Too often we hear about major projects that have failed, but we hear very little about successful projects. A sure-fire way to set-up a project for success is to understand what the biggest problems are and preemptively address those problems. This article will discuss the 6 biggest issues that most projects face and then set out the one principle that you can apply to address these issues. Let’s start with the biggest issue first:
1. Issues relating to people
One of the biggest and most often cited reasons for project delays and even failures can be summed up as people issues. These include not having the right stakeholders involved, not having enough people in the team or not having the people with the correct skill set on board, which is discussed in detail below. It also relates to not empowering the team to perform their duties, or the team not taking responsibility for the requirements of the project. It may even mean team members not being held accountable for their failures.
The lack of leadership both within the team and in the organisation can affecting the decision-making process. This too, is a people issue. Another issue noted by teams are dreadful internal team dynamics.
Finally, a very new people issue that has arisen over the last year: The physical constraints placed on teams due to COVID-19. Having team members working from home offers new unique challenges to project management.
2. Predicaments due to resources
The first thing that generally comes to mind are inadequate funds. This could be the result of limited budget for projects, or, which is more often the case, the project budget does not include all the requirements as project costs where not thoroughly explored at the beginning of the project. It could also be as simple as not having the budget clearly allocated, causing team leads to overestimate the portion allocated to their section of the project.
Another form of inadequate resourcing is team members not have access to the right kind of hardware, such as computers, scanners or printers. Additional resources that are often overlooked are ensuring that all the team members have the right kind of software. Often only the project manager and some members of the Steering Committee have access to, for instance, MS Project.
The final time of resource scarcity is time. This could be the time allocated to tasks, discussed in section 4, or the time available to team members as discussed in the next section.
3. Lack of Skills
The lack of skills which occurs most often, is having team members who are simply over-scheduled. This is typical of what occurs when team members are not dedicated project resources; The project management team does not take into account the individual’s daily job requirements nor all their other project responsibilities.
On the other hand, this issue not only refers to the real lack of skills but also the perceived lack of skills. This would apply not only to the project manager but also to any of the project team members. Stakeholders in the project, such as team members and Steering Committee members, often believe that the project manager should be highly knowledgeable regarding all or most technical aspects required to complete the project. These stakeholders could then undermine the project, unless the project manager can show that this is not actually required. To illustrate this: the project manager does not need to be a plumber for a construction project to be successful.
4. Problems because of poor expectation management
Another large contributor to project management problems is managing expectations. The most basic form, which I am sure you have heard over and over again and not only in projects, is poor communication. Poor communication starts with not having a clearly defined goal and poor scoping for the project. It can continue through to the end of the project when lessons learnt are not captured and shared.
Managing stakeholder expectations is perhaps the most important part of managing expectations. If stakeholders, such as the steering committee, feel that their expectations have not been met, the project could be seen as a failure.
5. Complications from poor planning
The worst example of poor planning would be not having a plan at all, or having one that is so vague as to be of no use at all. Other examples of poor planning include having a plan that is not detailed enough or that does not show the task dependencies. Task dependencies could be that this task can only start once another task is complete. Another example is if the tasks have not been allocated enough time to complete.
Poor planning also includes not having resources, both people and other resources, allocated to each individual task. By not having resources allocated, it may also lead to over-scheduled team members, as discussed above.
6. Issues due to poor risk management
Deficient risk management can completely derail a project and potentially be life threatening. Instances of poor risk management include only doing a high-level risk assessment at the beginning of the project, not identifying all potential risks, issues or concerns that may affect the project or focusing on organisational risks instead of project risks.
Not assessing the likelihood and consequences of each risks and not having a mitigation and contingency plans in place are further contributors to poor risk management. Additionally, risk management requires regular review of the risks to the project.
Preventing these issues
All of the above issues can be prevented by applying one prominent principle: Upfront Project Governance.
This means having a clear business case for the project. The business case must address, first and foremost the problem being solved, or what opportunity is being pursued. It must also speak to why the project needs to be addressed now, or in other words why is this project more important and more urgent than other projects.
The project’s aim must be further defined by having a very clear goal that can be described in a single sentence. This goal should also have a stated timeline and must be measurable. Being measurable means that there must at least one, but no more than five metrics to show project progress.
The business case must also name all the stakeholders. This means not only the project management team, team members, steering committee members and individual project resources, but also those business units, departments and areas that will be impacted by the project.
It is also important that the business case clearly defines the project scope, communication plan and risk management plan. The scope should explain what is included in the project and, importantly, what is excluded from the project. The communication plan should include project update meetings as well any other forms of communication such as email campaigns or info posters as well as risk review meetings. The business case must also address the deliverables and milestones to track the project progress.
Finally, and most importantly is the financial information, including the detailed budget and the source of the financing, i.e., whether this is part of the existing organisation budget or if this is a variance budget. It is crucial to the business case and must be included. This section of the business case must also show how the numbers were determined and how the budget will be allocated.
While having a business case that addresses all the above points may not guarantee a successful project, it will definitely set you up for success.