Why was your last project a flop? Don’t look for reasons — concentrate on solutions.
During the first quarter of the year we discussed what we wanted to accomplish. We laid out some plans and talked about prioritization, budgets and business cases. We had a vision of success, of becoming a leader, of taking your program to the next level.
So how’d you do? Of course, I’m rooting for all of you and hoping you achieved all your goals. But did the projects go well? Are you satisfied with the results? Is your management? Are your travelers? Wait, have there been results? Or did the project get derailed?
The reality is that not every project is successful. In fact, some fail outright. This has been and always will be true, but that knowledge doesn’t make it any easier if you’re the one at the helm.
Defining “Unsuccessful”
A project being “unsuccessful” can mean many things:
• The project did not accomplish its goals.
• The project went over budget.
• The project took longer than expected.
• I did not get the credit I deserved for the project.
• The project never got traction and was eventually cancelled.
• Travelers are unhappy.
• Management is unhappy.
• I didn’t get to lead the project.
All of these are legitimate gripes about a project; even in a successful project, not every aspect goes perfectly. Thus we all define success differently.
But I limit the definition of a truly unsuccessful project to one that either didn’t accomplish its goals, didn’t achieve an appropriate return on investment for the organization, took significantly more time and money than it should have, or was aborted before completion. You know it when you see it and you wish you had never touched it.
Whose fault was it? It doesn’t matter at this point. Instead of focusing on the “who,” let’s focus on “what” went wrong and “why” it went wrong. Even if you think it was some buffoon in another department who caused the whole project to fail, it’s still important to dissect the problems objectively.
Failure ModeNotice that we haven’t defined the project. That’s because it doesn’t really matter. Yes, technology, the economy, vendors, and other factors will affect different projects in different ways, but ultimately there are overarching reasons that most travel (and non-travel) projects fail.
There are so many reasons a project can fail, but I have broken them down into eight broad categories of what could be lacking: strategy, planning, people, funding, support, focus, execution and communication.
Strategy — Strategy helps define what you are trying to do. If you had no strategy, you were doomed from the start. For example, we’ve seen companies decide to implement a reporting solution for their travel data. It’s a great idea, but it’s not a strategy. A strategy would incorporate thoughts on exactly what you want to accomplish, what the results will be and how you are going to achieve those results. A strategy provides a focal point for a project team to work in the same direction to achieve a common goal. In our example, without the strategy, companies are more likely to develop a complex, expensive, incomplete mess of a reporting system.
Planning — Once you have a strategy, you need to have a plan to execute that strategy. It sounds simple, but it’s amazing how many teams just “go.” I guess they figure they know what they are doing and they should get started rather than waste time thinking about some plan.
But a plan is imperative, especially in today’s world where there are so many interdependencies, obstacles, resource constraints and reliance on factors outside of your control. A plan is a tool to think through your strategy, communicate to others, track progress, intelligently adapt to changes and remember key activities.
I don’t care what kind of plan you put together (OK, that’s not completely true), but at least have something simple that can act as a repository of key activities.
People — Yes, the people who work on a project could be the cause of its failure. I recall a statistic that 80 percent of car accidents are caused by the other driver. Similarly, projects fail because of other people.
Assuming that’s true, were you complicit in their failure? Did you select the people for the team? Did you allow them ample time to accomplish their tasks? Or, perhaps more likely, was failure caused by people over whom you have no control? IT assigned an awful project manager. The sales force resisted all change and disparaged your whole effort, spreading to other personnel. Your travel agency or corporate card vendor wouldn’t do what they needed to do.
There’s no easy answer to the people problem. You already know to put together the strongest team you can, but sometimes you simply don’t have control. This is where you can use many soft skills in conjunction with strategies worthy of their own article. My top tips for getting the most out of the people on your project are (1) communicate early and often, (2) listen to people’s concerns and incorporate them where appropriate, (3) acknowledge obstacles such as tight time frames or negative effects of the project, (4) leverage your plan to hold people accountable, and (5) if it’s an option, make changes if people aren’t pulling their weight.
Funding — Almost every company uses consultants to help get projects accomplished. Maybe it’s because the project is complex, or a subject matter expert is needed, or the existing staff do not have the bandwidth.
However, consultants are expensive and funding is tight. I’ve seen companies with nine-figure travel budgets but zero dollars allocated for services. The truth is that many companies are focused on simply slashing budgets rather than maximizing the return on investment. It’s hard to blame them, since actual return on investment is so difficult to measure.
Each organization is different and can change at any time, but you need to do your best to secure the funding you need, have confidence it won’t be taken away, and develop a scope that can be accomplished within budget constraints. You can also refer to our March column where we focused on how to execute projects without budget (Great Ideas, No Budget, March 2013).
Support — The concept here is simple, but vitally important. You need support from all interested parties: your boss, executive management, heads of key departments, your team and your affected supply vendors.
I find that the most important of these is executive management because it’s easiest to leverage that support to gain support from other groups. If your CXO requested it or is the lead sponsor, then you will feel empowered to drive forward and others will be less likely to get in your way, hindering its execution.
With matrix-like organizations, political considerations and basic human nature, it’s a complex game to gain everyone’s support – but one you need to play.
Focus — At a basic level, everyone involved needs to be focused on the project. There are always competing priorities, people lose interest or motivation and project frustrations lead to dissatisfaction. Creating a clear path, strong communications, a positive environment and project momentum will help keep the focus.
But the real point of this section is project focus, meaning a project can get derailed due to changes in priorities, scope or unexpected detours. Almost every project I’ve been involved with has had its focus tested. For example, the plan is to roll out a program in 10 countries, but that number jumps to 16. And then there is the realization that we need a strong reporting solution to get consolidated global data and information. And we need a website to communicate our new program. And we need to change our back-office structure to accommodate our new policy. The “ands” keep coming.
I’m a huge fan of flexibility and nimbleness on a project. However, “scope creep” more often than not gets in the way of success of the original plan. Here is where a strong strategy and plan come into play. By being true to your strategy and falling back on your plan, you can make decisions that are best for the project. If you are adding scope, prove to yourself that it doesn’t pose additional risk toward accomplishing your goals within the original timeline and budget.
Execution — I’ll be blunt – sometimes projects are simply poorly executed. It could be because of the aforementioned issues (no plan, no support, a lack of focus, etc.), or it could simply be because people weren’t equipped to execute successfully. Perhaps they made poor decisions, weren’t experienced negotiators, didn’t understand all the implications of their decisions, or weren’t organized or analytical. Not everyone is cut out for every task, and sometimes the people don’t align well with the requirements of the project.
If you are leading people, then it’s important that you believe they can accomplish what is required. In some cases, some on-the-project training can help; in others, you may need to replace or supplement them with someone more experienced.
If you are outside of your comfort zone on accomplishing what needs to be done, leverage others in your network and on your team to support you. In some cases you can delegate. For example, you may be a great negotiator but can’t handle the complex spreadsheets your vendors are now providing. Find someone who can.
Communication — Communication is intertwined with all of the other components above. Communicate appropriately, clearly, honestly and strategically. Whether it’s a sponsor, your boss, your team or a vendor, no one wants to be caught off guard or hear about a problem when it’s too late to resolve.
Your Next Project — Follow these eight principals and I guarantee your next project will be successful. Well, no, not really. But you will have a much better chance of success and of becoming that leader in your organization. And if others are in charge, maybe you should forward them this article.
David Kaufman is co-founder, managing partner, and CFO of Acquis Consulting Group. He is a CPA, a Certified Purchasing Card Professional and holds a Global Travel Professional certification from GBTA. With more than 20 years’ experience in both hands-on and advisory roles, David is a global leader and subject-matter expert in strategy, procurement, compliance, systems implementation, and business intelligence.