Every project starts with good intentions and best efforts, but many of them go off track with low engagement and miss milestones. But, there’s no need to get disappointed, as some corrective actions can get your delayed project back on track in no time.

Here are some effective project recovery techniques you should try to make things move in the right direction.

1. Call for a Team Meeting

Delayed Project on Track Meeting

Your team might have met at numerous virtual team meetings for this project. However, once you know you’re about to miss a deadline, it’s mandatory to have everyone sit together for one more time. This team meeting should develop a new strategy about what to do next.

Consider project deliverables, budget, and time (remaining or additional) you have to complete the project. Check out the impact of your delay on each of these aspects. Find out what the team can deliver while keeping the original budget and deadline the same.

Apart from these, see how long it’ll take to finish the project. Then, talk to your client about choosing any of the above options.

2. Find Out the Reason for Delay

In addition to choosing viable options for your clients, use the meeting to determine the problem of the project. Only by knowing the reason behind the project delay, you can take steps to fix the problem.

There can be various reasons for a project delay including, budget shortage, lack of resources, change in organizational priorities, scope creep, team inefficiency, etc. Find out which one is responsible for the delay and how it has affected the project. Also, deduce how you can fix the issue in the quickest possible time.

3. Set a New but Realistic Deadline

An image of a notebook with tasks

If you have missed the original deadline, it’s time to move on and set a new one instead. Go through the original schedule to identify how many tasks of the project are still pending. Set challenging but feasible milestones for each of the remaining tasks, and find a new due date for the project.

Your goal is to deliver the project within the new deadline. Hence, consider your team's capacity, resources, and availability before setting up the new due date.

4. Reconsider Project Scope

If an unrealistic project scope has caused your project to be delayed, consider revising the outline so that it will be achievable in a short amount of time. Discuss the scope with the client or the stakeholders and check which areas of the projects you can remove.

Never let scope creep happen when you are actually asking for scope reduction. A change in scope will make the project hard to finish. It might also need to move the focus of your team to a new direction altogether.

5. Divide Into Small Tasks and Prioritize

An illustration of priority

Once you get a nod from the client about the revised project scope, start working on it. First of all, divide the remaining work into small chunks of tasks. Then, locate if there are any dependencies among the tasks. If yes, consider them before prioritizing the tasks.

Ask the team to work on the prioritized tasks first. Sometimes, a client might ask you to deliver a section or part of a project first during a project delay. In such cases, put that segment in priority.

Related: The Best Techniques for Freelancers to Prioritize Tasks for Free

6. Reaffirm or Reassign Responsibilities

You have to work with the whole team to determine their roles for the remaining project scope or tasks. Review the tasks completed to identify any conflicts or inefficiencies in work performed so far on this project. It may be necessary to reaffirm or reallocate tasks based on the previous performance.

During reassigning tasks, resolve any doubts about the original plan. Make sure that the newly assigned person has the skills needed to complete this task and does not have any other priorities.

7. Focus on Real-Time Communication

An illustration of real-time communication

There’s no scope for any more delays in a project which has already gone off track. Sometimes, crucial decisions remain pending due to the delayed reply. Hence, your team should not waste time in asynchronous communication where they don’t know when they'll get any response.

Related: Tips and Tools to Communicate With Clients and Teams in Real-Time

In delayed projects, put emphasis on synchronized communication like instant chat. Colleagues can also participate in audio or video calls to clarify any doubts or ask an important question. Whatever you do, never depend on delayed communication modes like email in such situations.

8. Closely Track and Manage Tasks

You would not want to get delayed twice on a single project. To avoid this, managing the tasks and tracking their progress on a daily basis is essential. Make performance tracking a part of your daily routine with dynamic project management apps where members can check task and project progress.

Tracking accomplishments is not enough, as you need to compare them with the projected achievements. When you notice someone lagging behind, contact them immediately to find out the problem and fix it as soon as possible.

9. Have a Risk-Management Plan in Place

A project manager working on project dashboard

A revised outline for a delayed project often includes additional workload, new resources, and a strict schedule. While there’s a high chance of you successfully completing the project, it also involves some risk. Hence, you have to prepare a risk-management plan.

For that, identify the risk factors. You should also analyze them to develop a plan to mitigate their negative effects. Make efforts to lower the chance of the occurrence of those risk factors. Make the whole team aware of the risk management plan and update it constantly as the project progresses.

10. Put Additional Effort

Needless to say, you need to put extra effort into quickly delivering a delayed project. It might also mean working overtime for many team members. Depending on the project scope, the time will vary. However, this can demotivate the team if the overtime becomes extensive.

For this reason, managers should offer a clear idea to their teammates about how long the overtime will continue. If someone can’t give more time to a delayed project, you have to outsource their task.

Effective Tips for Delayed Projects

It’s not uncommon for a project to lose its focus. Once it happens, identifying and recognizing the pain points of the project are necessary.

To have the project back on track, follow the tips mentioned above. You can also use project management apps for successful and timely project completion.