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Need to Know when a project is considered a failed project and what criteria/factors are used to determine a failed project.
the project is not only about time and scope .
Project managers are expected to manage the main project constraints (scope, time, cost and quality). these constraints over time, has become a method to define and measure project success..
even if the PM were able to deliver on time, within budget and meet scope specifications may not necessarily perceived to be successful by key stakeholders.
Besides time, cost, scope and quality, project managers need to include other criteria to satisfy stakeholders and deliver business results like Stakeholder satisfaction, Meeting objectives, Meeting governance criteria ... etc
There are a lot of reasons for the project to fail. If I need to mention all of the answers, it will be look like a book size. But basically, the project fails for the folloeing resaons:
- The project initially failed to be aligned with company goals and objectives
- The project failed to earn an adequate management support
- The project failed to manage any of its scope, schedule, cost, communication, human resources, risk, procurement, and integration with any of its phases: initiation, planning, executing, monitoring and control, and closing
Each stakeholder in any project has specific requirements and consider the project as a successful or failed project differently from other stakeholders. Although time and cost are the most obvious criteria to use in judging the projects, there are several things to take into consideration such as Quality, the health of Cash Flow of the project, Client Satisfaction, End-user Satisfaction, Profitability of the Project. so any deviation in one of these dimensions will contribute to the failure of the project.
Basically a project failed if you do not met your commitments, timelines, what was planned may it a budget, scope and schedule. In essence, this always happens in a project scenario which eventually becomes a challenge to Project Managers, this at at hte basic level of failing a Project. But what is hurting a Project Manager is when delivering a project or closing the Project when the client or Project Sponsor is not happy at all with the end result of the Project which losses the Project Sponsors investments, product, integrity, trust and commitment - that's a major setback and failure for a Project Manager.
I would say that the project failed if its objectives were not achieved. If missing the timeline was identified earlier by the project manager, I would say that the failure here is aproject manager's failure.
When there is no proper planning, Failure to plan is more like planning to fail. During the planning phase itself, the scope, milestones, deliverables, receivables and approval phases are defined.
When you are clearly able to identify the needs of a project, you are more likely to set a sound benchmark from the beginning. Understanding the basis of reasons towards the ‘what and why’ of a project will enable you to set specific goals and objectives. It also sets the ground work of what tasks are to follow and how they are to be performed.
The basis of the project scope should entail your goals and objectives to be one that follows a SMART guideline. That is, to be Specific, Measurable and Achievable. It should also be Realistic and completed within a specific Time frame.
Specific–This involves stating accurately what the project wants to achieve. That is, what, why and how these will be done. Clarity will reduce the chances of ambiguities and misunderstandings.
Measurable –Are your goals and objectives able to provide feedback and be accountable for?
Achievable –Can the projects goals and objectives be achieved, given the resources on hand?
Realistic –Are the goals and objectives easy to deliver, are faced with problems or complicated. Will these reduce the overall quality of the projects outcome and cause running over budget and not meeting the set deadlines.
Time Frame –Can the project goals and objectives be met within the allocated time frame? Is it a key criterion to meet these deadlines?
You need to be clear about the features and functioning required for your product or service. For example, you are building a website. You need a list that provides how you will build your website, the type of branding required and so on. In other words, what certain qualities will increase achieving your projects success.
Successful projects are ones that take into account the satisfaction of the end-user. Whether they meet the end-users expectations and be accepting of the product, service or process. For customers, this includes pricing, value and quality of products/services as well as availability, delivery and return policies. For employees, this includes the effectiveness and efficiency of new operation processes. Ultimately, your project scope is one that should be attuned to giving better outcomes to whoever your end users may be.
There are always roadblocks to achieving what you were set out to do. When being aware of possible limitations along the way, it can help you minimize problems that may delay or constrain your ability to achieve your projects outcome. These can be caused by dynamic environmental conditions (internal and external), technological glitches and/or lack of resources.
Communicating such problems with your team early on and taking steps to overcome these hurdles will reduce delays of project completion and keep spending within budget. Whether these are based on assumptions or uncertainty, analyzing their impact throughout the projects timeline further reduces risk of failure.
It is always best to avoid reworking the scope of your project, as it means investing in more time, money and resources. However, at times these changes are inevitable and necessary.Limit changes by taking on the perspectives of customers, stakeholders and employees involved in the project. This minimizes disagreements later on.
After all, you don’t want your project to reach its final stages and then sadly realize that a whole lot of re-working needs to be done.
A project is a fail project when there is no profit or gross margin becomes -ve
when the product scope is not achieved
