Project Management Tips for turning round a failing Project

You can have the best intentions, and talented teams but still have your project stall. After years of helping organisations deliver, from rescuing critical iniatives through to end to end delivery, I've seen the same patterns again and again:

Top Reasons projects go off track:

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠:  If you rush to decide on and initiate projects, you risk having the wrong projects in play that don't support strategy and business goals. If you rush starting projects, you risk resource gaps, incomplete requirements and delivery timelines that just can't work.

𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚: If you aren't clear on what your project needs to deliver, on how it enables the business to move forward, then you risk derailment from the very start as clear outcomes are needed to help you get the right plan in place.

𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐞:  I get it, every business is living through constant change. But if your 'why' and 'what' aren't nailed down, your teams are going to get pulled in multiple directions. Scope creep will quietly derail progress.

𝐏𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: If your stakeholders and sponsors don't get the right updates at the right time, risks will become issues and alignment disappears, making it even harder to get decisions made.

𝐋𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: The best plan in the world will fail if all your stakeholders aren't on board and giving the project the support it needs.

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: You need the right people in the right roles to be able to deliver successfully

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬?

Every project can be turned around with the right approach:

✅ Diagnose the real issues, not just the symptoms

✅ Revisit why that project was deemed critical and reevaluate scope

✅ Pausing and resetting will offer more value than limping on

✅ Clearly prioritise issues and build in mitigation and resolution

✅ Check and validate sponsor and stakeholder alignment

✅ Make sure your comms support and enhance delivery

✅ Deliver quick wins to restore momentum

If your project feels stuck, you're not alone - act quickly to ensure that issues don't become showstoppers.