Anyone who’s worked on project teams knows that a variety of factors can move a project past its deadline. It’s not uncommon for some of the work to be harder than originally anticipated or to have turnover on the project that requires you to bring new people up to speed. Sometimes you discover that activities were simply underestimated.Regardless of how it happens, many times you’ll find that you’re trending beyond your committed deadline date. If you discover that happening, your first obligation as the project manager is to try to determine the cause. If you look for remedies without knowing the cause, the situation will probably recur. Your second task is to try to make corrections that will get the project back on track.

At the beginning of a long project, you have many options to solve your problem. But toward the end, your choices dwindle. Look at this list of techniques and see which ones can be applied to your situation. Note that this list is not prioritized. Some of the techniques may work in one instance, while others could be applied better in another situation.

#1: Work overtime

Everyone hates it, but one logical place to start is with overtime. If people work more hours, they can get more work done in the same amount of calendar time. Overtime may be the best option if you’re close to the end of the project and just need a final push to get everything done on schedule. If you’re toward the end of the project, you also may be able to issue comp time after the project is completed. If you’re still early in the project, there are probably more effective strategies. This option may also have cost implications if you need to have contract resources work overtime.

Read the other ways at TechRepublic.