Limitations of the project management

Limitations of the project management

There are numerous limitations to Project Management, some important points are discuss –

Inability to stick with the project scope: By definition, Project Management is unable to commit to the original project scope due to constant change requirements. Project Management accepts this with the formal integration of Change Management. This limitation causes a lot of problems, such as so many projects end up way over budget and many months/years late, sometimes even canceled or killed.

Inability to fully align the project objectives with the organizational strategy: Project Managers manage projects, not their organization. Although projects are usually initiated by stakeholders/executives with a clear relation and full alignment with the overall corporate strategy, project managers are incapable, by themselves, to make sure that their projects are kept aligned with the company’s strategy. In order to solve this limitation in Project Management, Program Management was introduced as a higher layer of managerial control to guarantee and sustain alignment.

Inability to manage projects with unspecified budget and/or schedule: This is probably the biggest limitation in the traditional realization of Project Management.  Project Management imposes a budget and a deadline on any project and thus creates a major problem: All projects finishing on time and on schedule.

Dependence on functional management:  The dependence on functional management is a major limitation in Project Management, as Project Managers are constantly at the understanding of both the functional managers and the resources (indirectly). 

Following an exclusive methodology: Project Management forces the Project Manager to choose and follow a methodology, be it the traditional methodology, or a newer methodology. In Project Management, a project can only be managed using one methodology, and, in almost all cases, is not switched from one methodology to the other (usually methodology switching is not per project and is a decision made at the organization level), even when the other methodology is proven to be highly successful for that type of project.