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15 How To Fail in Project Management Without Really Trying

The document outlines several ways to fail at project management, including ignoring the project environment, pushing new technologies too quickly without proper testing or fallback options, shooting visible scapegoats when problems occur rather than fixing issues, letting new ideas languish without support, failing to conduct feasibility studies, refusing to admit when a project is failing, over-managing project teams, not conducting post-failure reviews, neglecting important trade-offs, allowing politics to dictate decisions, and appointing a weak leader. The conclusion notes that while failure is often inevitable with ambitious projects, organizations should aim to learn from mistakes rather than ignoring or dwelling on them excessively.

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353 views

15 How To Fail in Project Management Without Really Trying

The document outlines several ways to fail at project management, including ignoring the project environment, pushing new technologies too quickly without proper testing or fallback options, shooting visible scapegoats when problems occur rather than fixing issues, letting new ideas languish without support, failing to conduct feasibility studies, refusing to admit when a project is failing, over-managing project teams, not conducting post-failure reviews, neglecting important trade-offs, allowing politics to dictate decisions, and appointing a weak leader. The conclusion notes that while failure is often inevitable with ambitious projects, organizations should aim to learn from mistakes rather than ignoring or dwelling on them excessively.

Uploaded by

ashisb444
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to Fail in Project

Management without really


trying

Analyzing Mistakes

No matter how successful the


organization is, it is bound to make a
mistake
Where there is a failure there is
potential for learning

If you wish to ruin your


project do the following

Ignore the Project Environment

To manage the project without regard


for the organizations external,
internal environment including
project stake holders.

DHABOL CASE

Push a New Technology too


quickly

When a company pushes a new


technology the company cut corners ,
safety factors or make quality trade
offs

TEREDYNE JAGUAR

CASE

Dont bother to build fallback


options

Successful project managers are those who


are best able to adapt to the new situation
with flexibility, look for opportunities and
bring their projects back up to spend
rapidly

Managers who spend time doing the What


if scenarios are more successful than
managers who operate reactively

When problem occur, Shoot the


one most visible

Fix the problem not the blame

Let new ideas starve to death


from interia

Allowing new projects to remain in a


holding pattern indefinitely

Dont bother conducting feasibility


studies

Feasibility study is required for a


project to be successful
Euro-tunnels failure to generate
revenue

HANDSTAR CASE

Never admit a project is a failure

To recognize the circumstances when its no


longer sensible to continue

Ego and personal stake in the project

Throwing money at a sinking project will not


buy success

Willingness to acknowledge an error is


required

Over manage Project managers


and their teams

Large corporations, loaded with layers of


oversight and bureaucracy, are
increasingly becoming some of the worst
settings for achieving cutting-edge
innovation

Some of the big spending innovations

Never, Never conduct post failure


reviews

Inclination to sweep the whole failed


project under the rug and move on as
though nothing has happened.

Mistakes are a natural side effect of many


new ventures. Learning from them, is a
trait much more difficult to acquire

Never bother to understand


project trade-offs

Willingness to sacrifice money in exchange


for schedule, and vice versa

Balancing acts among rival demands

Implications of crashing the project

Allow political expediency and


infighting to dictate crucial project
decisions

Need to reshape strategic focus

Political decision-making is often at the


expense of overall organizational
effectiveness

Make sure the project is run by a


weak leader

Weak leaders are unhelpful and


counterproductive
Good project leader is the one who
has to marshaling the resources ,
motivating team personnel

Conclusion

Failure is often a by-product of risky ventures

Projects upset the status quo of organizations

Past failures need not discourage us from future efforts

Two natural reactions from project managers in sight of


failure
To brush aside with as little thought as possible
To become so focused on failure that it handcuffs an

organization from taking new steps

There are lessons to be learnt from failure- if only we are


willing to learn

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