The construction of the new Scottish Parliament building is a good example of how things can go so wrong on a project. The innovative design was in its early stages when the procurement process started. Architects were bidding to deliver something within a specification of 20,740 m² and £50m. At this point, there were no…
There must be a good reason why all these projects fail. There is; in fact, there are many factors that contribute to project failure. The UK Office of Government Commerce did a study that shows the main reasons that projects fail are: lack of clear executive leadership (the ‘missing’ Sponsor) poor processes for identifying and…
In a new job, it’s hard to know what details are important and what you can let slip in one ear and out the other. I’ve been trying to soak up everything – a strategy which has been moderately successful. I’ve picked up a lot of low-level detail and, not yet knowing if it is…
The UK Government’s Public Accounts Committee has put together a report called ‘Delivering successful IT-enabled business change,‘ about how government projects are performing. The report concludes that some projects actually turn out pretty well, but those learnings are not carried across to other projects run by other departments. This won’t come as a surprise to…
I found this white paper about putting together a business case on IT Toolbox. It depends on how you interpret the term ‘business case’ but for me this document is more a feasibility study: what is the problem, what could we do about it and what have we decided to do. A ‘pure’ business case…
New country (well, returning to the one I left). New city. New department. New commute. My relocation went pretty well, all things considered, although Hans’ confidence in my ability to get everything to the right place was a bit optimistic. I had to buy a new hairbrush, as mine is in storage somewhere. I also…
I’ve been tracking down examples for project failure, mainly in the UK, and Tom “Bald Dog” Varjan contacted me with some reasons why he thinks projects are unsuccessful. His points are really interesting, so I thought I’d share them with you. Tom’s business cards introduce him as “Bald Dog, Organisational Provocateur,” so I’m sure that…
I’m glad I’m not the project manager tasked with trying to make sense out of the US Transport Security project. Can you imagine? All those different US Government agencies pitching in with their ideas. One of the case studies for my book was about the difficulties two US Government departments had trying to agree how…
I’ve been looking at projects that fail, and am in two minds about whether to include projects that get stopped. If it’s stopped, has it failed? Or was closing it down the right response, so the business has successfully avoided the cost of completing something that wasn’t worth it? Research commissioned by Microsoft shows that…
I ruined another perfectly good pair of tights today. This is an office problem that men don’t have – at least, none of the men I’ve worked with. Women earn 17% less than men in full-time roles, and we have a greater burden when it comes to clothes. How is that fair? Tights don’t seem…
“Can you be here for 9.30?” “Yes, that’s no problem,” I reply. “With the Eurostar it’s less than three hours.” This is the official line: from leaving the Eurostar terminal at Gare du Nord to arriving at Waterloo International is less than three hours. But who has a meeting at Waterloo station? Once you add…
It’s international women’s day, a moment to reflect on the state of affairs for women around the globe. In my world, an office move has left us pretty badly off: we used to have two toilets between seven women and now we have four toilets between twenty-three. I’ve not had to queue yet but I’m…