The Realities of Being a Project Manager (And How to Overcome Them)

Being a project manager is increasingly challenging. We surveyed over fifty project managers (PMs) and asked them to describe their experiences. Here’s some samples of what they told us:

"I wake up at 2AM, staring at the ceiling, because my mind won’t stop racing about an impending deadline that feels like a freight train—with no brakes."

“Half my day is spent playing 'Project Janitor,' cleaning up messes made by people who swore they 'had it under control'—until they didn’t. I check the calendar, do the maths, and come to the gut-wrenching realisation that the only way this project will finish on time is with a miracle, a cloning machine, or some form of black magic”

“I watch helplessly as sponsors bicker over scope, like kids fighting over a toy, dragging the project in six different directions while the deadline remains unchanged.”

“I’m duct-taping a sinking ship together, trying to keep everyone aligned while the project gets buried under scope creep, shifting priorities, and last-minute ‘urgent’ changes.”

I’ve observed common themes. When properly addressed, these reveal how to deliver projects early and at lower cost. Combining Getting Things Done (GTD) with some counterintuitive project management strategies produces even better outcomes.

In my twenty years as a project recovery expert I’ve delivered over eighty projects on time—despite most of them running late when I was asked to help out. I’ve observed common themes. When properly addressed, these reveal how to deliver projects early and at lower cost. Combining Getting Things Done (GTD) with some counterintuitive project management strategies produces even better outcomes.

Here’s the Five Leading Causes of Project Failure (And How to Fix Them)

1. Poorly Defined Outcomes and Plans

Project documentation often contains vague or highly technical language. According to the Project Management Institute, 37% of projects fail due to ill-defined objectives.

Solution:

Ask teams to describe the desired outcome in terms of what they would physically see – a great tip from GTD. Instead of saying, "Testing will be complete" (which can’t be seen), they should say, "We have a PDF that shows what has been tested and passed."

2. Overly Ambitious Planning

Plans are often made too far in advance. Research from the National Library of Medicine indicates that humans generally plan only three steps ahead. However, project leaders usually seek certainty months or years ahead, leading to over planning and inefficiencies.

Solution:

Create detailed, short-term plans of two to three months, with broader strokes as the planning horizon extends. Allow room for adaptation rather than rigidly adhering to obsolete plans.

3.Ineffective Target Setting

Setting rigid due dates often backfires, leading to 'student syndrome' (procrastination until the deadline) or work stretching to fit the allotted time.

A better approach:

Provide a safe and focused duration for objectives, allowing teams to work at the right pace. Progress should be reported based on the remaining duration of work rather than adherence to arbitrary deadlines.

4. Unresolved Blockers

Our studies show that some projects are delayed by up to 31% because leaders do not promptly act to remove blockers. When asked why, many said, "I didn’t know I had to."

Solution:

GTD’s emphasis on role clarity is helpful here. We take time to clarify leaders’ responsibilities in detail in scoping and methods workshops, so they are clear that prompt removal of obstacles is part of their job. In one project, we reduced the unblocking time from 46 days to just 3, which took it from running massively behind schedule to being back on track.

5. Ineffective Measurement

So called ‘percent-complete’ measures can be misleading. A project might be 80% complete and still running late because tasks pile up and due dates encourage prioritising easier work.

Better approach:

Eliminate percentage-complete measures. Instead, use objective metrics based on remaining task durations. When added up, this approach shows well in advance whether aproject is running late or not, and by how much.

Bonus Tip: Systematising Project Management

Many PMs manage work effectively within projects but fail to systematise their processes. I foundGTD helpful in this regard. When managing an extensive portfolio, I trained all my PMs in GTD—though that’s a topic for another blog.

Final Thoughts

Project management is challenging, but addressing these key issues helps PMs transition from firefighting mode to delivering projects on time, with less stress and greater efficiency.