By Stephen Repton, founder, and CEO of Flowlio
Failing projects result in wasted resources, time and increased risk for companies. They negatively impact staff, customers and clients, costing businesses dearly. Yet the majority of UK projects, across manufacturing, service industry and most other sectors, are still allowed collapse or fail to meet expectations.
I’ve led large-scale change projects for over 30 years, specialising in digital and business transformation. In my work at Flowlio, I’ve advised on best practices, highlighting to many businesses’ areas for improvement, to avoid serious problems. It is clear to me that the UK project-management landscape needs serious overhaul.
I have had to intervene numerous times to prevent project failures, in both private and public organisations. In the IT sector alone, 70% of digital transformations fall short of their goals. We have seen major engineering projects, such as HS2, cancelled due to spiralling costs. These are symptoms of widespread problems with PM practices. Some local authorities have fallen into financial crisis due to failed projects, putting more strain on service and the public purse. High-profile entertainment-sector projects [SUCH AS?] have hit challenges, delaying the unveiling of new venues, show cancellations and lost ticket sales. There are many mor examples.
There are several key challenges that project-management sector must overcome.
Insufficient investment in upskilling
One of the most pressing problems is the lack of adequate funding or focus on project-management skills and training. Many UK organisations are yet to develop the internal expertise to handle projects ranging from departmental reorganisations to large-scale construction projects The Public Accounts Committee recently noted that out of 16,000 project professionals required to gain accreditation from the government’s major project leadership academy to allow them to oversee infrastructure projects, only 1,000 have done so.
However, merely attaining an academic certificate is not the answer. Where project management is concerned, theory is no substitute for practical hands-on led training based on real world scenarios, accompanied by a recognised accreditation.
I have seen the consequences of this skills gap many times. Projects often suffer from poor planning, inefficient execution, and inadequate risk management, leading to delays, budget overruns, and sometimes complete failure.
The alternative to staff training is to rely on external project managers to oversee initiatives. But this creates extra cost and can lead to problems when the PM consultant finishes working with a company and leaves staff with limited project knowledge or information on how to deal with day-to-day problems the projects implementation may create. It is also usually far more positive for staff development and morale to upskill them and train from within, rather than turning to temporary, incoming experts.
Inadequate resource allocation
Working across many industry sectors, I have noticed a tendency to underestimate the time and resources required for successful project execution. In 2023, Gartner, estimated that 55% to 75% of ERP projects fail to meet their objectives. This miscalculation frequently leads to premature project abandonment. It is crucial for companies and public bodies to conduct more thorough, realistic assessments of project costs – with spare funds set aside for unforeseen events – and resource requirements. More in-depth feasibility studies and risk assessments are needed, too. Addressing single points of failure and building resilience into projects from the outset is crucial to success.
Poor monitoring and data usage
Lots of organisations fail to compile and leverage ongoing data effectively to make sure projects are progressing properly. All too often, they rely on project managers monitoring work via ad-hoc meetings, conversations, and emails. Asking project teams for real-time updates on a piece of work, via centralised digital-reporting systems, such as Flowlio SaaS, allows managers to see where they may need to intervene to stop small problems becoming major ones. Centralised real-time data reporting also allows senior leaders to quickly see how a project is going, without having to take up too much project-manager time with reports and meetings.
Communication breakdowns
Clear, consistent, and timely communication is vital for aligning all stakeholders and ensuring smooth project execution. Here again, centralised reporting and information systems allow everyone to see what others are doing, at any one time. This gives them a sense of ownership, avoids silos, and prevents one team’s work overlapping with that of another’s or causing project hold ups.
All of those involved with or effected by a project need to be involved in deciding its precise aims and execution methods, from the start. They need to know exactly what their roles are in achieving change and how it benefits the company, its customers and their individual jobs, such as a new IT system making their tasks easier.
Open, transparent communication between all stakeholders from the outset will align expectations, stop money and time being wasted on impractical or unrealised project ambitions, too.
Clumsy implementation
Often projects fail because there has not been enough planning as to how a new piece of technology or way of working developed by a project will fit into business as usual. Projects are sometimes viewed as being imposed on staff, rather than, again, them being involved in how its outcomes can be implemented, day-to-day, from the project outset.
Software solutions that have certain steps that all stakeholders must sign off on, before a project is implemented, can provide a useful check and balance to avoid problems and ensure that the business is ready for change, and has the capacity for it.
Stephen Repton is CEO and founder of Manchester-based Flowlio. It offers project-management training for all staff, from C-suite to junior team members, and an SaaS tool for managing projects from initial idea to implementation into business-as-usual. For more information, visit www.flowlio.co.uk/
