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Zachary Buller

Professor Thompson

OGL 320

24 January 2022

Project Failures

The great balancing act that is project management. Carrying out a project from start to

finish can be logistically taxing to many leaders throughout a series of projects. In a project one

may be responsible for securing funding and keeping investors happy, also, securing resources

and materials needed to complete a project. Lastly, maintain engagement from start to finish of

a project. Many people believe that project management is something that is solely used in the

construction industry. We tend to only consider a physical construction and upbringing of

something to be a project. But a project is any kind of undertaking that can be carried out by a

single person or collectively by any number of people that are working to achieve a particular

goal. This goal can be anything from construction projects to building the latest and greatest

electric car. But sometimes these projects lose interest and become things of the past. What

causes this and how do people contribute to these project failures?

One of the most common reason a project is brought to its demise is because of its lack

of proper monitoring and control. The whole reason of a project has a leader or manager is to

make sure people are completing their given set of tasks. Sometimes in groups, people lack a

sense of direction in each situation, a leader could help many find their direction but many
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times the support approach slips through the cracks. In cases like this we see leaders that also

don’t have a goal in mind and are unable to help find a subordinate’s skillset. This lack of

upbringing on a project can cause many people to lose joy and slowly begin to distant

themselves from a project. Leaders that lack support to a team can expect their team to

provide the same lack of support in return and slow the project timeline dramatically.

Another reason we see projects occasionally fail is a lack of proper delegation.

Sometimes leaders lack the ability to properly assign tasks to many team workers of a project.

Assigning tasks is the easy part, it is crucial for leaders to understand the strengths and

weaknesses of all team members. When leaders can understand how team members can

contribute to the team better in some respects than other, they are able to delegate tasks

deliberately to people who can complete tasks in manners that are more timely, accurate, and

completed at a higher caliber.

A lack of planning tends to be another reason projects are brought to a halt around the

world. Sometimes managers may get too eager to start a project. They see the good ideas that

could result of the final product but may forget the planning that is needed to get a project to

its final point. This planning may involve time management, establishing teams, delegating

tasks to teams and individuals, managing supplies and materials, and finally establishing

yourself as the team leader. Without a leader who can bring a positive upbringing to their team

and establish a positive culture, the team may lose a sense of direction and become lost in the

project.
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Finally, one of the last reasons projects can fail is simply due to a loss of interest from

team members or even the project manager. As mentioned earlier, one of a project managers

duty is to inspire the team and provide a positive culture to create a team that is engaged in

their work and can reflect from their positive interest in each project. Interest can go beyond

morals as well, sometimes loss of financial interest can completely crumble a project too.

Investors and stakeholders all have a financial interest in a project that can be tied to the

progress of a given project. If leaders of a project are not maintaining the proper pace and

inspiration to a project, investors could lose interest and stop providing funding to a project and

bring any progress made to an abrupt stop.

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Works Cited

Fenton, Karla. “12 Failed Projects and the Lessons Learned – 2019.” Training Bytesize, Byte Size,
20 Nov. 2020, https://www.trainingbytesize.com/12-failed-projects-lessons-learned/.

HBR Guide to Project Management. Harvard Business Review Press, 2013.

Managing Projects Large and Small: The Fundamental Skills for Delivering on Budget and on
Time. Harvard Business School Press, 2004.

Stewart, Jim. “Project Failure: Top 10 Reasons Why Project Fail.” Project, Project-
Management.com, 19 Jan. 2022, https://project-management.com/top-10-reasons-why-
projects-fail/.