Interesting topic really. Usually, people are the reason why projects fail. Really, to stop project failing, particularly larger projects, there really needs to be an independent project manager brought in who really does not have any vested interest either from the client side or the vendor side, just the success of the project itself. In this way, an objective view can be taken in terms of business needs alignement to system offering.
Also, an important part of any project is the management of change. The issue here is, that in the Mid Market, there are not many business that are willing or can afford to spend the types of $’s required to bring these skills into the business. In fact, I have not met many people that actually posses these skills. But they are out there. As a general rule, if you are going to spend 20K, 30K, 100K or 1MillionK, I would say you need to spend and additional 15-20% of a really good project / change manager. Now of course they are not always needed but in the cases they are… They are really invaluable.
PROJECT FAILURES
What Causes Projects to Fail?
Often Sales Executives and Project Co-ordinators are asked why projects fail. Here
are some reasons:
- Vague project definition
- Poor Planning
- Plan not communicated
- Conflicts not resolved
- Ineffective leadership
- Goals and objectives not agreed
- Inadequate monitoring and control
- Inappropriate staff
- Poor delegation
- Tasks and resources overlooked at planning stage
- Poor communication
- Lack of resources
- Right people not told
- Client not understanding their responsibility
- No contingency plan
- Expectations far too high – software, people
- Unachievable timescales – client deadline set even before Subscribe-HR
- Implementation partner is involved
