Recently, it was estimated that projects have only a 64% success rate. In Australia alone, an average of $5.4 billion was being wasted on abandoned and poorly executed projects. The warning signs are there when a project is on rocky grounds. Yet, management is often the last to know that a project is headed for failure. What are the signs of project delivery failure and what can be done to stop this situation? Read on to learn more!

5 Signs Your Organization Is Failing at Project Delivery

 

1. Poor Communication

 

If core project team members aren’t talking to each other, that’s a bad sign. And if the project team is not talking to leadership or the stakeholders, that’s an even worse sign. Project status meetings and steering committee meetings can be scheduled to enforce communication.

A project manager with excellent meeting management skills is also key. In addition, it’s important to create an environment where negative news is accepted so participants are not fearful to relay issues and risks.

2. Disinterest

 

Does this sound familiar? People are late to or absent from meetings. Meeting attendees are quiet. People aren’t paying attention or distracted by their phones instead of focusing on the meeting. This is one of the earliest signals that your project is doomed to fail.

Healthy projects have active engagement, high participation, and a generally positive environment. This can be accomplished through robust project management and strong support and buy-in from leadership.

3. Overtime

 

A direct sign that a project is failing is when employees are working too much overtime. This indicates that the project has not been estimated correctly, too many unanticipated issues have been encountered, and the current project management style is not a good fit. A side effect of overtime is a decline in employee health.

A smoothly running project should have little to no schedule overruns. A change in project management and well-thought-out mitigation plans for project issues and risks will help resolve this issue.

4. Missed Milestones

 

One of the clearest signs that a project is in trouble is when a milestone is missed. Unfortunately, by this time it’s too late. While due dates can sometimes be missed, missing them in a big way (weeks off track) or missing too many milestones indicates the project is on the wrong path. If the first milestone is missed, it’s time to evaluate the current project management and leadership to see if a change is required.

5. Scope Creep

 

Another warning sign of project failure is when the project scope expands with no realignment to the project plan. This impacts project deliverables, due dates, and execution details. Scope creep is a common issue on projects and can quickly lead to other warning signs like overtime, poor communication, and missed milestones. It’s important to have an experienced project manager and effective decision-makers on the project to keep scope creep in check.

Are you concerned about your organization’s ability to execute on projects? Visit Project Genetics today to learn more about successful project execution! Our proprietary process puts the right person on the job from day one. Clients love our no-nonsense approach because we are 100% committed to project success. We get things done on time, every time, and on every project!