Consultants: Here’s the Variable that Dictates Project Success

On average, how long are the projects you work on? If a majority of them run for six months or less, you’ll want to keep reading.

While logically, it’d make sense to think that longer projects have a greater chance of being mismanaged, you’ll be surprised to learn that projects running for six months or less are actually mismanaged the most. As a result, they’re often the least successful. Here’s why:

Planning  

A study commissioned by Accelo reported that almost 36% of professionals like consultants working on projects that run for one to three months don’t use any planning software. Instead of using an integrated project planning platform for their work, they tend to use a few tools here and there (that don’t talk to each other) to manage everything. These scattered tools don’t give you a complete view of a project’s progress and overall scope, leaving work that could’ve been short and sweet (think: faster cash in the bank) mismanaged and dragged out. 

Collaboration

For that same time frame, the study showed that less than 40% of consultants used collaboration software for their projects. Are your communications with clients and other team members scattered between different tools (think: email chaos, with forwards, cc’s and fyi’s)? You’re probably spending lots of time juggling between correspondences and inboxes looking for the information you need. With a system like that, you’ll never have a clear idea of who’s seen what—a recipe for miscommunication and mismanagement.

Tracking

Not tracking your work is a silent profit killer. For projects that run around five weeks, a whopping 74% reported not using software to track budgets, deadlines, and time spent on tasks. Even with the best of intentions, things fall through the cracks when you don’t use a platform to manage your business. As a result, you’re left with mismanaged projects that chip away at your profits (and sometimes even your sanity).

There you have it—the majority of consultants don’t use a smart platform to manage projects that run for six months or less, setting themselves up for mismanaged mayhem. Don’t be one of them—find a software that works for you.