Tricks of the Trade

for Why Projects Fail

By Rita Mulcahy, PMP

Tricks of the Trade: The following are reasons for project failure that Rita Mulcahy, PMP, has
identified based on her experience and supporting literature on the subject. Try to determine the root
cause of the problem and then apply the tools and techniques of project management to prevent your
projects from failing.

Reasons Projects Fail:

Failure to understand that a change in scope affects schedule, cost or performance
Unrealistic time frames
Lack of project management training
Projects defined without the PM's assistance
Project team not involved in planning
No risk management
Miscommunication of scope
Planning a project using only a Gantt or bar chart
No viable historical records
Inadequate budget for administration
Senior management meddling
No change control system
No effective system for controlling the project to the project plan
Inexperience
Lack of effective communication
Failure to understand the unique nature of the project type
Overselling
Turnover

Come to one of
RMC Project Managements
courses for advanced
Tricks of the Trade

Exercise:
Why does it happen?

What can you do to prevent it?

2002 RMC Project Management,

all rights reserved
A project management training and
consulting company
Tricks of the Trade! are part of each of
our project management courses.
Tricks of the Trade is a registered
trademark of RMC Project Management,
the Innovator in Project Management
Training
RMC Project Management
151 West Burnsville Parkway
Mpls., MN 55337 USA

Rita Mulcahy hereby grants permission to make copies of this page, provided it is for personal,
noncommercial use and provided the content of the page, copyright and trademark notice are
not deleted or changed in any way.

Web: www.rmcproject.com
Email: info@rmcproject.com
Phone: 952/846-4484