Background: Delays in the development of software projects will almost certainly make the costs higher and lower the quality of the final product. This has become imperative to sustain a competitive advantage knowing that avoid this type of delays in the fast-changing technology landscape today.

Aim: The purpose of this research is to determine and to evaluate the causes of delay in software projects. The project managers reduce these problems to the minimum level so as to provide the best opportunity to deliver the projects on time and to make benefits to the software professionals and organizations based on their awareness.

Method: This study uses semi structured interviews of Chinese, Turkish and Indian software professionals from where data are collected. Interviews are done in English and Chinese to address language barriers. A procedure, which is known as thematic analysis is used to identify vital things that have an influence on project timelines and provide suggestions for software project planning and management.

Conclusion: The results suggest that uncertainty of project requirements, resource management inefficiency and communication inefficiency lead to considerable amount of time software projects waste. Also, other causes, including the lack of team skills, can intensify them. To address these problems, the report suggests that one can be flexible on the planning stage of the project, promoting open communication, as well as separating the project into smaller subtasks with allocatable budgets.