Challenges Faced Today’s Project Managers | Essay

Running head: CHALLENGES FACED BY PROJECT MANAGERS
Challenges Faced Today’s Project Managers
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1CHALLENGES FACED BY PROJECT MANAGERS
Introduction
This essay depicts the challenges and issues project manager faces these days due to lack
of operational and functional support from a business or organization. In order to create balance
among project elements in terms of time, scope, budget and people are primary focus for the
project manager (Mossalam and Arafa 2016). Where project managers fail to consider theses
aspects faces major challenges. In order to manage unwanted obstacles project management
training needs to be organized for both project manager and other team associates, that are also
elaborated in this essay.
The role of project manager does not vary much for its size, complexity and nature. The
project manager’s primary compulsion can be interrupted for handling difficult projects and their
applications in the real field of application (Aga, Noorderhaven and Vallejo 2016). In order to
attain positive project results the role of project manager and the team members plays essential
role. In order to balance project management activities and other project elements the project
managers need to work hard on a daily basis. In order to overcome these risks project managers
need to possess an array of skills adjacent to communication, delegations, decision making and
risk taking (Shastri, Hoda and Amor 2016). The reasons for which project managers are facing
these challenges are identified in this essay. In order to overcome these challenges specific
management actions that are to be taken are also recommended in this essay.
Generic challenged faced by today’s project manager
It is found that in order to handle difficult projects project manager need to have enough
non technical and technical knowledge. Lack of knowledge and skills can lead an entire project

2CHALLENGES FACED BY PROJECT MANAGERS
towards failure (Ahmed and Anantatmula 2017). The generic challenges that project managers
are facing nowadays elaborated in the below section
Scope documentation is defined as one of the most important area that helps to govern a
project towards the objectives. If project scope is not developed accurately then project manager
would not be able to understand its content (Novo, Landis and Haley 2017). At the same time
project associates will also not be able to understand the scope. If project scope and objectives
are found not clear to the team members then handling such team will also become a challenge
for the project manager (Henkel, Marion and Bourdeau 2017.). If scope is not developed
accurately then overrunning time, budget and resource related issues also occur. One of the
biggest challenge that project manager faces is related to corporate internal challenges. In other
words if project scope and objectives are not defined clearly then questions will keep on arising
on why, what, how etc.
In order to overcome the above mentioned challenges, project manager need to design a
scope at the very initial stage of project design and implementation. For avoiding such critical
situation project manager need to arrange a kickoff meeting (Müller, Packendorff and Sankaran
2017). Project manager can also use specific project management software as well as team
collaboration applications for defining project goals precisely. Obstacles of each project team
members can also be resolved with the help of this software.
Poor skill among the project team members: The most common challenge that project
manager faces these days is poorly defined project goals and objectives. If the project goals are
found to be not clear to the project team members and other associates then major risk can occur
and also the project team fails to meet the objectives and goals preliminarily determined (Liu,

3CHALLENGES FACED BY PROJECT MANAGERS
Sang and Zheng 2019). The success of a team is not dependent on project manager’s skill rather
it is also dependent on project team member’s skills and knowledge. Project manager can be
excellent in their work but if the project team is not enough skilled and experienced then
challenges will be faced. The issues occur because team members will fail to perform as per the
expectation. Sometime it is also found that, a project needs specific expertise and skilled
employees (Kemei, Oboko and Kidombo 2018). If team lags those skills then project manager
may not be able to distribute the workload among the associates. Insufficient accountability,
quality management plan and responbilities among the project team members will lead a project
towards failure. These issues will leave a project manager in an unpleasant situation.
In order to overcome this above mentioned difficult situation, the project manager need to
analyze the weaknesses and strength of the project team associates. After that based on
knowledge and skills the project manager should arrange training and development program for
each of the project team associates (Loan and Hai 2017). It is duty of the team associates to
attend the training and development program accordingly.
Insufficient communication is referred to as the other most challenging risks that project
managers are facing these days. A project manager who operates large projects mainly faces this
risk. There are some projects that are operated by people from different countries. Therefore face
to face meeting is not possible for those members (Khan et al. 2016). In order to make
interaction emails, video calling, video conferences are the main channels used for such
situation. Managers who operate mainly these types of projects face huge problems. If timely
response is not given by the project team members then project manager would not be able to
understand the current situation and thus fail to meet the project objectives.

4CHALLENGES FACED BY PROJECT MANAGERS
In order to avoid insufficient communication risk, collaborative project management
software in terms of proofhub is needed to be used. The team leaders and associates are allowed
to collaborate over the proof hub software to interact openly (Kemei, Oboko and Kidombo
2018). It will help to create a positive work ambiance and also improve the quality of the project.
In order to foster effective communication and teamwork a project manager can include team
building strategies.
Insufficient stakeholder engagement strategy is the other risk that current project
managers face. Power and interest of stakeholders play important role in project success. If
stakeholders are found to be not engaged to their job roles and responsibilities then also project
manager will face major risks.
The project managers are facing risks due to improper risk management plan. Project
manager is one who needs to have good communication skill, leadership skills and decision
making skills as well. It is duty of the project manager to identify risks and respectively develop
its solution as well (Novo, Landis and Haley 2017). It is defined as one of the hardest
responsibility that is expected to be played by the project manager. If risks are not identified at
the initiation stage then major risks will occur for the project manager.
In order to overcome this risk the project manager need to develop a risk matrix consists
of likelihood and impact of each risk. Based on the likelihood and impact of each risk theses
risks are to be prioritized. Based on priorities, risk management plan has to be developed for
each risk identified at the project initiation stage.
In order to overcome this risk proper risk management plan has to be developed by
project manager. Issues of poor teamwork, unrealistic deadline, overrunning budget and over

5CHALLENGES FACED BY PROJECT MANAGERS
allocation of resources can be easily resolved with the help of this risk management plan. Intra-
team conflict is a major risk that acts as an obstacle for project managers. If team members
failed to behave properly then, major team conflict will occur. Inter team and intra team conflict
will interrupt the project activities and also lead a project towards failure (Müller, Packendorff
and Sankaran 2017). If proper team members are given enough empowerment then they would
also contribute a lot in the project. It will also resolve the communication ad quality related
issues (Aga, Noorderhaven and Vallejo 2016). Apart from the above mentioned risks the other
risk that the current project managers are facing rapidly include impossible deadlines, ambiguous
contingency planning, huge expectations from the project team members and scope creep.
Conclusion
From the over discussion it is concluded that, globally projects are facing high
complexity. The role of project manager is challenging these days. Infact different strategic
challenges are also facing today’s project managers. If project manager needs to handle
inexperienced project team then also major risks can occur. Due to unstable global environment
most of the project managers are facing huge challenges. The primary concern of a project
manager is to make sure difficult projects are handled positively to obtain accurate results.
Certain activities are there may interrupt and affect the project manager’s roles. Both internal and
external factors are needed to be considered to avoid the probable risks of project management
activities. The potential challenges that project manager faces are elaborated in the above
section. Project management knowledge areas play important role in project success. If project
manager fails to balance these areas then also major risks can occur.

6CHALLENGES FACED BY PROJECT MANAGERS
References
Aga, D.A., Noorderhaven, N. and Vallejo, B., 2016. Transformational leadership and project success: The
mediating role of team-building. International Journal of Project Management, 34(5), pp.806-818.
Ahmed, R. and Anantatmula, V.S., 2017. Empirical study of project managers leadership competence and
project performance. Engineering Management Journal, 29(3), pp.189-205.
Henkel, T.G., Marion Jr, J.W. and Bourdeau, D.T., 2017. Project Manager Leadership Styles: Task vs.
People-Oriented.
Hodgson, D.E. and Paton, S., 2016. Understanding the professional project manager: Cosmopolitans,
locals and identity work. International Journal of Project Management, 34(2), pp.352-364.
Kemei, D., Oboko, R. and Kidombo, H., 2018. Project manager leadership competences and ERP system
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7CHALLENGES FACED BY PROJECT MANAGERS
Mossalam, A. and Arafa, M., 2016. The role of project manager in benefits realization management as a
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Müller, R., Packendorff, J. and Sankaran, S., 2017. Balanced leadership: A new perspective for leadership
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Novo, B., Landis, E.A. and Haley, M.L., 2017. Leadership and its role in the success of project
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Shastri, Y., Hoda, R. and Amor, R., 2016, December. Does the “Project Manager” Still Exist in Agile
Software Development Projects?. In 2016 23rd Asia-Pacific Software Engineering Conference
(APSEC) (pp. 57-64). IEEE.

8CHALLENGES FACED BY PROJECT MANAGERS
Appendices