 Next Level Up
Why Some Projects Have No Chance of Success? Look for Hidden Barriers
By Jack S. Duggal, MBA, PMP
Have you worked on a project that you thought was successful, but it was not perceived as successful by some stakeholders? The news is it is not your fault and you are not alone. 55% of project managers in a telecommunications company’s recent survey acknowledged this to be true in their organization.
One of the project teams I reviewed recently worked hard on a customer relationship management (CRM) project. Despite a number of challenges, the team managed to meet the scope specifications and deliver the project on time and within the budget constraint. At the end of the project, the project management team could not understand why others did not celebrate their success or share the same view about the project. A post-project review revealed interesting insights.
While the project was rushed to be completed on time, key parts of the system could not be used because of a lack of synthesis and integration with other projects from different business units. There was no clear process of defining and coordinating hand-offs between related projects across departments. As a result, there were disconnects and redundant overlaps.
Some business units deliberately did not want their departments to use certain parts of the system. Some end users felt frustrated that the system did not do what they thought it would do. Overall, the project did not meet its business objective of cutting costs due to systems consolidation, or increased customer response and satisfaction. Sounds familiar?
In a situation like this it is typical to point fingers at project management and rush to address project management deficiencies. But this scenario reveals a hidden reality in many organizations – a host of systemic issues are pervasive barriers that prevent projects from being successful. And project management cannot necessarily address these systemic organizational issues and should not be blamed for them.
Which of the following systemic issues does your organization have?
- Disconnects and lack of synthesis and integration of related projects.
- No seamless hand-off between related or interdependent projects.
- Fragmented organizational structures that do not support project work and impede project progress.
- Lack of prioritization—project priorities are not consistent across the organization.
- Weak sponsorship and leadership, making it difficult to identify disconnects and address integration issues above the project layer across the organization.
- Lack of linkage and alignment to other projects, programs and business objectives.
- No clear governance mechanisms, such as roles and responsibilities, processes, stage-gates, etc.
- Projects not coordinated and aligned to meet customer needs. There may not be a singular coordinated understanding of customer needs.
- Inadequate definition of project success.
- Project reporting does not reflect reality of what is actually happening on projects, or what will lead to success.
These systemic issues are often the barriers and the hidden reasons why some projects have no chance of success. An “aha” moment in the above example was that no matter how hard people tried to improve the management of projects, they had a limited capacity to impact systemic organizational issues and business problems that cannot be resolved at the project level.
The missing link, therefore, is the lack of understanding and focus on programs. While there is an increasing emphasis on portfolios in many organizations, and portfolio management can address some of the issues, the missed opportunity is in program management. Program management can be the organizational glue to address many of the above systemic issues and is crucial for the success of projects.
A programmatic approach focuses on integration and alignment and helps in resolving organizational disconnects. It deals with business problems and emphasizes the achievement of business objectives. The Standard for Program Management—Second Edition elaborates on the four critical success factors that deal with the issues not commonly addressed at the project level.
What can you specifically do at the organizational level?
- Identify the hidden barriers and systemic issues in your organization and illustrate their impact on projects.
- Articulate the missing link and need for program focus and program management.
- Identify struggling projects that could be classified and managed better as programs.
- Focus on developing program management as a next level competency.
Mr. Duggal is the managing principal of Projectize Group LLC, specializing in next generation training, consulting and tools. He is a keynote speaker and a PMI SeminarsWorld® leader, for
Building a Next Generation PMO and Portfolio Management seminar. He works with leading companies world-wide. For questions, comments or your feedback, please contact Mr. Duggal. |
