How to Guarantee Project Success

By Barbara Lancaster, President, LTC International

Just over 16 percent of major IT initiatives meet agreed Budget, Schedule and Scope targets. That leaves a whopping 83.8 percent of projects that either fail completely, or overrun budget or schedule, or deliver severely reduced functionality. That was the finding of the Standish Group, published in their Chaos Report, the gold standard in tracking the performance of IT initiatives. That was in 1995. Whew! Must be much better now – right?

Absolutely. In 2009, the Chaos Report confirms that 32 percent of projects were successful. The not-so-good news is that this represents a negative trend once again. Success rates peaked a few years ago (never hitting even 50-50), and more money is again being wasted on projects that simply fail to deliver on expectations – and essential business needs.

Sobering isn't it? That rate of failure translates into some US$80 billion in wasted investment – not counting lost opportunity costs or business impact costs. And that's just in the U.S.

Perhaps even more sobering is the fact that the key reasons for project failure remain stubbornly the same. Number one: lack of user involvement leading to lack of clearly defined requirements. Number two: insufficient executive leadership. I suggest that user involvement is something under the control of leadership, so really it all comes down to leadership.

Let's take a look at what you can do to dramatically change the odds in your favor – in favor of your personal and business success. Drawing on some 20 years of major project experience, here are my Top 4:

1. Build the best possible team.
   1. Ensure that you have subject matter experts with explicit experience with the business purpose the project is intended to address. This is the only way that pragmatic, viable scope and clear, actionable requirements can be created.
   2. Assign a real Project Manager. Formal training and certification are good indicators, but also seriously consider a Project Manager with a solid track record and relevant subject matter expertise even if they have not sought formal certification. They may just have been too busy doing great work to go to class.
      • Check references!
      • Ask probing questions of people who worked on previous projects. Talk with members of the team and the user community and the leadership. Was this PM competent? Did he or she communicate clearly? Did they act decisively to clear roadblocks, resolve conflicts and escalate fast enough to keep the project on schedule?
      • Do you like this person? If they are going to successfully carry out your wishes, you need to trust each other. You need them and they need you.
2. Fund the project.
   1. Resist the temptation to tinker with the recommended budget or schedule. Your subject matter experts have carefully analyzed the project scope, evaluated the technology options, considered the integration and migration challenges and come up with their best recommendation. Unless you have facts not previously shared with your team, it is highly unlikely that your attempts to cut cost or reduce schedule are going to do anything other than convince the team that they should not trust you.
      • Sure, ask lots of questions, but don't arbitrarily second guess them.
      • If you don't trust their estimates, replace the project leaders and start again. Without trust, the project is almost certainly going to fail anyway.
      • If you can't afford the project as scoped, say so, and ask for recommendations for cutting the scope back.
3. Establish an agreed and detailed description of 'Done'.
   1. Never allow a project to begin that cannot clearly describe how the company will be different when this project is completed. It is sometimes helpful to think of this as the project's commercial, or advertisement: what is being sold; what does it look like; feel like; what – precisely – will change? For example:
      • Will work be done more quickly? Great – which tasks and how much more quickly?
      • Will profit margins increase? By how much?
      • What will the project NOT do? When what is 'Out' is clearly articulated, expectations can be set and managed. Wishful thinking is eliminated. The project team and all constituents are clear about what must be done and what is a harmful distraction.
      • Ensure that benchmarks are in place for all aspects of current performance. Without an accurate snapshot of today, it will be impossible to measure the change delivered tomorrow.
   2. Set interim milestones that are agreed to confirm that the project is, or is not, on track.
   3. Agree the level of deviation that will trigger cancellation of the project or a significant intervention and re-direction.
      • Having this agreed up front really helps stop ego and bravado from spending more and more money on a project that cannot succeed.
   4. Put all of this in writing. Insist on flowing down these terms into contracts with any third-party suppliers working on the project.
4. Stay the course: Lead
   1. Perhaps most difficult in these times of short-term focus, the leadership must commit to support the project for its duration. If you personally move on to something else, you are responsible for handing off smoothly to another leader.
   2. Once the project scope, schedule and budget have been agreed, resist the temptation to 'borrow' key resources for other priorities.
   3. Never cut the agreed budget without cutting scope too. You made a deal and should honor it as carefully as you would any other commercial contract.
   4. Be an active, watchful and insightful leader. Insist on a schedule of governance meetings that fit your schedule and attend!
   5. Lead and be seen to lead. Your active participation sends a clear message to the entire company that this project has your sponsorship.
   6. Apply your experience and clout to solving problems and coming up with creative ways around the inevitable obstacles.
   7. Read the project updates; ask good questions and listen carefully for signs of impending trouble from the answers.

These guidelines work, reliably and consistently. They are easy to put in place. Yet projects continue to fail to deliver at a consistently alarming rate. Why? Quite simply my experience is that we are too busy and too distracted to lead. To be part of the minority of winners, you'll need all of your tenacity and skill. In other words, you'll need to lead.