Planning for Project Success

In many industries, not mentioning any names.., it is common for projects and programmes to run over- time, run over-budget and under-deliver. Whilst there are lots of potential reasons for failures, being able to answer three simple questions will greatly increase the probability of programme success.
These questions are:

1. What does measurable success look like for the programme (i.e. what is it trying to achieve)?
2. What activities will the programme conduct, what will those activities cost and how will they each contribute to success?
3. How will the programme measure success through-life, spot problems and act to ensure success?

The dependency map below shows some simple steps for answering these questions and getting your programme heading the right way from the start.

If you feel something important is missing feel free to post your comments below and I'll rework the map to include them.

If you find this diagram helpful, feel free to re-use, alter and reproduce it as you feel fit.
The diagram was created and can be edited (for free) in a visual programme mapping tool called Realisor.

Links:

• Get Realisor Free Edition to edit the map
• Get the map shown above