Understand why digital and IT projects fail and discover four simple project management tips to succeed. Topics covered: - Agile Decision Making - The OODA Loop - Clear Direction & Common Goals - Defining Requirements - Forming Your Project Team

1. WHY
PROJECTS
FAIL
+ FOUR TIPS TO SUCCEED
Presented by:
Kevin Wordon
Digital Transformation Leader
Australia

2. McKinsey &
Company AND
UNIVERSITY OF
OXFORD STUDY
Study of 5,400 large scale IT projects across the world.
Average budgets of $13 million.

3. 70% 45%
17%
56%
70% of organisations
suffered at least one
project failure in the last
12 months
Failed to deliver
Posed a severe
company threat
17% of projects went so
badly that they
threatened the very
existence of the company
Significantly
over budget
45% of projects
ended well over
budget with 7%
also over time.
Delivered less
value
56% of all projects
delivered less value than
predicted at planning
stage.

4. WHY DO
Projects FAIL?
A project is considered a failure when it has not delivered what was
required, in line with expectations. Therefore, in order to succeed, a
project must deliver to cost, to quality, and on time; and it must
deliver the benefits presented in the business case.

5. PROJECT
FAILURE
POOR DECISION MAKING
Poorly timed decisions and too many
stakeholders often delay or derail projects.
1
LACK OF CLEAR GOALS OR VISION
Failure to understand the why results in failure
to deliver what the business needs.
2
UNCLEAR REQUIREMENTS
Unclear, vague and conflicting requirements
can dramatically increase costs and time.
3
PROJECT TEAM ISSUES
Poor team dynamic, lack of expertise, and poor
management can often hinder success.
4

6. DECISION MAKING
Stay committed to your decisions, but stay
flexible in your approach.

7. Understanding the
varying levels of
PROJECT
Decision
Making
Understanding the complex reality that
technology team’s face requires us to go
beyond the relatively simple “task centric”
view and look at projects in an entirely
different way
BUILDING A HOUSE
PHYSICAL
ACTIVITY
Information
acquisition
Decision
Making
KNOWLEDGE
TRANSFER

8. CONDUCTING A CENSUS
PHYSICAL
ACTIVITY
Information
acquisition
Decision
Making
KNOWLEDGE
TRANSFER
Understanding the
varying levels of
PROJECT
Decision
Making

9. PHYSICAL
ACTIVITY
Information
acquisition
Decision
Making
KNOWLEDGE
TRANSFER
PUBLIC EDUCATION
PROJECT
Understanding the
varying levels of
PROJECT
Decision
Making

10. PHYSICAL
ACTIVITY
Information
acquisition
Decision
Making
KNOWLEDGE
TRANSFER
TECHNOLOGY PROJECT
Understanding the
varying levels of
PROJECT
Decision
Making
From strategy development all the way
through to developing code decision
making is the primary activity that absorbs
the majority of effort that goes into an IT
project.

11. AGILE DECISION
MAKING
THE OODA LOOP
The phrase OODA loop refers to the decision cycle of
observe, orient, decide, and act, developed by military
strategist and USAF Colonel John Boyd.

12. According to Boyd, decision-making occurs in a recurring cycle of
observe-orient-decide-act. An entity (whether an individual or an
organization) that can process this cycle quickly, observing and reacting
to unfolding events more rapidly than an opponent, can thereby "get
inside" the opponent's decision cycle and gain the advantage.
AGILE DECISION
MAKING
THE OODA LOOP

13. AGILE DECISION MAKING
THE OODA LOOP
OBSERVE
Quickly observe and
document what is
unfolding within the
organisation or project.
ORIENT
Analyse and understand
information gathered and
then assess its potential
impact on business
DECIDE
People need to be
empowered to make
decisions at the lowest
practical level.
Provide implicit guidance and
control. Anticipate surprises
and external /environmental
influences.
Your team should challenge
existing customs and beliefs
and strive to avoid
complacency.
If the decision does not
cause irreversible resource
impacts there is a case for
acting first to see if the
proposed change works.
ACT
Find ways to act quickly.
Avoid silos and grass root
resistance. Be aware of
funding.
Decentralisation can help,
as can encouraging
informal cross-functional
networks.

14. CLEAR DIRECTION
& COMMON GOALS
“Fuzzy business objectives, out-of-sync stakeholders, and excessive rework”
mean that 75% of project participants lack confidence that their projects will
succeed.
2011 Geneca study of 600 people involved in software development projects.

15. Gather your team, find
out what you are
supposed to do and
the specifics to get it
done.
Translate the
vision
Develop a fair incentive
scheme to reward team
members. Continually
encourage innovation
and best practice.
INCENTIVISE
the vision
Build a feedback loop
and a minimalist
steering committee
with key stakeholders
and SME.
Steer the
vision
Don’t get caught up
in the day-to-day
management of your
project and forget to
sell to your
constituents.
Sell the vision
SHARED VISION AND DIRECTION
“Of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating the talents of
those who work for us and pointing them towards a certain goal.”
Walt Disney

16. CHANGE
Advocates
Source key SME (Subject
Matter Experts) who can be
turned into advocates of
change post project
implementation
“Managing changes in a large organization
has been compared to re-engineering an
aircraft while it's in flight”

17. CLEAR Requirements
“No matter how good the team or efficient the methodology,
if we’re not solving the right problem, the project fails.”
Woody Wilson

18. Defining your requirements
You can’t truly solve a problem until you truly understand the nature of
the problem you’re solving.
Every project needs a
starting point. Defining
initial requirements
quickly will speed up
commencement.
DEFINE initial
requirements
Provide high level
project outcomes to
the business. Leave
the finer details with
the project team.
COMMUNICATE
OUTCOMES
Empower project lead to
“park” trivial, but often
resource consuming
requirements. Be open
to change and agility.
ENCOURAGE
AGILITY
Utilise your steering
committee and SMEs
to approve critical
requirement changes
quickly.
FOSTER
PROJECT
INCLUSION

19. How
communication
transcends from
requirements to
delivery

20. DREAM TEAM
A KPMG (NZ) survey of 100 businesses found that 78% of
respondents believed that team dynamics played an
important role in the failure or success of their projects.

21. THE PAC PRINCIPLE
Find people who want to be on the project, have the necessary skills to appropriately
complete the project, and have the time available to focus on the job at hand.
1.
PASSION
People who
have some
passion for the
project and its
outcomes.
2.
ABILITY
People that have
the ability to do
the work that is
required to
successfully
complete the job
3.
CAPACITY
Ensure team
members have the
time to focus on
tasks and are not
overloaded

22. Take ownership
Share
knowledge and
experience
Customer centric
mindset
Strive for continuous
improvement
Can be agile
where required
Behave with
integrity
Hold each other
accountable
Continually provide
and value feedback
TEAM
VALUES
Ability to quantify &
rationalise decisions

23. SUMMARY
MAKE AGILE
DECISIONS
FORM A COMMON
VISION
DEFINE CLEAR
REQUIREMENTS
BUILD YOUR
DREAM TEAM
“A project is complete when it starts working for you, rather than you
working for it”
Scott Allen

24. THANK YOU
REACH OUT
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