3/23/2017 Top10MainCausesofProjectFailure

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Top10MainCausesof Checkoutourvaluableandunique
ProjectFailure Top15WebApplications2017.

BYROSANNELIMAUGUST31,2016

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3/23/2017 Top10MainCausesofProjectFailure

However,whenexaminingtheflipside,failure,

wesometimescringeatthefactthatitcould
happentous.Perhapsthisiswhyitseemsto
beoneoftheleastdiscussedtopics.Who PROJECTMANAGEMENTARTICLES
wantstoadmittotheirfailurecertainlynotto Top10DatabaseAppBuilderstoCreateyour
yourbossorcompanyhead.Yetfailurestill PMTool
happens.Wecouldevensaythatitsrampant 27DEC,2016
especiallywhenitcomestoilldefinedprojects.
Thatswhyitssoimportanttoevaluateyour PROJECTMANAGEMENTARTICLES

projectatthestart.Closelyexamineall,road Top5WordPressProjectManagement
blocks,hurdles,hills,detours,potholes, Plugins
manholesorevenanangryflockofbirds.I 15FEB,2017
thinkyougetthepoint.Beforestartingyour
project,knowingexactlywhatlaysaheadlets PROJECTMANAGEMENTTRAINING

theprojectmanager,team,andclientmitigate Top5ProjectManagementTrainingSites
associatedrisks. 25JAN,2017

Inthisarticle,wellidentify10causesofproject PROJECTMANAGEMENTARTICLES
failure.Knowingaboutthesewillhelpyou UnderstandingResponsibilityAssignment
prepareforyournextPMjob: Matrix(RACIMatrix)
25JUL,2016
1.PoorPreparation
PROJECTMANAGEMENTARTICLES
Youneedtohaveaclearpictureofwhat
youregoingtodo,inadvanceasmuch Top10MainCausesofProjectFailure
aspossible.Otherwise,youmayfind 31AUG,2016

yourselfupstreamwithoutapaddle.You
needtoknowwhatprojectsuccesslooks
likeatthebeginninganddontloosefocus
ofit.Hence,ifyoudonthaveaclearfocus
attheattheearlieststageoftheprocess,
youaremakingthingsharderonyourself.
Haveameeting,evenifitislengthy,with
stakeholderstodiscusstheirexpectations
oncost,timeandproductquality.Know
howyouwillexecuteyourtasksinorderto
meeteveryonesexpectations.

2.InadequateDocumentationand
Tracking
Thisistheresponsibilityoftheproject
manager.Trackingmilestonesishowyou
aregoingtoknowwhetheryouare
meetingexpectations.Properrecording
andmonitoringletsthePMidentifywhere
https://projectmanagement.com/top10maincausesofprojectfailure/ 2/9
3/23/2017 Top10MainCausesofProjectFailure

moreresourcesareneededtocompletea
projectontime.

3.BadLeadership

Whenweseethisword,leader,we
usuallythink,theprojectmanager.
However,thepeopleateach
managementlevelhavea
responsibletoensurethattheproject
issuccessful.Managementshould
notmicromanagebutprovidesupport
toensurethatthePMcanfollow
throughwiththeexpectationsplaced
uponthem.

4.FailuretoDefineParametersand
EnforceThem
Whenyourealeader,PM,itsimperative
thatyoureabletoworkwellwithyour
team.Ifandwhentasksorgoalsarenot
mettostandard,thereshouldbe
ramifications.Ranktasksbypriorityand
assignthemtothemostproficient
individual.

5.InexperiencedProjectManagers

Aprojectmanagerhasalotof
responsibility.Youneedtoassignpeople
tomanagementroleswhohavematching
educationandexperience.Insomecases,
andperhapsmoreoftenthannot,
inexperiencedmanagersaregiven
projects.Theymaybeverycapableof
managingprojects,butthekeyistokeep
thematalevelwheretheycansucceed.
Otherwise,youwillsetthemupforfailure.
Ontheotherhand,theresnothingwrong
withachallenge,justdontmakeitbeyond
theirreach.

6.InaccurateCostEstimations

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3/23/2017 Top10MainCausesofProjectFailure

Theremaybetimeswhenyourcost
estimatesarecompletelyoff.Asyouknow,
whenresourcesrunout,theprojectstops.
Preventthisbyidentifyingthelackof
resourcesearlyon.

7.LittleCommunicationatEveryLevel
ofManagement
Whetheritsbetweenuppermanagement,
middleorwiththeteam,itsdisastrousto
havepoorcommunication.Everyone
shouldfeelfreetocomeforwardto
expresstheirconcernorgivesuggestions.
Wheneveryoneisonthesamepageand
therestransparency,workflowisatan
optimumlevel.

8.CultureorEthicalMisalignment

Companyculturemustbecomprisedof
competence,proactiveness,and
professionalism.Ifitisnt,teammembers
willnotbemotivatedtodotheirbest.
Basically,everyoneinvolvedmustbe
investedintheirpartoftheprojectto
successfullycompleteit.

9.CompetingPriorities

Whenthererenotenoughresources,
theresboundtobecompetitionbetween
personnelresourcesandfunding.Having
goodcostestimationsatthestartwill
eliminatethisproblem.

10.DisregardingProjectWarningSigns

Whenaprojectisonthevergeoffailing,
therewillhavealwaysbeenwarningsigns.
Takingactionimmediatelycansavethe
project.Otherwise,thewholeendeavor
goesdownthedrain.

Wellthereyouhaveit,reasonsforproject
failure.Thisisthetimewhenyoushould
considerwaystopreventthisfailure.Adequate

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3/23/2017 Top10MainCausesofProjectFailure

employeetraining,projectmanagement
softwareandmanagementtransparencywill
leadyoutoprojectsuccess.Findingtheright
projectmanagementsoftwareisoneofthe
easieststepstotakesothatyoureonright
trackthesuccessfulprojecttrack.Atoolsuch
astheseeliminatesprojectfailure.Theyserve
toeasilymanagetasksliketimetracking,cost
tracking,costestimationsandmore.Hereare
afewthatcansetyourprojectontheroadto
success.

Howaboutlookingforatooltoeliminate
projectfailure?
Thepointsmadeabovealldemonstrate
differentaspectstohowprojectfailurecan
occur,includinglackofcommunicationand
poortracking.Thereexistmanytools/appsthat
canhelpinmanyoftheseandshouldbe
considered.Herearetwoappsthatmightset
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WhyProjectsFail
https://projectmanagement.com/top10maincausesofprojectfailure/ 5/9
3/23/2017 Top10MainCausesofProjectFailure

Foralighthearted,actually,quitefunnyvideo
onprojectfailurewatchthisvideo.Youwillbe
abletorelate!

Dilbert.........Why projects fail.wm...

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RosanneLim
I'mabusinessgraduatewith

5yearsexperienceasa
webwriter.I'vewritten
everythingfromindepth
businessreportsand
magazinearticlestoproduct
descriptionsforecommerce
websites.

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11RESPONSES

10Comments

1Trackbacks&Pingbacks

cephaslokipi
April24,2015at11:34am

niceworkIhavelearntalotthanks.
Reply

irene June8,2015at3:06pm

bestexplanation
Reply

harissaleem
September29,2015at12:53am

Canyoutellmewhatarethe
conditionsleadingtoconflicts,
confusionandunsatisfiedcustomers,
withrespecttoprojectmanagement?
Reply

SimonHogan
October7,2015at5:37pm

Youforgotaboutnotdefining
requirementscorrectly.Probably
shouldbenumberoneonthelist
Reply

jameson
December31,2015at4:43pm

evenwhenthewrongmarketwas
targeted
Reply

IVOCESAR
March26,2016at1:50am

Themainreasonforprojectfailis
poorriskwideriskmanagementinall
projectstep.
Reply

MohamedNumuJabbie
April9,2016at9:54pm

Lackofevaluationtoidentify
unintendedconsequencescanlead
https://projectmanagement.com/top10maincausesofprojectfailure/ 7/9
3/23/2017 Top10MainCausesofProjectFailure

toprotectfailure.
Reply

LobsangTsering
April28,2016at1:24am

ithinkthatMainfailureofproject
failureare
1)lackofuserinteractionwiththe
system
2)Improperrequirement
documentationanditsvolatilitynature
ofcustomeronrequirement.
3)Inadequateinbothhumanand
technologyresource.
Reply

David September8,2016at5:58am

Nicearticle!
Reply

Tushar
September22,2016at2:38am

Hithankyouforthispostthemain
failureisInadequateDocumentation
andTracking,andCommunicationat
EveryLevelofManagementbecause
ifcommunicationisnotcorrect
whetherfrommanagersideorteam
membertheprojectwillfailwithclear
understanding.veryuseful
informationIwillbookmarkforfuture
reference.
Reply

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