I was recently asked, “Why am I always over budget on these small projects”? While I couldn’t answer for these specific projects, it did get me thinking about why projects fail in general, or what starts the snowball.

But it also made me think about what actually is a project failure. Does missing a deadline by a day or exceeding a budget by 1% or 2% mean your experienced project team have failed? I don’t think so.

Does an executive team stopping a major expansion project because the business case has changed due to commodity price, foreign exchange or funding stream changes mean the project has failed? Maybe yes, maybe no!

Having spent the past 10 years or so with asset level projects, I would have to have worked on, supported or advised on one hundred or more projects of varying value, duration and complexity. There have been some great successes, and there have been the valuable learning experiences!

Over the years I have worked on a few unhealthy projects and worked in departments where others have been through the same. It’s not fun, and yet they all seem to suffer from the same common ailments. However, the projects I have been involved in or seen fail or begin to fracture have all had similar catalysts.

The first and most common in my experience is around scope definition. All too often we see projects successfully passing projects gates, signed and endorsed, but the wheels soon fall off when we start to identify missing scope, or scope that wasn’t accurately defined by quantum or complexity, and either completely missing or poorly developed documentation. This is a classic mechanism for project failure. Early planning and framing are key to the future success of a project and documenting these outputs. Getting the right people involved early in the project plan, to frame and scope the project will go a long way to the success of your project.

Another is around project teams and resources, or lack thereof… This is not the lack of a team, but often a team lacking the right skillset, or specific project experience. I’ve seen numerous instances of green and keen, but inexperienced teams formed, with all the right intentions just lacking the skills to effectively deal with challenges of effectively managing projects.  Projects need to kick off with the right team of appropriately skilled and experienced in the discipline at hand.

Losing valuable team members is another kicker for projects to head south. I’ve seen it time and time again, highly skilled and valuable team members leaving out of either frustration of systems and processes or lack of, not feeling valued in the team, or for a step up with another team or company. The relatively small cost of a high value team will likely pay a significant dividend with a project success. So, paying top dollar to staff isn’t going to rubber stamp a project a success, but securing skilled teams will at least set up for a greater chance of success.

So inexperienced teams are a classic precursor to the next project failure. Lack of appropriate business systems fuels confusion generated through inexperience, sending projects off course. Inexperienced project teams will also not have the hands-on experience and appreciation for what these processes and procedures stand for and how they drive the quality and assurance to set the project team off on the right foot.

Risk Management. I don’t have a stat to quantify, but I’d guess a high percentage of project teams don’t have an adequate appreciation for the process of risk management, and the importance risk management plays in not only the overall success of a project, but the continued success of the facility, event or product the project set out to deliver. One of the key risks to a project is under cooking risk management and the failure to identify project risks. It is also important to appreciate that risk management isn’t a front end, one off project deliverable. Risk management is an ongoing process through the life of the project from inception to close out, and an underestimation of the importance of this is likely to increase the likelihood of a project failure.

So, these are some of the key factors I have seen lead projects in the wrong direction, but the reality is there are endless drivers pushing the odds against your project. Some other key areas are:

• Poor estimate and project schedule development.
• Lack of effective communication with the project team and key stakeholders.
• Failure to identify and detail key project assumptions
• Ineffective leadership
• Lack of accountability
• Inadequate management and motivation of your project team.
• Inexperienced Project Manager
• Access to the right tools and systems
• Failure to track progress
• Indecisiveness and failure to implement corrective actions.
• Focus on business value, rather than technical delivery

In summary, projects can fail for a multitude of reasons, or the absence of one key component. But the age old saying of “set up for success” speaks volumes, and early planning and setup really does pay in spades.

Author: Tim Sutton