N O N O N O N O N O N O

The CIO should look for signals such as missed dead-lines, increased budgets and dissatisfaction in the ranks.After identifying a troubledproject, the CIO should, withthe help of the projectmanager, seek answers toquestions in the following six gray boxes.

Was the project approved byan authorized person? If theperson who approved theproject is no longer with theorganization, make sure thecurrent sponsor is fully committed to the project.

Is this the only project ofthis kind underway? Is thereno project that duplicatesthis one?

Does the project fit with the currently stated business strategy?

Is the enabling technologyavailable and reliable? Can it be supported by the ITorganization? Will users adapt it properly?

Does the sponsor understandthe project’s complexity? Ishe or she committed to theproject? Does the sponsorhave the authority to shutdown the project?

Are the project’s internal customers satisfied with theproject?

Healthy (1-5 points)The project’s performance is on track; the variancesare within acceptable limits.

Caution (6-10 points)The project’s performance has deteriorated beyondthe project manager’s ability to improve it. It is now atrisk of becoming a runaway project. If the steeringcommittee wants the project to be completed, theproject sponsor needs to take charge of the situationand devise a plan to fix the problem(s).

Danger (11+ points)The project has reached runaway project status; noteven the project’s sponsors can fix it or get it back ontrack. At this point, the project steering committeeneeds to take a serious look at the project’s viability,and either shut down or save the project.

1 Issues are unanswered questions and differences of opinion.2 It is seldom that a project has no outstanding issues. Therefore,make sure when the value here is 0, that there are really no outstandingissues. The 0 value could be a sign that issues are not being tracked.3 In case of fixed-price contracts, change the variances to < 5%, 5% to 10%, and >10%.

Vital Signs Report CardThe best way to track a project’s health isby measuring its vital signs. In this reportcard, most signs are measured by thevariance between the project’s currentstatus and the plan. It also uses a pointsystem: The greater the variance orpotential problem, the more points it isassigned. After the project managermeasures the vital signs, he or she canassign status—healthy, caution or dan-ger—and a course of action.

At this step, the sponsor and projectmanager select the appropriate vitalsigns and, depending on the project’scomplexity, decide how many points toassign and what threshold levels to setfor the caution or danger stage. The vitalsigns and numbers listed here are fre-quently used by companies that haveadopted this methodology.

whiteboard How To Kill A Troubled Project

gopal k. kapur is the president and founder of the Center forProject Management in San Ramon, Calif.(www.center4pm.com).How To Kill A Troubled Project concept © 2001 Center for Project Management

Information Design: Jessica Helfand | William Drenttel

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

Start with a troubled project. Approved project? Unique project? Fit with business

strategy?Technologically

viable? Right sponsor? Customer buy-in? Define vital signs,set threshold levels.

Project Schedule: actual vs. plan% difference in days

Milestones: actual vs. plan% goals completed on time

Deliverables: actual vs. plan% goals achieved

Unresolved Issues1

# issues vs. deliverables to be completed

Cost to Date: actual vs. estimated3

% over or under budget

Resources: actual vs. planned % difference in staff, equipment, etc.

High Probability, High Impact Risk Events e.g., technology failure,loss of sponsor, key personnel

< 10% 010% to 20% 1> 20% 2

< 10% 010% to 20% 1>20% 2

< 10% 010% to 20% 2> 20% 4

No Issues2 0< Deliverables 1> Deliverables 2

< 10% 010% to 20% 1> 20% 2

< 10% 010% to 15% 2> 15% 4

1-3 Risks 14-5 Risks 36-7 Risks 5

Vital Signs Variance Points

Now that the vital signs are defined and the thresh-old levels are set, it’s time for an assessment. To ensureaccuracy and completeness,the CIO should verify thevital signs.

The steering committeeshould be made up of cross-functional executives. Formajor strategic projects, theseshould be department headsreporting to the CEO.

If the vital sign variances are acceptable, the projectcan continue as planned.However, if the variancesbreach either threshold level,the steering committeeneeds to decide the fate ofthe project.

The sponsor and the projectmanager develop a well-defined plan, with specificresponsibilities, to carry outthe project cancellationprocess. This is to ensure thatdamage to the end customer,the key stakeholders and theproject team is minimized.

The sponsor should call orpersonally meet with keystakeholders to set out thereasons for the cancellationbefore announcing the decision publicly.

In any project, there arealways certain components—such as requirements, design,code, test data—that can besalvaged for use in otherprojects. The project managershould develop and imple-ment a plan to salvageany/all such components.

Members should be assigned to other projectteams or given new responsibilities.

The sponsor should be avail-able to take questions fromemployees and vendors aswell as key stakeholders.Executives should not assignblame to individuals orteams; if they do, staffmorale and willingness tohonestly assess future proj-ects will suffer.

The project manager shouldinterview team members(including customers) andreview the project’s history,then draft a set of “lessonslearned” to share with managers and staff.

Because a cancelled projectmeans reassigning team members, the sponsor oughtto consult the HR departmentto make sure any career-relatedissues are addressed properly.

If the project to be cancelledinvolves vendors or contractors,the sponsor needs to review the cancellation plan with thelegal department.

The steering committee nowdecides the fate of the proj-ect. In one commonly usedmethod, each steering groupmember casts a vote with avalue of between 1 (low prior-ity) and 5 (high priority).Usually, only projects averag-ing 4 or more are deemedworth saving.

The sponsor and the projectmanager outline the stepsneeded to bring the project’svital signs back to acceptablelevels, and devise a plan fortracking the project’s recovery.The plan should include getting proper authorization,an appropriate sponsor, andbuy-in from customers ifthese factors had not beenagreed upon earlier.

The steering committeeshould evaluate the project’s vital signs every two weeks,and more frequently if itbreached the Caution orDanger threshold.

Y E S N O

YES

NO

Assessvital signs.

Send assessment tosteering committee.

Vital signswithin limits? Kill the project? Develop project

cancellation plan.Tell key stakeholders

privately.

Announce theproject has

been cancelled.

Consult with legaldepartment.

Consult with HR department.

Continue theproject.

Develop arecovery plan.

Re-assign projectteam members.

Glean lessons fromthe project.

Salvage usableproject components.