Wasting time: What is delaying the completion of your projects?

Wasting time in the completion of projects is more frequent than we think and it makes companies worry since delivering projects on time will depend on how satisfied the customer is with the work done and mainly with its results, among other things. 

But surely it is very difficult in project management to avoid modifying at least one of the variables on the triple constraint and make the deadline be delayed or the budget miscalculated and an increase in the costs. 

As regards this, a delayed project that doesn't meet the established deadline is an unnecessary and avoidable waste of time for both the project manager and the team (needless to say, for a customer that expects an efficient process). But, what are the real reasons for this waste of time? 

“Time is at once the most valuable and the most perishable of all our possessions” (John Randolph)

Causes for wasting time during the completion of projects.

1. Lack of focus. 

There is no context for teams that have to use different tools to manage their Service Desk and their projects. Here, the saying "don't spread yourself too thin" is a reality in the project management area that uses different tools interchangeably without knowing them well. 

Consequently, the focus of the project is lost as well as its foundations, structure or strength when the approach is not right. When you lack a realistic approach that guides the direction of the project until its successful completion, it can result in a waste of time. 

2. Useless tools or the lack of them.

Wasting time is very common when you have bad processes that may be obstructing the meeting of deadlines. Within these bad processes, we can emphasize the lack of digital management tools that facilitate the execution of those processes and tasks that are done manually but that can be automated to save time. 

At the same time, it could be the case that you do use management tools but if they are too complex, they complicate tasks instead of facilitating them. Therefore, with or without digital tools you will keep on wasting time in the completion of your projects. 

In this case, most of the time, inflexible tools are the ones to blame when projects are delayed. Project management should be flexible so that you can manage different types of projects with several complexities. 

3. Lack of visibility. 

When you have to deal with complex projects, usually, it is hard to know the status and the current general progress. That is why, it is important to have one person in charge of every stage of the project so that each one can supervise, control and monitor their progress, especially in long projects because there may be several deviations. 

By implementing a flexible and intuitive management tool, you will also be able to optimize the visibility of the project and anticipate (thanks to the information provided by the tool) possible risks, deviations and errors that may lead to a waste of time in the completion of the project. 

4. Inexperienced project managers 

Another cause for wasting time is not having experienced or trained managers go through every phase in the project. If you don't have properly trained employees in the project management process, it is difficult for any management tool (even if it is intuitive) to help them overcome or reduce their operative limitations. 

In every project management process, before implementing a tool, you should make sure you gather a trained team or, on the contrary, train each person to be at the same level. This way, learning how to use the tool would be easy for them and they would be able to make the most of it so that wasting time is no longer possible. 

What benefits does implementing the right management tool provide you in order to avoid wasting time?

Fortunately, wasting time in the completion of projects is a problem that can be solved by implementing a project management tool. Even if you can't meet deadlines or if you barely meet them, incorporating this type of tool will help you carry out your projects quickly and more efficiently. 

A proper project management tool allows you to manage all the operations in your projects and Service Desk. Integrating the project management team with the ITSM team can increase the visibility of all the key IT initiatives in one place from the regular implementation of changes to the development of applications. 

Among the main benefits a management tool can provide you, we can highlight the following: 

• Flexibility to carry out projects using any type of methodology

Waterfall, agile and hybrid integrated modes guarantee that teams never feel trapped in a process but they optimize processes to satisfy the needs of every project and avoid wasting time. 

• Modern views to plan and carry out projects better

There is not just one approach for project management. We are all different and each team will do things differently. Team members can see, divide and segment the same group of tasks in a timeline (Gantt chart), tasks list, or group views. 

• Process information and reports

Get an integrated view of the projects of all your teams with a project assessment tool. Customize and create reports easily. 

• Project management for non-agents

Many times, projects include tasks that involve people from outside the IT world (finances, managers, or other parties interested in the business). New project management tools include licenses for both, the team members and other interested people. 

In order to stop wasting time when completing a project, choose your management team, work with a realistic approach and implement a tool that helps you carry projects out according to the deadline established on the management schedule.