Bad projects abound. Statistics about the likelihood of a project going bad are, unfortunately, all too easy to come by. In PMI’s 2017 Pulse of the Profession Report we find that only 38% of the project outcomes met the original goals and business intent, met the original budget, and met the original schedule; other reputable sources have been reporting similarly dismal statistics for years.
With so many projects going bad, I suspect that many, if not most of us, have worked on, or even served as the project manager for, bad projects.
I want to hear about your experience with, and observations of, bad projects. I want to hear your stories and examples of bad projects. I want to hear what you think are the symptoms, the behaviors, and the characteristics associated with bad projects. Saving Changes...
Mike - I think a lot of examples here of characters of bad projects. In my experience here are a few:
1. Projects, by definition, are creating something new. Rarely, at the onset are all requirements defined or even when they are, they can often change due to change in business during the project. A poorly designed, or missing change control / governance structure, leads to bad project outcomes.
2. Poor Leadership -- by the project manager or by sponsors, who neglect their duties of the project.
3. Reluctance to cancel a project that is underway. Resources get committed and develop a "it's better to complete" attitude, and may allow a project that will never provide it's intended objectives, to live on.
Thanks, Saving Changes...
S RajasekarSenior Project Manager| AllscriptsBangalore, Karnataka, India
Unrealistic triple constraint goals leads to bad projects , Root cause will be greed ,false promises and far away from reality, If these are wrong no one can make project successful , It is all about people. Saving Changes...
Michael:
These type of projects usually have early signs and symptoms of failure and the list is long but here are my top three:
- Lack of sponsor participation and support
- Lack of good solid business requirements
- Lack of strategic alignment of the program/projects with a clear understanding of dependencies, resources, and risks. Saving Changes...
Hi Mike, Pulse 2017 also states that project performance got better the first time since 2011. So not all is bad, luckily. I am doing healthchecks for key projects of my client, this year 15. Two of them had a red traffic light and the reasons for this was inappropriate client support, e.g. sponsor not involved, Steering Committee not aligned to one strategy or even no time for Steering Committee. Minor problems with budget, scope, schedule since some agile concepts are use. No problems with technology.
It's time for this shift to occur; now more eyes on the loss of revenue and strategic solutions. Saving Changes...
First I would distinguish internal projects from external projects.
When an organisation win an external project following a RFP, the winnner is the "lowest bidder". Why was it the lowest? There's many possible reasons. In some case it was a choice to win the project for visibility, new market, get is team busy.....
This kind of project need a strong sponsor internally, the sponsor would have to defend the project for everything. It will be a project with low benefit for the organisation. Change in the environmental factor can redirect priority in the organization, pushing the project to the side of failure!
Internal project is an other story, mostly describe in previous post. Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
My personal experience has shown that 'Bad' can mean many things. It could be a project that outright fails or it could even be one that is considered as 'successful' and 'bad' projects belonging to the second group is normally the most disturbing. What it basically means is that the project has delivered on the scope without adding value i.e.high quality, low value. This has been the case in 9/10 'bad' projects I have worked on. Focusing only on the traditional triple constraint without taking value into consideration is almost always the cause. Saving Changes...
S RajasekarSenior Project Manager| AllscriptsBangalore, Karnataka, India
Bad is subjective , But in my view Bad PM is someone who is hands-off and only a task master.
I have seen PM's they don't understand/care about rationale just plan and track from others input Saving Changes...
"Life is but a walking shadow,
a poor player that struts and
frets his hour upon the stage
and then is heard of no more.
It is a tale told by an idiot,
full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing."
