|
| |
Five signs that your project may be
failing
Managing projects can
be a tricky business, and no matter how positive we can be as project managers
that we will succeed, the law of averages suggests that even the most successful
among us will have at least one bona-fide failure. Here are 5 warning signs that
your project may be toast:
 | The target
users don't believe in your project. If your end users aren't engaged and
fully bought in to what you're trying to achieve, they are more likely not to
care about your deliverable - much less use it. |
| The project
team shows you an alarming level of disrespect. This is terrible and can often
be a deal-breaker. Make sure that you don't undermine yourself from the start
of the project by asking stupid things of your team, or portraying yourself as
something you're clearly not. If, for example, you're not that technical, then
don't try to dazzle a database development team with your pitiful knowledge of
T-SQL learned from a Sybase day course. It's an effective way to marginalise
your authority. |
| The main
stakeholder starts to micromanage you. While this can be demeaning to you as a
project manager, it usually happens for an important reason. Something
significant prompts this kind of response and the stakeholder has the
obligation to investigate. For example, ‘Chinese whispers' may be making the
office rounds about your project, suggesting that it's not delivering properly
or as expected. Noise like this surrounding your project can be even more
damaging than not delivering - it's a big coffin nail. |
| The main
stakeholder doesn't want to know you. There's a causal relationship between
the 3rd sign and this, and it can arguably be the worst thing that could
possibly happen to your project. If a key stakeholder has indeed gotten more
involved and still nothing's changed, he may decide that either you don't have
what it takes to deliver the project or that the project itself is so far down
the wrong path that he now has to engage in damage control. Remember that
stakeholders also answer to management. Your project's deliverable may be a
solution tailored to hit a target set for the stakeholder by his management,
and if your project isn't delivering, then the stakeholder will be seen as not
delivering. When this happens, self preservation invariably kicks in - your
calls don't get returned, your emails don't get read, you can't ever get any
time in the stakeholder's diary for an update, and so on. When he does this to
you, that stakeholder is now your own special Elvis - and has left your
project's building. |
| Your
project's budget keeps getting cut, without your deliverable scope being
re-scoped accordingly. If for some reason you haven't quite managed to read
the other signs, don't miss this one. True, sometimes budget cuts can happen
without warning and without necessarily being an indictment on a project
manager's progress or ability. Still, this is not a harbinger of good tidings.
The bean counters tasked with budget allocation usually don't touch projects
that are seen as ‘must-haves' for the receiving business unit. As project
manager, it's in your interest to manage the perception that you are
delivering a key solution, even if it really isn't. If the ‘Powers That Be'
cut your budget but not your deliverable, it's a sign that you're being
perceived as having not delivered, and this is their way of applying pressure.
Now you are placed in the unenviable position of producing results with less
resource. Start updating the CV now. |
Now do
you believe you might need help?
|
Failure signs