Issue #19 - Top 5 REasons Why Projects Fail
And How to Solve Them
Read time: 4 minutes
✍️ Quote of the Week
🔨 Top 5 Reasons Why Projects Fail (And How to Solve Them)
📆 Weekly FREE CAPM/PMP Study Group is BACK
✍️ Quote of the Week
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford.
🔨 Top 5 Reasons Why Projects Fail (And How to Solve Them)
What is project failure?
A project may be labeled a failure for the reasons listed below:
The project failed to achieve its goal.
You did not receive the desired deliverable.
The work wasn’t finished on time.
1. Unclear goals and objectives
Did you know that an estimated 40% of projects fail due to unclear goals and objectives? It is imperative to establish clear-cut goals and objectives for your team to work on in order to ensure the success of your project. Regrettably, not all teams adhere to this principle.
Businesses that neglect to define precise goals and objectives for their employees squander a significant amount of time and effort. The following are the consequences of unclear project goals and objectives:
✍️ Ambiguous objectives result in unclear operational methods.
✍️ The quality of performance can only be justified on an individual basis.
✍️ The project may veer off track without anyone realizing until the last moment.
✍️ Individuals involved in the project cannot perform to their maximum effectiveness.
2. Lack of resource planning
In the absence of a proficient task management tool, human resources may be either underutilized or overburdened. It is possible to overlook the fact that some team members are assigned too few tasks while others are assigned too many tasks simultaneously, which can lead to the negative consequences of multitasking.
✍️Financial planning is another crucial component of project resource planning. Projects with inadequate cost estimations and irregular tracking are likely to exceed their original budget. Project managers who lack the knowledge and skills to monitor and manage finances are likely to steer the project towards failure.
3. Poor communication
The primary reasons for communication breakdowns within organizations can be attributed to the
🧠 absence of a communication plan
🧠 lack of stakeholder engagement,
🧠 lack of mutual understanding among employees, and
🧠 project managers assuming that communication has occurred when it has not.
The negative effects of inadequate communication within the workplace can be severe, resulting in poor collaboration, decreased productivity, stressed employees, dissatisfied customers, and a lack of trust in the workplace, among other consequences.
Whether communication is delayed, lacking, or non-existent, the reality is that without an effective communication strategy, projects are likely to fail.
4. Poorly defined project scope
In project management, scope creep refers to the uncontrolled and ongoing alterations to a project's scope. Typically, a project scope that is inadequately defined, documented, or regulated leads to scope creep.
Scope creep is widely regarded as a detrimental phenomenon that should be avoided. A project that has a poorly defined scope is more likely to encounter difficulties and fail, such as:
💡Failing to meet client expectations
💡Repeated requests for changes throughout the project's duration
💡Requiring significant changes during the project's life cycle
💡Exceeding the allocated budget
💡Failing to meet deadlines
A poorly defined project scope inevitably results in subpar employee performance, deficient client accountability, extended timelines, and elevated project costs.
5. Unrealistic expectations
Unrealistic expectations have been the downfall of many projects. This situation arises when project managers neglect to accurately analyze the strengths, skills, and competencies of each team member. Consequently, team members may be overburdened with tasks that they may find challenging to complete within the given timeframe. It is imperative for project managers to have a clear understanding of their team's capabilities and limitations, and to set realistic expectations that align with their team's abilities.
What can we do to avoid failures?
🎯Plan diligently
Project planning requires comprehensive analysis and structuring of the following basic steps:
Setting project goals
Determine project deliverables
Creating project schedules and milestones
Creating supporting plans
Task assignment
Risk Assessment
🎯Set realistic expectations
Being optimistic about project outcomes is never a bad thing. However, unrealistic expectations can hurt both your employees and the project big time. Many project managers are perhaps more optimistic than required, and it’s easy to cross the line in excitement and set unachievable deadlines or over-the-top goals.
🎯Track project progress
Tracking your project progress at every stage is crucial to determine whether or not your team would be able to complete it within set deadlines. You need to clearly understand who is working on what tasks are being completed on time and which ones are not.
🎯Communicate well, communicate often
As a project manager, you should be easily accessible to your team members and encourage them to not hesitate in coming up with new ideas, suggestions, and concerns. Also, you should define communication modes for exchanging different types of information.
📆 Weekly FREE CAPM/PMP Study Group is BACK
Next week we continue with weekly study groups:
PMP Study Group - Tuesday - Sep 5
Topic: Understanding Scrum
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/events/pmp-weeklystudygroup-topic-tbd7102766650021531648/
Agenda
CAPM Study Group - Wednesday - Sep 6
Topic: What is Agile Mindset?
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/events/capmstudygroup-topic-tbd7102764810588577792/
Agenda
Looking forward to see you on the session :-)
PS.:
Join the CAPM Study Group - this is a dedicated group in LinkedIn here:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12881121/