Predict project success or failure before it happens – Here's how
Predict project success or failure before it happens – Here’s how
Successful project management starts with having access to the right information. With the right information to hand, you can see potential problems and risk factors before they affect the outcome of the project.
With the right tools, you can open up visibility on a wide range of project success prediction metrics. We’re going to outline what these are and how to use them effectively in this article.
Predicting the most likely outcome is vital. But how do you get there?
Predicting the most likely outcome of a project will, in part, be down to critically reviewing past experiences. Where have projects failed before? To know that a project failed, this will be analysed against your KPIs, such as making sure projects are completed on time and on budget and that work was completed to the right standard.
You need to have reasonable expectations from the get-go. But, if somewhere along the line the project started to unravel and go haywire, you can reflect on what went wrong and how you can avoid this from happening again.
Key areas that result in project failure to review
Poor communication
One of the top reasons that projects fail is due to poor communication. In fact, research shows that inadequate communication is responsible for 30% of failed projects. So, this makes communication a great place to start your review.
Signs of poor communication include complaints of teams being kept ‘out of the loop’ or ‘ill informed’ and critical milestones or issues not being fed back to PMOs. If your company operates over several departments or locations, it becomes even more important to centralise and standardise communication efforts.
PPM tools are an effective way to provide a single source of truth for all your processes, documents and information, while maintaining strict parameters on who can access what.
Lack of standardised procedures
Keeping everyone on the same page with how internal processes work is critical for project success. It reduces error and keeps tasks moving along, with reduced risk of bottlenecks. You don’t want departments beating to their own drum. Everyone needs to be on the same page, working to the same values, KPIs and procedures.
To avoid this, PPM software is a must. It allows you to centralise, automate, and optimise project execution by keeping teams aligned to strategy and project roadmaps.
Inefficient and outdated manual processes
It’s also about being able to optimise efficiency so that certain processes don’t become sluggish with manual interactions. Examples could include building reports and updating project managers on the next steps. Approval automation and automated report building can save weeks on admin work, meaning you, the project manager, can focus your time on interpreting information, making decisions and actioning them.
Lack of revenue forecasting
Having enhanced visibility on available revenue helps with PPM planning and paves the way for increased budget allocation where necessary. With Planview AdaptiveWork, Tufin, a security policy management company, were able to improve their forecasting window from 5 weeks to 12 weeks. This helped them increase predictability and enabled the company to make more informed decisions in line with the projected revenue forecast. This leads us on to our final point…
Not able to keep up with accelerated demand
Last, but certainly not least, not being able to keep up with accelerations in business growth is another sticking point for many PMOs. The bottom line is that you need access to the right resources at the right time.
That’s where resource and capacity planning visibility is crucial. It provides a proactive outlook on where a project is at risk due to a lack of suitable human resources. Using tools like Planview AdaptiveWork PPM Software, you can identify resource capacity issues and weigh them up alongside KPIs and budget limitations to make the best course of action.
It’s one of the most effective ways to predict project failure before it happens.
In conclusion
When it comes to processes, there is always room for improvement. So, even if you did meet all your and external stakeholder’s expectations, you could still save time, improve how everyone communicates and collaborates and work towards exceeding expectations.
Ready to invest in PPM software, such as Planview AdaptiveWork? Speak to the expert consultants at Ignite Technology to find out which software tools are the right fit for your business maturity level and we can help you achieve the PPM results you’re looking for. You can give us a call or book a demo with one of our experts.
