With a valid schedule that faithfully models the project’s reality, effective decisions can be made to deal with the actual costs, constraints and obstacles that exist. This allows the creation of accurate simulations that will guide goals for the project. Project schedules must simplify the complex reality of the project, so informed and realistic strategic decisions for a successful outcome can be made, helping to ensure the realization of the long-term business value of the project’s output. In order to target more optimistic-most likely schedules yet still accommodate pessimistic-most likely scenarios a critical chain approach is used. This asks the estimating question, how fast can a given work package practically be completed. The schedule is built to these estimates and then includes visible feeding and project buffers. The result is even if the optimistic-most likely work and duration estimates slip, there are no surprises.
Don’t invent reality – model it.
This solid foundation in reality is what enables outside-the-box thinking that facilitates ideas, connecting the dots in new ways to achieve success as defined in the project management plan, and as measured against the performance measurement baselines.
cRAN eNTERPRISE combines the discipline of precise and rigid adherence to process and protocol with an inventive approach to execution. Knowing where the project is at in relationship to the plan enables effective navigation around the obstacles, maintains a fluidity to address the ever changing reality during execution, allows the initiative to take flight within acceptable tolerances, always guided by the documented outcomes.
Why projects fail?
Fairly consistently over the years, 70% of IT projects fail, yet each project starts with the expectation it will succeed, that projects in general, succeed. We hear about the requirement for seamless implementations that are on time, on budget and in scope. There are sponsors who state at the outset that they will not tolerate and do not what to hear about any delays. Not acknowledging the failure rate prevents addressing why projects fail and removes any hope of doing anything about it. Projects typically start not with an initiation, but with a kick off, followed by “are we done yet”, while project staff spends their time fixing problems that could have been avoided. Some of these projects are outright failures, others are less than success to varying degrees. Even projects that succeed, typically, are not overwhelming successes.
What can be done? It begins with the acknowledgement of the reality of project success rates provided by industry experts. Accepting the ‘why’ behind these numbers. Then understanding the cost of conformance, the time needed to do it right. With this reality as a fixed point of reference adjustments and tradeoffs can be made to accommodate the specific needs of the business, for example, if speed is more important than precise, accurate, risk free implementation.
The Gartner Group is equally pessimistic. According to a 1999 study concluded in 2002, 75 percent of e-business projects will fail to meet the business objectives, due to fundamental flaws in project focus and planning.
Another 2003 study notes that enterprise-wide change often ends up making things worse instead of better. The study sites that in the majority of cases strategic problems are not solved, implementation cost far exceed budgeted estimates, and the actual ROI is disappointing. An explosion in the complexity of implementation is named as a leading cause, especially where change has to cut across silos.
And yet, in 2020 70% of IT projects still failed. It might sound like some AA meeting mantra, but remains true that the first step in resolving a problem is admitting you have one. The next step is to accurately define the problem and the root cause.
The Top 10 Reasons Projects Fail
- Desire & Impatience drives the selection of targets
- Failure to set and manage expectations
- Failure to adequately identify, document and track requirements
- Poor effort estimation
- Inadequately trained and/or inexperienced project managers
- Poor leadership at any and all levels
- Poor plans and planning processes
- Cultural and ethical misalignment
- Misalignment between the project team and the business or other organization it serves
- Inadequate or misused methods, communications, progress tracking
Why Choose CRAN ENTERPRISE ?
A technical team, project manager and even the sponsor can view a project as a success in terms of time, cost and performance, but that same project can be seen as a failure to the customer or senior management because it does not deliver its anticipated value.
At cRAN eNTERPRISE , time, cost and scope performance measurements are a focus and are baselined, but the importance of a project’s value after completion is also a consideration. The vision is defined with an initiation. Why is the project being done in the first place? What is expected to result upon its completion? What will be different because of the completion of this project? Key questions to answer at the outset.
A thorough discovery is performed, a predictive planning-design phase documents what the project is to achieve and the plan to achieve it. An adaptive and fluid execution sets out to realize the vision.
What I can tell you is this: We will have a common understanding on what it is we are doing and how, there will be
visible schedule buffers, and risk and quality tolerances will be acknowledged and accepted. There will be a set kick-off to execution where the what, why and the how is ensured to be understood and understood in the same way. All this to be true, we will arrive at the planned destination.
