PROJECT MANAGEMENT SUCCESS OR FAILURE IS FREQUENTLY SOWN AT THE INITIATION PHASE

“Operations keeps the lights on, strategy provides a light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward.”  Joy Gumz 

Project Management is defined by five crucial processes which are Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closeout. It is at the Initiation Stage of project management that the seeds of success or failure are frequently sown. For example, in February 2019, the Department of Roads had signed an agreement with China State Construction Engineering Corporation to implement the Butwal-Narayanghat road. The expansion project has failed to gain momentum since its initiation two years ago. According to road project officials, the delay in the road expansion work has been caused due to the contractor’s negligence (kathmandupost.com: 2021). 

Therefore, a simple but essential solution to avoid the failure of a project is by correctly defining what the project is expected to achieve.  

Bernadette Felix, the Director of Felix Higher Education warns, “Projects often fail at the initiation, not later on in the other phases. Therefore, be serious and well informed on how the project is launched as this is when you truly make or break a project’s success”.

Project initiation phase steps 

Felix further advocates that project managers should use the Project Management Body of Knowledge as a compass to anchor a project at the Initiation Phase, by structuring the following six steps: 

Step 1: Create a business case to provide valid and achievable reasons for starting a project.

Step 2: Conduct a feasibility study. Research the reason for the project to determine whether it will succeed. Risk issues should be given priority attention during the feasibility study. 

Step 3: Create a project charter that outlines the purpose for the project and how it will be structured and executed.

Step 4: Establish a project team by first identifying key stakeholders and then appointing people with the right skills and experience to execute the project. This is non-negotiable. 

Step 5: Set up the project management office so that the project manager and support staff have the physical space and resources to manage the project life cycles properly.

Step 6: Review the initiation phase to determine whether the project should be moved to the next cycle.  

Common reasons for project failures from the start

Project Hoefyster, for the supply of 243 Badger infantry fighting vehicles for the South African Army, is nine years behind schedule with little hope that the project will be turned around due to major challenges at Denel (Martin: 2021). It is further reported that very little progress is being shown at present due to financial constraints at Denel, technical challenges to meet contracted performance, and significant loss of capability to complete development and industrialisation. During December 2018 Denel indicated in writing it could not complete the contract in terms of specification, cost, and timescales. 

Project Hoefyster is a realistic example of common reasons for project failures from the start. 

Research provides similar and other serious reasons for project failures at the beginning that impacts on further project development:

• About 65% of projects fail because of the various project initiating problems, such as poor business strategy, lack of skilled people, poor stakeholder investment support and no consensuses on deliverables and timelines (Mcconnell: 2010). 
• Around $1 million is wasted every 20 seconds collectively by organizations around the globe due to the ineffective implementation of business strategy through poor project management practices (Project Management Institute: 2018). 
• Over 1 in 3 (34%) projects have no baseline (Wellington Project Management: 2016). 
  Almost 80% of project management executives do not know how their projects align with their company’s business strategy (changepoint.com: 2021). 
• 75% of IT executives believe their projects are “doomed from the start” (Bhandari: 2019). 
• Around 30% of respondents do not use any specific project management methodology for their projects (PWC Belgium: 2018). 
• 44% of respondents indicated that internal audit conducts ad-hoc project assessments, for example for pre- or post-implementation reviews (PWC Belgium: 2018). 

Recommended project initiation questions to ensure success

Felix believes that unnecessary challenges can be prevented and managed during a project’s five crucial processes if the following project initiation survey questions are addressed with a committed attitude: 

• What problem is this project going to solve? 
• Why is solving this problem imperative? 
• What are the goals of this project? 
  What are the measurable objectives of the project? 
• Which objectives may have imperceptible values? 
• Why are these imperceptible project objectives important? 
• What is in scope of this project? 
• What is out of scope in this project? 
  What are the expectations of this project? 
• What are the project success factor and priorities? 
• Are there any legal or compliance aspects that need to be addressed in this project? 
• How does this project meet the organisation’s strategic goals? 
• What are the needs for this project? 
  Have this organization completed any similar project previously? 
• Is skilled resource from previous experience used in this project? 
• Are there lessons learned from previous projects? 
• Who are the stakeholders of the project? 
• How relevant and effective is the current solution aligned to this project works?
  How and who is funding this project? 
• What are the limitations and validations of this project? 
• Which governance structure would work best on this project? 
• What roles and responsibilities are required for this project? 
• Who should be appointed into the steering committee for this project? 
  What performance metrics are used to measure the success of this project? 
• Have all criteria been critically considered in the six steps of this project’s initiation phase? 

“Running a project without a work breakdown structure is like going to a strange land without a road map.” J Phillips

References

1) Bhandari, A. 16 April 2019 9 Reasons behind failed software delivery (Online) [Accessed on 22 March 2021]

2) Changepoint.com 2021 Turning Around a Failing PMO (Online) [Accessed on 22 March 2021]

3) Kathmandupost.com 20 March 2021 Butwal-Narayanghat road expansion project stares at delay (Online) [Accessed on 21 March 2021]

4) Martin, G. 12 March 2021 Troubled Badger project far behind, with little hope in sight (Online) [Accessed on 22 March 2021]

5) Mcconnell, E. 2010 Managing Project Initiation Phase – A List of Critical Problems & Suggestions (online) [Accessed on 21 March 2021]

6) Project Management Institute 2018 Pulse of the Profession (Online) [Accessed on 22 March 2021]

7) PWC Belgium 2018 Project Success Survey 2018 Driving project success in Belgium (online) [Accessed on 13 March 2021]

8) Wellington Project Management 2016 The State of Project Management Annual Survey 2016 (Online) [Accessed on 22 March 2021]