Half-baked ideas is simply that – an “idea”. When a number of filters are applied to that idea, decisions can be made to select or reject that idea from going ahead as a project. These filters or are identified as:

Which specific strategy is the project linked to?
What are the key project objectives?
How realistic are the key assumptions?
Are the measures of success quantified?
How realistic is the deadline?
What are the implications of doing nothing?
What are the runaway triggers?
What are the conditions which would shut down the project?

Vital signs of each project are agreed on by the project manager and executive sponsor at the beginning of the project and can then be tracked and reported.

Penn State University Study

Lack of corporate leadership
Poorly communicated deliverables and goals
Team-related weaknesses
Poor project management
Deviation from schedule or budget
Notice that there is no mention of technical limits

Research from University of Karlsruhe

Poor project management
Uncontrolled “soft factors”
Absence of change management

An effective Change Management process ensures that proposed changes are assessed, and then accepted or rejected. This helps prevents “scope creep”, whereby unapproved changes can delay a project, increase its cost, and affect quality.

Study by Standish Group on IT Application Development

31% of all projects are cancelled before completion
88% of projects run over schedule, over budget or both
52.7% of projects will cost 189% of their original estimates
Average time overrun is 222% of original estimates

Findings are that most projects (46%) are completed and operational, but over budget, over time estimated, and with fewer features and functions than initially specified.

Here are some numbers from the famous Standish Group research on how software development projects reach success, or more precisely failure. These numbers are the result of a study conducted with 365 organizations representing 8,380 applications. According to the study, 31% of the projects were cancelled before ever getting completed.

Challenged Project Failure Factors

Lack of User Input	12.8%
Incomplete Requirements	12.3
Changing Requirements	11.8
Lack of Executive Support	7.5
Technology Incompetence	7.0
Lack of Resources	6.4
Unrealistic Expectations	5.9
Unclear Objectives	5.3
Unrealistic Time Frames	4.3
New Technology	3.7
Other	13.9

What Makes a Successful Project?

A successful project must not only automate process but also improve business value, customer service, competitive advantage, and/or time to market, which produces a measurable impact on the bottom line through qualitative and quantitative benefits. The product or end result of the project must satisfy or exceed the original needs of the customer or user.

Awareness of Factors Leading to Failure

From this research, a number of factors have an impact on the effectiveness of most IT projects. Soft skills, such as team-building, ability to communicate effectively, problem-solving skills, leadership skills, analytical thinking are key project management skills. Executive sponsors must clearly understand their roles and responsibilities in a project environment and must provide the essential support needed. To ensure feasibility, the careful filtering and selection (or rejection) of a project early on will have a positive impact on that project’s future success.

REFERENCES

The 7 Deadly Sins, Center for Project Management Study
June 2001 by Gopal K. Kapur
http://www.center4pm.com

Poor Leadership Causes Huge Losses On IS Projects
Penn State Great Valley School of Professional Graduate Studies
January 22, 2001

Software engineering: towards business objects and software components
Reinhard Richter, Institute AIFB, University of Karlsruhe

STANDISH GROUP Report: Most Programming Projects Are Late
Study by Standish Group on IT Application Development:
February 12, 1998