How to avoid project failure

5 steps to improve planning and avoid project failure

Senior Business Analyst, Sandra Mukundu, outlines how you can help avoid failure through proper planning.

How to avoid project failure

So your project hasn’t gone to plan… we’ve all been there right? Maybe it’s been deemed a ‘failure’ because it wasn’t delivered on time, or didn’t meet the business / stakeholder expectations.

Whatever the reason, there are 5 steps you can follow to avoid project failure.

There is a well-known saying by Benjamin Franklin, “Failing to plan is planning to fail”.

Modern corporate life is characterised by everything being urgent. You bounce from one meeting to another, and it may seem like you are always behind schedule.

That’s why it’s important to set aside time to plan what you are doing and monitor progress, to make improvements.

Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring is one of the six knowledge areas in the BABOK (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge) guide. This knowledge area lays out all the tasks that organise and coordinate the efforts of the Business Analysts and stakeholders in the project, or in the organisation.

This involves doing the following 5 steps:

1. Plan a Business Analysis Approach

Defining the appropriate method to carry out business analysis work is critical. The business analysis approach must align with the broader project management approach

You need to consider the methodology used in conducting the business analysis activities. Most organisations already have a methodology in place for all their projects.

The two most common methodologies used are:

• The plan-driven approach (commonly known as the Waterfall approach)
• The change-driven, iterative approach (known as the Agile approach)

Some organisations use a blended / hybrid approach of the two to run their software development projects. You need to be clear on the methodology you’re going to use, as this will improve planning activities and help avoid failure.

2. Plan Stakeholder Engagement

A stakeholder is anyone who is directly or indirectly impacted by the project or change. As a Business Analyst, it’s important to plan how to engage with them appropriately, and how you will collaborate.

Communication methods and frequency depend on stakeholder roles, project influence, and impacts on them and their team.

3. Plan Business Analysis Governance

This task ensures that decisions are made properly and consistently. Clear sign-off processes ensure timely approval from relevant stakeholders, preventing delays in delivering crucial functionality.

4. Plan Business Analysis Information Management

You will need to ensure project information is effectively captured, stored, accessed, and integrated. Clarify the location of stored project information and the software used for managing the project backlog.

This can be achieved using tools like Confluence or Jira for tracking project tasks. You also need to be clear on what tools will be used for the work you are doing.

Capturing information correctly so that it is easily accessible will help ensure project success.

5. Identify Business Performance Improvement

This task ensures the business analysis work is on track for successful change and ensures opportunities for learning and improvement are realised along the way.

This involves looking at the actual performance measures. These may be qualitative (using numeric data which is measurable) or using qualitative data, which is subjective and can be observed but not measured.

This performance measurement can be done from the project perspective to help avoid project failure. It’s important to do this at an individual level (doing a self-introspective on how you think you are going and what you can do to improve your performance on the project). This ensures that as a Business Analyst, you are constantly improving and seeking to do things better.

In summary, all projects, whether Waterfall or Agile, can benefit from a proper business analysis planning and monitoring approach.

Utilising the 5 steps above will help avoid project failure and ensure it meets both business and stakeholder expectations.

Do you need help planning and monitoring an upcoming project? Reach out!