Studies show that many projects either fail outright or fail to meet most of their objectives. There are a myriad of possible reasons why this might be the case. Very often, organizations go looking for a culprit and sometimes blame the project manager or even the very concept of project management itself. Sometimes they decide to “fix” the problem by getting all the project managers certified. Or they decide to standardize on a certain tool. And while certification and standardization are laudable things, they do not necessarily address the central problem or problems. This presentation will discuss the top ten reasons why projects fail and briefly discuss solutions to each problem. We will see how such areas as estimates, scope and “the accidental project manager” contribute to the problem.

1. TOP TEN REASONS
WHY PROJECTS FAIL
Jim Stewart, PMP
JPStewart Associates

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Learning points
• Learn to recognize the ten project failure signs in your
organization.
• Understand what commonly used solution is not
necessarily a solution at all.
• Learn the basics of risk management, one of the top ten
reasons for project failure.

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The nature of the problem
• A staggering 39% of projects with budgets over US
$10 million failed.
• *The Standish Group, "CHAOS 2007 REX: A Standish
Group Research Exchange." 2007.

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Why projects fail
• There are many reasons that projects fail. If you talk to
any project manager who has been practicing for a while,
he or she will give you a list of reasons, some valid, some
not.
• This list is my own opinion formed from running many
projects and consulting on others in various stages of
completion.

5. Project Maturity Levels
5

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Reason # 1- Scope creep
• Project scope is the sum total of all the work you are
going to do (and not do) on the project.
• It is important, first, to define all the work via some
mechanism, so Work Breakdown Structure, scope
statement, etc.
• This is best done in a meeting with the entire team. It
serves, at least, two purposes: having a meeting of the
minds on deliverables and getting team buy-in.
• Solution is to have rigidly defined scope up front and a
rigorous change control process in place.

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WBS example – developing scope

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Reason # 2 - Resources
• Resources of the human kind are frequently over-
allocated. No one in the organization seems to know who
is working on what at any given time.
• Since resources are the heart and soul of any endeavor,
the schedule is only as good as your faith in resources
being able to show up and work as expected.
• Another problem is that many schedules are created
which show serious over-allocation on specific projects. It
is not uncommon to see resources scheduled 24 hours
per day!
• One solution is to have managers gather each week and,
using spreadsheets, plan resource needs.

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Over allocated resources in Project

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Reason #3 - Communications
• The Project Management Body of Knowledge dedicates
an entire Knowledge Area to Communications.
• It‟s my contention that the average person is not a very
good communicator. They either don‟t answer emails or
only answer half of the questions asked.
• You should insist on getting team members trained in
communications so they are connecting at a very high
level.
• You might also consider the creation of a Communications
Management Plan which details which stakeholders will
get what information when and by what means.

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Communications Management Plan
Stakeholder Method Frequency Type Notes
Sponsor PowerPoint Weekly Status
update
Team Email Weekly Status; action Meetings
items should be
held face-to-
face.
Senior PowerPoint Monthly Status; action
management items
Steering PowerPoint; Quarterly Status; action
committee status reports items; go/no
go report

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Reason #4 - Stakeholder Management
• A stakeholder has a vested interest in your project for
good or for ill.
• The first step in this process is identifying stakeholders
according to their power, influence, and interest.
• Once you know who your stakeholders are, you can
develop a strategy for dealing with each one. This leads
somewhat back to the previous Communications
Management Plan.
• Keep stakeholders informed before and during the
project.

13. Stakeholder quadrant
Key player
Weekly updates
Bi-Weekly updates
Monthly presentations
Power/influence of stakeholders
Keep informed periodically Bi-Weekly updates
Interest of stakeholders

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Reason #5 – Estimates
• There is more art than science when most team members
make estimates of time for tasks.
• When asked for an estimate, they will usually pull a
number out of the air based, perhaps, on the last time
they did a similar task.
• Many project managers on hearing the estimate, will add
some „fudge factor‟ based on their knowledge of the team
member.
• A solution here is to keep historical data for all estimates.
Ultimately you will have and maintain a database that will
keep your estimates more accurate.

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Some common estimating techniques
• Historical – keep records of all estimates and use them as
reference for future projects.
• PERT – (Optimistic + (4XMost Likely) + Pessimistic)/6
• Three point (Optimistic + Most Likely + Pessimistic)/3
• Best case or worst case estimate
You will have to determine what works in your
environment.

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Reason #6 - Risk
• Many project managers do not manage their risks or even
know what they are.
• The process of risk management is not very difficult. What
tends to be more challenging is keeping at it over a period
of time.
• Another challenge is that you may have to sell risk
management to senior management. They are often
skeptical of doing tasks and spending money in advance
for something that may never happen.
• A solution is to do risk management on a smaller, less
impactful project to see its benefits.

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Probability/Impact Matrix

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Risk response options
• Avoid – Remove the possibility of the risk occurring by
removing the task or item that causes the risk.
• Transfer – Move the risk over to some third party either by
insuring or subcontracting
• Mitigate – Reduce the probability or impact of the risk‟s
occurrence by taking proactive steps.
• Accept – Do nothing.

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Reason #7 – Unsupported project culture
• Many people do not even know what project management
is or what a PM does.
• This lack of knowledge sometimes transfers over to
corporations who fail to understand the role.
• Consequently, projects are not treated seriously enough.
Schedules are handed off to junior people or secretaries,
sometimes without the proper tools.
• The only solution here is education, especially at the
senior management level.

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Reason #8 – The Accidental Project
Manager
• Similar to the unsupported project manager, this takes it a
step further.
• In this instance, an accomplished person is promoted to
project manager. He may have been successful in, say, a
technical role, but it does not mean he will be successful
in a PM role.
• The technical role may have had him relating to
machines. The PM role will require that he perform the
delicate balance of interpersonal skills.
• As in the previous reason, the only solution here is
education of both management and PM.

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Reason #9 – Team Planning Sessions
• Ideally, you will bring the entire team together for a one or
two-day session to plan the project.
• This serves several purposes. One is that it brings often
far-flung teams together to meet and discuss issues.
Another is that it brings much needed expertise to the PM
so that she may create necessary project artifacts (WBS,
schedule, risk register).
• This is a best practice and as such, should be aimed for.
But if you are unable to bring the team together, it can
work if you create, say, a WBS and circulate it among the
team. Not optimal but much better than not doing it at all.

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Reason # 10 – Monitoring and Controlling
• M&C is all about setting baselines, monitoring for variance
and, if need be, taking corrective action.
• Many people don‟t record actuals and hope that the
schedule doesn‟t run over.
• Merely using % complete in your schedule won‟t tell you
how the actuals have affected the schedule.
• You should be thinking about how to measure
completeness. For one example, you can use milestones
to measure progress.
• This is a lot better than asking the team member for how
“done” he is. How would she measure that?

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Bonus reason # 11- Fixing the wrong
problem.
• Sometimes managers, on realizing that their projects are
out of control, reach for a quick fix.
• Often, they start sending people out for certifications or
other training thinking that this will somehow solve the
preceding problems. But while certification is good, in and
of itself it won‟t solve the problem.
• You have to get to the root cause of the problem to
determine if it makes sense to get people trained,
certified, etc.
• Often the fix is not in training PM‟s but rather in having a
culture that sets realistic deadlines with the right number
of resources.

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Actions going forward
• A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. –
Chinese proverb
• Don‟t try to solve every problem all at once. Prioritize and
attack.
• One way to do this is to tell your boss you want to improve
process. Then add a process improvement challenge to
your quarterly objectives. So, I will incorporate change
management into the company by Q2.
• And if you don‟t get it by Q2, keep going anyway.
Persistence will get you there.

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Contact information
• Jim Stewart, PMP
• (781) 750-8748 (o)
• (781) 223-7218 (c)
• Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=hb_tab_pro_top
• Web Site: http://www.projmanage.com/
• Blog: http://theusefulpm.blogspot.com/
• Twitter: @JimPStewart