7 Project Management Challenges for Startups

TOP CHALLENGES IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR STARTUPS Startups are fundamentally and substantially unlike traditional companies. A flat organizational structure, transparency and collaborative communication defines the startup. It follows that project management is a totally different animal in such an environment. Here are a few challenges startup owners will identify with... You don't understand risk. Entrepreneurs are accustomed to failure. The whole startup culture is built around the ability to take risks. So, it requires a great effort on startup owners' part to understand the risks of a project, let alone address them. Conduct a thorough risk assessment at the start of the project and have your contingency plan ready, should anything go wrong at any point. Even a single mistake can prove fatal to your startup. You can't find the right project management software. Every key team member prefers their own method of communication. Some want more details, others want to keep it simple. Eventually, everyone reverts back to email. A good project management tool is one that fits into the culture of the company, not the other way around. The primary goal of the tool is to reduce friction and frustration involved in collaboration and task completion. Choose a tool that works for the majority. You have only one product. Most startups are built around one central idea. And more often than not these days, it's just an app. Therefore, they don't need project management. Right? Wrong. For you, everything ties back in to one single, huge project. You still need to plan for and manage all-round growth. Further, each component or feature of the product is like a mini-project in itself. You are overloaded with work. Startup owners and even employees have multiple roles to play. At times, they're also bogged down by tasks unrelated to their business, such as accounting and administration. While delegation is a great solution, what if there's no one to delegate to? A priority-based to-do list will be of great help. Figure out which task scheduling software works best for you. Or, simply use a color-coded text document. You are not a project manager. Entrepreneurs have actual work to do. They don't have time for formal documentation, training, processes, estimations, plans and reports. While we know that creativity can't be planned, it's imperative to define a scope, identify your assumptions, establish guidelines, communicate effectively with your team, and track progress. Failing this, you're setting yourself up for massive failure. You don't have enough resources. Startups face a perennial resource crunch. Budget, people, time and credibility, all are hard to come by. %$4 The defining factor is never resources, it's resourcefulness. Complaining is not a strategy. Don't cut costs, cut wastage. Get innovative. Your ideas are your best resources. Your goals are changing. Truly lean startups evolve with the needs of their customers and changing market condi- tions. They might even pivot into something totally different than what they began as. Get buy in from your team, stakeholders and customers. Know your new life cycle with every significant change. Draw a clear blueprint outlining benefits, risks and rollout schedule. Religiously test your changes. BROUGHT TO YOU BY nutScache Smart collaborative project management for your business