track them through the whole project life cycle and the whole business
from conception to delivery and beyond.

Integration at this level requires a degree of maturity that I dont see very often. If you dont feel that
you have the business integration across the whole piece that would successfully lead to good benefits
realisation, then I would recommend you start with what you can influence and see what difference that
makes.

4. Poor processes

Poor processes are a barrier to getting most things done and benefits management is no exception.
When there is a gap in the process for managing benefits then youll find things fall down through the
holes.

Carlos pointed out in his presentation that one of the common areas for poor processes is in businesses
that provide products and services to external customers. I can see why it is harder perhaps to track
benefits in companies like that, but if you want to make sure that your project management division is
achieving company-wide benefits, it should be an end-to-end process, even if the end is external.

Setting up robust processes must take time: I imagine a fair amount of time as it requires a deep level of
organisation maturity, at least in that area if not in all areas of managing projects and project selection.

5. Lack of leadership

This one comes up time and time again, doesnt it? If benefits management is not taken seriously at the
highest levels in the organisation, then the lowly project manager (or even quite a senior project
manager) doesnt have a chance at being able to adopt good practices on his or her projects.

Benefits realisation needs to be led from the top, with a focus on a suitable culture, mature processes
and a corporate overview that stresses that projects are done because of the outcomes that the
business receives.

I really enjoyed learning more about benefits from Carlos. I hope you did too!

Read an introduction to benefits management here.

Read about tools and roles for benefits management here.

Read about how you can manage benefits here.