When does a software project succeed?
It looks like a strange question to me when project delivery team members asks me ‘When will a software project succeed?’ It looks to be simple and it also looks to be complex. At times it looks elementary and at times it looks like a research topic. My five point answers here are to sound too simplistic, while it may not be necessarily the case…! My views are definitely sincere in terms of defiition but could be complex in terms of implementation depending on the maturity of delivery team and / or customer culture.
In my view, the following decides the success of a project:
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Sincerity to resolve the customer problem
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Honesty in keeping the project status updated to all stakeholders
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Accepting the project only when the capability is available and / or can be built
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Courage to convey any bad news to customer, with an alternative
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Devising mechanisms to decrease the production time
I will elaborate on each one of these in my subsequent posts. These will definitely have a say on our project management styles and thereby would sound like ot PM Mantras. These are more from an outsiders views or a view by a person from other industry. As told above, these are golden rules and to adhere to them and follow themone may have to tread a tough path. Some of the above points are externally, customer focussed and some are internally, production focussed and with some bi-directional.
In a IT world which is hunting for the Holy Grail of best practices leading to successful software delivery, here comes my two cents…!
Author:
Ramkumar Ramachandran – Head Quality – Renault Nissan, Chennai.
He can be reached at ramkumarramachandran@yahoo.co.in