8 March 2011

ILX Group urges the adoption of proactive measures to reduce project failure

...Two thirds¹ of projects are unsuccessful; running over time and budget or simply cancelled...

ILX Group plc has called for organisations to take proactive measures in reducing the risk of project failure and has issued a five step guide to help managers identify and address project management skills gaps.

According to the ILX Group, the list of common reasons for project failure identified by the Office of Government Commerce² (OGC) in 2007 remains equally applicable in 2011, to both public and private sector organisations. The exposure to project risk has accelerated several fold because of the increased use of technology, reduced product life cycles, the emergence of new competitors from developing economies, and the need to address changes to market conditions or finances due to the recession.

Eddie Kilkelly, Chief Operating Officer at ILX Group, commented:

“Project failure is perhaps the leading preventable problem in organisations today – and one that generates a massive financial strain. Yet it could be possible to make huge improvements for comparatively little effort or cost by making sure the right people are in the appropriate roles, with the suitable skills and abilities. Normally, a project team will include a variety of people with different skills who have often been seconded to work on a particular project together with a senior executive who is required to lead as the project sponsor. In this context, there is an assumption that those working on the project will all have a common understanding of what’s required of their roles and what needs to be done in order to meet the project objectives. However in most cases, it is only when a project fails that it becomes evident that more training was required to fill different project management-related skills gaps at different levels of the organisation or project team."

ILX has identified five key steps to help detect and address project management skills gaps so they do not increase the risk of project failure:

Before the start of the project, take some time to really define the skills required for each role in the project team.
Assess current skills levels and identify any gaps within the team – at both a personal and a team level. Project management capability tests and assessment centres are readily available and can be used to assess knowledge and experience of project management.
Decide on the most appropriate and effective means of addressing skills gaps: coaching, mentoring, class room learning, e-learning, mobile learning or a blended mix.
Ensure team members are making the best use of their ‘learning time’, or there may be a negative impact on project deadlines. Ideally they should be able to factor the training into their working day, which should include the option of training being made available remotely, at a place and time of the learner’s convenience. If the training is not based on direct interpersonal contact, training content should be interactive to engage learning, including video and audio clips, and made available on devices such as iPhones or iPads.
Once the training is completed, reassess team members to ensure the skills gap is closed. This may entail repeating capability tests or assessment centres or enrolling individuals for formal certification in the organisation’s standard best practice methodology, whether that is PRINCE2, PMI, APM and so on.

Kilkelly adds:

A key determinant of success is ensuring that all team members have the same understanding of project management and corporate terminology and they know how to use any relevant tools. Given that any employee could, potentially, be seconded to a project team, it is beneficial to ensure consistency by replicating a common approach to best practice across the organisation. This does not mean that every employee needs to gain project management accreditation of some sort, but it does offer a compelling case for providing standardised training regarding ‘how we manage projects in this organisation’. Managers therefore need to ensure that the individual’s skills and personal attributes match the requirements and context of the project. This holds true for every member of the project team, so it is essential that skills gaps are identified and addressed in advance of the start of the project to ensure the best chance of success."

ILX also notes that organisations need to adopt a more mature approach to managing the level of risk within programmes and projects. Earlier this year the Office of Government Commerce launched new formalised guidance specifically regarding the management of risk. To meet the need for training and accreditation in the new guidance, ILX has developed its Management of Risk (M_o_R®) Foundation and Practitioner Gold courses. These courses help organisations put in place effective frameworks for taking informed decisions about risk, providing a route map for risk management by bringing together recommended guidance from OGC, detailed checklists and more detailed advice on tools and techniques.

For further information or prices please contact training@ilxgroup.com or call +44 (0) 1270 611 600 or visit http://www.ilxgroup.com/mor.

Notes to Editor

Reference the Standish Group report 2009. The group conducts independent primary research and analysis of IT project performance. Its CHAOS research encompasses 15 years of data on why projects succeed or fail, representing more than 70,000 completed IT projects.
The Office of Government Commerce published a list of common reasons for the failure of Government projects
Office of Government Commerce (2005), 'Common causes of project failure', CP0015/01/05, available at: www.ilxgroup.com/downloads/why-projects-fail.pdf