(Last updated June 12, 2024)
Our first blog post as a new company, Preparing for Success, published on February 23, 2015, was on projects and achieving success, focusing on the foundation for project success: people. A lot has changed over the nine years since the original post, and we thought it was well past time for a retrospective look at the challenges organizations face and how to address them. We stand by our belief that equipping your project teams for the challenges ahead in a project, whether large or small, is the key foundational step toward success. Leaders must provide and encourage measured risk-taking, innovation, setting, and reaching common goals as a team.
While project success rates have shown improvement since our first post, studies still reveal alarming figures like 'Organizations lose approximately 11.4% of their investment due to poor project performance' (Project Management Institute, March 2021) and 'about 14% of IT projects fail to meet their objectives, with significant risks' (Gartner, August 2022). However, dwelling on the high probability of failure is counterproductive. We advocate for a shift in mindset for success, which means preparing your teams for positive outcomes, not anticipating submarginal results or failure.
We think your best return on investment is building project teams with the best-qualified people available - period. Recognize and accept that with mentoring, training, the best tools, and processes available, there will be talent gaps. In those cases, do not fill the gaps with less-than-qualified resources. Bringing in outside subject matter expertise is not an admission of failure but rather a commitment to project success. Supplying your project teams with the knowledge, tools, and the right combination of expertise will be the best preventive steps to ward off a Black Swan event or less fatal but expensive project failures in general.
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES OF IT PROJECT FAILURES
GE Digital: General Electric launched its ambitious digital transformation initiative to become a top 10 software company. However, the lack of clear objectives and misalignment with core business operations led to significant setbacks, resulting in financial losses and restructuring (Harvard Business Review, January 2020).
Ford Motor Company: Ford's digital transformation efforts, particularly its pivot to mobility services, faced challenges due to cultural resistance and strategic missteps. These issues highlighted the importance of aligning digital initiatives with core business strengths and fostering an adaptive corporate culture (Forbes, December 2020).
Revlon: The cosmetics giant faced severe disruptions when implementing SAP S/4HANA, resulting in a $54 million expense to fix issues, lost sales, and a drop in stock price. This project highlighted the critical need for thorough system testing and realistic implementation timelines (TechRepublic, April 2022).
MODERN SOLUTIONS: INTEGRATING GENERATIVE AI
In the modern business environment, integrating generative AI within organizational guidelines can play a crucial role in filling knowledge worker gaps and increasing the effectiveness of project teams. Here is how:
Enhancing Team Capabilities: Generative AI tools can automate routine tasks, analyze large datasets, and provide insights that would otherwise require significant manual effort. This enables teams to focus on higher-value activities and strategic decision-making.
Smaller, More Agile Teams: AI handles many data-intensive and repetitive tasks, making project teams smaller and more agile. This reduces overhead and improves responsiveness to changing project requirements.
Improved Decision Making: AI-driven analytics can provide real-time insights and predictive analytics, helping teams make better-informed decisions quickly. This is particularly valuable in dynamic project environments where conditions can change rapidly.
Continuous Learning and Adaptation: AI systems can learn from past project data to continually improve their recommendations and performance, helping teams avoid previous mistakes and optimize processes.
Enhanced Communication and Collaboration: AI-powered tools can facilitate better communication and collaboration among team members, ensuring everyone is on the same page and reducing the chances of miscommunication.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Keep these key takeaways in mind whether you are a company C-level executive, client executive sponsor, PMO lead, Program or Project Manager in the project planning process:
Clear Objectives and Alignment: Ensure digital initiatives and ERP projects are closely aligned with business goals and have clear, measurable objectives.
Change Management: Prepare the organization for change through effective communication, training, and support.
Cultural Adaptation: Foster a corporate culture that is open to innovation and adaptable to new technologies.
Thorough Testing: Conduct comprehensive testing at multiple stages to ensure the system works correctly before full implementation.
Stakeholder Engagement: Involve all relevant stakeholders early and throughout the project to ensure alignment and support.
Leveraging AI: Integrate generative AI to manage routine tasks, enhance decision-making, and make project teams more agile and efficient.
By focusing on these critical areas and leveraging modern technologies like generative AI, organizations can improve their chances of success in IT projects and avoid the pitfalls that have hindered others. At the heart of it all, people drive project success. Empowering your teams with the right tools, knowledge, and support will always be the cornerstone of achieving exceptional outcomes. Remember, technology is an enabler, but people are the true catalysts for success.