1. Lack of clear link between the project and the organisation’s key
strategic priorities, including agreed measures of success.
• Do we know how the priority of this project compares and aligns with our
other delivery and operational activities?
• Have we defined the critical success factors (CSFs) for the project?
• Have the CSFs been agreed with suppliers and key stakeholders?
• Do we have a clear project plan that covers the full period of the planned
delivery and all business change required, and indicates the means of
benefits realisation?
• Is the project founded upon realistic timescales, taking account of statutory
lead times, and showing critical dependencies such that any delays can be
handled?
• Are the lessons learnt from relevant projects being applied?
• Has an analysis been undertaken of the effects of any slippage in time, cost,
scope or quality? In the event of a problem/conflict at least one must be
sacrificed.
2.
Lack of clear senior management and Ministerial ownership and
leadership.
• Does the project management team have a clear view of the
interdependencies between projects, the benefits, and the criteria against
which success will be judged?
• If the project traverses organisational boundaries, are there clear governance
arrangements to ensure sustainable alignment with the business objectives
of all organisations involved?
• Are all proposed commitments and announcements first checked for delivery
implications?
• Are decisions taken early, decisively, and adhered to, in order to facilitate
successful delivery?
• Does the project have the necessary approval to proceed from its nominated
Minister either directly or through delegated authority to a designated SRO?
• Does the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) have the ability, responsibility
and authority to ensure that the business change and business benefits are
delivered?
• Does the SRO have a suitable track record of delivery? Where necessary, is
this being optimised through training?
3.
Lack of effective engagement with stakeholders.
• Have we identified the right stakeholders?
• In so doing, have we as intelligent customers, identified the rationale for
doing so (e.g. the why, the what, the who, the where, the when and the
how)?
• Have we secured a common understanding and agreement of stakeholder
requirements?
• Does the business case take account of the views of all stakeholders
including users?
• Do we understand how we will manage stakeholders e.g. ensure buy-in,
overcome resistance to change, allocate risk to the party best able to
manage it?
• Has sufficient account been taken of the subsisting organisational culture?
• Whilst ensuring that there is clear accountability, how can we resolve any
conflicting priorities?
4.
Lack of skills and proven approach to project management and
risk management.
• Is there a skilled and experienced project team with clearly defined roles and
responsibilities? If not, is there access to expertise, which can benefit those
fulfilling the requisite roles?
• Are the major risks identified, weighted and treated by the SRO, the Director,
and Project Manager and/or project team?
• Has sufficient resourcing, financial and otherwise, been allocated to the
project, including an allowance for risk?
• Do we have adequate approaches for estimating, monitoring and controlling
the total expenditure on projects?
• Do we have effective systems for measuring and tracking the realisation of
benefits in the business case?
• Are the governance arrangements robust enough to ensure that “bad news”
is not filtered out of progress reports to senior managers?
• If external consultants are used, are they accountable and committed to help
ensure successful and timely delivery?
5.
Too little attention to breaking development and implementation
into manageable steps.
• Has the approach been tested to ensure it is not ‘big-bang’ for example in IT-
enabled projects?
• Has sufficient time been built in to allow for planning applications in Property
& Construction projects for example?
• Have we done our best to keep delivery timescales short so that change
during development is avoided?
• Have enough review points been built in so that the project can be stopped, if
changing circumstances mean that the business benefits are no longer
achievable or no longer represent value for money?
• Is there a business continuity plan in the event of the project delivering late or
failing to deliver at all?
6.
Evaluation of proposals driven by initial price rather than long-
term value for money (especially securing delivery of business
benefits).
• Is the evaluation based on whole-life value for money, taking account of
capital, maintenance and service costs?
• Do we have a proposed evaluation approach that allows us to balance
financial factors against quality and security of delivery?
• Does the evaluation approach take account of business criticality and
affordability?
• Is the evaluation approach business driven?
7.
Lack of understanding of and contact with the supply industry at
senior levels in the organisation.
• Have we tested that the supply industry understands our approach and
agrees that it is achievable?
• Have we asked suppliers to state any assumptions they are making against
their proposals?
• Have we checked that the project will attract sufficient competitive interest?
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• Are senior management sufficiently engaged with the industry to be able
assess supply-side risks?
• Do we have a clear strategy for engaging with the industry or are we making
sourcing decisions on a piecemeal basis?
• Are the processes in place to ensure that all parties have a clear
understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and a shared understanding
of desired outcomes, key terms and deadlines?
•
Do we understand the dynamics of industry to determine whether our
acquisition requirements can be met given potentially competing pressures in
other sectors of the economy?
8. Lack of effective project team integration between clients, the supplier
team and the supply chain.
• Has a market evaluation been undertaken to test market responsiveness to
the requirements being sought?
• Are the procurement routes that allow integration of the project team being
used?
• Is there early supplier involvement to help determine and validate what
outputs and outcomes are sought for the project?
• Has a shared risk register been established?
• Have arrangements for sharing efficiency gains throughout the supply team
been established?

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