Project management

· From the list of “Project Pitfalls” listed below, select five.

· Prepare a written analysis of each Project Pitfall to include:

· Identification of the basic symptoms and/or causal factors.

· A determination of avoidance/mitigation strategies for each selected Project Pitfall.

Project Pitfalls

1. Incomplete (or, lack of clarity concerning) project scope.

2. Inadequate identification and assessment of project risks.

3. Inadequate alignment between Business Case/Requirements, Statement of Work and

Project Plan related to objectives, solution components, and benefits.

4. Not keeping project management documents “evergreen” (up-to-date).

5. Inadequate project management capability.

6. Confusion and disagreements about project responsibilities.

7. Lack of adequate analysis and reports on progress/cost/schedule relationships and results.

8. Disagreements with customers, sponsors, etc., about quality of deliverables.

9. Significant third-parties are not fully integrated into the project management function.

10. Failure to make appropriate use of experience and resources.

11. Inadequate communication with external stakeholders.

12. Failure to request legitimate funding increases.

13. Deliverables do not fulfill requirements and/or interface properly.

14. Backward scheduling from imposed dates.

15. Inaccurate cost estimating.

16. Major disruption caused by occurrence of a known risk.

17. Form of contract does not correlate with project risks.

18. Unrealistic revenue/cost reduction projections.

19. Insufficient time spent on planning.

20. Lack of user input.

21. Lack of customer/sponsor commitment/support.

22. Technological incompetence.

23. Executive management does not have realistic expectations.

24. Inadequate Business Case/Requirements Document.

25. Inadequate Statement of Work.

26. Failure to consider operational impacts.

27. Failure to keep the Business Case “evergreen.”

28. Failure to consider program close-out costs.