The Top 10 Reasons Projects Fail (Part 2)

Marc Lacroix is a Managing Partner of RTM Consulting with a proven track record in achieving Professional Services organizational growth and operations improvements in a variety of companies. Marc has extensive expertise in PS organizational strategy, delivery methodology development, resource management, professional services automation (PSA) and program/project management.

  Communications Management   Risk Management   Scheduling   Scope Management   Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)  

Pitfall: Here is a word that has been used metaphorically for so long that few people know or remember the actual etymology behind it. In essence, “pitfall” refers to a trap for hunting made by digging a hole, covering it with leaves and branches, and waiting for an animal to fall in.

While we all generally know what a pitfall is in the business world and understand that they should be avoided, the most obvious traps are still sometimes the ones we fall into—especially when managing projects with dozens of competing priorities that distract us and take our eyes off the trail ahead. This two-part article series identifies the top 10 reasons projects fail and focuses on how to avoid these common project management pitfalls. Part 1 covered reasons 1-5.

6. Ineffective Project Charters. Within the project management community, there is possibly no single document that is more misunderstood than the project charter. While there is overall consensus that they should be developed, there are three general complaints that often hinder the writing of a project charter, or as referred to in the Prince2™ methodology, a PID (Project Initiation Document):

Best Practices for Writing a Project Charter
Whether you are a PMI™ or Prince2™ advocate, the best practice for success is documenting a few key pieces before a project starts. These …

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