|
Definition
of Project Success and Failure.
Projects are successful if they deliver the required result within schedule and within budget.
If any one or more of these criteria are not met then the project has failed. Many project failure statistics have been published, and they mostly indicate that more than half of all projects fail.
Some Reasons for
Project Failure.
Understanding why aspects of a project can fail is the key to understanding what needs to be done in order to improve the chances that a project will be successful.
 |
Lack of executive support and stakeholder
involvement |
| |
Conflicts between stakeholders |
| |
Failure to produce or update the Business Case |
| |
Unrealistic time or resource estimates |
| |
Unclear or changing goals and objectives |
| |
Scope creep or feature creep |
| |
Lack of a change control system |
| |
Poor or absent quality control |
| |
Lack of adequate planning |
| |
Failure to communicate and act as a team |
| |
Poor or no requirements definition |
| |
Lack of required resources |
| |
Staff with Inappropriate skills |
Problems
with Middle and Senior Management Attitudes.
Middle and senior management attitudes that can contribute to project failure include:
| |
Political decisions to exclude some stakeholders from
consultation |
| |
Appointment of a hard-hitting "firefighter" project manager to a project that requires a strategic thinker |
| |
Lack of knowledge of how to implement culture change |
| |
Petty disputes between senior individuals or departments cause stagnation |
| |
Lack of feedback of failure warning signals from staff due to a culture of management by edict |
| |
Failure to have or to communicate the business case leads to a lack of direction |
| |
Viewing project management as merely the ability to use a project planning software tool, whereas it is the orchestration of human resources to capture requirements, plan the project, report progress, control risks and formally accept what the project delivers |
| |
Budget restrictions limit the upfront investment of time, causing downstream costs when correcting problems that were avoidable |
Project management is primarily a philosophy of people management. It is not just a technique, software tool or an administrative function.
True Project Management requires an "active" manager, not a "reactive" one
The Bull Survey
The Chaos Report
The KPMG Canada Survey
The OASIG Survey
The OGC Project Failure Statement
To find out more about how Parthenon can help you call 020 8979 7287.
Return to Top of Page
Return
to Project Health Check Service
|
