Bad Project Planning

Each project consists of tasks that require resources to succeed. However, project managers often encounter challenges when they try to match resources with tasks as needed. Why? In a nutshell, capacity planning, which is careful planning to match the right resources for each task at the right time, is overlooked.

Poor planning of capacity can accumulate casualties and losses in all areas. Not having the necessary and appropriately qualified talent assigned to the right tasks can undermine all your other best efforts in each area and push your project towards catastrophic failure.

Below are five ways in which poor capacity planning has a negative impact on projects.

1. Exhausted resources

Poor planning of capacity leads to a shortage of resources and, eventually, to depleted resources. If your resources, and do not forget that often refers to human resources or talent, are overprogrammed or have conflicting priorities, they are likely to run out. Not to mention that they will also suffer stress, decreased concentration and are unlikely to fulfill their duties as best they can.

2. Low morale

In addition, if your resources are overloaded and exhausted, you can virtually guarantee that you will also suffer from low morale, lack of confidence in project managers and other leaders, and eventually stop working at a productive level. In fact, they are capable of doing little more than a minimum effort just because of the need to keep a job. Unfortunately, the resource is often considered a problem or a bottleneck, rather than being seen by the company as a capacity planning problem.

3. Low-quality deliverables

If the resources are exhausted only the minimum, then the quality of all the deliverables is destined to suffer. Ultimately, customers will reject the final deliverable, creating a rework scenario and a shortage of additional resources. At this stage, it becomes a vicious circle that simply can not be broken without addressing the capacity planning problem that led to this point in the first place.

4. Costs out of control

Rework is guaranteed to result in an increase in costs, which customers (and their finance department) certainly disapprove of. Once costs start to get out of control, it is highly unlikely that additional funds will be released without a significant amount of justification (which also means more work). Very few times the poor capacity of planning is a well-received explanation.

5. Failed objectives

Poor capacity planning also increases the likelihood that project objectives will be missed. All risks are fully exposed and this eventually leads to complete failure.

Much of the above can be avoided or adequately addressed through careful capacity planning.