Project Management | How do you know a Project is in Trouble ~ Paul Pondering

Warning Indicators of a Project in Trouble

What are the Warning Indicators of a project in trouble?

I am firmly of the opinion, based on many years of experience and observation, that the most common causes of project failure are people related, not due to failures of methodology or technology or problems with location or tool-sets. Most project failure is a failure of effective management.

One of the most common failures of project management is the failure to notice or act on the early signs of a project in trouble.

There are many common early warning indicators of projects that are failing, and I have listed some of these below:

1. Lack of involvement, or ineffective involvement of Sponsor

2. Low morale of project team

3. Project Team working long hours consistently

4. Failure to get documents signed off (in particular requirements)

5. Poor relationship with business delegates (us and them mentality)

6. Project schedule not updated regularly or accurately

7. Risk and Issue Logs out of date or not populated

8. Significant scope changes

Let's look at each of these indicators to review why they are important.

Lack of involvement, or ineffective involvement of Sponsor

The sponsor role is absolutely crucial to achieving a successful project outcome. As the owner of the business outcome and the project business case they need to be informed of project progress and involved in the project on a consistent regular basis. One of the key roles is to be available to support the project team if they come up against political or organisational issues. They also need to follow up to ensure the project is on track or if not that there is a plan in place to bring the project back on track.

Low morale of project team

Low morale of the project team is usually indicative of other issues or concerns. Whatever the cause, the problem needs to be understood and steps taken to address the issue.

Project Team working long hours consistently

This is always a danger sign, especially in the early or middle stages of a project. The real problem is that short bursts of working long hours may not be a major problem, but if the team (or certain individuals in the team) have to continually work long hours then there is a serious problem to be understood and addressed. The impact of working long hours for long period are many and varied, but this is definitely not a good thing and needs to be resolved.

Failure to get documents signed off (in particular requirements)

Again, there may be many reasons as to why documents may not get signed-off or approved, but none of them are positive in terms of impact on the project. Also, the impact of having documents unapproved is potentially very serious as this is often the cause of major scope management issues later in the project. This issue needs to be tackled early and if necessary the project team must escalate to line management and project sponsor early as failure to manage scope change has spelt the death of many projects.

Poor relationship with business delegates (us and them mentality)

This is very serious potentially as once again it can be the outward signs of user/business discontent for any number of reasons and must be addressed. It is often caused by poor or ineffective communications or processes, but whatever cause it needs to be addressed quickly.

Project schedule not updated regularly or accurately

Again while it may not appear to be a serious problem in itself, it is an indicator that all is not well. Failure to update or review the schedule regularly indicates that the PM is not using the schedule to run the project and this is very serious, as the impact of various changes can only be determined by updating the schedule for any complex serious of inert-related endeavours (which is the what a project is). It is often an indication that the PM is over-loaded or else does not have the skills required to plan and manage the project.

Risk and Issue Logs out of date or not populated

This is another key indicator that something is wrong, or at least that the project team is not following due process. Failure to update risk and issue logs means that the risk and issues may not be being managed and this is potentially deadly.

Significant scope changes

As with the other items this is a very serious warning indicator as scope change can be the result of a number of project failings. Whatever the case, the causes of the scope changes if they appear to be significant need to be addressed.

Summing-up

So, all of the items noted are warning indicators of a project in trouble.
If corrective action is taken early enough, any of the underlying issues or concerns can be addressed before it is too late.
Certainly projects can be turned around, but only if the issues are identified and addressed early enough.
This requires open and honest communication between the various parties involved, and an agreement on a course of action to correct the problems.
This can be very difficult in the early stages when the project team, the sponsor and the key business areas may all be carried away with the euphoria of the event.
It could be that some form of mediation is required to resolve issues.
But, if there are things that are not right, it is critical to fix them early before the costs of correction (or in the worst case, the costs of project cancellation) mount.
So be valiant and escalate your concerns, in the knowledge that you will ultimately be doing the organisation a great service.