Short list of factors contributing to project success
Continuing the conversation on lessons learned from failures and experience gained from successes, Ronda Levine has prepared a post on factors that contribute to the failure or success of a project. Ronda’s post is additional proof of how easy it is to list reasons for failure and how difficult to define factors contributing to success.As I mentioned in my earlier post, humans tend to easily focus on finding mistakes, and spend less time on studying what brings us to success. Nevertheless, Ronda’s list of the most important factors that contribute to a project’s success is not bad. I would just change the order and wording some. In my experience, the list – in order of importance – should be as follows:
- The scope, goals, and objectives of the project are clearly stated and completely signed off by the sponsor (management) and stakeholders.
- Sponsor (management) is strongly committed to, and has significant interest in, the success of the project.
- The project manager has taken the time to carefully plan the project with the team and has gained the sponsor’s and stakeholders’ support for the plan.
- Sponsor and stakeholders stay involved with the project and have expectations that reflect reality.
And, unfortunately, this is neither the “silver bullet” to make every project a success, nor a complete list of the factors. Find more factors that contribute to the success of a project in my post Project Manager Checklist to Achieve Success.
Tags: Achieve Success, Best Practices
These 4 are definitely the key success factors in my experience of some 35 years of project management! Thanks for pulling it together so succinctly! I train in Project Management and would like to use them as part of my PM Fundamentals course if you have no objections? I will refer to you as the originator on my slide of course.
Hi Simon,
I am glad you find these useful. Yes, you are welcome to reference these factors in your training.
Cheers,
Nick
Effective project planning is so important and yet so many companies skip it (and try to fill in the blanks later). I agree with Simon, this is a great and very succinct list.
Sponsor management is another one of those skills people need to learn through experience. It can be tough to understand until you’re faced with it.
Thanks Claudia! I totally agree on the sponsor management. And it is invaluable skill once you master it. And a big problem before then.