7 Common Project Management Risks And How To Avoid Them

Simple or complex, every project has a certain amount of risks in it. In order to manage projects successfully, you need to know what those risks are and be able to deal with them efficiently. So, in today’s article, we’ve gathered some of the most common project management risks that may occur during project implementation and how to avoid them.

Common types of project management risks

• Estimating time and risks. One of the most important things about implementing a project is estimating it correctly. But since every website and mobile app is somewhat unique, it’s not always possible to come up with exact estimations right off the bat.
• Change of requirements. Today’s market is competitive as ever. Because of that, clients may sometimes change their vision of how their product or certain features in it should look like. Even though it’s hard to be prepared for change of requirements, it’s one of the things that you need to consider.
• Unforeseen circumstances. Just like any other people, project managers and developers are humans. For example, if some of them gets sick, it can delay the project for an indefinite period of time or even derail it.
• Unclear specifications. Because of incorrect project initiation, specifications may not always be clear or complete enough for developers to start their part of the work.
• Neglecting design. Trying save time, many developers sometimes tend to neglect design processes. However, that decision often throws them a wobbly, since design plays one of the most crucial aspects about development.
• Technical risks. Budget cut is among the most challenging risks as it forces you into a situation where you need to satisfy client’s requirements while being low on resources.
• Unavoidable risks. These are risks, which can’t be controlled or estimated: starting from technologies being discontinued to even changes in government policy.

As you can see, the path to successful implementation of a project is not only long but also full of certain risks. We’ve prepared a list of rules that should help you avoid them and manage projects efficiently. Without further ado, let’s get straight to them:

• Identify risks. In the very beginning, thoroughly analyze the whole project and put down all potential problems that may occur in the future. Brainstorming with your team is also a good way to identify risks. Also, don’t forget to explain each team member their scope of work and responsibilities.
• Keep in touch with your client’s. In order to avoid any conflict situations or misunderstandings, make sure you always inform your clients about everything that can somehow affect the project, including potential risks. The last thing you want to happen is your client finding out that they are out of budget.
• Don’t miss good opportunities. Make sure you spend an equal amount of time on outlining both risks and opportunities to improve things. It’ll allow you to be more effective and help the client to save their time and/or money.
• Remember to prioritize risks. Each risk affects the project you’re working on differently. From this perspective, you should focus on the project managment risks that cause the biggest losses and deal with them first.
• Make a risk response plan. Arrange a meeting with your team and try to find answers to the following questions: What can be done to avoid risks? How can we manage them effectively? How to make sure we haven’t missed any opportunities? Answering these questions should allow you to improve the development processes.
• Keep track of every risk. This will allow both you and your team to avoid your mistakes in future projects.