This executive briefing discusses challenges with failing projects and provides strategies for project recovery. It identifies common reasons projects fail such as unrealistic objectives, poor management support, and inadequate experience. It recommends containing issues, restating objectives, and re-engaging stakeholders. The briefing also discusses the role of a project management office in establishing methodology and monitoring projects. It provides tips for conducting audits and avoiding the point of no return on failing projects. Finally, it introduces the consulting services of KeyedIn to help with project rescue, management, and alignment of business and IT.

1. Project Rescue - Fix It or Kill It
Executive Briefing
June 28, 2012

2. Housekeeping
Phones are muted
Use the question block for
questions
Copy of presentation
available upon request

3. About Your Presenter
• Sr. VP KeyedIn Solutions Consulting Group
– Helping companies align their business and technology
– Focus on people, process, and then the technology
– Subject matter expert on business process management
– On-going research into next generation of technology for
enterprise systems
• 25 years experience in enterprise systems
– USAF Research Project (1985)
– Founder of enterprise quality software company (1988)
• Trusted advisor to global organizations, government
agencies, and professional groups
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncachat

4. Today’s Discussion
• Why Projects Fail
• Recognizing The Challenges
• How To Create Success
• Keys to Project Recovery
• How KeyedIn Consulting Group Can Help You Today

5. How Did We Get Here?
• Project Objective – Bad Example
– To spend a great deal of money and cause huge disruption
obtaining low quality deliverables with questionable ROI
over an indeterminate and elongated time frame
• Project Objective – Good Example
– create a unique organization created to deliver a defined
result within an agreed timeframe with identified
resources

6. What is a Project?
• A project is a unique organization created to deliver a defined
result within an agreed timeframe with identified resources
• Made Up Of
– Objectives
– Deliverables
– Milestones
– Resources Relationship
Triangle

7. Project Management
• Business Case
– Why do we want to do this?
– What will it do for the business?
– How much will it cost?
– What are the risks?
– What if we do nothing?
• Project Approach
– Scope
– Phasing
– Controls
– Quality Management

8. Why Projects Fail
• Unrealistic or undeliverable objectives
• Poor management support
• Lack of visibility
• Lack of focus
• Lack of controls
• Inadequate experience in the project team
• Failure to understand the critical success factors and
risks surrounding the project

9. Recognizing The Challenges
• Detachment - the external
perspective
• Experience - ability to tell when
something is not right
• Information - metrics and measures
that illuminate the situation
• Communication - businesses react
to noise as much as content – make
sure you do not leave a information
vacuum for others to fill

10. Avoiding Common Project Pitfalls
• Set the right expectations
– aim for something you can deliver
• Communicate effectively
– “the biggest problem in communication lies in the illusion
that it has taken place”
• Monitor, measure and understand
– stay “in the room,”no rose tinted glasses
• Change is inevitable…manage it !
– stay adaptable and stay current
– understand the effect of each, every and all the changes

11. So It Has All Gone Wrong
• Loss of management belief and support
• Loss of user buy in
• Frustrated vendor relationship
• Vilification of the project team, vendor, product,
project objectives or all of the above
• Continually slipping milestones
• Failed to produce deliverables
• Budget blown
• Business case undermined

12. Project Rescue
• Needs a defined and very focused recovery method
– Understand the issues
– Re-engage the team
– Get the project back on track
Project
Restart and Phased
Containment Restatement Re-engagement
Replan Recovery
Phase Sign Off Completion
Analysis

13. Role of the Project Management Office (PMO)
• Establishing and ensuring adherence to a defined
methodology and a clear approach to project
delivery
• Monitor the business case
• Manage communication
• High level execution management
– assess scope,
– allocate resources and
– verify time,
– budget,
– risk and impact assumptions

14. Timing is Everything
Phase Description Risk
The Early Innings 25% into the project – LOW
application exploration done,
started system design
Midgame 60% into the project – MEDIUM
configuration done and testing
has started
The Home Stretch 90% - just about to go live HUGE
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15. Adding Resources
• Right people at the right
time with the right skills is
worth the cost
• Wrong people at the right
time with the wrong skills is
a huge mistake
• Skills, attitude, time
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16. Replacing Project Managers
• Client Project Mangers
– Skill Problem?
– Attitude Problem?
– Has a full time job problem?
• Consultant Project Managers
– Harder to replace because they don’t
have as many
– Replacing with a Client Project
Manager? maybe
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17. Replacing Consultants
• Personality conflict with other team
members
• Is the consultant “not liked” because
they are simply a bearer of bad news?
• Will replacement have the same or
better skills?
• Inability to contribute at the level
expected by the client
• Timing matters
– Mid project, OK, maybe
– Right before we go live, NO
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18. Changing Consulting Firms
• We were promised skilled consultants and a proven
approach
• Things to consider
– Are the issues from the type of contract signed?
– Can we solve the problem with different consultants from
the same firm?
– Are they software / systems issues and we are blaming the
consulting firm?
– What is the impact on the project timeline and cost?
– What did we learn so that we do not repeat it with a new
consulting firm?
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19. Avoiding the Point of No Return
• Everyone has to be proactive
• Move non-critical items to Phase II
– Executive bonus tied to functionality?
– Refer back to company goals
• Killing the Projects
– Can be political and/or financial suicide
– No chance of a successful go-live?
– Step back and evaluate
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20. Audits
• Pre-Project Audits
– Organizational Readiness Audit
– Data Readiness Audit
– Best Practices
– System Readiness
– Political Obstacles
• Mid-Implementation Audits
– Step back and evaluate and adjust
• Post-Go Live Audits – Lessons Learned
– What went wrong
– What went right
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21. Things to Remember….
• Look at internal issues
• Look at external issues
• Tough decisions are required
• Ask for help !!
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22. About KeyedIn Consulting Group
Experts providing solutions to specific problems
– Project Rescue
– Project Management & Virtual PMO
– People and Process Alignment
– Business and IT Alignment
– Enterprise Software Selection
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23. Follow KeyedIn
Corporate Website: www.keyedin.com
www.twitter.com/keyedinsolution
www.linkedin.com/company/2434133?trk=tyah
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24. Free Whitepapers
Download
@
www.keyedin.com
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25. Upcoming Webinars
7/10/12 The Replacement System: Why, How, When and Who
7/12/12 How to Successfully Engage Software Vendors & Their Software
7/17/12 Business Processes: Can’t Live With ‘Em, Can’t Live Without ‘Em
7/19/12 Support for the New System: Go Live Is Just The Beginning
7/24/12 Selecting Consultants: Just Like A Marriage–For Better Or For Worse
7/27/12 Enterprise System Implementation Strategies and Phases
7/31/12 Project Teams: People Issues, Roles and Responsibilities
Register at
www.keyedin.com
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26. Questions & Answers
Q A &
Copy of Presentation Future Webinars
Contact:
Shelly Bird Visit:
sbird@keyedin.com www.keyedin.com
952-835-1041 ext.163