Why do so many projects fail
INVESTOR NEWSLETTER ISSUE N°3
IT SHOULD BE DELIVERED
ONLINE TRAINING THE WAY
HTTP://WWW.4PM.COM
FALL 2007
Why Do So Many Projects Fail?
Dick Billows, PMP
ProjectPedia
Change control
Charter
Estimating
Lessons Learned
People Skills
Planning/Scope
Presentations
Requirements
Risk
Scheduling
Status Reports
What do PMs do
Work breakdown WBS
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IT/IS Project Manager
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877.332.2599
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Some organizations have project failure rates that threaten their existence. In some cases they can’t deliver to a customer or client profitably. In other cases they can’t deliver new products and services that allow them to successfully compete. Why does this happen in only some organizations?
Organizations that have problems doing projects can experience failure rates as high as...
✦
70% Project Failure Rate
We define a project as successful when we produce the desired deliverables within budget and on time. If any of those three are missed, the project is a failure. That’s a tough definition of success and organizations that are very good at projects can achieve it 90% of the time at best. But that success rate gives those organizations an enormous competitive advantage and yields high levels of profitability.
✦
Using the above success definition, we find that 70% of projects fail in most organizations. That failure rate wastes so much money and human resources that even a small increase in the success rate is worth a lot. But the solution is not easy because these organizations must first identify where the fault lies. In our work with over 300 organizations, we have found that the fault lies at several levels in the organization:
Executives who fail in their strategic role of prioritization and resource allocation
Project sponsors who fail to define exactly what the
IT SHOULD BE DELIVERED
ONLINE TRAINING THE WAY
HTTP://WWW.4PM.COM
FALL 2007
Why Do So Many Projects Fail?
Dick Billows, PMP
ProjectPedia
Change control
Charter
Estimating
Lessons Learned
People Skills
Planning/Scope
Presentations
Requirements
Risk
Scheduling
Status Reports
What do PMs do
Work breakdown WBS
CERTIFICATION
Associate PM
IT/IS Project Manager
Consulting PM
Healthcare PM
Business PM
PMP Professional PM
All Courses
All Certifications
877.332.2599
Free Subscription
Some organizations have project failure rates that threaten their existence. In some cases they can’t deliver to a customer or client profitably. In other cases they can’t deliver new products and services that allow them to successfully compete. Why does this happen in only some organizations?
Organizations that have problems doing projects can experience failure rates as high as...
✦
70% Project Failure Rate
We define a project as successful when we produce the desired deliverables within budget and on time. If any of those three are missed, the project is a failure. That’s a tough definition of success and organizations that are very good at projects can achieve it 90% of the time at best. But that success rate gives those organizations an enormous competitive advantage and yields high levels of profitability.
✦
Using the above success definition, we find that 70% of projects fail in most organizations. That failure rate wastes so much money and human resources that even a small increase in the success rate is worth a lot. But the solution is not easy because these organizations must first identify where the fault lies. In our work with over 300 organizations, we have found that the fault lies at several levels in the organization:
Executives who fail in their strategic role of prioritization and resource allocation
Project sponsors who fail to define exactly what the