Project management is not just about a Gantt chart or regular meetings. It is a demanding discipline that aims to align clear objectives, limited resources, and often divergent stakeholders. Yet, even in structured environments such as Swiss companies, challenges persist.
According to McKinsey, large IT projects exceed their initial budgets by an average of 45% and deliver up to 56% less value. The PMI also notes that organizations with a mature project culture and well-trained teams achieve significantly higher success rates. This article highlights the 5 most common project management mistakes and provides concrete methods to anticipate and sustainably avoid them.
The lack of a clear framework is one of the leading causes of project failure. Poorly defined objectives lead to misunderstandings, conflicting expectations, and eventually cost and schedule overruns. According to the Standish Group, nearly 39% of projects fail due to vague goals or shifting scopes. In Switzerland, as elsewhere, this mistake remains common, especially in environments where project culture is still maturing.
A strong framework rests on three pillars: SMART objectives (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound), a RACI matrix clarifying roles and responsibilities, and clearly defined deliverables with acceptance criteria validated by stakeholders. In a French-speaking Swiss industrial company, formalizing these elements helped cut the final validation phase of a digital project by half. This initial clarity fosters trust, reduces misunderstandings, and speeds up decision-making.
It is also important to guard against the optimism bias, a natural tendency to underestimate complexity and overestimate execution capacity. As the Harvard Business Review points out, introducing external reviews or safety margins early in the planning phase strengthens the reliability of the project plan. In other words, a realistic goal is better than unachievable ambitions.
One recurring mistake is assuming that everything will go according to plan. However, according to a joint study by McKinsey and Oxford, 70% of IT projects exceed their initial timelines. This drift often stems from an incomplete risk assessment or overly optimistic planning.
A rigorous risk analysis process helps avoid many pitfalls. Using a risk matrix updated at each project milestone allows teams to identify threats based on their likelihood and impact. Risks should be divided into three categories: technical (security, technical debt), organizational (resource availability, governance), and external (regulations, vendor dependencies). Each risk must have an owner, early warning indicators, and a mitigation plan. This pragmatic approach, for instance, enabled a cantonal administration to detect a major GDPR risk before deploying a citizen portal, avoiding costly corrective actions.
Planning a contingency plan and budget buffers is not a sign of pessimism but of professionalism. As highlighted in the PMI Pulse of the Profession 2024, organizations that incorporate planned buffers reduce schedule overruns by an average of 26%.
Insufficient or poorly structured communication remains a major cause of failure. The Gallup report shows that nearly half of employees feel they don’t receive the information they need to do their jobs. Fragmented communication leads to duplication, delays, and loss of collective purpose.
A clear project communication plan defines channels, frequency, and stakeholders. It relies on short but regular rituals: progress meetings, synchronization sessions, or focused steering committees. In a Geneva banking transformation program, introducing a weekly sponsor–project manager follow-up helped accelerate decision-making and cut approval times by half. This type of structure promotes transparency, traceability, and responsiveness.
Communication is also a matter of governance. Clear decision-making paths and documented exchanges prevent misunderstandings. As Forbes reminds us, most projects fail not for technical reasons, but because of breakdowns in information flow.
The gradual addition of unplanned features or requests is a well-known phenomenon: scope creep. This insidious drift often results from ad hoc requests that are not formally managed or from informal decisions. The PMI identifies this issue as one of the main causes of budget overruns.
To manage it, every change request should be logged, evaluated, and approved through a transparent process. Implementing a change register helps document the nature of each request, its impact, and the final decision. In a Lausanne-based tech company, this practice reduced out-of-scope changes by 30% over a few sprints. As the PMI also notes, saying “no” or “later” is not rejection — it’s responsible project governance.
In the Swiss context, where internal or external customer satisfaction is a cultural priority, this discipline is essential to preserve project viability. Scope control is not a constraint — it’s a condition for success.
Behind every project are teams whose engagement directly affects success. According to Gallup, organizations that promote employee engagement perform 21% better. Yet in practice, tight deadlines or technical focus often push the human aspect to the background.
Recognizing contributions, maintaining open dialogue, and building trust are levers of sustainable performance. In a CRM redesign project led by a Zurich-based company, creating feedback spaces and systematically recognizing achievements helped stabilize productivity and reduce turnover. These initiatives stem more from leadership mindset than methodology — but their impact is decisive.
The sponsor’s role is also central: visible support and regular communication strengthen motivation and team cohesion. A project’s success depends as much on governance quality as on the quality of the work environment.
Several often-overlooked dimensions deserve attention in project management. Among them are cognitive biases such as anchoring, optimism, or recency bias, which unconsciously influence planning and decision-making. Recognizing them allows for more rational approaches.
Organizational maturity also plays a major role. Companies and institutions with clear processes, consistent governance, and a collaborative culture better manage scope changes and delays. In Switzerland, adopting frameworks such as HERMES or hybrid models combining agility with structured planning fosters stability and strengthens collective performance.
Finally, knowledge capitalization is a powerful but underused improvement driver. Post-project reviews help analyze successes, identify areas for improvement, and pass on lessons learned to future teams.
Preventing project management mistakes requires a holistic approach. Four key levers stand out:
Project management mistakes are inevitable, but they can be anticipated. Clear objectives, active risk management, structured communication, controlled scope, and constant attention to the human aspect are the pillars of successful execution. Organizations that integrate these practices develop a true project performance culture built on clarity, collaboration, and continuous learning. Rigor does not limit creativity — it ensures its realization.
What is the main cause of project failure?
Most failures stem from poorly defined objectives or lack of initial planning. SMART goals and a validated scope are essential.
How can project delays be reduced?
By setting realistic buffers, identifying critical risks early, and tracking them at each milestone, teams can better control schedules.
What is scope creep and how can it be controlled?
Scope creep refers to the gradual addition of out-of-scope elements. A documented change log validated by the sponsor is the best safeguard.
Why is communication so critical?
It ensures alignment across teams, speeds up decision-making, and strengthens engagement. Clear communication is a key success factor.
Which method should be adopted to improve project culture?
A hybrid approach combining methodological rigor (PRINCE2, PMP) with agility (Scrum, Kanban) is often best suited to modern organizations.
McKinsey — Delivering large-scale IT projects on time, on budget and on value; PMI — Future of Project Work; Standish Group — CHAOS Report 2020; PMI — Top Five Causes of Scope Creep; PMI — Controlling Scope Creep; HBR — The Planning Fallacy and the Illusion of Control; Gallup — State of the Global Workplace; Forbes — Poor Communication Is Still the Primary Contributor to Project Failure.
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