Hitting targets? The state of UK IT project management
- Posted:
- 16:22 05 Nov 2003
- Topics:
- IT Training & Qualifications | e-mail | IT Strategic Planning | Project Management | IT Budgeting | IT Management
The Computer Weekly Project Management
survey investigated how 1,500 IT project managers across the UK are
running their IT projects, their level of success and the reasons
for failure
The effective management of IT projects is crucial to the UK
economy. Half of all capital investment is in IT and, without sound
planning and daily management, budgets overrun, deadlines slip and
systems do not deliver a return on investment.
Failed IT projects frequently hit the headlines, but there has been
relatively little in-depth research into the state of project
management across the UK and how it could be improved.
Now, a ground-breaking report from the Computer Weekly
Project/Programme Management Survey has lifted the lid on IT
project management in the UK.
The survey, led by Chris Sauer and Christine Cuthbertson of Oxford
University's Templeton College, and sponsored by change management
consultancy the French Thornton Partnership, questioned 1,500 IT
project managers across the UK in all industry sectors. Project
managers for IT service providers and those working in-house for
user organisation were surveyed.
The survey examined all aspects of IT project management, including
the overall performance of UK projects, recommendations on how they
can be run more effectively and the qualities needed to be a
successful project manager.
The results presented a mixed verdict on IT project performance in
the UK. Overall, it is better than previously thought, but there is
still plenty of room for improvement.
The results
Just 16% of the 421 IT projects examined in the survey hit all
their targets (budget, schedule and scope/functionality).
Only 55% of projects were completed on time. Forty one per cent
were completed on or within the agreed budget.
Performance was also patchy on IT projects hitting overall goals,
or scope. Here, 54% of projects failed to deliver on the
planned-for functionality, 41% did deliver and an elite 5% achieved
more functionality than planned. At first glance the figures do not
seem particularly impressive, but they do show a marked improvement
when compared to the performance of IT projects in the Standish
Group's influential report on project management in 1995.
One improvement is the significant reduction in the proportion of
abandoned IT projects. The US-based Standish report found that 31%
of projects were abandoned - well above the 9% found by Computer
Weekly's research.
Schedule, scope and budget
There has also been a reduction since the Standish report in the
number of "challenged" projects - those that have missed one or
more of their key targets (schedule, scope and budget).
Closer analysis of the data revealed that UK IT projects are
missing their three main targets less dramatically. This shortfall
from the target is known as variance. For the schedule target, for
example, the mean variance is 23%. Or, if a project is planned to
take 12 months, it will actually take about 15 months to
complete.
Budgets are being overrun by 18% while delivering 93% of the
original specifications for the project.
Chris Sauer, co-author of the Computer Weekly survey, said the drop
in the number of abandoned projects almost certainly indicated that
organisations are managing projects better and becoming more
discriminating in their choice of project.
"On the traditional measures of schedule, scope and budget, the
survey showed a record level of performance that belied the
established poor public image of IT projects," said Sauer. "We are
definitely improving but not everything has been put right."
"The survey showed that in the UK we are missing IT project targets
by less than previously thought. We found that 55% of projects come
within 5% of their schedule, 5% of scope and 4% of budget. This is
pretty good, so it is quite inappropriate to treat projects like
these as if there were no difference in their performance from
those that miss their targets by 50% or more."
Despite the public sector's poor reputation for managing IT
projects, there was little difference in the performance of
projects compared with the private sector. IT projects in the
private sector were more likely to finish behind schedule but less
likely to go over budget.
Why projects can fail
A lack of management commitment was cited as the biggest risk to an
IT project, followed by confusion over the objectives and a lack of
commitment from end-users or clients.
Other factors that also increased the likelihood of failure
included complexity (the extent a project has to link with other
technology and business processes) and volatility within the
organisation (such as changing targets for the project and how
often the project manager changes).
"Increasing change means that project managers are having to
continually improve just to achieve stable levels of performance,"
said Sauer.
An IT project's size also helps determine its success. Smaller
projects were more likely to meet their targets than larger ones,
the survey found. In the results, 55% of projects in organisations
surveyed had budgets of less than £1m.
The Computer Weekly survey also gave a breakdown of the tasks done
by project managers, this showed that 27% of their time was spent
communicating with clients and other stakeholders, and 26% of time
was spent planning, monitoring and controlling.
The equivalent of one day a week was spent dealing with
unanticipated problems and dealing with disagreements, and another
day was spent doing hands-on IT work, such as writing code and
designing systems.
The perfect project manager
The typical IT project manager is a male graduate between 30 and 50
years old. Only 12% of project managers are female.
Despite the male domination of the profession, the survey found
that female IT project managers performed better than their male
counterparts. "This should encourage organisations to employ and
develop more female project managers, which will help to correct
the current imbalance in numbers," Sauer said.
The most common of the higher qualifications held by project
managers are IT/computing science, science and engineering and
business/management related (46%), compared to only 12% who have
studied arts, social sciences or professional studies. A master's
degree was held by 24%, and 45% have some form of professional
qualification.
Project managers are also highly experienced, with an average of 17
years working in IT, where about 50% of this time has been spent in
a project management role. On average, respondents had worked for
their current employer for seven years.
But despite the wealth of experience and qualifications, one area
of concern was the lack of in-house training. IT project managers
often received little or no formal training from employers.
Project managers are dropped in the deep end without any formal
training according to 66% of respondents, compared to 14% of firms
that provided training in advance of the employee starting the
job.
After the project manager starts in a new job the situation is only
slightly better. Only 24% of those surveyed said they had received
training from their employer.
Employers are even reluctant to give their project managers
financial support towards the cost of learning outside work. Fifty
per cent of respondents said they had received no financial support
towards studying for a project management qualification.
When asked about what makes a successful project manager,
commercial awareness was considered the most important attribute,
followed by confidence, a willingness to take risks, understanding
IT and integrity.
Much emphasis was placed on teamwork. More than 80% of project
managers said they enjoyed working as part of a team and 74% said
teams are better at analysing problems than individuals.
"The classic image of a project manager is of a driven, hard-nosed,
decisive person," said Sauer. "But the IT project managers surveyed
use a much more consultative and consensual approach to decision
making. It is like being a conductor in an orchestra where everyone
has to play a specialist role."
What are your experiences of IT project management? What led
your IT projects to succeed or fail? E-mail
Computer Weekly with your story:
Key recommendations for ITprojects
IT project managers were asked for their recommendations in improving the performance of projects.
Smaller projects are more manageable One large project can be broken up into many smaller ones. Managers should also run fewer projects and prioritise the most important.
Get senior management support There were calls for greater support from senior management, better career development paths for project managers and better training. "One concern raised was that if there are too many projects running at the same time, you can lose focus because you do not put the best people on the highest priority projects," said Sauer. "It can also make it harder to get the attention of senior management to provide resources and promote the projects."
Don't be afraid to innovate Another recommendation was for project managers to be given more freedom to be innovative in their job and not be afraid to take calculated risks. "In a no-blame culture you can experiment," said Sauer. "In a blame culture you will refer every risk to a higher authority and this will delay the project."
Be there at the beginning Project managers also stressed the importance of being involved in drawing up plans in the early stages. This would help ensure projects are more realistic in their objectives and timeframe.
