How do we know when a project has succeeded or failed?

Is it solely based on the completion of

a developed product? What other aspects are to be considered? Let’s explore a case study by Jennifer L.S.
Chandler, Ph.D. “New Information System” to learn more about this. In this case study we will meet
Kevin, a new project manager. He is responsible for overseeing a project that will implement a new
processing system where he works. Although he has a lot of technical knowledge, he is new to project
management and will be working with a consultant throughout this project (Chandler 2014). Some of the
things that Kevin will need to consider as the project manager is how he will handle the planning, change
management, and mistake recovery.
As a new project manager myself, I have learned that planning is no easy task! The plan must be
specific, active, and detailed. A significant amount of time must be invested in the planning phase to
ensure that everything is covered in the plan. Even still, contingencies will arise and re-planning will need
to take place. Often times, when a project manager is brought on to a project it is already underway, as is
the case here. “There were a series of decision points determined ahead of time for the project to go
through” (Chandler 2014). Kevin must figure out what needs to be done to be ready for those decision
points. In planning, it’s important to be clear on what tasks will build on the next one and the next one.
Kevin must be prepared for each of the predetermined decision points in order to be approved for the next
steps. In my own experience of project planning, I had to make sure that the tasks were in proper order
and built on one another to reach the completion of the project. Proper planning can be a key factor in the
success or failure of the project.
Another aspect of the project that Kevin must handle is change management. This is something
that I personally have learned a lot about, it takes adjustment throughout the project. One of the ways that
Kevin struggled, like I have, is by “focusing solely on completing the project as a shining success the way
it was originally envisioned by the CIO” (Chandler 2014). It became clear that the project wasn’t meeting
the needs of the client when “the expectation that the new system would ever do what the existing system
did was getting dimmer and dimmer” (Chandler 2014). A change would have to be made to get things
back on track. Kevin would need to figure out what that change was and adjust his plans accordingly.
Recovering from mistakes in the project is important to avoid failure. When things don’t go
exactly as planned, we must ask ourselves what we can do differently to correct it and keep moving
forward. I think that Kevin had a hard time with this because the case study states that “Kevin saw it as a
personal slight on himself if the project did not continue to be approved at each step” (Chandler 2014).
Mistakes cannot be taken personally but must be used as a learning point or a changing point. It does not
mean that you’re a failure if something does not work out, it just means that what you attempted to do did
not work out. No project is ever going to be perfect so these are opportunities to grow.
In this case, Kevin ultimately had to pull the plug on his project. I can imagine this was not an
easy decision to make. With his consultant, he decided that the cost of the project was becoming too great
and the new system couldn’t replace what the existing one had. Their recommendation to the board was
to cancel the project (Chandler 2014). Does this mean that the project has failed? From one angle, yes it
does – they did not reach the intended outcome of replacing the processing system. But in another way,
no, it is not a failure because it confirms that the product the client has is already what’s best for them as
well as stops the spending of funds that do not need to be invested into the project any longer. Kevin was
successful in determining what was best for the client, to keep their existing processing system.
The ASU Help Desk Project is another case study we can review to learn more about project
success and failure. This project was about bringing back a level of service to the ASU help desk that
made ASU’s customers feel like they actually mattered and their issues were important to resolve. Chris
Tyler is the project manager in this case. He is very experienced in this area because he already helped
establish an internally run help desk for the W.P. Carey School of Business.
The planning phase for the ASU Help Desk Project consisted of determining how to turn the help
desk back over to local support instead of the outsourced support it was currently using. Chris has an
upper hand in this from his previous experience, in a sense, he already has a model to follow. One of the
things he talks about dealing with is the “cost that can’t be identified,” meaning something that cannot be
measured in a concrete way. This part of planning is difficult because estimates must be made on some
things. Not only costs, but timing for tasks as well. He also discusses planning for where the new
employees will be housed in an existing location. It is difficult to find space for them. Chris said that he
spent at least 12 hours on the first day just working through “everything he could possibly think of” for
his plans!
One of the ways that Chris Tyler deals with changes throughout the project is by adjusting the
finances that are needed and used. At first, there was no set budget, but as things got moving along, he
was able to better set a budget for different aspects of the project. Another adjustment that would need to
be made during this project is when certain tasks were not completed on time that effected the next task.
Chris had to determine if he would be able to move forward anyways and complete both tasks or if the
next one had to be halted. Chris says that as a project manager, “you need to be flexible because if you’re
not, you can get stuck waiting for something and the project never gets completed.”
This project is essentially mistake recovery because the outsourced help desk made students and
other customers feel as though they were not cared about. We can see that Chris handles this by facing the
project head on and looking for the best possible solution. He identifies the challenges that he will face
throughout the duration of the project and starts determining ways to address them. When something
doesn’t work out, a new strategy has to be tried.
For this project, it is easy to see it as a success because there were surveys in place to measure the
customer satisfaction rates. Chris Tyler succeeded by bringing back the in-house customer service
helpdesk. Success is also seen through the fact that they are now using the software that is available to
them to create a better customer service experience.