Why does a project fail?
Managing a team, a project has always been a complicated matter. The person who has power has no right to complain. If you are managing a project, you have to make sure that all the parts of the project are working properly and that the goals are reached at the end of the project.
I learned a lot about how a marketer should manage a project in CXL’s “Project Management for Marketers” course. In this article, I shared my ideas on why a project fails, based on what I learned in that course and my experience in project management.
“What are you heading?”
First thing first, are you really know where you want to get to first, or are you just copying your competitor? Imposing numbers on the whole team just because you wanted to reach a certain number can often result in frustration. As a manager, you must know where you want to go as a rational.
When setting goals, you should always aim for bigger numbers than expected. For an instant, if your goal is to gain 1000 Instagram followers by the end of the month, the project’s goal should be more than that. A team trying to reach 2000 can easily exceed 1000 followers, but a team working for 1000 followers can stay in the 900s. Even in a project that is comfortable and comfortable, it rots people.
Where is the mistake?
The biggest mistakes made while managing a project are on resources, scope and attribution.
One of the biggest mistakes in this area is due to the improper use of resources. We have unlimited thinking power, but our time is limited. For this reason, it is necessary to clarify in advance how much time the team members who will take part in a new project should devote to this project.
In addition to how much time the human resources will devote, collective time is also important: When will the project start and when will it end? Who will be responsible for what? You can solve the communication confusion over the OGSM model.
“OGSM stands for objective, goals, strategies and measures. It’s a way of defining what you want to achieve, and how you will get there. The model divides your aims into broad objectives, fixed and measurable goals, strategies to guide your actions, and measures to give you a direct way of monitoring your progress.” (Source)
Savoury appetizer: Tools
If you say you want to show the project through a tool, Google Sheet would be a good option. You can look at tools such as Trello, Asana, Monday just to make the whole team aware of the tasks and the process.
What will the output be for this time spent? This is the most critical question: Are the goals you set measurable?
“We will come to a good place” at the end of the project is a “bad” goal. “We will reach 10 thousand clicks per day at the end of the project” is a effective goal to target. The unmeasurable loses.
How often do you measure your distance from the target you set? What will you do when you fall behind the target? The entire team doesn’t need to know the answers to these questions at the start, but a project manager should have them in mind. The AARRR model can come in handy here.
Besides, if you’re in a rush on a project, you’re too late. Therefore, you should know your SWOT analysis well in order not to rush.
How to act against emerging problems?
Naval has a saying that I often mention:
“The measure of wisdom is how calm you are when facing any given situation.”
When a problem arises in the project, what the manager has to do is act like an intellectual and ask the right questions. Instead of seeing yourself as a “victim” as if the team is bad, the project is not good, the boss is pressing, you should ask the question that will solve the problem. Remember what Naval said in these moments.
What if we don’t hit the target?
For example, the project is not going the way you want and you have to postpone the deadline or reduce the targets. This is one of the problems that befalls many projects. Downsizing is not a good choice. So why?
I read Grant Cardone’s book 10X (I had a lot of prejudices about this book, but when I read it, I learned a lot from the sections where Cardone shared his experiences). He was mentioned how damaging target reduction could be, as the team couldn’t get to the desired level.
By doing this, you are accustoming the team to comfort and you will probably not hit the target in the next project. Once you have instilled in the need to settle for smaller numbers, you will no longer see “extraordinary” efforts.
It’s a good idea to push the team instead of reducing the target or pushing the deadline forward, specifying which areas you need to work on more according to the current plan, and pairing it with a (perhaps new) reward.
The beginning of the story
Before all these issues, including people who can put this effort into the team and believe in the goals of the brand, will accelerate these processes. People who do not believe in the project and only do their duty may turn into burdens that you have to “drag” with you on the road to success.
