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Baseline has an interesting article on the 5 Traits of a Successful Project

For your convenience I have summarised the article below:

Why do some companies, I.T. teams, or project leaders always seem to complete difficult implementations successfully while others struggle? The reason is that there are similar actions taken on most, if not all, successful technology implementations. Regardless of the development methodology employed, leaders should do the following to make sure every major project has a shot at success.

1. Balance demand with capacity. One of the most important traits of all successful organizations is the balance between demand and capacity. Successful governance committees know with accuracy the available capacity of their technology implementation teams.

2. Dedicate resources the team can count on day in and day out. Successful projects have resources the team can rely on. If a person is dedicated, for example, 50% of the time to the project, this doesn’t mean 45% or 25%.

3. Include skilled business analysts on the implementation team. Successful implementations are based on a thorough business analysis of desired outcomes. Insightful business analysis relies on skilled and experienced investigators, whose curiosity drives them to discover the heart of an issue or problem and then participate in devising a solution.

4. Rely on project managers that exemplify mature professionalism. Successful implementations always have at their head experienced, mature project managers who know the science of project management and possess leadership skills to rally the troops. These leaders inspire confidence.

5. Make fact-based decisions. The one unvarying trait competent project leaders possess is honesty. They give truthful evaluations and are mature enough to make timely reports on bad news to the governance committee.

5 Traits of a Successful Project - full article

I have found an interesting video post from 4 PM wesbite about the challenges of persuading a sponsor that project planning is worthwhile

The post says…”One of the very difficult barriers to doing projects the right way is the reluctance of sponsors and stakeholders to participate in the planning process. Its much easier for them to avoid making the the tough decisions that should be made at the beginning of a project. Project managers have to muster effective arguments or they wind up starting work without a plan which is the seed of project failure.”

To view the video post go to the 4PM website.

Dear Readers, below is a quick summary of the most important best practice considerations when deploying a PPM solution.

Who: engaging the right people

In order to organise the business for PPM, senior management and executive buy-in is absolutely critical – without this, PPM will fail. Executive sponsorship is essential to create awareness, provide support, build consensus and motivate stakeholders at all
levels to participate effectively. Executive sponsorship gives PPM the all-important ‘nod’ from above.

Why: identifying the pain and calculating the ROI

Justifying PPM within any organisation depends on the business’s ability to sell PPM’s benefits. This can be achieved by conducting a health check to establish key areas of pain and then to dovetail this with an ROI model. Ownership of the health check and ROI model should be with the key project stakeholders and executive sponsors. The ROI analysis will help the organisation define and quantify potential top-line benefits and also identify the quantitative and qualitative benefits from deploying PPM, such as in revenue, market capitalisation, increased customer base and decreased attrition.

What: selecting the right tools

The successful deployment of PPM will critically depend on selection of the right software tools, and a key determinant is how the tools integrate with the rest of the business from both the cultural and the technical viewpoints. As discussed earlier, when selecting PPM tools the organisation should look to avoid a ‘rip-and-replace’ tool-set. It is essential to choose tools that are scalable and flexible, avoiding excessive and restrictive customisation, and above that integrate with peripheral applications and
are able to evolve as the business evolves. Successful tool selection needs to be embraced by everyone in the organisation, and if an application is too difficult to use, or requires people to make drastic changes to the way they do their job, then PPM will fail.

How: testing the tools and processes

Deploying a proof of benefit (PoB) is an essential prerequisite that enables the organisation to minimise all the risks associated
with the implementation of a change project like PPM. The PoB provides an actual ‘real-world’ view of the value of a PPM solution within a ‘low risk’ environment and is an excellent way to facilitate the communication of potential Return on Investment (ROI) and Return on Opportunity (ROO). The PoB is in actuality the first deliberate step in a phased approach to implementation by starting small and then rolling out more functionality and coverage over time.

When: avoiding ‘big bang’ deployment

It is essential to understand that PPM by its very nature is a change project and that each business is different in terms of its level of maturity and ability to handle change. Building on a PoB as part of a larger, phased approach should be undertaken and this should be based on the company’s internal project management readiness and maturity. Use the results of your business case and PoB to scale the PPM solution throughout those areas of the business that are most needy. An incremental implementation allows cultural issues to be solved on a domain-by-domain level and then its success to be sold upwards throughout the organisation. PoB allows the business to cultivate best practice examples that can be converted into
quantifiable results for management.