If you are working on a project and it is not heading in a right direction due to various issues such as budget, resources and deadlines etc. Do not worry! The project can be bought back on track with serious commitment by the stakeholders involved in the project.
There are three major steps that can be followed to rescue the project from failure:
Analyse the current status
Project Audit-Determine the current status of the project by evaluating the facts against predeterminedmatrices and get to know the current standing of the project. Initiate the communication with the team to know the progress in the project based on the available reports irrespective of earlier estimations or promises. This will set the foundation of revisiting and re-planning the functioning of project to avoid project failure.
If you haven’t documented the project from the very start, this is the time to be consistent and document each and everything to keep a track of the work done. Revisit the project in all aspects be it skills , people and not only in terms of budget & timelines as these factors plays an equallyimportant role in shaping up the project and making it a success. Do not miss on any of the points here as it can lead to project failure.
Communicate the project vision
Project Recovery-Remind people of the aim of the project with which it was started by open communication with them. Document the vision of the project if not done earlier. Make people working on the project valued & convey them of the benefits of completing the project at individual level & organisational level. Work with them to communicate the importance of the task that they perform for successful completion of the project
Work on achieving the end result
Project Rescue- As you have reassessed the entire project based on budget, skills, resource and now you know the exact loopholes and standing of the project. Also, you have transparently communicated the entire aim & vision of the project to team members & stakeholders and all of you are at same page. This is the time to take a step towards a successful completion of the project.
The project need to be initiated again with optimism &enthusiasm and the status should be revisited, reassessed & re-planned after few weeks as well to see where we are heading. The proper working schedules should be made to avoid the further functioning of the project.
Every industry works in different manner, with some, project failure or delay is the part of the process due to the rapidly changing nature of the business. Do not let the team be comfortable with the same but consider it as an opportunity to remind team of project vision and move towards the successful completion of the project.