Smarter Project Management for SMBs: Using AI to Predict Bottlenecks

For small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), project failure rarely happens because of one big mistake. More often than not, it's caused by seemingly minor things that have piled up. 

These bottlenecks, true to their name, leave little room for leverage for companies with already lean budgets and overworked staff. And when they crop up, they're not just frustrating, they can be devastating.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can change that. Let's discuss how and why deciding to hire AI developers and using AI can give your team a big boost.

What Are Project Management Bottlenecks?

Project management bottlenecks refer to points in a project that slow down or stall progress. And when they happen, they can create a ripple effect across the whole project timeline. 

The most common examples include:

1. Resource bottlenecks

Small teams don't have as much manpower as bigger enterprises, so multitasking is a typical practice. Budget constraints can also limit an SMB's ability to hire additional people or outsource tasks.

2. Approval and decision bottlenecks

SMB projects often stall because business owners or managers need to approve tasks before they can proceed. Limited leadership, additionally, can slow down decision-making.

3. Communication bottlenecks

A lack of formalized processes means communications sometimes sit in silos, like certain emails or ad hoc chats. If your SMB employs a remote or hybrid setup, this can be an even bigger issue if left unmanaged.

4. Tool and system bottlenecks

Many SMBs over-rely on tools that are not built to scale. Unlike scalable cloud infrastructure, fragmented tech stacks can also add more unnecessary work, with staff often having to manually report and update various tools.

5. Process bottlenecks

No standardized workflows lead to projects that are run differently every time. When there are too many dependencies to consider, which may sometimes even be conflicting, it can be difficult for smaller teams to keep up.

6. Priority bottlenecks

When you need to stay on top of everything, you might end up having unclear priorities with no definite plans. As a result, the SMB goes into "firefighting" mode, where you just put out fires as soon as they come up instead of making real progress.

Why Do Project Management Bottlenecks Matter for SMBs?

Bottlenecks cost more than missed deadlines, especially for SMBs. 

According to Gallup's State of the Global Workplace report, 85% of employees feel stuck in workflows that are inefficient. This, in turn, can result in 23% lower productivity, as well as a 12% waste in resources.

For SMBs, these numbers matter even more because they translate to:

Revenue loss

Smaller businesses don't bounce back as fast as larger enterprises when they lose clients because of dissatisfaction.

Lower efficiency

Pain points in the process often mean extra effort and extra work, but against shorter timeframes. And since SMBs already tend to have fewer people and simpler stacks, this can create compounding issues.

Weak team morale

Bottlenecks can lead to more stress and frustration. They can also cause rifts between relationships, as well as challenges in communication. All of these can weaken team morale and directly impact your bottom line.

How AI Can Predict Project Management Bottlenecks for SMBs

The good news? Artificial intelligence can address many of these bottlenecks by:

Helping forecast delays

One delayed task can push everything else back. Deciding to hire AI developers can help address this problem by giving you access to features such as predictive analytics.

With this, you can scan dependencies and past delays to intelligently flag tasks that are falling behind and warn you of the effects of that delay.

Identifying overloaded team members

If one person on your team ends up shouldering the brunt of the work, that will inevitably lead to a lot of inefficiencies.

Through workload analysis and machine learning, AI tools can help you track which among your team members are overbooked. More importantly, they can help you proactively redistribute tasks to prevent burnout.

Streamlining approvals

A system that requires constant reviews and sign-offs can be helpful in ensuring quality, but it can stall projects. A good trade-off would be to determine where approvals usually get stuck and predict the likelihood of it happening again, so you can take action.

AI’s process mining and predictive modeling can help you make sure progress isn't sitting in one person's inbox.

Solving communication gaps

Need to fix gaps in communications?

AI is built with Natural Language Processing (NLP) models, which can alert your whole team about stalled conversations. They can also summarize long threads for clarity, and help improve communication flow in your operations.

Delivering intelligent scheduling

Sometimes, priorities need to change in response to new needs. And AI tools come with dynamic scheduling algorithms that can automatically adjust timelines alongside changes or updates. 

Delivering flexibility, they help you keep up with demands without getting overwhelmed.

Automating updates

Did you know that some organizations spend 180 hours every year just updating reports? This isn't just a waste of time; it's also a significant roadblock to operational efficiency.

AI-powered workflow automation features automate reporting so that:

The result? Smoother workflows and more clarity into where things get bottled up.

Use AI to Unlock Smarter Project Management 

For SMBs, project bottlenecks often start from small snags that snowball into significant setbacks. These can hurt not only efficiency, but also revenue and team morale. 

AI can help you spot the signs and keep your project progressing smoothly by forecasting delays, addressing communication gaps, balancing workloads, and more.

If you don’t yet have the technical stack and suite to incorporate AI into your work, you can always hire artificial intelligence developers to integrate AI into your system.

With an AI development team, you can truly leverage the power of AI to start transforming your approach to project management.