项目经理工作中常见的挑战和解决方案
Common Challenges Project Managers Face and
Tips for Solving Them

By Rick Cusolito, PMP



Regardless of your experience as a project manager, projects will consistently challenge your ability to use a little art, a little science, and a little sleight of hand.This article lists some of the

top project management challenges, along with suggested solutions.


1. Unrealistic deadlines – Many project managers lament the fact that they are assigned projects and given deadlines. Of course, there are absolute deadlines for projects such as regulatory compliance or marketing

events, but many dates are tied to factors unrelated to a project’ scope (i.e., end of quarter, budget cycle, boss’s vacation).

For projects that do not have “absolute” time constraints, there are ways to manage the schedule. First, manage the stress of the project deadline and the project issues with creative

planning, alternatives analysis, and communication of reality to the project stakeholders. Then, determine what deadlines are tied to higher-level objectives, and establish links to schedules of other projects in the organization.

2. Scope changes – One of the rules of project management is that change is inevitable. What does not have to be inevitable is uncontrolled change, also known as scope creep. Project managers should analyze

each request and then communicate the impact of each change and the alternatives, if any exist. You can’ eliminate change, but you can make your stakeholders understand how the

change affects the schedule, cost, scope, and quality of the project.

3. Failure to manage risk – Many project plans have a list of risks, but no further analysis or planning happens unless triggered by an adverse event during project execution. Once a project team has defined the

risks, team members can attempt to determine the probability and impact of the occurrence for each risk. At that point, they can either act to avoid the risk through alternatives analysis,

reduce the probability and/or impact with mitigation strategies, or plan a response to the risk event after it happens.

4. Insufficient team skills – To quote a colleague, “Availability is not a skill.” Unfortunately, the busiest people also tend to be the most highly skilled. Finding out that a team member is incompetent can be very difficult

since most incompetent people do not know that they are incompetent. First, do not blame the worker, who is probably trying to do what’s right. Chances are he or she was not given the proper training or direction to be effective in his or her position. Second, starting with the project manager role, document the core set of

skills needed to accomplish the expected workload and honestly compare each person’ skills against your list. Using this assessment of the team, project managers can guide the team

toward competency with training, cross-ing, additional resources, external advisors, and other methods to close the skills gap.