top of page
Search

70% of all projects fail

  • louise19684
  • May 10, 2024
  • 3 min read

This is one of my favourite images. I was shown something similar as a graduate (probably in black and white!), and not one project goes by without me remembering this image. It is quite possibly the reason that many projects ‘fail’. Of course, ‘failure’ is a subjective term, and there are many reasons for projects to derail.

 

I have been asked by non-PM professionals for a list of tips for managing in-house projects across several time zones. Here are the less obvious key lessons I learnt managing major projects, with multi-located teams:


There are basic mechanisms to set up your project correctly: the brief, the programme, processes. The less obvious lessons are the things not covered in textbooks, the people-related elements. Here are the lessons I learnt:


  1. Be clear, make sure everyone understands what needs to be done. Many factors can derail a project – various interpretations of the brief, cultural nuances, different end goals, and an individual’s prior experiences guide them on how to do things. As per the swing image, it is crucial to get everyone on the same page at the outset.

  2. Recruit the best team. Technical skills are great. People who work well together are better. Well-curated teams are very under-valued in the industry, and it is a ticket to success, as they will want to find a collective outcome when issues arise. Some of the best teams I have worked with, I still work with today.

  3. Know your stakeholders. Identify the influential stakeholders at the start of the project. Influential stakeholders aren’t always those in the most senior positions in an organisation, but they are usually the ones who can make things happenbecause they have the best relationships. Already, a few people will come to your mind.

  4. Empower the team. Workshop risk with all team members and make sure that they feel empowered to raise potential risks from their perspective of the project. A team member may see something you can’t see but not raise it because they feel it isn’t important enough. Use the team support to sense check.

  5. Set realistic goals. A client may want a project to be delivered on time, on budget, and to the best quality. The budget defines the quality you can achieve, and if you need to fast-track a programme, this requires funds, too. Be honest and transparent with the client. This doesn’t always win points, but your integrity is upheld.

  6. Communicate! Communicate with your team, check in, make it your business to care about people. If you see someone struggling, offer them help. Team projects are a team survival sport – and you can’t leave anyone behind.

  7. Equip the team. Does the team have the resources and software they need to succeed? Some of the best and worst projects I have worked on have used exactly the same software initiated in a different way – making what had been an efficiency tool, a laborious and duplicating tool. A costly and time-wasting mistake to make.

  8. Simplify processes. Project processes can only be created by people who have prior experience with executing projects. Processes need to be simple for multi-location teams to want to follow them. Understand the opt-out approach, by making systems and processes easy to use, straightforward to follow, so people don’t opt-out.

  9. Engage with the Operator from the outset. The operator needs to be involved from the project start, to prevent costly changes later into the project.

  10.  Transparency – you can only fix problems when you know about them. A team that disguises issues is jeopardising the project, as the cover up will eat into time that could be used to solve issues.

 

Project management is a people business, so making time for people is critical. Do any of these lessons resonate with your experience?

 

If you would like more details or help with setting up your project, please reach out to us.

 
 
 

コメント


この投稿へのコメントは利用できなくなりました。詳細はサイト所有者にお問い合わせください。
bottom of page