Projects run organisations, and can ruin them, as well. We manage them every day and so often they go wrong. All projects would be in a far healthier state, with more delivered on time, to budget and really meeting the needs of a company, if they all had a clear business owner. There should be no such thing as a specific departmental project; everything an organisation does must lead to an agreed, stated and measurable benefit.
Just imagine if all projects had clear, visible and accountable owners, prepared to ensure success, and take action to avoid failure. Ready to carry the mantle when timescales start to drift, without immediately resorting to blame and backstabbing.
Sadly, often such work begins with the best of intentions. The outcomes and results are clear, business leaders within the company are clamouring for a piece of the action, to be associated with something new, dynamic and exciting. The team is formed, pictures taken for the in-house magazine, morale is high. Slowly and surely, events start to go wrong. A missed milestone here, a new cost there. Soon key people are not available for specification and testing, and people begin to wonder why the work was started in the first place. The bright new vision has been lost forever.
Most projects are destined to fail from the moment the premature, confused and lacklustre go ahead is given.
How do we break this cycle, and ensure real business ownership, and ultimately higher rates of success?
• Every project must have a clear company owner, riding all the challenges as one, and maintaining ownership throughout
• Team cohesion and leadership must be the top priorities
• The more mission-critical the project, the more senior its business owner should be
• Each piece of work must have a real tangible benefit – if it can’t be put in a wheelbarrow and delivered the project should not be started
• Benefits must be delivered on completion – that must be in writing day one
• When the going gets tough, revisit and restate the big picture. Too many people working on projects do not get a share in the vision
There are many project successes. Those that fail invariably do so because of bad planning, budgeting or management. As leaders we owe it to our organisations to put in place clear owners, who are strong, focused and ready to work hard. Please go out now and review your projects, and create more business heroes, and less invisible men and women.
Think about the critical skills you need around you in projects. What are they? Think about someone in your team on whom you can always rely, no matter how difficult the situation - what skills do they have? Make a list now.
