Project failures can occur at any project for an infinite
number of reasons. In the process, organizations lose millions
worth of projects at risk of failing. In some cases, the
failure is out of control, unexpected, unplanned for and
ultimately leads to miss a series of deadlines. However,
sometimes failure is within control. Despite of the causes,
failed projects waste billions of dollars every year. A
Standish CHAOS Chronicles report, based on more than 13,000
projects in the US indicates that only 52% of completed
projects meet their proposed functionality. Successful projects
made up "just over 34% of all projects" and the
other two-thirds are failing. In Information Technology
(IT) projects, the success rate is very less. Out of 9,236
projects, the success rate settled at 28% only.
The risk of failure can be mitigated if organizations put
in place a standard process for assessment and improvement
of the concerned projects. With effective recovery practices,
projects on the brink of disaster can be turned around.
It depends on the effectiveness of the actions taken to
recover the troubled projects. Before initiating the recovery
process, organizations must be able to recognize the problems
and then prepare to take corrective measures. They need
to investigate several issues like the symptoms and root
causes of the troubled projects and the types of project
recovery efforts and their outcomes.
A recent survey done by project recovery consultancy, Center
for Business Practices, US, reveals that out of the organizations
surveyed, 47% of their projects were troubled, troubled
and recovered, or troubled and failed. In a year's time,
1,830 out of 3,874 projects that closed were troubled. Organizations
averaged closing $65 mn worth of project, with $30 mn of
those projects at risk of failing. According to the survey,
meeting schedule requirements appeared to be the most significant
symptoms of troubled projects.
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