Project Management

Successful Project Management starts with proper planning and preparation – in particular with a Project Charter or Terms of Reference which, together with a Project Plan, should address the following Ten Key Project Success Factors ( for a discussion of these factors see The Chaos Report) :

  1. User Involvement -15.9%
  2. Executive Management Support -13.9%
  3. Clear Statement of Requirements -13.0%
  4. Proper Planning – 9.6%
  5. Realistic Expectations – 8.2%
  6. Smaller Project Milestones -7.7%
  7.  Competent Staff -7.2%
  8. Ownership – 5.3%
  9. Clear Vision & Objectives – 2.9%
  10. Hard-Working, Focused Staff – 2.4%
The % at the end of each item shows the percent of persons (out of 365 respondents based on their collective experience on more than 8000 IT projects) who listed this item as a success factor[1].

But once a Project is launched, we believe that the most critical factor for a successful implementation is communication. As Project Managers, we work hard to make sure that communications from team members and user representatives and between the Project Manager and Executive Management are as good as they can possibly be. We advocate a “No surprises” communications culture in which failure to communicate project progress and project issues is the single biggest threat to project success. This commitment to communications, which includes breaking down silo walls, runs through everything we do.