Feeling overwhelmed? You’re not alone. Managing a project can be a rewarding yet stressful endeavor. In today’s landscape, many projects across the UK are not being facilitated by individuals trained in project management, with an estimated 28% of companies not investing in thorough training, according to Wellingtone’s “State of Project Management Annual Survey 2018”.

With 56% of its sample reporting dissatisfaction with the levels of project management maturity in their respective establishments, citing “lack of planning” and “inconsistency in approach” as major challenges¹. With this in mind, this doesn’t discredit the individual. But, as professionals are continually finding themselves in project management positions there is a growing precedence to learn and reskill.

The Balancing Act:

Although every project is different with its own set of criteria, foundations exist that uphold the operations of any project and have to be finely balanced:

• Cost and Budget - The obvious and never overlooked factor, 71% of Wellingtone's correspondents reported lack of funding as a major challenge in their projects this year. Pressure to deliver on budget can be a stressful experience, putting extra requirement on the individual to make well-calculated supply chain decisions early and eliminating unnecessary costs.

• Time - deadlines are deadlines and must be strictly adhered to. It’s too easy to judge team performance when a project is over-running, but projects are always collaborations and managing the time of your supply chain and partners is paramount to your team’s timeline.

• Safety - Sometimes overlooked as a necessary measure. Did you know, in 2017/8 half a million work-related musculoskeletal disorders were reported to HSE? And, 30.7 million working days were lost across the country. In the previous year, work-related injuries and illnesses cost the UK £15 billion². It’s important not to damage both your budget and time allocation through bad safety culture.

At Harlestone our culture is dictated by these principles, which is why we have a proven track record of delivering in a multitude of environments for the past 20 years.

If you’re struggling, overwhelmed or simply interested in what we’ve spoken about in this blog, we have compiled more information in our “Guide to Managing a Smooth, Cost-Effective Project” which you can download here.

Notes:

1. Wellingtone’s “The State of Project management 2018”

2. HSE - Vital statistics 2018