Avoid Project Management Pitfalls

Introduction Info-Tech research shows that, in the last two years, fewer than 15% of organizations have experienced success executing projects on time, on budget, and within scope. This solution set will help you avoid common pitfalls that sink the majority of projects. We identify four critical pitfalls that project managers slip into, and provide steps that you should take to avoid these pitfalls. In case avoidance proves impossible, we provide steps to detect lurking pitfalls and mitigate potential negative influences on your project. Our strategies for combating pitfalls produce results. For example, those who extensively use at least one of our strategies for combating scope creep, increase overall project success by a factor of almost 2x. While many organizations focus on careful planning as the crux of project management, experienced project managers cite scope creep and failure to coordinate with stakeholders as the primary causes of project failure. Planning is important, but project success will mostly depend on careful management of the political forces that feed into these pitfalls.

Avoid & mitigate 4 key challenges to optimize project success ChallengeImpact on Project Success How to AvoidHow to Mitigate Scope creep Leads to projects going over-budget and over-schedule. Build the business case. Make use of Agile development. Nail down requirements in a formal document. Recommend alternative solutions. Try to postpone to the next release. Have the project sponsor arbitrate the change. Failure to obtain stakeholder commitment Leads to delays and resource starvation. Find a strong sponsor and assign responsibility. Communicate effectively with sponsors and users. Sponsor apathy: find a replacement sponsor or get an engaged user to act as a stand-in. User apathy: have the sponsor enforce change discipline. Inability to assemble a team Undermines the project’s ability to meet requirements Plan the project carefully to ensure you have the resources you need. Assign clear roles. Avoid surprises by pushing the team to report issues up front. Keep pushing for additional resources throughout the project. Failure to plan and manage the plan Leads to nasty surprises near the end of the project. Involve all key vendors in finalizing your plan. Carry out a risk assessment. Don’t just plan: Manage by Walking Around. It’s never too late to start planning the project. Your team members may have started planning without you: get them involved in the planning process. Having doubts about your project? Use the Info-Tech Pitfall Detection & Mitigation Tool to spot dangers.Pitfall Detection & Mitigation Tool

There are four key pitfalls that have a major impact on the success of IT projects. Project success means delivering requirements on-time and on-budget, to create value. Scope creep, the most commonly reported challenge, shows the greatest response to our strategies: almost a doubling of project success. There are four key pitfalls that have a major impact on the success of IT projects. Project success means delivering requirements on-time and on-budget, to create value. Scope creep, the most commonly reported challenge, shows the greatest response to our strategies: almost a doubling of project success. Next Section in Brief The Approach Manage Scope Creep Obtain Stakeholder Commitment Assemble an Effective Team Plan and Manage the Plan 1 Summary Recommendations

Read this report to avoid, detect, and mitigate four key challenges that project managers encounter Aliases: Requirements Creep Modus operandi: Scope Creep strikes at any point after you have defined requirements, adding additional requirements that pressure your timeline and budget. It leaves your project with a deadly choice: stick to your timeline and budget, or satisfy your users? Do any of these culprits look familiar? Aliases: Project Isolation Modus operandi: Failure to Obtain Stakeholder Commitment undermines your ability to obtain critical resources for the project and delays important decisions, by eliminating the support of project sponsors and users. Aliases: Resource Starvation Modus operandi: Inability to Assemble Necessary Resources turns even the easiest projects into nightmares of incompetence, bad attitudes, and dissatisfaction. Aliases: Project Chaos, The Blur Modus operandi: Failure to Plan and Manage the Plan pretends to make your life easier while turning your project into a mess of confused responsibilities and priorities. Name: Scope Creep Name: Failure to Obtain Stakeholder Commitment Name: Inability to Assemble Necessary Resources Name: Failure to Plan and Manage the Plan

Project management: a delicate balancing act Requirements Budget Timeline Project success User satisfaction Managerial satisfaction Creates Perceived success Improved business efficiency. Improved quality of service or product. Feeds Value delivered on- time, on budget Requirements Did the project deliver everything it promised? Did the project consume no more (or fewer) resources than expected? Budget Timeline Did the project complete on time? Project success means controlling 3 things

Pitfalls differ by which success criteria they attack directly Each pitfall directly affects one or more of the project success categories. When one category suffers, other success criteria may also suffer as the project tries to compensate. PitfallSatisfaction of Requirements Meeting Budget Following Timeline Scope Creep X Failure to Obtain Stakeholder Commitment X Inability to Assemble Necessary Resources XX Failure to Plan and Manage the Plan XX The prioritization of one category ahead of another drives much of the decision- making that organizations make. So… This solution set provides strategies that help project managers succeed in all three categories.

Scope creep, the most commonly reported challenge, shows the greatest response to our recommended strategies Challenge% of projects not using a strategy extensively that succeed % of projects using a strategy extensively that succeed Scope Creep39%72% Failure to Obtain Commitment 57%76% Inability to Assemble Team 43%55% Failure to Plan*33%50% Using just one of our avoid, detect, mitigate strategies extensively produces results for each pitfall. * Due to sample size restrictions, Failure to Plan is measured between those who plan and those who do not plan. The notion of “extensive planning” is not used. For each pitfall we present a series of strategies that allow you to: Avoid: take steps to reduce the likelihood that this becomes a problem for your project. Detect: determine whether this is likely to become a problem for your project. Mitigate: lessen the damage done if this is already becoming a problem. Avoid Detect Mitigate

Use the Project Pitfall Detection & Mitigation Tool to detect and mitigate lurking pitfalls Purpose Facilitate detection and avoidance of nearby pitfalls. Intended user IT project managers at any stage in a project. How to use it Plug in parameters that describe your project and its current state. The description variables include project size and type, as well as the current phase. The state questions will ask about key steps or milestones that you may have encountered while managing the project. State questions are keyed to the phase of the project. Outputs Pitfalls that you need to watch out for, and how to avoid them. Project Pitfall Detection & Mitigation Tool Sample question: Have user advocates shown up for project scoping meetings?

When you slip into a pitfall, track the issue with the Project Management Pitfalls Issue Log Purpose Track and resolve on-going pitfalls. Intended user IT project managers at any stage in a project. How to use it Enter project pitfalls that are currently an issue. Track the status of pitfall resolution. Project Management Pitfalls Issue Log

Scope creep affects 55% of project managers. Scope creep afflicts a majority of projects, large and small. Key strategies for avoiding scope creep include formulating the business case for the project, defining requirements, and ensuring you have a strong project sponsor. Key mitigation strategies include postponement and change management. Those who use at least one of our scope creep strategies have higher project success by a factor of almost 2×. Scope creep affects 55% of project managers. Scope creep afflicts a majority of projects, large and small. Key strategies for avoiding scope creep include formulating the business case for the project, defining requirements, and ensuring you have a strong project sponsor. Key mitigation strategies include postponement and change management. Those who use at least one of our scope creep strategies have higher project success by a factor of almost 2×. Next Section in Brief The Approach Manage Scope Creep Obtain Stakeholder Commitment Assemble an Effective Team Plan and Manage the Plan 2 Summary Recommendations

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