How to make sure projects don't go down in flames

The blame for project failures is often placed at the foot of inefficient project management. But this can be addressed with standardised processes overseen by programme management. Anthony Plewes investigates best practice.

With high-profile project failures affecting both public and private sector organisations, it's no surprise many companies are looking to formalise their project management efforts in an attempt to eradicate critical mistakes. Even well-run projects, however, can sometimes fail to fit in with an organisation's strategic goals. It is the job of programme management to tie the projects closer to business objectives.

A 2004 survey by the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC) found that while some managers have developed systematic approaches to project management, the majority have similar pain points. The most pressing problem was attempting to ensure consistency in project execution. The study found that successful companies not only have a project management methodology but ensure it is used throughout the entire organisation.

The Project Management Institute (PMI) has been developing standards for best practice in project and programme management. The standard document offers gap analysis and improvement advice such as listing what capabilities companies need to focus on for best practice.

Dottie Nichols, manager of standards at PMI, says: "The goal of the standards is to help project and programme managers to work consistently right across the world. Standards reflect the best practice that exists and there are a variety of practices even within one region."

Employing full-time project managers helps companies be consistent in the way they conduct projects. All too often project briefs are handed out to untrained and unprepared staff as part of a memorandum from a committee meeting. Dedicated project managers will have the right skill mix and resources to be able to lead the project team.

This is even more critical for programme managers. Eugene Blaine, MD at Atlantic Global, maker of timesheet and planning software, says: "Many people are put into programme management roles without proper training. This is very risky as they are the project gatekeepers and key instruments of the business."

Programme management helps organisations make sense of the myriad projects that organisations are undertaking. David Oates, VP International at Primavera, maker of project management software, says: "Project management tends to look at one project at a time. In construction that is fine because if you are building a building it is still one project, just a very large one. The problem comes in the commercial or industrial sector where there are can be many as 1,000 projects rolled into one programme."

Programme managers need different skills than project managers. Programme management does not require the nitty-gritty detail down to the activity level. Atlantic Global's Blaine says: "Programme and portfolio management is all about introducing and enforcing business discipline into project management."

Programme managers need to understand the correlation between the myriad of projects that make up the programme. They need to understand the implications of delays and budget constraints on one project on the overall programme and the effect on total ROI of the programme of a single project's failure.

The first step in a project is the most important one. The project manager needs to create a plan by breaking the project down into identifiable phases and then into controllable units for action. Petra Cook, head of policy at the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), says: "Planning a project is crucial. At this point you need to set objectives, arrange the work breakdown, set timeframes, assemble a team with the right skills and make sure you have the budget and all necessary resources. If the project has gone off course, then the project manager needs to be able of making hard decisions." In the most severe cases this needs to include canning the project.

Money problems are the downfall of many projects therefore it is important to plan all the costs of the project. Staff, time and wages are the main costs but project managers sometimes need to take more unusual costs into account, such as exchange rate fluctuations. Costs also need to be monitored while the project is in process to allow spending to be controlled and readjusted during the project.

Programme managers need to assess the impact different projects are having on the organisations resources. For example, low-return projects should not be monopolising all of the organisation's best people. And conversely if a project is of key strategic importance to a programme and the overall business, it needs to continue to be resourced even if it has gone over budget.

Blaine even suggests that organisations have dedicated resource managers. "Project managers need to make sure that they have the right resources for the project," he says. "But it is the resource manager's place to make sure that the organisations has the adequate resources to service all projects." This will help organisations plan their skills level and resources strategically.

Once the project has been completed, it is essential to have a detailed debrief to identify successes and failures. CMI's Cook says: "The end evaluation of a project is key to continuing improvement. You need to reflect on experience because you are always learning in project management."

Six Sigma gives companies a framework to continually improve their business processes. Although it started as a manufacturing technique, Six Sigma has found many advocates in the corporate world. The term comes from statistics via its manufacturing heritage and refers to the fact that a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million products to achieve Six Sigma quality.

This is very useful for companies looking to refine their management processes. Companies can use the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control) approach to identify and solve and performance gaps in project and programme management.

Even if a company is not using Six Sigma, then their processes can be improved by regular reviews.

Despite standards, best practice is not a stationary target and companies should always look to improve their processes in project and programme management. This will help eliminate project failures and ultimately increase customer satisfaction.