Who is accountable for project success?
Management approves a new project with great fanfare. The project manager starts working on the project deliverables and the product is launched on due date and within budget, but within a few months it is clear that the product is a failure.
Who is responsible for this?
Experienced professional Terry Deacon says projects have two proÂcesses that run in parallel. The project management process describes, organises and completes the work of the project and the project manager is accountable for this process.
The product-oriented process specifies and creates a product and the line or functional managers are traditionally accountable for this process.
Integrating the two processes is the responsibility of the project manager.
So where does the buck stop if a product fails in the marketplace?
“Depending on which project management philosophy you follow the answer could vary,” says Deacon.
“Project managers following the North American Project Management Body of Knowledge [PMBoK] approach would say that they did their job to bring the project in on time and within budget and that it was the fault of the functional design and marketing team that the product failed.
But those who use the Japanese Project and Programme Management (P2M) approach expect the project manager to be accountable for the success of the project and product processes. The European approach is somewhere in the middle.
In North America, however, emphasis has been placed on the role of the project sponsor to increase the success rate of projects.
Team members turn to the project manager for help when they encounter a problem.
But to whom can the project manager turn to when s/he needs support?
Deacon says one of the major reasons for project failure is a lack of top management support. “So it is important that a senior management representative be appointed to ensure that the project stays aligned with the organisation’s strategy.”
This is where a project sponsor comes in. This person acts as a link between the project and the originating organisation (client).
Sponsors can help project managers to obtain scarce resources, remove obstacles, test ideas and help solve problems (particularly political ones).
The project sponsor should ensure that the feasibility studies and viabiÂlity of the product are sound before project go-ahead is given.
“So it appears that ultimate project and product success depends on the integration of the efforts of the project team, the functional managers and the sponsor to satisfy the needs of project stakeholders. The project manager plays a pivotal role in integrating their efforts through building an efficient and effective team to achieve the project’s objectives,” says Deacon.
Deacon says there is enormous demand for project managers in growing economies such as China, India and even Dubai. He says project manaÂgers are spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing to work overseas.
Deacon says Dubai has at least 15% of the world’s tower cranes at the moment, which is an indication of the massive projects being undertaken in that country. “They are busy with the Dubai waterfront, the Burj and the underwater hotel. This is just one city … there is incredible growth happening out there and there’s demand for project managers,” he says.
He says South Africa needs to focus on training and developing talent. “Or we are going to have to go the route of importing people.”
Despite Deacon’s concern over the shortage of skills, South Africa clearly has a wealth of talent. The country has been the Project of the Year international winner three times. In 1991 Sasol won for the polypropylene plant, in 1995 Sastech won for the Benfield column and in 2001 the Mozal smelter project won.