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Hurdles to the Adoption of a Project Management Methodology

   Project Management Methodologies and Hurdles to Their Implementation

 

Project Management Methodologies are commonly used across organizations throughout the world for achieving excellence in project management. However, there are several hurdles to their implementation. Organizations are required to properly consider if there is a need to adopt a methodology before adopting one. Having a methodology is not always essential and a company cannot solve all the ills just by adopting one.  The chances of a methodology failing can be high if one adopts them without proper consideration.   However, many times it has been identified that manager and businesses rush to adopt them even without properly considering their need. They do so just because the competitor did and they felt like following.

Complex or formal methodologies must not be adopted without proper consideration. There are some important points that have to be considered before adopting a methodology.  Before going to adopt a methodology one must think over the company strategy and if it aligns with the methodology. Unless the methodology fits with the strategy the company must not adopt it.

Whether there is a real need to adopt a methodology requires considering how critical the project is. Managers must first check if the project is as critical as it appears and only then must a proper methodology be adopted. There is no need to adopt a methodology as a quick fix or any project related problem or just as a temporary solution. It is quite critical to evaluate a project’s criticality before adopting it because otherwise it can lead to disastrous results. Sometimes the end result can also be total failure.

The size and type of projects varies from company to company and therefore adopting just any project methodology would not be right.  Managers must consider these factors like the size of the company and staff as well as the importance of a solution because these things have an important effect n the success of a project methodology.  Apart from the size of the project team, it is important to check how well it can be managed before adopting the methodology. Adopting a methodology without checking its suitability and its flexibility can be disastrous for the company. How flexible and suitable a methodology and its components are can have an important effect on the success of methodology.

There are other several hurdles to adopting a project methodology as well. Sometimes there can also be stiff resistance from various levels and many times the managers may fail to garner appropriate level of support from all levels. Misunderstandings also abound about these methodologies and people fee unable to support them. Sales staff resists the adoption of any methodology because they believe the credit would all go to the project department. They believe the bonuses will all be paid to the project department and not the sales staff. Marketing staff also fear that it will only add to the status and reputation of then project management team and they will not benefit. They also fear that this will bring the project managers closer to the customer and lead to some of the marketing functions being granted to the project team. So, confusions and fears abound regarding the project methodologies which can act as hindrances to their adoption.

Finance department also nurtures similar fears. The finance managers also fear that adoption of a new methodology would require the development of a new project accounting system and in this way only add to the work load of the Financé managers.  Individual staff members also nurture several types of fears related to the adoption of project methodologies which only becomes a hurdle. The individual resistance is due to the fact that people fear that it will lead to change in work habits, salary levels etc.  In this way, there are so many factors due to which the project methodologies do not get as much support as they must at the lower and the middle level.