The Changing NHS

An online survey about the failure rates of major projects got my attention yesterday. Undertaken by USA based VitalSmarts, key findings included:

• 78% say they are working on a doomed project right now
• 90% knew in the first half of the project that it was likely to fail
• More than 81% say a key decision taker could have saved the project
• 81% say approaching the key decision taker was nearly impossible
• Only about 10% feel they can effectively speak up about “slow motion train wrecks”

Some questions you might like to consider:

1. Is your organisation clear about its’ expectations of project sponsors, leaders and team members and are these expectations widely accepted?
2. Does it have a culture where people can approach bosses and speak openly about their fears for projects?
3. How might organisational leaders and project sponsors signal, consistently, that they are approachable and keen to hear about difficulties?
4. How many of your organisations’ projects could quickly be helped back ‘on track’ with more attention from ‘sponsors’?
5. Do all Trusts, SHAs, PCTs and SHAs keep track of what projects are underway, including who’s leading them, what the expected benefits are, when are projects expected to deliver etc?
6. Are projects established effectively in the first place?
7. Are projects closed down effectively and how is the time that’s freed up redistributed?

Thanks to Val Willis  for the original post about the survey.

Incidentally, if you're looking for a tried and tested bit of project management software, try Basecamp.

It's miles cheaper than Microsoft Project and is designed for online collaboration amongst team members.

Steve

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www.stevepashley.co.uk