The Biggest Problems Facing IT Project Teams
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Project Problem: Out of Sight
Global and mobile teams develop disconnected processes in multiple time zones, so scheduling a simple conference call can be a logistical nightmare. -
Project Problem: Paper Jungle
Team members are overwhelmed by a mountain of spreadsheets for timelines, roles, requirements, bug fixes, etc. They spend half their work day creating and managing docs. -
Project Problem: Change Agents
Change requests (demands?) from stakeholders fly so fast and furiously that the team spends hours updating requirements—over and over again. -
Project Problem: End-Around Play
Stakeholders get tired of waiting their turn to have their priorities addressed, so they demand that developers bump their requests to the front of the line. -
Project Problem: Off Track
With so many tools monitoring a project's progress—each with its own language and learning curve—the team has no idea how to respond when the CIO asks for an update. -
Project Problem: Pardon the Interruption
Constant fires and requests for "just a moment" keep members from focusing on core tasks. It takes five minutes for a worker to get back on task after a mere 30-second interruption. -
Project Problem: Muddled Agenda
Meetings are too frequent and unfocused, especially if a team member takes a conference hostage by dwelling on a part of the project that affects only him. -
Project Problem: Extended Effort
It's common for tech teams to over-commit on deadlines, costs and expectations, but it's better to under-promise and over-deliver. -
Project Problem: Stretched Thin
Due to a lack of resource planning and forecasting upfront, both people and tech tools are overextended, resulting in blown deadlines. -
Project Problem: Tool Time
Because some members have favorite tools—or simply must have a new tech toy—the team ends up with too many devices to manage effectively.
There are many ways for information technology initiatives to go wrong—and they do so all the time. In fact, approximately one-half of businesses will have an IT project fail within a year, according to research. In summarizing the most common reasons for these failures, AtTask has come out with a free-to-download e-book titled "10 Problems Preventing Your IT Team From Doing (Its) Best Work and How to Solve Them." A number of evolving dynamics are contributing to the issues, including mobilization, globalization, stakeholder demands, limited resources and team focus—not to mention badly run meetings. These problems lead to disjointed project approaches and frazzled, stressed-out workers. Inevitably, the unfortunate outcomes include missed deadlines, budget overruns and unmet expectations. To further illustrate the various situations that can result in failed projects—which are inevitably either technology or people issues, or a combination of the two—we're highlighting all 10 cited problems here. AtTask is a cloud-based enterprise work-management solution company.