Aug21Top 5 Causes of Project FailurePosted at 11:26

The OGC has compiled a list of common causes of project failures. I have narrowed this down to what I clearly think is the Top5 reasons for a Project to fail:

• There is no alignment between the Project portfolio and the organization's strategic drivers and priorities
• There is no commitment or sponsorship from the organization's Senior Executives
• There is a clear lack of Project Management and Risk Management methodologies, skills and knowledge
• There is a poor Stakeholder Management with a clear lack of identification and engagement
• There is a poor Scope Management causing slippage and cost increases

OGC had four more in their list, related to procurement and other specific items (which I categorize into n°4), and they did not have n°5 (which is actually n°1 in most of the projects).

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Comments

[Commented on 21 August 2009 at 18:46 by PM Hut]

Hi Frederic,

I have published quite a few articles on the subject, including OGC's Causes of Project Failure http://www.pmhut.com/common-causes-of-project-failure , but I have to say that almost all articles/studies concerning this issue are subjective, as the top reasons differ from one article to the other.

[Commented on 21 August 2009 at 19:15 by Frédéric Casagrande]

That's completely true, and I assume the study OGC performed before coming to this conclusion was driven by their "types" of projects (large, public, UK-only). I believe the 5 listed in my article to be generic trends regardless of the context, what do you think?

[Commented on 24 August 2009 at 22:44 by PM Hut]

Totally, OGC's view is subjective, but almost everyone can relate to the one's listed here.