Our speciality is turning around and rescuing troubled projects quickly
Projects Fail, but they don’t have to
The reality is that software project failure is still distressingly common. Techniques like Agile can help, but they are not a panacea, with still only about 42% of Agile projects being clear successes, according to the Standish CHAOS report.
When you have a failing project, it’s easy to be taken in by “silver bullet” solutions, but unfortunately they just don’t exist. Our approach is the only one we’ve ever seen that works consistently, but it’s not a simple, easy solution. It involves a lot of very hard work and even harder decisions.
Our Approach
Our approach follows a standardised turnaround strategy working through five discrete phases.
Recognise
As with many things, the first step of resolving a problem is recognising that you have one. This stage is normally before we become involved, but we can help you with this step if you’re unsure if a problem actually exists. Generally speaking though, if you think there’s a problem, there probably is a problem.
- Early warning signs
- Lack of focus
- Excuses
- Symptoms
- No real progress
- No shared understanding of done
Analyse
- Keep Calm
- Understand the project and situation
- Technology, Novelty, Pace & Complexity map
- Detailed analysis of software quality & metrics
- Review of delivery team
- Project governance review
- Stakeholder analysis
- Decision rights analysis
- Automated code quality reporting
- Agile practices review
- “What does done look like?”
Stabilise
- Organise team
- Training and coaching
- Engineering techniques
- Optimism
- Keep Calm
- Quick Wins
- Relationship Building
- Adjust plan
- Consistent delivery builds trust
Transform
- Continual improvement
- Strong communication
- Build sense of achievement
- Build culture of excellence
- Responsibility
- Relentless quality improvement
- Zero defect mindset
Sustain
- Turnaround achieved
- Sense of pride
- Self-confidence
- Learnt from past mistakes
- Embedding mindset shifts