Project Management Success
What Are Your Chances of Project Success? [From the Archives - First Published on 12 December 2012]
02 January 2016
This article was first published on 12 December 2012.
The Standish Group provides research reports valued by those in technology management. In their Chaos Report and the follow-up Compass Report, Standish reported the top 10 criteria for project success.
This unique self-assessment is based on Scott M. Graffius' professional experience and Standish's findings. You're invited to take it to identify your project's success potential.
User Involvement
- Right users involved?
- Right users involved early and often?
- Quality relationships with the users?
- Is involvement easy?
- Users’ needs uncovered?
___ total items with a “Yes” x 3.8 = ___.
Executive Management Support
- Right key executive involved?
- Key executive have a stake in the outcome?
- Project team have a stake as well?
- Well-defined project plan?
- Failure understood as a possibility?
___ total items with a “Yes” x 3.2 = ___.
Clear Statement of Requirements
- Concise vision?
- Business case?
- Functional analysis?
- Risk assessment?
- Metrics?
___ total items with a “Yes” x 3.0 = ___.
Proper Planning
- Problem statement?
- Solution statement?
- Right team members identified?
- Firm specification?
- Attainable milestones?
___ total items with a “Yes” x 2.2 = ___.
Realistic Expectations
- Specifications clear?
- Prioritization of needs?
- Small/manageable milestones?
- Change manageable?
- Project be prototyped?
___ total items with a “Yes” x 2.0 = ___.
Small Milestones
- 80/20 rule observed (focus on the 20% of features that result in 80% of the benefit)?
- Top-down design used?
- Time limits set?
- Prototype tool used?
- Progress be measured?
___ total items with a “Yes” x 1.8 = ___.
Competent Staff
- Needed skills have been identified?
- Right people on the team?
- A training program?
- Appropriate incentives?
- Staff see it through?
___ total items with a “Yes” x 1.6 = ___.
Project Ownership
- Roles defined?
- A defined organization?
- Everyone knows their role?
- Incentives tied to success?
- Everyone committed?
___ total items with a “Yes” x 1.2 = ___.
Clear Vision and Objectives
- Vision shared?
- Vision aligned with the organization’s goals?
- Objectives achievable?
- Objectives measurable?
- Sanity checks in place?
___ total items with a “Yes” x 0.6 = ___.
Focused Staff
- Incentives?
- Focus on quantifiable deliverables?
- Each team member have part ownership?
- Everyone work together?
- Confidence being built?
___ total items with a “Yes” x 0.6 = ___.
Calculate all of the points to obtain the final score. Total score is ____ out of a maximum of 100 points.
Results range from 100 to 0, with 100 being the ideal for the project's success potential. As a guideline, projects with a score less than 90 should be revisited—challenges or impediments should be addressed and resolved.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2016, January 2). What Are Your Chances of Project Success? [From the Archives - First Published on 12 December 2012]. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/archive---chances-of-project-success.html.
© Copyright 2016 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.
Typical Software Development Risks: Symptoms, Causes, Indicators, and Mitigations [From the Archives - First Published on 16 December 2012]
02 January 2016
This article was first published on 16 December 2012.
The risks for software development projects can vary. However, this article provides a view of the typical risks along with the respective symptoms, root causes, leading indicators, and mitigations for each.
Risk: Inaccurate effort and estimates and schedules
- Symptoms to watch for: Pattern of late deliverables; lack of awareness of schedule and status.
- Potential root cause: Schedules based on business ('top down') need rather than team-generated ('bottom up').
- Leading indicators: Earned value - schedule performance index (SPI).
- Mitigations: 'Bottom up' planning; monitor effort and schedule; engage earned value for monitoring, control as needed.
Risk: Unconstrained requirements growth
- Symptoms to watch for: Development staff cannot keep up with requirements changes.
- Potential root cause: Requirements change not well-managed.
- Leading indicators: Requirements change rate.
- Mitigations: Plan for change (employ a requirements/change control process); don't start development until there is a stable set of requirements.
Risk: Dysfunctional organization
- Symptoms to watch for: High project staff turnover; frequent staff reassignments; poor work environment; low productivity; staff lacks necessary skills and experience; and key role(s) are vacant.
- Potential root cause: Lack of motivating work environment; poor management of project prioritization; lack of experience with work needed on project.
- Leading indicators: Project staff turnover compared with historical trend; productivity; project team does not have an appropriate understanding of the requirements and project status.
- Mitigation: Monitor, manage, and control issues and risks; status reporting; external (peer) assessment of project plans.
Risk: Poor software quality
- Symptoms to watch for: High test defect counts; significant rework.
- Potential root cause: Focus on schedule rather than quality.
- Leading indicators: Test inspection yield; test defect density; defect discovery and closure rates/profiles.
- Mitigation: Create a development quality plan that focuses on inspection rather than (only) test; measure and track against quality plan; cultivate a focus on software quality.
Risk: Under-performance
- Symptoms to watch for: Low productivity.
- Potential root cause: Technical complexity; development environment changes; under-achievement.
- Leading indicators: Earned value - cost performance index (CPI).
- Mitigation: Engaged earned value, control as needed.
Manage risks and you'll greatly improve the probability of success.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2016, January 2). What Are Your Chances of Project Success? [From the Archives - First Published on 16 December 2012]. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/archive---software-development-risks-and-mitigations.html.
© Copyright 2016 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.