It is important to look at some reasons that cause delays, cost overrun and failure in projects and their mitigation process, so as to increase project success.
Lack of top level buy-in
your project might be on track to deliver superior results well before the scheduled due date, but if senior management fails to take ownership of the project seriously or feels that the Project Manager is the only person responsible for making the project a success the project will most likely fall apart.
Failure to set realistic objectives and goals
Before embarking on any project it is of paramount importance to set clear objectives and goals that reflect the organisation’s long-term vision. If project objectives are misaligned with the overall business goals of the organisation the outcome will not be positive.
Ineffective communication
Lack of communication amongst all project participants can hurt a project. The most important part of communication is to be clear, precise and effective. Ineffective meetings and project training activities and gaps between employee-manager communication will challenge the project severely.
Risk management and quality
Failure to think ahead and to foresee and address potential problems is one of the most common reasons for project failure. Also, discussing quality requirements in the planning stage, thereby allowing different people to be informed of the expectations of what is being produced and the standards to be achieved is critical for project success.
Architecture, technical and design gaps
One major factor that has been identified as reasons for delays/failure in most projects is design and technical errors. It is important to note that proper representation of end user’s requirement and the blue print to achieving good technical input to project execution are usually mapped out base on project designs.
Understanding of the factors presented above will enable the project manager to address and design a control system that will monitor these issues. The project owner and the project manager should be able to clear define the management success and product success so that the project team has clear knowledge of its objectives.
Source
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