5 Detours in Your Project's Path to Success

The chances of a mega project or turnaround failing by going over schedule and exceeding budget runs as high as 70%. Want to reduce your odds of failure? The heart of the matter in managing risk is about people, values and communication. Set aside Acts of God, failed systems or changing business cases, doing these 5 things will assure a project pitfall.

1. Make safety a priority. You read it right. Safety isn’t a priority. It’s a value. Priorities are things you put at the top of your list to take care of. Values are things you live. And regardless of whether or not your project is under budget or over budget, behind schedule or on time, safety isn’t negotiable. It IS how and what you do, every single day, to ensure your people get home safely. When you make safety a priority instead of a value – you’re just talking the talk. Making safety a value means you will do whatever it takes.
2. Stop communicating. Let people imagine the roles and responsibilities you expect and it’s guaranteed not to be what you want from them! Instead, be clear. Talk. Get together in small groups before the day starts. Stop by for a quick, one-on-one “how’s it going” after lunch. Tell people what you need. Clearly. Acknowledge jobs well done. Give kudos when people go the extra mile. Recognize both teamwork and individual successes.
3. Blame others. Avoiding accountability is a great way to ensure that a project headed in the wrong direction gets there even faster. Poor Performance + Blame = Worse Performance. Make sure agreements and expectations are clear. If a problem occurs, address it directly – in person. An email isn’t a solution., but a conversation might lead to finding one.
4. Focus on schedule and cost. Want your management team and front-line supervisors to take short-cuts? Be sure to communicate how over-budget and behind schedule the project is. Repeat the budget and time issues as many times as possible. You’ll see they start saying things like, “Do whatever it takes” and “Just get it done.” When you hear those words, safety will be sacrificed for productivity. And then, you’ll be putting the health and well-being of your people at risk.
5. Stop engaging your stakeholders. Strong relationships aren’t just built when projects are going well; they need to be built when projects run into unforeseen challenges. After all, ignoring the challenges isn’t going to make it disappear. Engage your workforce. The more open you are, the better the chances someone will have an idea or new solution that might just get everything back on track. You want more input, not less! Invite participation from everyone on the project. It’s surprisingly effective.

When it comes to leading successful projects – in any industry – it seems the best thing to remember is never take anyone or anything for granted. Shared vision and commitment needs continual care and nurturing. The best possible solution is one-on-one communication. Make sure you can account for the successes as well as any challenges that might need immediate attention. If your upper management, team leaders, supervisors, and employees on down the line aren’t providing you with a steady stream of feedback, go get it. And vice-versa.