Wood Words

5 Ways to Ensure Your IT Project FAILS

IT projects can fail due to any number of reasons.  But most failures start with poor project management.  As a project manager, you’ll want to make sure you avoid these “5 keys to failure”:

  1. “Take as Much Time as You Need.” The more time you give to a project–the longer it will take!  Project managers who don’t assign deadlines are doomed to fail. Letting the project become the victim of competing priorities for team members is a step toward disaster.
  2. Give Responsibility, But Not Authority. Project managers are adept at taking responsibility, but not delegating authority to them as well invites failure. Having to get a superior’s approval on every small decision can create a huge bottleneck in the project–making the project manager’s job nearly impossible.
  3. Keep Project Sponsors “In the Dark”. If sponsors are kept in the dark all along the way, the project is destined for collapse.  Instead, project sponsors should be briefed at key points in the process to ensure the project is kept on-target and scope has not changed.
  4. Once the Project Starts, Stop Planning. When the planning process stops as the project begins, the project will soon flop.  Instead, project managers need to continue the planning process throughout.  We all know that project scopes change as new challenges are presented.  Continual planning will help keep little problems from becoming show stoppers.
  5. Operate in a Vacuum. With multiple projects underway in an organization at any given time, a project team may be pulled in many different directions. Ignoring these other projects and working the one that is most important to you will engender resentment and inaction for the team members with multiple duties. When your project is unresponsive to others, it also will be the lowest priority.

Avoiding these pitfalls will help ensure your project stays on track and on budget.  And, if you do run into difficulties along the way, just give us a call.  Wood Personnel’s IT Placement and IT Services Division can provide the specialized technical resources.

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