Top 5 Reasons Projects Fail (Part 4)

It's been awhile since I last posted as I have been debating what really should be reason number four project failure....well not really, I just have been failing to met my own expectations with everything I have going on.  


In any case reason number four for project failure is adequately identifying, documenting and tracking requirements. Using documentation requirements does not eliminate the need for formal, well organized process for gathering requirements.  Sometimes people believe that a one page email with a wish list features is good enough.  Not so much! The good news is that most project owners/sponsors believe that requirements need to be documented.  Nailing requirement documents must be done very early in a project, wait till later and it's to late. Ambiguity is good for no one thus you must clarify that ambiguity as quickly as possible.  


There are various tools and techniques for defining requirements like codifying, progressive elaboration, interviewing, modeling and interviewing. You can use one or all these tools to help you to define your requirements.  

Top 5 Reasons Projects Fail (Part 3)

Is project success or failure solely the responsibility of the Project Manager? In my opinion the answer is NO. This may surprise some but if we don't have involvement, commitment, and bravery by sponsors of the project more than likely a project will fail. Furthermore organizational leadership must create an environment that supports a project environment. 

"Proper scope definition is critical to project success" this is not some quote from a great project manager, rather text that is straight out of the PMBOK.  It Is the responsibility of the project sponsor to set the scope expectations for a project. Driving to fulfillment of expectations is the function of the project manager.  Problems arise when expectations are not clear or informal.  Conversely if expectations and the method of manging them are to complex or rigid it becomes difficult to manage any requests for change.

Failure to set and manage expectations is certainly a major cause of project failure. The practical ones among us know that the reason project management is difficult is that we really need to keep our project artifacts and techniques flexable enough so that we can produce predictable, professional results while at the same time accommodating any necessary change.

No one said project success was easy, what are your thoughts?

Top 5 Reasons Projects Fail (Part 2)

Inadequately trained and inexperienced project managers is perhaps the number one cause of project failure. The reason why it contributes so much to project failures is because it is the responsibility of the PM to guide the organization as it executes on projects. Just as important as training is experience. Issue management, politics, and diplomacy are examples are things you just can't be training on.


The reason so many projects and therefore project managers fail is that the PMs are not prepared. Executive management fails when they do not understand what it takes to be an effective PM and at the same time don't understand what a difference a trained and experienced PM can make.

What Training Is Needed?

• Understanding the Project Management Body of Knowledge
• General Management
• Understanding the technology being deployed. This will vary based on the project.

As more organizations recognize the link between delivering on commitments and project management skills, the requirements for PMs will increase.

In the end PM's need to keep growing and gaining experiences to be successful.

Top 5 Reasons Projects Fail

We all know that more projects fail then succeed. There are studies by educational institutions, research organizations, etc. that support this same reality.  The dollar store mentality of cheap and fast is used to often.  Executives that don't hold people accountable for anything but customer satisfaction while ignoring schedule, budget, and quality often will fail in the end.

There are many reasons why projects fail. Expectations or communications management are common reasons but not the only ones. Ultimately their are many reasons why projects fail and its a miracle that many projects are successful at all.

Perhaps the most probable way to succeed on a project is to have knowledge of what can go wrong.   Knowledge of what can go wrong is one very important tool.  Perhaps by understanding the causes of failure we can avoid pitfalls when they appear "unexpectedly."  This post is to introduce my list of perspective reasons of why projects fail which I will discuss in detail in future posts.

1. Inadequately trained and/or inexperienced project managers
2. Failure to set and manage expectations
3. Poor leadership at any and all levels
4. Failure to adequately identify, document and track requirements
5. Poor effort estimation

TechFuse Presentation Follow-up

A few weeks ago I spoke at the TechFuse event in Minnesota at Mystic Lake Casino. As I mentioned in the
I am posting the content from my session "My Relationship With My Project Manager"

If you have questions, feel free to leave a comment. If you would like to see this presentation or others on related topics at your user group or company, you can comment or contact me via email – amaaraba@digineer.com

Learn where menu and toolbar commands are in Office 2010

Many of us have made the transition from Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007 to 2010 and are now spending a lot of time searching the ribbon for functions that we previously new the location.  Save yourself some time and check out this interactive link from Microsoft. 

Learn where menu and toolbar commands are in Office 2010 and related products

Can a Project Manager with a non IT background understand and be succesful in managing IT Projects?

In today's economy where more and more Project Managers are crossing over between industries and looking for new opportunities, often the million dollar question is "Can a Project Manager with a non IT background understand and be successful in managing IT Projects?"  From my perspective as long as an individual has a solid understanding of the base project management skills a Project Manager can be successful regardless of  the specific technology, industry or business the project is for.

What are your thoughts on this topic? 

There is also an interesting thread about this topic going on within the Project Manager Networking Group on LinkedIn - http://linkd.in/aFhMAy