4 Key Causes To Pull Project’s Plug!
As understood in PMP Course online — nobody wants to be a part of a failed enterprise. No sane project manager would say, “I hope this project fails.” It’s simply not in our nature to do so. However, there are situations when a project is beyond rescue or when two parties just cannot come to an agreement on the underlying concerns. At that moment, it may become evident that pushing further is not in anyone’s best interests. How we close down such a project will most likely be the subject of a future post. I’ll take note of that and address it as soon as possible. But for the time being, I’d want to look at some of the symptoms that the project may need to be abandoned. Or at the very least, paused until new information is available, better requirements are specified, a corporate structure has changed, making project goals more obvious, or employees who are impeding development are replaced.
I’d want to hear from our readers on why projects might need to be shelved. For my part, I’ve outlined what I believe are the four key causes I’ve seen in either my own projects or those of my co-workers. These are the four:
1. Scope creep is continuous
I’m not referring to minor differences about where to draw the line in the sand in terms of project scope. Rarely, the kick-off meeting occurs, and you proceed into planning with the client, only to discover that what you thought was a “defined” project has devolved into shambles. You planned to provide ‘y,’ but the consumer anticipated ‘x.’ Sometimes the problem began during the sales process and was not readily apparent until the experienced personnel who fully understand the solution get down with the customer and map out the implementation. This is the point at which the tyre contacts the road for the first time, and the client exclaims, “wait, that’s not what Sales told me.” “I was told I could have this for free, and now you’re telling me it’s a 200-hour effort?” Negotiation may be able to resolve some of these issues, but it is not always possible. When they can’t, and it’s evident that you’ve reached a deadlock, it’s probably best to call the project off or put it on pause until you can make clear and definitive plans.
2. The project funding runs dry
The project manager faces a significant challenge when financing runs out. And, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, he is typically held responsible. What may be the source of this predicament? If it’s merely a case of oversight or laziness on the project manager’s part, that’s not enough to cancel or shelve the project — but it is enough to fire the project manager for poor performance. For the sake of this post, I’m talking to more than just a lack of budget supervision. In this case, I’m referring to situations when individual project team members are being asked to execute duties that aren’t part of the project’s strategy. Customer expectations, a requirement for several project staff to be onsite for a longer amount of time to iron out project specifics, or a customer’s desire to have one resource 100% committed to the project when that was not initially planned are all possibilities. Everything is good if modification orders can be put in place — and provided the client has the funds to continue through with them. However, if the client refuses to accept the modification orders and hence refuses to pay more for the staff demands, you’ve got a problem. Team members aren’t always as important as the project sponsor or leader — at least not when it comes to significant decisions. However, if this customer staff churn is generating schedule slippages, missing tasks, and budget overruns as your team scrambles to meet contradictory client directions, you have a significant problem on your hands. You also have a problem if the customer’s financing has run out and the project is nowhere near completion. You may have little alternative but to cease or suspend the project until more cash is available on the client-side unless your organization is willing to go ‘pro-bono’ the rest of the way.
3. Future project phases are being questioned
As understood in PMP Course online — this may not be enough to cancel the rest of the project, but it’s probably time to put what you’ve got in place, presuming you’ve got a workable solution through the stages that have already been implemented and put the rest of the project on hold until the work is more defined. Future phases of a project may be jeopardized due to changes in customer objectives and infrastructure. Is it still necessary to have them? Is it necessary to rearrange the phases? It’s practically hard to maintain your pricey project resources intact while the client waits two months to decide, therefore it’s generally a smart stopping point to let the customer to regroup and figure out how they want to spend the balance of their project money — if they even want or need to. Negotiation may be able to resolve some of these issues, but it is not always possible. When they can’t, and it’s evident that you’ve reached a deadlock, it’s probably best to call the project off or put it on pause until you can make clear and definitive plans.
4. Customer project personnel are constantly turning over
Have you ever worked on a project where the client team seemed to rotate in and out like a revolving door? Customer team members come and go, and even the customer’s project lead appears to change on a frequent basis. Team members aren’t always as important as the project sponsor or leader — at least not when it comes to significant decisions. However, if this customer staff churn is generating schedule slippages, missing tasks, and budget overruns as your team scrambles to meet contradictory client directions, you have a significant problem on your hands. Be sure to thoroughly record the client team modifications before blaming the delivery project team and you as the project manager. Following that, if the situation does not improve and productivity has stalled or significant choices have still to be made, it may be time to halt work on the project and push the client to make key ‘go’ or ‘no-go’ decisions on the remaining work. You’ll also have an issue if the customer’s finance runs out while the project is still in the works.
Summary
The trick here is understanding when to tell a client that continuing with the consulting arrangement isn’t in either party’s best interests.
This debate presupposes one extremely important point that must not be neglected. That is, you have the contractual right to cancel this project and have agreed to do so with the customer. Make sure you don’t terminate a project that might cost you millions of dollars in a lawsuit if you do. Obviously, I would never advocate such a thing. I’m merely looking for scenarios that make it clear — to at least one participant, if not both — that the project must be terminated.
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