It’s a well known fact that a large number of projects fail. Humans have been engaged in project management for thousands of years (think about the pyramids for example). Given this, why do so many projects still fail? The most common reasons are listed below:
• Poor commitment from management: if management are not supporting the project then it will be very difficult to get things done
• Bad expectation management: if the project manager manages stakeholders expectations poorly then even if the project succeeds if may be considered a failure by those who judge it
• Unrealistic schedule: it’s a common mistake to be too aggressive in the scheduling – A bad team: even with all the support in the world, a bad team will not deliver. On the other hand, a good team always seems to deliver no matter what the challenges are thrown in its way
• Poorly defined objectives: if you don’t know precisely what the objectives of the project are, that is, under exactly what circumstances the project will be finished, then you are likely to both create the wrong deliverables and not know when you’re done
• No change control: without rigorous change control features stakeholders can keep adding requirements to the project without changing the budget or schedule, thus leading to the project quickly growing out of control.
Now that you understand the major reasons why projects which start with good intentions turn into nightmares, you might want to consider giving some thought to the issues above in any projects you are managing. You can see that a lot of the issues are not about the work done within the team itself, but how the project interacts with and is perceived by stakeholders.
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Original Author : Arval Deco
Courtesy : http://EzineArticles.com/4619354
I can’t agree more with you, Stephen. My general conclusion or percetion or take (take your pick!) on this discussion, is that nagging fact that as long as we continue to have projects, and we will, there would be project failure(s) from time to time due to all the above factors that have been alluded to by all contributors so far. It’s a sad observation, but it’s just a fact of life.
As Stephen Hall, rightly pointed out, the issue of project success/failures have been under discussion since 1955 and l dare add goes as far as to Biblical times!
The failure or success of the project is the perception of the Client in reality. I have witnessed the projects which didn’t meet either the time or quality parameters but still the Client termed it as a succssful project as it gave him the commercial benefit. This perception varies from individuals to companies which will define the project success. on the other hand there are projects which satisfied the quality and time parameters but are still considered as failure as they did not deliver the Client’s expectations.
To address the topic I should agree with Tim. Communication plays a vital role during and after the project phase. The lessons learnt on a project should be carried to the next level and should be handled carefully on the other projects. But the fact is even when mistakes are avoided still the success or failure of the project is the real perception of the Client.
The topic of why projects fail is a popular thread with most PM forums, and unsurprisingly (or unfortunately) the same reasons crop up over and over: it’s Cobbs paradox; “We know why projects fail; we know how to prevent their failure—so why do they still fail?”, and this was said in 1995! Rather than concentrating on the reasons for failure, it is now time for the profession to take action to prevent failure or more importantly to build success.
As Rebecca and others point out above, it might be that the original targets were unachievable in the first place, thus undermining their validity.To be successful, you have to know what success looks like: on-time, on-budget, on-quality is a too-simple set of metrics against which to measure (see the work of Darren Dalcher at the National Centre for Project Management for example).
We also need to consider that projects are delivered in rapidly changing environment; a context where success last year doesn’t look like success today, by the time we’ve delivered the project, the original metrics are no longer applicable. This is where techniques such as Agile are beneficial and help align benefits realisation with stakeholders changing expectations.
IIRC and in my experience it is really down to expectations. A project can deliver an exceptional outcome, yet be perceived as a failure because to the expectations of the end customer. Alternitively it can be strung together heath-robinsonesque yet deliver something that the customer loves.
There are probably three categories of failure:
1. Catastraphe where the project delivers nothing (clearly 0/10)
2. Phyrric Victory, where the customer as such is happy, but the cost has been far too high for any real long term benefit, or the consequences are hard to bear.
2. Moral Stand, where the strict requriements are met, but the end product is only usable with unpalatable workarounds.
Generally, with the exception of a complete failure, most project failure seems to me to be around expectation management which is a function of project communication. In otherwords don’t be a black box.
Good comments Charlie …especially #4
I would make several small changes and additions based upon my experience.
1. Unrealistic Estimates based upon either poor estimating models or lack of model usage.
2. Lack of adequate “Traceability”.
3. Timeline driven not Quality Deliverable driven schedules.
4. Too many “Yes” employees and consultants and not enough “Here is the real assessment” folks.
5. Lack of adequate Process and Procedure implementation and adherence.
6. Too much documentation generated for the sake of having documentation and not to realize the benefit of good documentation.
7. Last but not the least important contributor is Excessive Scope Change.
I often work as an expert witness in litigation for failed projects. The four most common reasons that come up during litigation are:
1) Optimistic estimates before starting, or rejection of accurate estimates
2) Poor quality control, which stretches out testing and lowers ROI
3) Poor change control in the face of monthly requirements changes of 2% or more
4) Poor status tracking which sometimes approaches deliberate concealment
These are reasons for failure intrinsic to the projects that fail.
Many projects are terminated for business reasons. Here are some samples:
1) Decision to buy a COTS package
2) Acquisition of a company that has a similar application
3) Sale of business units which negate the need for an application
I wrote an article on Project Failure that was published in the APM Project Magazine back in December 2006. I still believe the factors I have listed are as relevant today. Pat’s article covers the reasons very comprehensively. What I have found from years of project delivery, audits, rescues etc. is that if the five critical success factors (Project Governance/Business Value/Supplier and Resource management/Risk Management and Stakeholder Relationship Management) are managed well then invariably I have found a successful project – however I do expect that a standard Prince 2 type methodology is followed and that the day to day PM tasks are carried out effectively.
The article can be found in
http://www.mwpms.co.uk/APM%20article%20dec%202006.pdf
Management of a project is obviously critical. However, in many places, the project manager is expected to be a project leader as well. The skills and attributes associated with an effective manager are quite different from the skills and attributes of an effective leader. Regrettably, many effective managers do not have the skills to be an effective leader. As a result, the project fails due to lack of effective leadership and the perception is that the project failed due to a lack of managerment. As a result, the next project gets more management (and perhaps even less leadership). And the spiral of failure is perpetuated.
Good Post…I think a good leader should be able to take control of the team..since everyone on the team is accountable and has a common goal they must respect one another and move beyond any nonsense….
I have been in the project management profession for over 30 years and I can read today the same articles and statistics about project failure as I saw decades ago! Is it possible that after thousands of years of project management we have not yet learned our lessons? mmmmhhhhh…. Let me try an alternative angle probably not shown by the numbers but requiring a bit of social analysis……..
Is it possible that in past decades we were failing because we were lacking the technical competence (either of the professionals planning or of those delivering the project) whereas now people planning/selling/proposing projects are so afraid of failure in the current economic environment that they are unable to tell the truth? They are forced into being ‘positive’, ‘optimistic’. The consequences for the lack of compliance can be dire at an individual level: lack of business approvals, loss of contracts, loss of employment! Do you really think that there was no one around with sufficient technical competence to budget the Olympics in London correctly? Do you think that the British government would have been able to approve the project if the real budget had been made public upfront? (I am using an example close to home and in the public eye, but there are thousands of similar examples around the world).
This is how it works:
1. The fat cats force you to present something that is totally unrealistic, otherwise you are out of the game.
2. The fat cats get the glory and get fatter for having chosen the project that appears most appealing.
3. The fat cats put you under a lot of pressure to deliver something that is totally unrealistic.
4a. The problems that you anticipated start to emerge, this is because you are incompetent and you get fired.
4b. The problems that you anticipated start to emerge, you manage to put your point across that you had warned of such problems, the fat cats deny all knowledge, blame you for not making it clear upfront and not including sufficient contingency, you are incompetent and you get fired.
This is a slightly sarcastic view of the world, however I do not think it is so far from the truth. I remember working for a company where when someone was put in charge of ‘Special projects’, we knew that he/she was being groomed to get fired. The project manager is the scapegoat for bad business, political and financial decisions. In reality, little has changed since the days of the pyramids: the architect who could not keep to the impossible schedule demanded by his masters got fed to the crocodiles, the modern project manager gets fed to the wolves!
Santos, agree 100% with you. Recently I have experienced worst scenarios in “global projects” where you find that the fat cats are geographically dispersed, do not have common goals and start to turn things to one’s advantage. It is a real nightmare.
I think that there could be more causes, but for sure you’ve included the most common/important.
Thanks
Very good article and an interesting website.
I guess it all depends on how you define success.
This is what this paper from PwC is doing: https://www.pwcprojects.co/Documentos/BRO%20Boosting%20Business%20Performance%20DC-07-1104-A%20v81.pdf
Reasons for failure on page 11
This is a good article. Some of the causes mentioned can be detected at the planning stage and ways to mitigate them worked out. The commitment of management to a project is crucial to the success of the project.
The list is very short… For a more comprehensive look at project failure see: http://mosaicprojects.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/project-or-management-failures/
I agree. Defining the project success criteria and communicating progress to the stakeholders is critical. I have seen these “risks” incorporated into project briefs. By vetting the plan to stakeholders for concurrence prior to beginning, the project leader showed cost, schedule, and performance as “mitigated” risks. Customer leader was appreciative and he received verification from his staff within 2 weeks that the project was acceptable as defined. This project went well with only unforeseen issues coming up which were covered by “management reserve”.
Lucas you have an interesting website and your article is good. I would add that the lack of respect for people is a major also a major cause for project failure. Often executive management is placed into an unrealistic performance requirement by the customer, an the management thought is that to get the business you just say yes and modify as the project moves forward. This concept is also supported by the belief that giving workers too much to do will lead to self prioritization. That is, they will have to drop those things that are less important to accomplish the highest priority task. These are management by ignorance objectives because they are unmeasureable without leadership. Projects often fail because we fail to plan and execute with respect to persons and keeping realistic achievable goals in the fore front of our abilities to respond to reality.
I agree with all the causes..The most important is to define the project, convince the management & pull the support from management as well as team members.
I think i totally agree with your views on why Projects fails and there are many more reasons especially in developing economics like Africa.