Project Management Newsletter
 
NEWSLETTERS
 

CIO.com updates, insights and advice on technology, management and your career.

 CIO BlackBerry News and Tips
 CIO Research and Analysis
 CIO Microsoft
 CIO Insider
 
 
 
LEADERSHIP
 
CIO Executive Programs
The Leader in Face-to-Face Education for Senior Executives

Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »

 
CIO Executive Council
A Peer-Advisory Service and Professional Association for CIOs

Webcast: In the Google Apps Cloud: How to Achieve Your Business Objectives

Dec 3rd, '09, 1 - 2 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Council member Brent Hoag, Director, Global IT, at JohnsonDiversey, as he discusses the adoption of Google Apps which has helped meet four corporate goals; sustainability, simplification, increased employee productivity and global collaboration.

Webcast: Collaboration Initiatives: Benchmarks & Best Practices

Dec 15th, '09, 4 - 5 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Council members Ruth Thorpe, VP & CIO at the U.S. Pharmaceutical Operations of Sanofi-Aventis, and Gary Kuyper, CIO at Bethany Christian Services, as they speak about their collaboration initiatives and experiences in how and why they chose the social networking and collaboration tools they are using and their business goals for collaboration, and facing culture change challenges.

Data Overview: Collaboration Initiatives Field Guide: Benchmarks & Best Practices

This appendix to the Council Field Guide provides an analysis which discusses benchmarks for collaboration IT implementation costs, adoption rates and payoffs. The overview identifies top IT and business goals and satisfaction rates for collaboration initiatives as well as best practices and lessons learned for implementing collaboration IT.

More / Register »

Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »



 
 
RESOURCE CENTER
 
 
 
 

How to Spot a Failing Project

Often, the difference between success and failure is spotting critical early warning signs that a project is in trouble. Here are a few ways to identify the symptoms.

 

PAGE 2

"Communications can go back and forth quickly," Scott Johnson says. "You don't have to wait for a status report meeting to find something has gotten hung up. You don't have the bottleneck of an individual trying to broker communications."

Scott Johnson points out that new project management tools tend to be easier to use than the ones of a few years ago. In addition, they often include features such as sophisticated trend analysis that can spot problem projects early.

Another change, Standish Group's Jim Johnson says, is the use of new project management methodologies in place of the old waterfall model where the entire project proceeds step by step from analysis to final delivery en masse. Both Johnsons are strong proponents of agile project management, which focuses on breaking projects into small chunks and delivering pieces of it fast for user feedback.

Looking for Warning Signs
While the Chaos surveys give reason for optimism, they leave little room for complacency. Nearly one in five IT projects still fails absolutely and more than two in five are partial failures.

What is perhaps more troubling is that the bigger the project, the worse the problems. "Seventy-three percent of projects with labor cost of less than $750,000 succeed," Jim Johnson says. "But only 3 percent of projects a with labor cost of over $10 million succeed. I would venture to say the 3 percent that succeed succeeded because they overestimated their budget, not because they were managed properly."

(Perhaps significantly, agile project management is notoriously least effective on very large projects.)

Warning signs are different from reasons for project failure. Common reasons for failure include lack of management support and unclear objectives. Warnings are much more concrete and concerned with the day-to-day running of the project.

The Intangibles
The most important early warning signs are intangibles. The earliest signs a project is in trouble are hard to measure objectively, but easy to spot if you watch for them. Two of the most important, Jim Johnson says, are lack of interest in the project and chronically poor communications.

Lack of Interest
Often, Jim Johnson says, a lack of interest in the project's success results from a lack of real buy-in. Actors may have been pressured or cajoled into signing off on the project without really agreeing to it.

"Make sure everybody really agreed to what the project is going to do," he says. "Make sure everyone has the same goals even when they have conflicting agendas."

 
 
Loading...
 
WHITE PAPERS

Top 10 Habits of Highly Effective PMOs

This white paper outlines the top ten habits necessary to make your PMO more effective and maximize its benefit to your organization.
 

Why an Enterprise Project Portfolio Management, EPPM

Beyond traditional project portfolio management, Primavera P6 EPPM improves visibility into every aspect of the project manufacturing process.
 

Does Your Organization Need a Project Management Office?

Read this paper to find out if a Project Management Office (PMO) could be your solution.
 

Making Earned Value Management Work for Every Project

Earned Value Management (EVM) allows you to predict your project results within 15-20% of completion, in time to make a difference.
 

Project Management Office Best Practices

Once best practice basics are in place, the PMO has demonstrated improvement in project delivery and the office has gained credibility.
 

Automate and Accelerate with Project Management

This white paper asserts that the common thread that must run through all phases of project manufacturing is a Project Portfolio Management (PPM) system.
 

WEBCASTS

Extending Client Refresh - 11 Steps to Maximize Savings

11 Steps to Maximize Savings
 

The Last Software You'll Ever Buy? The Platform Approach to Development

Torn between "buy" and "build"? There is a third option that can give you the custom fit of an in-house build and t...
 

Beyond Installing ITPM Software: How a global company reduced risk and successfully implemented ITPM

Hear directly from one of your peers who has reduced risk and successfully implemented ITPM in this Live Webcast. ...
 

Informatica 9: What it means for the CIO?

Hear from Informatica's CIO on how Informatica 9 will improve...
 

The Case for Data Protection for SMBs

Every business needs a data back-up and recovery strategy. Without it, a severe storm or power outage could result ...
 

Enterprise Capture: Your Onramp to Business Process Automation

Date: Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Time: 11:00 AM PT/2:00 PM ET

Today more than ever companies are see...
 

Resource Alerts

Get instant email notifications by topic when white papers, webcasts, and case studies are added to our library.

 
FEATURED SPONSORS
 
 
 
SPONSORED LINKS
 

Upgrading to VMware vSphere with vWire

IDC White Paper: CCM for IT Compliance and Risk Management

Tolly Group Lab Test Results: Cisco vs. ShoreTel

Enterprise Capture: Your Onramp to Business Process Automation

Focus Under Pressure: Why IT Governance Becomes Mission-Critical in a Down Economy

The Total Economic Impact of Network Security Intrusion Prevention

Seven Technologies for Advanced Mail Protection

How Consumerization of IT Will Make Your Business More Productive

Adobe® LiveCycle®solutions for intuitive user experience

Mind the Talent Gap: Global Survey on IT and HR trends and challenges

Seven Ways ITIL Can Help You in an Economic Downturn

Return on Information: Google Enterprise Search pays you back. Get the facts.

VMware. The source for Business Infrastructure Virtualization.

ShoreTel tells businesses to untangle from competitors' complexity and turn to its brilliantly simple UC solution

See how AT&T can help protect your network.

Streamline IT Costs. Boost Performance with WAN Optimization.

Build your 1st app FREE with Force.com

TDWI checklist helps define data readiness for analytics. Download report.

A Clear View Toward Virtualization

Virtualization Technology as a Business Solution

The rules of infrastructure management just changed.

A Clear View Toward Virtualization

Interactive Q&A helps you discover key ways to maximize IT assets.

Ready to virtualize tier one applications? Check your virtualization maturity.

Think you can't afford a Cisco Switch? Cisco Catalyst Switches are now more affordable.

Authentication as a Service by Forrester Research

Disciplined Autonomy: Resolving the Tension Between Flexibility and Control

Build a Foundation for Unified Communications

Removing the Barriers to IT Governance: How On-Demand Software Changes the Game

Cloud Computing--What is its Potential Value for Your Company?

Seven Design Requirements for Web 2.0 Threat Protection

Learn about the growing threat of insider data theft.

Top to Bottom Performance Management Excellence at the City of Chicago

Architecting Business Intelligence Applications for Change: The Open Solution

Taking the Service Desk to the Next Level

Disciplined Autonomy: Resolving the Tension Between Flexibility and Control

AT&T Synaptic Storage as a Service. Expand on demand

Trend Micro ranked #1 against real-world malware. Read more.

Webinar: Jump-start your in-house e-discovery with Ringtail QuickCull from FTI Technology

Top Five CIO Challenges

Read the RSA report: Security for Business Innovation

64-page prescriptive guide to security, compliance, and IT operations.

Increase UPS efficiency without sacrificing protection.

eZine: A Roadmap to Reducing IT Complexity

Reduce risk, gain agility. See how Progress can help your business.

Virtualization Technology as a Business Solution

eZine: A Roadmap to Reducing IT Complexity

World-class trading technology solutions from NYSE Technologies.

If You're Paying for Telecom, You're Paying Too Much. Contact Asentinel Today.

Trade-In your old printer and save up to $1,000 plus free recycling!