Planning: Naturally, the firm’s ability to manage a project will have a significant impact on its eventual
success or failure. Central to this, of course, is the project plan, which should be exceptionally detailed.
Difficulties which could threaten the schedule must be identified so that workable alternatives can be
developed ahead of time. There will always be a basic, inherent level of uncertainty in every project;
however, thorough planning can reduce most of these risks to an acceptable level. It is also important
to note that the quality and level of planning for a project is frequently related to the level of experience
of the project team. More experienced project teams tend to plan and organise more effectively.
The project team. As would be expected, the team plays a key role in the project’s success or failure.
The effectiveness of a team is, in turn, governed by the abilities of its project manager, the team’s overall
commitment and enthusiasm, and the co-operation of the team as a whole. That means the role of the
project manager is the most critical. He or she must be able to co-ordinate changing activities, resolve
conflicts, and keep management informed and committed to the project – while also keeping the project
on track. The project team should also be relatively stable. Changing important team members at critical
stages in the schedule can have a fatal effect. On the other hand, a new team member, if briefed properly,
can provide a fresh approach to many problems.
Economic factors: These factors may have a significant influence on the project’s ability to generate a
minimum acceptable return on the organisation’s investment. While financial measures, such as return on
investment (ROI), are not the only factors influencing success or failure, they do provide a measurement
tool for evaluation. It is entirely possible that a project, which is on schedule and well within its budget,
may be cancelled because of unrelated financial constraints dictated by the organisation. When firms fail
to achieve their desired level of profitability, they always have the option to re-evaluate ongoing projects
and terminate those that are less viable or overly expensive.
Other: Miscellaneous factors that influence the success or failure of a project include new government
regulations, problems with patent ownership, or new environmental concerns.
The key, of course, is being able to recognise if and when projects start to fail. To do this requires
maintaining a feedback loop throughout the project cycle. And the effectiveness of the feedback loop
depends upon a constant flow of quality information among the project manager, team members, the
customer, and senior management.