Study: Keep quiet about problems kills projects

07.06.2006
Failing to initiate "crucial conversations" may be the single biggest cause of project failure, according to preliminary findings of an ongoing study on project management.

The study, being conducted by Vital Smarts Inc., a Provo, Utah-based training firm, found that project managers' inability to talk to people about five often-occurring negative situations frequently leads to failure. The preliminary findings were made public Tuesday at Delivering Project Excellence, a conference for project managers.

According to David Maxfield, director of research at Vital Smarts, the five situations include the following:

-- Setting arbitrary deadlines and inadequate resources that "set up a project to fail."

-- Failing to provide the necessary leadership, political clout or energy for a project.

-- Skirting or manipulating the project priority-setting process.