Nine Feet Tall recently challenged Project Managers from a range of industries to participate in a survey based on Project delivery. The survey focussed on nine clear themes with questions structured around:
• Timing
• Vision
• Budgets
• Workloads
• Planning
• Stakeholder Management
• Communication
• Project Go-Live
• ROI
More than 100 responses were received from senior project professionals representing over 305 separate, current projects from a wide range of industry sectors.
Esther McMorris, Managing Director said “Up to now, very little data has been available to enable firms to benchmark their project success. It’s often impossible for project professionals to know if other organisations face the same challenges as they do. This survey offers a unique insight based on feedback collected from over 300 current projects from a variety of market sectors. It reveals a range of challenges that encompass all elements of project delivery.”
The first set of challenges identified from the survey responses lie with project management. Of the projects surveyed more than a third is behind schedule and getting into trouble. This isn’t a surprise since two thirds of participants identified a lack of clarity and detail in their project plans with 10% admitting to not having clearly documented milestones within their project plans. Indeed, having identified that some projects don’t have a clear plan and are getting behind schedule, a further 20% can see in advance that they are not going to be ready for their project go-live on time.
Further difficulties are apparent with Project Communications. Three quarters of the projects surveyed, disclose that not everyone on the project team fully understands the goals of the project they are working on. A further three quarters of overall projects find their communications get regularly lost in translation with the desired messages failing to get through effectively.
With projects slipping behind schedule and some challenges with project communications, the survey shows more than 80% of participants are involved in projects suffering from unbalanced workloads. And more alarmingly it seems that two thirds of stakeholders are not fully on board with the projects they are working on.
The survey also highlights that despite the effects of the current economic climate just under of a third of all projects surveyed are suffering with their project finances. More than 10% are overspending and a further 5% do not know what they have spent in relation to their actual project budget at all.
Full details of Nine Feet Tall’s 2012 Project Delivery Survey are available for download from their website www.ninefeettall.com
About Nine Feet Tall: Nine Feet Tall are experts in business transformation with proven experience of delivering complex change projects across multiple industries and sectors.
Each member of the team has a broad range of skills and knowledge brought together with a conviction and energy to deliver measurable results for our clients.
We are different from other consultancies. We deliver our projects with passion, empathy and accountability, leaving lasting value for each and every client we have worked with.
We believe that whoever the client is, and whatever the project requires, we can work with them to deliver results that will far exceed their expectations.
ENDS
For further information please contact Esther McMorris on (01225) 904630 or by email estherm@ninefeettall.com.
