The Top 10 Ways to Guarantee Project Failure

I've just come out of a session about Project Management in IT. There was not much new to learn for us Prince2 Practitioners ;-) but the presenters gave it a quirky twist by talking about what NOT to do rather than giving out the Top 10 tips.

Here we go - The 10 Ways to Guarantee Project Failure.

1. Believing the hype.
ie believing everything your suppliers (internal and external) tell you. Trust, but verify. Eg. if they say Akonix will work with Sametime like a dream, very good, but check. If possible, get the hype in writing. Of course, from experience we know that sometimes you get the hype in writing and still it's not accurate ;-)

2. Solving the wrong problem.
... or solving a problem that doesn't exist! Understanding and validating the why behind every project is crucial. In other words, a business case should lead to a project, not the other way round.

3. Using the wrong people.
More often than not, Project Managers have to work with the army they have rather than the army they want. Which makes learning how to tap into individuals' strengths and synergies in the project team a pre-requisite for the team manager. If you can, put finding the right people on your project's critical path.

4. Measuring the wrong things.
10% budget spent =/= 10% project finished !

5. Hope as a Risk Management Strategy (that was my favourite one!)

6. Round is a shape (not keeping fit!)
Train your people and have them practise project management hands-on. As the presenter put it, "watching somebody else exercise can be momentarily invigorating but doesn't work the beer belly" ;-)

7. Ignorance as a Defence.
If you don't know, ask. Do not assume.

8. Ostrichism
"I've made up my mind, don't confuse me with the facts."

9. Giving perception sway.
Communicate, communicate, communicate. Don't leave room for people to assume. And if it's ugly, don't decorate, manage it! :-)

10. A hero behind every tree. (Somebody please explain the choice of words to me!)
Plan for regular humans, not superheroes - although I wouldn't mind having Batman on my project team ;-) Good planning and project management should save you from bringing in Professor Xavier and his team of X-men at the last minute for that last all arms out weekend.

Nothing ground-breakingly fresh in this list but if you ever needed to see it all in one place. Onto the next session now!


... this felt a bit like writing a self-help book :D