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What Are The Root Causes of Project Problems and Failure?

5) Project Planning

Project planning starts with defining the project’s objectives, scope, deliverables and work breakdown structure (WBS).  Without a complete project definition, complete project planning is virtually impossible.  Project planning is an iterative and ongoing process.  Although a complete project definition isn’t achieved until the requirements are fully defined, the project manager should develop a full plan based on the best current information available.  The plan will be refined as additional information is identified.  Additionally, a good project plan follows a logical, proven and complete methodology, which generally includes feasibility, environmental/process analysis, requirements, design, development, testing, training, and deployment, as well as transition to operations, support and maintenance.  Some popular and successful methodologies include waterfall, agile and RAD.  Projects with poor or incomplete project planning are at high risk for failure.

Poor project planning means the project manager, sponsor and team do not have a plan that reflects a reasonably accurate estimate of the project’s duration, resources, effort and cost.  Poor project plans do not include allowances for risk and contingencies.  Underestimating time and cost will result in significant overruns and may result in premature project termination.  Significantly overestimating time and cost could cause the project to be canceled before it is started.  Poor project planning has other negative impacts.  Resources, including money, people, materials, equipment, tools and facilities are not available when they are needed because they are not scheduled properly.  Waiting for unscheduled resources will delay the project.  Unplanned tasks and activities are not coordinated, and their dependencies are not honored, causing conflict, delay, rework and additional costs.

Developing a project schedule with activities, tasks and deliverables is not enough to prevent failure.  Project planning should include accounting for resources, vendors and contractors, cash flow, contingencies and risk mitigation.  Developing plans at the beginning of a project is a good start, but without a process for continually updating these plans, they will soon go stale.  Project plans have about the same life as unrefrigerated fruit.  Within two to three weeks they are spoiled.

Project situations that display symptoms of a lack of project planning include:

1. The project resources aren’t available at the time they are needed, even after a previous commitment.
2. The project resources don’t know what they are supposed to do next, or don’t realize other tasks are waiting for the completion of their tasks.
3. The project sponsor and/or steering team is shocked/surprised at what is supposed to be the end of the project when they are told for the first time that the project will be significantly late or will run significantly over budget.
4. The project vendors are not available when needed.
5. The project stakeholders have significantly differing expectations.
6. The project schedule and milestones continually slip.
7. The scope is reduced multiple times to meet a specific deadline.
8. The project is underfunded from the beginning.
9. The project’s management expectations are unreasonable: Schedule, Resources, Funding, and Feasibility.
10. Unexpected events with respect to the project cause significant changes in project cost and schedule.

The Other Causes of Project Problems and Failure

(FOOD-PARC)

1) Feasibility, 2) Ownership, 3) Organization,  4) Definition, 5) Planning, 6) Alignment, 7) Resources and 8) Control

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