Project Failure Source 10 - Insufficient Resources

Note: This posting is the final contribution to the topic posted on June 24th and relates to my project management workshop titled "10 Ways to Increase Your Project's Success". In this post I discuss one of the sources of project failure and how we may mitigate this risk to our projects.

Source 10 - Insufficient Resources
This final source of project failure addresses an issue that every project manager faces; insufficient resources. While we will always complain of the lack of resources given to our project, at some point this shortage does indeed prevent us from meeting our project goals. This shortage may be due to lack of adherence to the initial project estimates and commitments or may due to some organizational changes that result in budget cuts, more urgent need for the project deliverables, or availability of project team members. This may also be caused by lack of commitment from the functional managers in making their staff available for the project, providing individuals without sufficient experience, or providing individuals without the needed skill set.

Effect on Project
Without sufficient resources or improper resources, the project is at risk of failing to deliver the expected scope, completing on time, and staying within the financial budget. Additionally, the project team members experience added pressure to achieve unrealistic goals with the lack of resources.

Actions Taken by the Project Manager
If the lack of resources is going to significantly restrict the project performance, the project manager must engage the stakeholders. The project manager should immediately communicate the issues and the influence the issues have on the project outcomes. Working with the functional managers and project owner to gain sufficient resources or redefine the project scope is where the conversation should begin. If the project manager is not able to negotiate with the functional manager or project owner, the project manager must then escalate the issue to the project champion to seek assistance in resolving the resource issue. The project manage must focus on balancing the change with the project variables. Don't seek to remove the change but rather seek to be provided the opportunity to adjust the remaining project variables to react to the change. We must welcome change and be able to negotiate the project variables to adopt the new changes.

Conclusion
While this list of the 10 sources of project failures is not an exhaustive list, it does represent a common set of project issues and how we can address these issues. We can see communications, balancing the project variables, and proactive planning address many of these issues.