Z26 Project Management Why Projects Fail Graham Collins University College London (UCL)

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Z26 Project Management Why Projects FailGraham
CollinsUniversity College London (UCL)
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The Tar Pit
Illustration from Chapter 1 The Tar Pit. Brooks,
F.P., The Mythical Man-Month Essays on Software
Engineering Anniversary Edition 1995
Addison-Wesley
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Definition of Success

• On time - the product is delivered according to
  schedule
• On budget - the project meets forecasted cost
  estimates
• High quality, i.e. conformance to requirements
  which includes the components functionality and
  performance.

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Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore)
Illustration from, FlorenceThe Biography of a
City, Christopher Hibbert, 1993 Penguin
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Cost-Schedule-Quality Equilibrium

• Delivering these criteria doesnt mean you are
  successful
• Each stakeholder has a different view, manage
  expectations
• The ultimate challenge no damage.

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Ignoring Stakeholders
Ignoring Stakeholders
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Requirements not met

• Failure to meet requirements in software
  engineering projects is the most common cause for
  dissatisfaction
• Involve users from the beginning and involve them
  in requirements elicitation
• Workshops that allow everyone to be involved help
  develop ownership of the project and agreement on
  requirements
• Rapid Application Development (RAD) to prevent
  requirements creep. Requirements Engineering and
  Rapid Development, Ian Graham, 1998
  Addison-Wesley.

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Ascertain the most valuable benefits first

• Maximum benefit is derived if the project is
  cancelled early
• Project can be delivered on time and budget if
  the scope includes only the essential elements,
  that derive business benefit
• Concept of agile project management is that
  requirements are continually reviewed and
  prioritized in order that the most important
  requirements (goals) are delivered first. Craig
  Larman, Agile Iterative Development A
  Managers guide, 2004 Addison-Wesley (Agile
  Software Development Series).

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Need to be clear on the Goals
One never goes as far when one doesnt know where
one is going.
Goethe

• Need to ask, what is the purpose, what are we
  trying to achieve
• Need to agree this as a team
• Need to meet the mission of the project and be
  inline with the organisations aims.

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The Death March Project Style Quadrant
The Death March Project Style Quadrant
high
Mission Impossible
Kamikaze
Happiness
Suicide
Ugly
low
low
high
Chance of success
Edward Yourdon, Death MarchThe complete Software
Developers guide to surviving Mission
Impossible projects, 1997 Prentice Hall
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To survive we need to

• Triage (Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and
  Rebecca R. Merrill, First Things First, 1994, New
  York Simon Schuster)
• Ensure there is a Champion
• Early wins (John Kotter, Leading Change, 1996,
  Harvard Business School Press) idea of small
  successful projects being widened in scope and
  spreading across the organisation.

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Realistic Scheduling

• Accurate estimation, involve all stakeholders
• Need good negotiation skills from an experienced
  project manager.

How does a project get to be a year late? One
day at a time
BROOKS
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Do not overwork your team
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The right balance of people
Small, dedicated teams are required
The team needs to have the right mix,
commitment and support from a sponsor. Who
selects the team?
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Adding more staff

• Often projects have new staff added when its
  falling behind schedule
• Apart from the learning curve required this
  lowers morale
• More staff increase the communication burden and
  can decrease productivity, Brookes Law.

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People do not always get on

• Ideally the team has worked together before and
  has reached a co-operative and fully productive
  phase
• The use of a facilitator
• Have the team formed themselves?

Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley, Why teams
dont work What went wrong and how to make it
right 1996 Petersons (UK 1998 Orion).
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Project teams need to adopt some attributes
What is the purpose?
What holds it together?
To develop members capabilities to build and
exchange knowledge
Passion, commitment, and identification with the
groups expertise
Community of practice
To accomplish a specified task
The projects milestones and goals
Project team
Adapted from Communities of Practice The
organizational Frontier, Etienne C. Wenger and
William M. Snyder, Harvard Business Review
p139-145 Jan-Feb 2000
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We are what we repeatedly do.Excellence, then,
is not an act, but a habit.
ARISTOTLE
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To be successful projects must have

• Agreement among the project team, customer, and
  management on the goals of the project
• A plan that shows an overall path and clear
  responsibilities and will be used to measure
  progress during the project
• Constant,effective communication among everyone
  involved in the project
• A controlled scope
• Management support.

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Pinto and Slevins Success Factors
Success Factor Description 1. Project
mission Clearly defined goals and
direction 2. Top management
support Resources, authority and power for
implementation 3. Schedule and plans Detailed
specification of implementation process 4.
Client consultation Communication with and
consultation of all stakeholders 5.
Personnel Recruitment, selection and
training of competent personnel
Cited by Turner, R., Section 20, Project
Management Pathways, edited by Stevens, M., APM,
2002