Recently, I have done a lot of product projects from scratch, some of which were successful and some were not completed on schedule. There are even two projects that have been overdue for one month due to development resource issues. The experience of successful projects can be used for reference to pave the way for subsequent projects, and the failed projects can be used as lessons. We all have to learn to learn from the failure of the project, as long as we can face it bravely, then making mistakes is not a bad thing. In fact, product managers in many companies also assume the role of project managers, and managing projects is also one of the necessary capabilities of product managers. In fact, there are not many factors that affect the failure of the project. Many times we cannot avoid these factors in advance, so what we need to do is how to make up for it. I have summed up part of it, and I have also learned some from online materials. I will know that the factors for project failure are mainly divided into the following categories:
Technical reasons:
1. The temptation of leading technology, the early adopter of trendy technology, but the lack of technical foundation reserves;
2. Imperfect technical design, the basic technical structure is not well established, or the design is not perfect;
3. Provided technical solutions for non-technical problems without seriously thinking about the nature of the problem;
4. Depend on the software package (JDK) to meet the requirements, excessive dependence will affect the scalability;
5. Tools are not fully utilized during the development life cycle;
6. Development is technology-oriented, not demand-oriented;
Human Factors:
1. Lack of support from administrative staff, generally refers to the departments related to the project, such as server procurement requires the cooperation of the procurement department, and sometimes refers to the leaders who lead the project initiation;
2. Lack of leadership, multiple leaders within the team;
3. Project team without professionalism;
4. Incomplete project team with lack of staffing ratio;
5. Manage third-party factors, such as technology outsourcing projects;
6. Lack of a project elite, such as a full-time project manager;
7. Lack of project ownership;
8. Relevant personnel conflict, which refers to the imbalance of personnel ratio;
9. Refuse to change, unable to face the change of demand;
10. Unfriendly organizational culture;
11. Inexperienced project managers;
12. There is a lack of commercial reasons, and the value of the project is low;
13. Unclear or ambiguous priorities;
14. There is a lack of training, and there are many situations in the process of project implementation;
15. The motivation of relevant personnel is inconsistent and lack of centripetal force;
Process management factors:
1. Lack of project management method system;
2. Lack of system development method system;
3. Lack of revenue management method system;
4. Lack of quality management methods and systems;
5. Failure to identify and transfer project risks;
6. Failure to manage demand;
7. Excessive project schedule;
8. Insufficient test coverage;
9. Computerized "Blast" Method
Learning from failures is an important part of the continuous improvement process, and some of the key lessons are listed below.
Manage user expectations
That is, project people need to understand from the outset what needs to be delivered and what not to deliver, identify user needs and establish ownership as clear as possible in the project. Even under the best of circumstances, the information the user has previously received is limited. Often times, it's difficult to identify the right users who can provide feedback. Key user requirements need to be identified at the beginning of the project, and time is provided for key users to identify all requirements, and they are also responsible for providing and validating information and dedicating resources accordingly.
Value and user needs must be considered in the project specification
First, projects are created and developed because of identifiable and measurable user needs. Clear goals established at the beginning of a project will gradually become blurred as the project progresses, which is a common characteristic of projects with excessively long delivery deadlines. It is therefore important to identify end users before a project begins so that their needs are fully considered during the design and development of the project, and that users are responsible and need to act accordingly to help the project succeed. User requirements constitute a crucial link in the project analysis and design phase. Once requirements are identified, these requirements are baselined, introduced into the project management system, and managed using change control. If these requirements are changed or new requirements are added, an impact analysis on the project is required and the project plan is revised accordingly.
Second, the project specification must focus on project value rather than technical solutions. Therefore, even though technically a clear solution already exists, the project review needs to focus on the aspects that are relevant to the project's value.
Measure and evaluate project size and complexity before identifying resources (focus on achievability)
The unfortunate consequence of the development of technological power is to convince us that many goals that were previously impossible are now not only achievable, but easily achievable. Sometimes this kind of thinking in the early stages of a project usually manifests itself in overstating the potential benefits of the project, overly broad definition of the project scope, and overly optimistic but rather dangerous and under-detailed project planning. The size and complexity of the project is a determining factor in the success of the project, so we need to clearly identify:
a. Whether the proposed project schedule is realistic and feasible;
b. Whether the demand case of the project is feasible;
c. Whether the solution is technically feasible;
The introduction of new technology must arrange corresponding training
新技术或者一些开源工具会给项目带来的不少影响，容易导致有关程序员角色和责任的不明确。因此在项目计划中纳入培训成本和时间进度以确保员工知道如何使用和维护系统是至关重要的。没有合理的培训就是永远不可能实现软件投资的全部潜在收益。更重要的是，缺少培训可能会为项目带来实现风险和运作风险，这些风险可能会最终威胁项目的长期可用性。
清晰可见的项目管理结构
在管理结构中必须存在定义清楚的角色、责任和义务，明确各个项目成员自身所处的角色及相应的职责。在项目的开始阶段就应该确定正式的组织结构以及与高级管理层交流的途径，同时在项目的整个过程中予以保持。
处理好人员问题
人才永远是项目成功的最重要因素。人员开发计划必须与组织中的项目管理框架同步进行，从而提供培训、业绩评估、分派工作和职位晋升相关的机制。谁都希望项目团队里都是高度主动性和熟练技能的员工，但现实往往很残酷，如果应届生较多的话，还是早点安排老员工带一下，这样能尽快的上手。
接受风险，但要严格管理风险
项目的成功实现需要有有效的风险管理所支持的创造性思维。要及时对一些影响项目进度的功能模块进行调查并重新进行风险分析工作以及后续的风险管理工作，从而对需求进行重新评估并相应的调整计划。
项目管理是一门学问，需要一定时间的工作经验积累，并不是去考个PMP回来就能当项目经理的，真正注重的还是实践，照搬理论那一套的话，很多公司内部的现状都不足以支撑PMP所要求的完善体系，大型公司可以试下。