{"id":10534,"date":"2017-08-08T07:19:03","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T07:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.proprofs.com\/c\/?p=10534"},"modified":"2025-03-05T12:12:27","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T12:12:27","slug":"project-management-face-palms-need-avoid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.proprofsproject.com\/blog\/project-management-face-palms-need-avoid\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Project Management Face-Palms You Need to Avoid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Project management is fine art. It requires attention to detail, while at the same time keeping perspective on the bigger picture. It&#8217;s no surprise then that many within the industry are floundering. Inefficiency is a constant, and with a number of companies I observe, I think to myself: where&#8217;s the larger sense of a project here? In this article, I want to talk about five major project management fails that will keep your company from generating any momentum.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I hope that by talking about each of these, it might help you or your company sidestep these pitfalls and run efficient and effective projects.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.proprofsproject.com\/blog\/project-management-face-palms-need-avoid\/#1_Failure_to_Communicate\" title=\"1. Failure to Communicate\">1. Failure to Communicate<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.proprofsproject.com\/blog\/project-management-face-palms-need-avoid\/#2_Failure_to_Delegate\" title=\"2. Failure to Delegate\">2. Failure to Delegate<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.proprofsproject.com\/blog\/project-management-face-palms-need-avoid\/#3_No_Accountability\" title=\"3.\u00a0No Accountability\">3.\u00a0No Accountability<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.proprofsproject.com\/blog\/project-management-face-palms-need-avoid\/#4_Poor_Knowledge_Management\" title=\"4.\u00a0Poor Knowledge Management\">4.\u00a0Poor Knowledge Management<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.proprofsproject.com\/blog\/project-management-face-palms-need-avoid\/#5_No_Vision\" title=\"5.\u00a0No Vision\">5.\u00a0No Vision<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Failure_to_Communicate\"><\/span><strong>1. Failure to Communicate<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among the most annoying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.proprofsproject.com\/\">project management<\/a> face-palms is the inability to communicate with staff about their responsibilities. If people don&#8217;t know what they&#8217;re supposed to do and how it fits in with the larger picture, they will never be able to add up to anything. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes, it can seem like a project manager is jealously guarding each component of a project. I can\u2019t emphasize enough how harmful of a tendency this is. Duplicated work and demotivated staff are just a couple of symptoms that arise from this mentality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/managementstudyguide.com\/importance-of-communication.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep everybody in the loop<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This can take the form of concise and regular emails, or frequent directed meetings. The point is: the channels of communication should be wide open. Not only should staff understand what is expected of them, but they should also feel comfortable to ask the project manager to clarify those expectations at any point.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Failure_to_Delegate\"><\/span><strong>2. Failure to Delegate<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another common project management mistake is confusing management for doing everything yourself. Whether it stems from a need to control, or a lack of faith in staff, it doesn\u2019t matter:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cornerstoneondemand.com\/resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a failure to delegate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can quickly impact a project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Management is itself a full-time job. That doesn\u2019t mean project managers shouldn\u2019t get their hands dirty (they should), but, as in many other aspects of life, it comes down to knowing how to pick your battles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You need to be keeping the bigger picture in mind so you can constantly square up the nitty-gritty that\u2019s being done to see how the project is staying on track.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_No_Accountability\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3.\u00a0<\/span><strong>No Accountability<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a huge face-palm, and it usually stems from some combination of the first and second points. Accountability\u2014of the staff, of the project managers themselves\u2014is an essential driver that should not be ignored at the peril of the project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leaders need to know how to lead. That means rewarding good performance and encouraging under-performers to get with the program. That can mean assigning desirable tasks to high performers, it can also take the form of friendly, candid chats with both those who have done very well and those who have not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everybody, yourself included, needs to feel some stake in the success of a project. If the success itself is too abstract to elicit motivation, then it may be time to consider other incentives.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Poor_Knowledge_Management\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4.\u00a0<\/span><strong>Poor Knowledge Management<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve observed it too many times. Project managers stretching themselves thin well into overtime hours to figure out a significant problem. After days of toil, they finally figure out a solution. The only trouble is, a way to solve this problem was already figured out months ago, but nobody remembers. Cultivating this kind of institutional memory is key, and it comes down to<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.proprofskb.com\/best-knowledge-management-software\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">knowledge management<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Make sure that everything you\u2019re doing is documented and accounted for. Instituting knowledge management processes makes for the kind of project where some poor sap isn\u2019t marooned for hours trying to reinvent the wheel.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_No_Vision\"><\/span>5.\u00a0<strong>No Vision<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve saved the best for last, and it really ties all the others together. A good project manager has to possess the answer to the question, \u201cwhy?\u201d And he or she must be able to share it with the staff.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s okay for some things to disclose themselves through experience, but the project manager has to have the vision for why things are being done a certain way, or why they are being done at all. Otherwise, you may as well be<\/span> some mindless robot of efficiency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Project management is fine art. It requires attention to detail, while at the same time keeping perspective on the bigger picture. It&#8217;s no surprise then that many within the industry are floundering. Inefficiency is a constant, and with a number of companies I observe, I think to myself: where&#8217;s the larger sense of a project&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Project Management Face-Palms You Need to Avoid<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Improving and evolving the project workflow is key to running projects efficiently. Here, we will discuss and redress five major project management failures.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.proprofsproject.com\/blog\/project-management-face-palms-need-avoid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Project Management Face-Palms You Need to Avoid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.proprofsproject.com\/blog\/project-management-face-palms-need-avoid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ProProfs Project Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-08T07:19:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-05T12:12:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.proprofsproject.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/5-Project-Management-Face-Palms-You-Need-to-Avoid-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Project Management Face-Palms You Need to Avoid","description":"Improving and evolving the project workflow is key to running projects efficiently. 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