Another day and another government IT project running into trouble!  Many of you might be expecting now a list of 10 reasons why projects fail or succeed, but I will not go down that route.  Instead, there were two meetings I had this week which illustrate the difference between success and failure in business projects, or rather the potential for both.

I am currently advising a medium-sized wholesale distribution company on the introduction of a new ERP system which will transform the way they operate their business.  The meeting was a high level review of the project status, and a chance for senior management to raise concerns about the pace of change and user adoption.  At one point, the company chairman was visibly angry about the response from management to a certain issue.  He clearly wanted action to be taken and felt there was a lack of enthusiasm for the project within his company.

Following this display of emotion, the whole meeting changed course. You could almost hear the management plans being conceived, instructions and orders given, communicating the Chairman’s message downwards.  With such high-level backing, and a will to turn the project from “mediocre status” to “power status”, real success for this project seemed on the cards.

Contrast this with an entirely different organisation - a large property development company.  In this case the company was reaching completion of the construction of a number of properties, and were in the last phase of transfer of a block of housing to a customer.  However, a technical problem had occured producing a noticable defect in the houses.  The cause of this problem could not be identified, and needless to say, the customer refused to take ownership of the properties.

As engineers struggled to find the cause of the problem, the project as a whole was threatening to make a loss for the company.  But the crux of the matter did not reside with the building defect. With bonuses at stake and a culture of blame pervading the company, no one was prepared to take responsibility for the situation or to bring about a true resolution.  In this instance, the words “Failed Project“spring to mind as suitable newspaper headlines.

The point is not startlingly new.  Where there is a genuine will to succeed driven from the top its effects will be felt throughout an organisation.  In the case of the distribution company, the chairman of the business still retained a huge personal interest in its success.  This project, and the company as a whole, is destined for great things. 

By contrast, the large, anonymous property development company, had not been successful in fostering deep commitments from its directors to the overall success of the company.  For this organisation, my concern would not only be the profitability of this project, but its viability as a long-term concern.