How to burn money in projects and get poor outcomes According to David Withers APP, there are plenty of reasons why projects fail, and these failures can result in objectives not being met and stressful work environments that result in staff churn. It does not matter if the project is a civil project, CCTV and security, or software, projects often fail – or under-deliver – for organisations. As a general consultant, I get to work on a wide array of projects and observe what works and what does not. From what I’ve seen, there is often a cluster of undesirable situations that cause these failures. Let’s look at some of them.
David Withers APP is a Security Consultant with experience in large CCTV installations. He has also worked for over 20 years in Quality Assurance
Too many chiefs, not a lot of progress Poorly focused projects with too many chiefs are often out of control. They are busy projects that consume resources for very little benefit. The actual delivery teams are overwhelmed by divergent and frequently changing requirements. All this does is creates stress, friction, confusion, and delays in the project. In some cases, it results in you losing key valuable team members due to stress and frustration at the exact moment you need them. Forgetting about use cases A grand project vision a great way to get investment in a project. This needs to be converted into a realistic deliverable. Solid use cases based on value to the organisation help guide the delivery team in choosing the right technology solutions and treatments.
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Use cases help project teams focus on delivering a solution that delivers what the organisation needs and gives the most value to. This enables the selection of the correct technology solutions, security treatments and infrastructure that deliver what is required. Often, no amount of adjusting or tweaking can fix an incorrect choice to get the desired results. These can add unnecessary costs and friction to your business. An example could be an IT team delivering off-the-shelf Microsoft products for reporting to save budget rather than an enterprise reporting solution. In the security space, this could involve the installation of incorrect technology that cannot perform the required tasks. This applies to all projects. Good use cases help us focus on the valueadd propositions, focusing resources to deliver better and faster solutions, and often freeing resources quicker for other projects Playing it safe: using trusted go-to people Using familiar suppliers rather than going to market to get the right solution can end up delivering the wrong solution. It’s all too easy to rely on old trusted networks and suppliers to solve our organisational needs. Whilst this can assist in quick solutions due to low friction, is it necessarily the right solution? Do your suppliers have the most relevant solutions for your needs? April/May 2022
