Project management is the essential backbone for delivering complex initiatives in many industries, including manufacturing, power, and maritime engineering. Yet, even seasoned professionals find themselves wrestling with familiar challenges. These recurring hurdles can stall progress, drain budgets, and frustrate teams. If you are working in an internal PMO capacity or managing external delivery teams, knowing these roadblocks and how to confront them effectively will mean the difference between success and failure.
In this piece, we’ll examine the five most common project management problems and the well-researched, battle-tested tactics for solving them. These principles are applied with all solutions delivered by TotalTek.
A report from the Project Management Institute (PMI) found that a lack of clear goals and milestones causes 37% of project failures. Often, teams launch without a well-defined scope, resulting in misalignment between stakeholders and delivery teams.
When multiple departments, vendors, or even continents are involved when managing complex projects, effective communication is crucial. Miscommunication can lead to scope creep, duplication of work, or even critical compliance issues.
Use a centralized project management system such as Jira, Asana, or Microsoft Project. This becomes the authoritative source for timelines, updates, and tasks.
Even in hybrid environments, practices such as daily stand-ups or weekly sprint reviews can help bridge communication gaps.
Over-documentation can be overwhelming. Create a communication matrix that defines what information is shared with whom and when.
TotalTek’s PMO consulting approach to communications planning ensures every message is purposeful, timely, and tailored—keeping stakeholders informed, teams aligned, and projects moving forward with clarity and confidence.
Tight deadlines, shrinking budgets, and labor shortages are common in fields like IT services for manufacturing or shipbuilding design services. According to a McKinsey report, 87% of companies are already experiencing skill gaps or expect to soon.
Before project kickoff, map out the capabilities you need vs. the ones you have.
Consider utilizing fractional experts, managed services, or consulting partners to temporarily fill roles, particularly in specialized areas such as SAP consulting services or application management services (AMS).
Upskilling internal talent can be a more sustainable and morale-boosting approach than relying solely on external hiring.
Did you know? TotalTek helps clients identify and bridge engineering and IT skills gaps through tailored talent solutions in naval architecture services and logistics IT services.
Client requests a change. Market forces shift. Regulatory requirements evolve. However, when change is unmanaged, it can inflate budgets and delay go-live dates. Scope creep affects nearly 52% of projects, according to the PMI.
Use a Change Request (CR) template and assign a change control board (CCB) to evaluate requests based on business value.
Use classifications such as low, medium, and high to assess urgency, effort, and cost before proceeding.
Every approved change should link to a measurable improvement in ROI, user experience, or compliance.
TotalTek’s PMO experience demonstrates that well-structured change management is vital to the success of long-term, multi-vendor programs.
From vendor delays to cyber threats, modern projects face a multitude of risks. However, many teams treat risk registers as static documents, rather than evolving tools. This leaves projects vulnerable to blind spots
Utilize automated risk alerts in your project management system to identify red flags early.
Run “what-if” simulations to assess how risks could impact cost, scope, or schedule, and build mitigation strategies.
Conduct monthly or bi-weekly reviews that focus solely on updating and refining the risk register.
Project management will always come with challenges, but the right mindset, strategies, and tools can keep those challenges from derailing your goals. Whether you're dealing with high-speed vessel construction, multi-layered ERP systems, or public sector transformation, the fundamentals of project success remain the same: clarity, communication, agility, and risk awareness.
If your organization operates in complex domains like manufacturing or maritime defense, the stakes are simply too high to rely on outdated methods.
That’s where TotalTek can help with integrated project delivery models that combine technical expertise and project governance for reliable, scalable success.
Explore our full range of project management and technology solutions at www.totaltek.com.