Lakeisha DoylePM ConsultantSterling Heights, Mi, United States
When you see that your project is failing think it should be scrapped; do you just continue to drive, manage and report till the end, or do you recommend that execution stop? Saving Changes...
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Khai Ng.IT PMO | IT Project Manager| TTGROUPHanoi, Viet Nam
You should report issue with supported evidences and recommends to project sponsor to get his/her decision. Do not just continue till the end. Saving Changes...
Zehui ZhangCEO| Aura International Consulting Hongkong, Hong Kong
Of course,sometimes recommending quitting is a good solution when you have got lots of evidences that the project can not delivery value. Saving Changes...
Fisrt thing you can't alone decide to quite or continue. All project have a status reporting, hope it is same in your case. You need to discuss with sponsor or steering committee for decision and present your observation on issues and observation on potential project failure. Based on that decision should be made. If decision is to bring the project back on track, you should seek the required support (budget, time, resources etc. ) If it is to close the project, still you can not stop immediately, you need to make the logical closer on activities in progress (closing running tasks or documenting status of current topics) and also need to work on lessons learnt in this project. This in very important to be done to ensure that others can learn for it and take appropriate action in their projects i.e. future proofing. Saving Changes...
You should be honest about the business realities of the project, but I would give serious thought about recommending scrapping it. At the business level, some projects may be a loss on paper, but allow keeping good people around until a better project is ready to begin, provide valuable experience to team members, or have some other less tangible benefit. Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
There are so many variables to consider here that it is impossible to get a Yes or No. Any recommendation you make should be backed by solid data, you will almost want to draft a 'business case' to support your recommendation where you state the problem, option, the outcome of selecting each of the options (of which status quo is one). Sometimes the fact that we try to fix a failing project while still pushing for milestones clouds the options we have that could rescue it and for this reason, I am an advocate of pausing, evaluating, and resetting. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
If you are the project manager, the decision about to kii/hold/continue a project is not yours. Your duty is to create all the information needed to help the people that have to decide about to take the decision. It is because you do not have all the information, you only have the information about your project itself. Saving Changes...
It all depends on the expected business outcomes for the project. If those cannot be achieved to at least cover the remaining one-time and ongoing costs (remember to ignore the sunk costs), and if this is a discretionary project, then termination may be a wise decision.
Remember though that it is not just about financial merit. Sometimes a project adds value through organizational knowledge growth, reputation/brand improvement and other intangibles so a holistic evaluation should be done before a recommendation is made.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Hi Lakeisha,
one document to find out if the project should continue is - according to PMBoK - the project benefits management plan, owned by the project manager. It contains target benefits, timeframe, metrics, risks and assumptions.
If you look at this and determine (thru the metrics) that the target benefits can no longer be met by the project, you must go back to the sponsor / steerco and ask for their decisions. Saving Changes...
We have an ethical responsibility to tell the truth. When I have been in that position I have pushed on while making recommendations to the sponsor. Saving Changes...
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