Roadblock #1: Lack of Collaboration 

There’s no escaping the fact that projects are done in teams. This means a lot of collaboration is required to generate ideas and get the job done. Whether it’s working within your team, department or teaming up with third-parties – projects require a huge amount of collaboration for a common goal. 

Solution:

Online collaboration tools like Microsoft SharePoint are a great solution for team members to work together on documents, even when you aren’t in the same room. It’s less of a hassle to worry about booking a meeting room for everyone to be present when being able to work remotely works just as well. It helps your team members to be more productive as it allows for increased flexibility in working hours and location.  

Roadblock #2: Limited Resources 

These days, everyone is stretched for resources and even if you aren’t, you may need to share your resources with other teams and projects. More so if you require access to specialist individuals, materials and equipment to complete your project. If you don’t have enough of whatever you need to do the work required, you’ll hit a roadblock that is very difficult to get around. 

Solution:

Make a full and thorough plan to help you schedule your resource requirements for when you need them. Make it easy to share your plan with others in the team, so you can keep each other accountable to stay on track with your project timeline. 

Roadblock #3: Poor Prioritisation Skills 

The next time you’re looking at your project to-do list, ask yourself – is everything important and time sensitive? Chances are some things at the top of the list may not be.  

Sometimes projects hit a dead-end because the individuals working on them aren’t able to effectively prioritize their work. They’ll start a task and abandon it because they’ve moved on to something else deemed more important in the moment. This is a sure way to ruin your project timeline. 

Solution:

Talk to your Project Manager to fully understand the priority of your tasks for the project. If it isn’t a high priority, you’ll have to plan your tasks accordingly. Furthermore, knowing where your project sits in the overall hierarchy of project priorities and passing this on to the team can help everyone be aware of each other’s roles in the team. 

Roadblock #4: Poor Project Planning 

In some cases, the first step in project execution, planning, can be a huge roadblock for projects. It’s essential to create a clear roadmap to ensure everyone is on the same page before you embark on the project together.  

Solution:

Start early and allocate enough time to do adequate planning. A simple Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet can be used to create a project timeline to ensure everyone has a view of how long the work is going to take. The plan should also include other aspects of the project such as how to manage the budget, equipment required, changes to keep an eye out for and more.