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After a career as practitioner and now consultant in information technology, Smith has noticed recurring reasons for the outright failure or, more commonly, the lingering ill health of a project that bleeds both vender and buyer white. First he sets out the 40 most common underlying problems, then describes ways to avoid them. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Statistics continue to show that many IT projects remain challenged. The Standish Group, Boston, Massachusetts-based IT project management research firm, "found a decrease in IT project success rates and an increase in IT project failures over the past two years" (Levinson, 2009, para. 2). According to Levinson (2009), the research found "thirty-two percent of IT projects were considered successful ... and one-in-four (24 percent) IT projects were considered failures, having been cancelled before they were completed, or having been delivered but never used ... and forty-four percent were considered challenged" (para. 2). Levinson also indicates that the CHAOS summary report from the Standish Group revealed the recession over the past few years has exacerbated the situation through "budget slashing" (para. 1) and personnel reductions impacting IT project success rates. Given the persistent trend in projects running into difficulty, it is highly likely that at some point a project manager will be faced during his or her career with a recovery situation. Knowing how to put a stalled project back on track, whatever the product methodology (e.g., waterfall, agile) can mean the difference between success and failure for both the project manager as well as the business. This paper identifies numerous approaches that can be taken to recover a project. It discusses the symptoms of a troubled project and recovery options for troubled projects. The more generic traditional approach often leans toward focusing on in-depth analysis to find the root causes of the troubled project issues. Frequently, this will entail appointing a consultancy to conduct this process. Although this approach has clear benefits, it potentially will take time to accomplish and, in the process, break down the team, often losing people and their knowledge, which then has to be rebuilt. As well as being costly, the project can go into paralysis. Typically, the project manager can come under threat and potentially lose his or her position. This paper will illustrate, through a real case study, how, with the application of a simple three-step process and technique, the project manager can quickly turn around a failing or struggling project, and bring it back on track under control while maintaining trust and confidence with stakeholders.
Whether you use budget, schedule, quality, or other criteria, the statistics by think tanks, institutes, associations, and other trade organizations all point to one inescapable conclusion: your project has a greater chance of getting into trouble than staying out of it.Based on the lessons learned by the author during a quarter of a century of lea
Twelve technical articles from 1999 to 2014 that will help the understanding of the project management context.
A project doesn't go from on track to failure overnight, but passes a period of transition. With the number of troubled and failed projects increasing every day, estimates indicate that this issue costs the global economy billions of dollars annually (Sessions, 2009). As organizations strive to ensure that the required positive return is obtained, one enduring question keeps surfacing: "Is the project worth it or still worth it?" This challenging task requires specific attention and effective leadership to successfully manage troubled projects and prevent one more failed project. Although there are numerous studies on effective tools and strategies to manage troubled projects, the issue should be brought into the mainstream and more closely in line with A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). In this paper, the author provides a clear definition of troubled and failed projects, as well as project troubles versus project risks. The paper identifies underlying causes and offers guidelines on how to identify, assess, and manage troubled projects. With a focus on project recovery versus project termination, the author provides valuable lessons learned from examples of troubled projects.
Projects are intended to spur growth for all their constituents, be it individuals, teams or organisations and leave them in a much better state than they were before. Technology projects form a sizeable portion of organisational project portfolios. Yet, when they get into trouble, they can cause severe pain; some to the extent of threatening the very existence of organisations themselves. REBOOT provides a practical, robust and guided framework to help you assess and recover a troubled technology project. This book is filled with case studies, analogies, anecdotes and research to help you along your journey to recover a troubled project. From bees to air crashes, from cricket to the millennium dome, this book will take you on the challenging but immensely satisfying journey of putting joy back into a troubled technology project. It is never a joy walking into a troubled project. The first 4-6 weeks into a troubled project are extremely stressful. From stakeholders up in arms to a disillusioned project team; from a schedule gone awry to a dwindling budget envelope; from the hurt of broken promises to extreme personal stress, the first few weeks of being in a troubled project are a test a project leader's character. This book captures symptoms you see on a troubled project and then helps you go about recovering it with a 4-stage guided approach (CARE framework). The book also outlines 6 important factors to consider at each stage of the recovery and how you can use them effectively to put joy back into your project. If you are sponsoring or leading a project that involves implementation of an enterprise software application like ERP, CRM, MDM, HRIS (HCM), this book is for you. This book aims to equip you with a framework to help recover an ailing project (or elegantly put it to rest) with care.
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) serves as a guide for defining work as it relates to a specific project's objectives. This book supplies project managers and team members with direction for the preliminary development and the implementation of the WBS. Consistent with A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)-Sixth Edition, the WBS Practice Standard presents a standard application of the WBS as a project management tool. Throughout the book, the reader will learn what characteristics constitute a high-quality WBS and discover the substantial benefits of using the WBS in every-day, real-life situations.
Project managers frequently have an ambiguous attitude toward a troubled project. On one hand, on a personal level, a troubled project is demanding, with unfulfilled expectations, pressure, conflict, and hard work. On the other hand, it requires project managers to practice the best of project management: establish direction, prioritize issues, gather people around a common objective, negotiate objectives, and solve problems. This paper suggests an approach for identifying and dealing with troubled projects with confidence and control. The approach deals with redefining project objectives, and identifying and fixing problems across people, process, and product dimensions. The rescue process is broken down into distinct phases to improve control: mandate, assessment, definition, intervention, and transfer. Some of the main symptoms and potential causes that can be detected on project management documentation and human behavior are identified. Many of the suggested techniques were developed through trial and error by progressively customizing classic project management approaches to a crisis environment.
What makes some IT projects successful while others are doomed to failure? Running a complex project successfully can be a challenge. At the heart of a successful project is a strong, experienced leader, and a clear and helpful framework. This framework is built upon three dimensions: people, process, and technology. Project failure can originate in any of those three dimensions, and this book will help you identify where the breakdown is occurring, and how to rescue a project that might otherwise fail. Surya Peddainti, author of X Marks the Spot is a knowledgeable guide and teacher of project management. His experience in leading diverse projects to success with teams all over the world has led him to write this book to help others find success. With clear instructions, examples, and case studies, X Marks the Spot will help you identify the point at which an IT project is destined to fail, and rescue it. You will find out how to involve the project manager, teams, and key stakeholders. The stress usually involved with project failures will decrease, and you will enjoy the success of a project that meets its goals and objectives.