Assessing Project Execution Capability

By Leslie Wilk Braksick, Ph.D. and Tim Nolan, Ph.D.

It would be nice if the reason that projects were not executed successfully were due to knowledge deficit problems – the kind that can be easily detected and remedied through training or other established project management techniques. Unfortunately, most problems that tend to sink projects or result in poor execution have to do with behavior – what people on projects say and do. Or in some cases what they DO NOT say and do. Most people have been well trained on the phase-gated methodology of choice. They understand it and, notionally, support it. What they don’t do is follow it consistently, or use it to guide their actions every step of the way in planning and executing a major project.

A study by the Standish group found that on major (>$500 million) capital projects:

• 55% of projects reported cost overruns
• Only 10% were on time and on budget
• 59% reported significant changes in scope
• 35% were canceled completely

Perhaps the most intriguing conclusion from the study was that the technical issues were the easy issues to handle. The really difficult problems that led to poor execution came down to behavioral issues. The difficulty with these projects was not that they lacked adequate project management rigor – they all required phase-gated project management methodology – it was getting the right behaviors at the right time from everyone on the project.

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