4 reasons for project fails—and how to prevent each one
We’re living in the golden age of failure, where tech culture embraces a “fail fast” mentality and celebrates lessons learned from missteps. But when it comes to that?upcoming project?you’re leading, given a choice, you’d?much?rather succeed.?
But the truth is, whether they’re delivered late, go over the budget, or they don’t meet expectations, many projects do end up failing. The?2017 Pulse of the Profession?survey from the Project Management Institute (PMI) reports that poor project performance leads to $122 million wasted for every $1 billion invested.
Beyond monetary losses, there’s the negative impact on team morale and the time you can never get back. For these reasons and more, it’s wise to learn the main reasons for project failures—and how you can stop them in their tracks.
1. The project lacks defined goals and milestones
The PMI survey also found that the main cause of project failure was a "lack of clearly defined objectives and milestones to measure progress.”?
Clearly defined goals boost team performance, according to a?Leiden University study. And setting?milestones?helps your team know they’re making progress and keeps motivation from waning, especially when the project takes months or years.
How to fix it
Popularized by?venture capitalist John Doerr,?OKR?stands for “Objectives and Key Results.” The objective is the goal (what do you want to do?). The key result is a milestone that shows progress (how will you know you’re making progress toward the goal?). Many organizations create company-wide and team-specific OKRs, and the same framework can be applied to your project.
For example, you might be working on improving your email marketing campaign. An OKR for this specific project might look like this:
Objective:?Increase email campaign engagement to support sales initiatives
And because we discussed the importance of accountability, take it a step further and assign an owner to each key result. They’ll be responsible for deciding the tasks that will lead to each key result.
Feeling motivated? Trello has a free?OKR template?to get you started.
2. There’s no real accountability
“If everyone is accountable, no one is accountable.” In social psychology, there’s a term for this:?diffusion of responsibility.?The higher the number of people present, the lower the chances that any individual will step up to the plate because they assume someone else will.
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Gartner?analyzed more than 50 IT projects and found that complexity without accountability often leads to project failure. “Complex projects with unrealistic goals, unproven teams and almost no accountability at all levels of the management and governance structure, means no one is responsible for failure,” writes Gartner contributor Susan Moore.
But contrary to popular belief, the fix is not to increase oversight. “When a project starts to stumble, increasing the volume and scope of upward reporting will only place more burden on the project and will be unlikely to improve the likelihood of success,” Moore writes.
This is also known as?micromanaging, and it’s a productivity killer. In an?Accountemps?survey, 68% of employees said micromanagement hurt their morale, and 55% said it decreased their productivity.
How to fix it
Increase accountability by assigning an owner to each part of the project. That way, every team member knows what they’re responsible for and has autonomy over their decisions for that specific task. This is?not?micromanaging. By allowing each owner to control the decisions they make, you’re telling them you trust them.
By letting each team member know exactly which part they’re responsible for, you’ll boost the chances that the task gets done. Why? Because it removes confusion for your team, and now everyone knows who owns what, so it’s easier to identify who is holding a project up and who can give the best status update.?
Build accountability in projects managed in Trello by?adding members to a card?or by assigning them tasks within?checklists?on a card. Once added, they’ll receive notifications anytime that card is commented on, moved, or assigned a due date.
3. Something went wrong in the planning phase
PwC?found that insufficient resources, poor estimates, and scope changes are some of the top contributors to project failure. How do you prevent all of these? Proper planning.
While it’s not nearly as exciting as the?doing?part, the planning phase is necessary for scoping and gathering requirements for the upcoming project. Poor planning results in:
How to fix it
Don’t rush the planning process. While a bias toward action can be a good thing, if you’ve got a long and pricey project coming up, this is?not?the time to rush headlong into it. All of your planning should involve real-world data based on experience in similar projects, and you should consult with experts if possible.?
Ensure nothing gets missed by creating a visual way to track tasks, project objectives, necessary resources, and timelines by?mapping out your project in Trello. This will make it easier for team members and stakeholders to review and give feedback on the project before you begin the execution.