Even on simple, straightforward projects there are many areas that can cause the sorts of problems that can eventually manifest themselves in failure. Add to the many possible causes of failure any level of complexity and problems can rapidly escalate into disasters. Here are just some of the most common causes of project failure
Poorly defined project scopeInadequate risk managementFailure to identify key assumptionsProject managers who lack experience and trainingNo use of formal methods and strategiesLack of effective communication at all levelsKey staff leaving the project and/or companyPoor management of expectationsIneffective leadershipLack of detailed documentationFailure to track requirementsFailure to track progressLack of detail in the project plansInaccurate time and effort estimatesCultural differences in global projects
So the causes of project failure are wide and varied. In addition promised resources may not be available when required, executives may fail to grasp the full reasons behind instigating a project or there may be political reasons for continuing with a clearly unviable project
10 REASONS FOR PPM FAILURE
Leaders within the Project Management Office (PMO) are unable to predict with accuracy
the current disposition of projects in flight, largely because of lack of application of the
following 10 Project Management principles due to the immaturity of the Project
Management Office (PMO) within the organization.
1. WBS 100% RULE VIOLATION: The Planning Phase is one of the most critical elements
of Project Management because it defines the following: Resources, Rates, Time,
Dependencies and Costs. Ultimately, the budget is created based on the activities for
inclusion in the Project Schedule which has been time phased for capacity
planning. If the WBS 100% Rule is not applied properly the project downstream
impact will result in large variances (favorable or unfavorable) which are not
appropriate use of working capital funds for the governance of the Project
Management Office (PMO).
2. SCOPE CREEP: Project Managers must clearly manage the extraction of the Scope
from the Sponsors and Stakeholders for conversion into activities for the inclusion in
the WBS. Again, if these activities are not all-inclusive of the tasks to be performed by
the project team, this will result in a downstream impact that will result in large
variances (favorable or unfavorable) which are not appropriate use of working capital
funds for the governance of the Project Management Office (PMO).
3. CUMULATIVE UNDERRUN OR OVERRUN: The accumulation of the project schedule
activities underrun and overrun for rate and level of effort are key drivers for the
future Forecasts for delivery “On-time” and within “Budget”. The earlier those
variances are identified by the Project Manager, the better it will provide analytical
time to be proactive by providing corrective measures to the Project Management
Office (PMO), resulting in the more efficient use of working capital funds used in
Project Portfolio Management (PPM).
4. INACCURATE FORECASTING: Project Management implies that the most accurate
form of Forecasting is by the Core Project Team, and we do agree. But, an evaluation
must be performed to the current run rate of the Core Project Team to prior activities
in the project schedule in order to determine the maturity and accuracy of the Core
Project Team. It is the Project Managers & Project Management Office (PMO)
responsibility to assess the maturity and accuracy of the Core Project Team to
determine if a contingency should be applied based on prior performance, which then
should be considered an element of Continuous Improvement. Also, the project
management methodology (i.e. SPI, CPI and TCPI) is not being applied due to the
immaturity of PMO.
5. NO EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT (EVM) APPLIED: Based on the PMP Certification
requirements, Project Managers should be applying Earned Value Management
(EVM) to projects in flight for the Project Management Office (PMO) because it is Best
Practice. Again, this project management methodology is not consistently being
applied to projects in flight, resulting in a project failure rate of 61% as published by
KPMG Canada.
6. RESOURCES RECRUITED BASED ON RATE AS OPPOSED TO EXPERIENCE: The factor
most considered when ascertaining a Project Leader is cost not experience. But, it
should be mentioned that a proven experienced project leader is always assessing
the current disposition of the project, applying Earned Value Management (EVM) to
determine through analytical review if the project is in alignment to budgeted
schedule. It is surprising that most organizations take the actual costs and budgeted
remaining activities (without assessing prior performance) for determination of the
Forecasted cost and delivery schedule. A proven experienced leader would know that
this would be an inappropriate Estimate to Complete (ETC) because of lack of project
analysis for CPI, SPI and TCPI.
7. MASKED METRIC REPORTING: It has become an acceptable practice for projects to
submit a “Change Request” to the Steering Committee to reset the metric reporting
for projects, and this dilutes project accountability for the inexperienced Project
Managers by reducing the metric variances which are reset by the revised budget.
Although, a project in some cases is uncharted for an organization, project
accountability should be applied on a Project Management Office (PMO) level. It is
the responsibility of the Project Management Office (PMO) to internally track the
project performance to the “Original Budget” as a learning curve for “Continuous
Improvement”, and to identify project activities of large cost underruns and overruns
to the budgeted activity amounts. Truthfully, it is not totally clear why Project
Management variances are reset (other than approval by Steering Committee for
Stakeholder Scope Changes) Vs Financial Accounting which continually calculate the
variances to the “Original Budget”.
8. NO SCALED PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT (PPM): The problem is the inability
to accurately scale a Project Portfolio Management (PPM) for project and programs
holistically for the entire PMO portfolio. What is needed is automatic color coding with
the ability to bridge to schedule, costs and remaining project work in order to apply
Project Management Best Practices. The tool the Balanced Scorecard (#2 of Top 6 –
Harvard Business Review Products) is capable, through customization to achieve ALL
Project Portfolio Management (PPM) objectives.
9. PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE (PMO) MATURITY: Today’s Project Management
Offices (PMO’s) not practicing industry Best Practices in Project Management are
destined to repeat the same mistakes from prior year with no or limited project
improvement results from “low hanging fruit”. PMO Project Managers are forced to
repeat the same mistakes. The PMO should embrace and welcome thought leaders
in their organization to ascertain the benefits of “Continuous Improvement” through
streamlined process improvement and Project Management Professional
Development.
10.LIMITED CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT: All Project Management Offices that are not
operating within the acceptable thresholds for projects should be continually
reviewing project management processes for inefficiencies. PMO’s should
understand that inefficiencies in a project are amplified by the number of projects in
flight. Thereby, reducing productivity improvement for projects in flight and increasing
project costs on a portfolio level for ALL projects and programs
