Insurance Projects Failure – Our top Nine Lessons
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Today we are going to discuss Project Manager Pitfall #4 but before we dig into this specific pitfall, I was thinking about the number of large projects that I have seen fail. We all know that every project is unique and at the same time many IT projects are unsuccessful. So what is it about IT projects that dooms so many of them to failure about two-thirds of the time?
First, let’s consider an amazing fact. When I first started working in the technology space in the 1980s, IT projects were deemed to have failed about 60 to 70 percent of the time. Now, almost 30 years later, they still fail at the same rate! At JMR Consulting UK Ltd we work mainly in the Financial Services Sector and specifically in the insurance space and we also see a high rate of project failure in the insurance industry.
So there are some key questions that we need to cover off in this series of blog posts where we discuss project management pitfalls:
- Haven’t we learned anything over that time?
- Hasn’t our technology improved to the point where we fail less?
- Haven’t we found methodologies that will meaningfully impact the failure rate?
And if we look at the stats from the experts, the answer, sadly, is no. I’m tempted to say that the reason many projects fail is that they’re just too long. Then again, we don’t want to rush things when we’re pouring millions into a key insurance systems replacement or upgrade. In the end, probably the best course is to engage in smaller projects that take less time and that allow for a great deal of modification after they are complete – but that is a conversation for another day. We are where we are so the better prepared we are for change, the less likely we will deem our projects as failures.
PM Pitfall #4. The Project Manager is Too Passive
Image from jiiscinfonet.ac.uk
As we discussed last week in Project Management Pitfall #3, if you are the Project Manager you are not necessarily the Subject Matter Expert for all aspects of the project. As Project Manager, you have been tasked with leading the team to complete a specific project. Often times, members of your team will have very good advice, don’t be afraid to listen, but do be afraid to let them change the direction of the project. As Project Manager you need to be the Alpha Male or Female – take charge and be assertive. If someone is not meeting your needs, remove them from the team. Of course, be mindful of your HR rules and associated policies.
Project management is a difficult role and isn’t for everyone and not everyone is cut out to be a leader and if you’re not by nature a good leader, then you’re probably not going to make a good Project Manager. A good Project Manager has to keep many balls in the air and also has to manage his or her team. A good Project Manager has to realise that managing a project is not a popularity contest and it is important to be firm and fair. This means that you need to worry less about hurting feelings or walking on eggshells around members of your team and focus on getting the job done. At the end of the day, this is business and if you are in a Project Manager role, you are here to make your projects successful and not to make friends. So do what the role calls for and take charge and manage the project, not the people.
How JMR Consulting UK Ltd can Help Your Insurance Business Successfully Deliver Insurance Projects
We have worked very successfully with some of our major clients to deliver fairly complex business projects. Here at JMR Consulting UK Ltd we promote the use of project management best practices on all our projects. If you want advice or help with your projects or project tools and software, please contact us.
To find out more about how we can help you with your projects or any of your key project management challenges then please get in touch by using the contact form, sending an email to info@jmruk.com or calling us on 0845 052 0900.