Writer and philosopher George Santaya once wrote that “those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” It’s a common mantra today, but one that holds true for a variety of walks of life. The point being: you can make mistakes yourself and learn the hard way or you can learn from the mistakes of others and be that much more prepared.
This applies to commercial real estate as a whole, but also in the sub-niche of commercial project management. Avoiding mistakes is tricky because the world of commercial real estate can be so complicated and overwhelming.
Let’s go over some mistakes your peers have made over the years so you can ensure history isn’t repeated on your end.
1. Poor Planning
It’s wise to start off any form of project management with proper planning. But some of us are better at it than others. While CRE software solutions like Quarem make planning easy, if you’re intentional about this step, it will start the project off on the right foot. Without a plan, you’re like a ship setting sail without a map, so don’t skip the planning phase if you want to avoid things like confusion, scope creep and missed deadlines.
Be thorough and accurate with your planning, thinking about project objectives and a realistic timeline to complete them. Identify potential risks early in the process and implement mitigation strategies. Your plan is your roadmap and will guide you—don’t skip it.
2. Miscommunication
Successful project management is all about communication. In fact, it’s the backbone for it. If you don’t establish clear lines of communications with your team members, stakeholders and vendors, it can lead to missed information, misunderstandings and costly errors. To combat this, provide regular updates and document everything clearly. Transparent communication channels are essential to keep everyone informed and aligned.
Quarem also helps in this area with a variety of features like the ability to leave notes, access information on any device and send to anyone in the world for collaboration via the cloud.
3. Ignoring Stakeholders
Pleasing stakeholders is a necessary part of commercial project management, whether it’s enjoyable for you or not. Engaged stakeholders really do have valuable contributions for the project plan, so listen to their concerns and suggestions. Also, when you keep your stakeholders updated on project information, delays and issues, it helps create a sense of ownership and ensures the project meets the diverse needs of your stakeholders and all of their unique perspectives and requirements.
4. Overlooking Risks
If there’s one thing you can count on with investments, it’s that there is risk involved. Project management isn’t excluded from this as it comes with a variety of inherent risks related to budgets, regulations and other obstacles. If the consequences of these risks surprise you, it means you failed to identify and manage them appropriately. One way to avoid costly setbacks associated with project management risks is by conducting thorough assessments to regularly update your risk management strategy. CRE software like Quarem helps you prioritize this by giving you clear insights, useful dashboards and real-time data.
5. Inaccurate Budgeting
One of the most frustrating mistakes on this list, budgeting errors can lead to overspending, scope reductions or the need to secure additional funding mid-project. This isn’t a way to instill confidence in your stakeholders. On the other hand, accurate budgeting helps you avoid financial strains and keeps projects moving forward. Consider creating a detailed budget (that you can access from the cloud, preferably) that includes things like costs, strategies, execution information and completion information. (Don’t forget about contingencies, either!)
6. Not Utilizing Technology
There’s no excuse for commercial real estate professionals to NOT use technology these days. The right tools can streamline tasks involved with project management and give you more time to focus on the bigger picture. Commercial real estate software (like Quarem in particular), on the other hand, offers robust features for lease management, document organization and collaboration. At the end of the day, leveraging technology not only enhances efficiency, but also provides a centralized platform for information sharing and real-time updates.
7. Failing to be Adaptable
Lastly, if there’s one thing project managers must be, it’s flexible. There are disruptions, delays, interruptions and obstacles involved in all types of projects. But you can prepare for unexpected challenges by keeping apprised of project statuses, shifting market conditions, regulatory updates and more. By utilizing CRE technologies like Quarem, you can embrace flexibility and be prepared to adapt your plans and strategies as circumstances evolve.
These are just a few mistakes that commercial project managers can make. To avoid these and stay on track with your project management tasks and portfolio growth, request a demo of Quarem today and see how our CRE software can help.
