PROJECT DELIVERY % SUCCESS WITH TRADITIONAL METHODS
1. Gartner's 2023 Project Management Survey, suggests 13% of
projects are cancelled before completion, and 57% fail to meet
original goals.
2. Forrester's 2023 Project Success Report found that 66% of
projects fail to meet their objectives.
3. Forbes 2023 article cited a Standish Group study that found that
70% of IT projects fail.
4. Project Management Institute's (PMI) 2023 Pulse of the
Profession survey found that 21% of projects fail to meet their
objectives.
5. Oxford Press 2023 study published in the Journal of Project
Management found that 40% of projects fail to meet their
objectives.
6. Harvard Business Review 2023 article cited a study by the
Change Management Institute that found that 70% of change
initiatives fail.
TOP 10 PROJECT FAILURE EARLY WARNING SIGNS #1
1. No explicit Business Outcome, or measure of Value Added. If Project
stakeholders' expectations are not explicit or are unclear, the project team
may not understand what the project is supposed to deliver.
2. No defined Problem Statement, or initial set of Requirements. If this does
not exist the Project may head off in the wrong direction, possibly solving
the wrong Problem, or no Problem at all.
3. No Periodic Reporting, or meaningless/ embellished Reporting. No
news, misleading news or embellished news is not good news. A lack of
visibility of cost/ spend and deliverables should be cause for concern.
4. No Senior Change Champion, or Guiding Coalition. A lack of executive
sponsorship and buy-in often translates to a project not receiving the
urgency, attention, budget, and resources it needs to be successful.
5. No indication of Scope, constant Scope Creep, or No
Discovery Period. All of the aforementioned indicates a
high level of uncertainty and lack of direction leading to
missed deadlines and poor quality.
6. No Governance, or adequate Change and Risk
management: If the project team does not have a process
in place for managing Change, Scope, Schedule, Budget
and Risk, it is likely that changes will lead to confusion,
conflict, and delays.
7. No Experienced Resources, High Resource Attrition/
Burn-Out. High Stress environments are not conducive to
sustainable productivity leading to poor quality
deliverables.
8. No, or poor collaboration between client and supplier, and
or team members and stakeholders. This encourages implicit
expectations, frustration and conflict leading to Client/ Customer
dissatisfaction.
9. No allowance for Change: Fixed Cost, Scope and Duration,
etched in stone like the 10 Commandments. Unknown
unknowns always occur, pushing one or more of these
constraints to be unrealistic leading to the corresponding
slippage.
10. No alignment between Business Objective and Supplier
Business Model. Supplier performance issues, poor contract
negotiated, hidden escalating costs etc.
Biggest Cause of Project Failure?
Ranking indicates the items participants identified as the main cause of project failure in their experience.
JOHN KOTTERS 8 STEPS FOR SUCCESSFUL CHANGE #1
JOHN KOTTERS 8 STEPS FOR SUCCESSFUL CHANGE #2
1. Create a Sense of Urgency: Instill a compelling need for change,
emphasizing the importance of timely action to motivate individuals and
teams.
2. Build a Guiding Coalition: Form a diverse, influential group to lead and
support the change, leveraging collective expertise and influence.
3. Form a Strategic Vision and Initiatives: Develop a clear, inspiring
vision and actionable strategies, outlining the desired future state and
the steps to achieve it.
4. Enlist a Volunteer Army: Cultivate a broad base of enthusiastic
supporters who willingly contribute to the change effort, fostering a
sense of shared responsibility.
JOHN KOTTERS 8 STEPS FOR SUCCESSFUL CHANGE #3
5. Enable Action by Removing Barriers: Identify and eliminate obstacles
hindering progress, empowering employees to act without unnecessary
constraints.
6. Generate Short-Term Wins: Celebrate and communicate early
successes to build momentum, boost morale, and reinforce the positive
impact of the change.
7. Sustain Acceleration: Embed the change into the organization's culture
by reinforcing new behaviours, structures, and processes to prevent
regression and ensure lasting transformation.
8. Institute Change: Anchor the changes in organizational practices,
policies, and norms to solidify the transformation and prevent the return to
old habits and systems.
PROJECT DELIVERY % SUCCESS WITH AGILE METHODS
1. Gartner's 2023 Agile Project Management Survey, 84% of organizations that
have adopted Agile report success in at least one project.
2. Forrester's 2023 Agile Adoption Survey found that 72% of organizations that
have adopted Agile report improved project outcomes, such as time to market,
quality, and customer satisfaction.
3. Forbes 2023 article cited a study by the Agile Alliance that found that 70% of
Agile projects are successful, compared to only 30% of traditional projects.
4. The Project Management Institute's (PMI) 2023 Agile Maturity Index found
that organizations with higher levels of Agile maturity experience greater
project success rates, 87% of organizations are using Agile methods in at least
some of their projects.
5. Oxford Press 2023 study published in the Journal of Software Engineering
found that Agile methods are associated with a 25% increase in project
success rates.
6. Harvard Business Review 2023 article cited a study by the Agile Research
Consortium that found that Agile methods lead to a 30% increase in project
success rates.