Top 10 Project Success Factors

Failure is caused by not delivering:

• What is promised
• What is needed
• What is expected

The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the goals of the project charter while adhering to three out of the four classic project constraints some time referred to as the “triple constraints” The four constraints are defined as scope, time, cost and quality.

Top 10 Project Success Factors

1. User involvement
2. Executive management support
3. Experienced project manager
4. Clear business objectives
5. Minimization of scope
6. Agile requirements process
7. Standard software infrastructure
8. Formal methodology
9. Reliable estimates
10. Skilled Staff

In order for a project to be successful, communication is of utmost importance. Stakeholders need to communicate what the requirements are in a clear, precise and straightforward manner.

The key word here is requirements. So what are requirements?

In engineering, a requirement is a singular documented need of what a particular product or service should be or do. It is most commonly used in a formal sense in systems engineering or software engineering. It is a statement that identifies a necessary attribute, capability, characteristic, or quality of a system in order for it to have value and utility to a user.^[1]

In simpler terms its a capability a customer needs to solve a problem or achieve an objective.

The communication and subsequent agreement of that need will play a major role, if not the major role in the success of a project.

Stages in the Requirements Management Process

• Elicitation
  • Identify Stake Holders
  • Identify requirements sources
  • Elicit requirements

• Analysis
  • Document assumptions
  • Identify issues and risks
  • Identify constraints and dependencies
  • Prioritize the requirements

• Representation
  • Create graphical models and prototypes
  • Create textual documents

• Validation
  • Identify quality characteristics
  • Eliminate ambiguities
  • Trace the requirements
  • Conduct requirements reviews

• Change Control
  • Baseline accepted requirements
  • Follow change control process
  • Maintain requirements

Following a strict methodology within project management will greatly reduce the risks associated with not being able to deliver because of failure.

An finally some stats on project failure:

• An IT project is more likely to be unsuccessful than successful
• About 1 out of 5 IT projects is likely to bring full satisfaction
• The larger the project the more likely the failure

Sources:

Requirements Quest