Equipping the Project Executioner
How to kill runaway projects before they kill the company
Sue Bushell 05 September, 2008 11:25:00

Matt Eventoff, a US-based messaging and communications strategist, spends much of his time working with lamenting CIOs, CTOs and other IT executives labouring to hammer that final nail into the coffin of failed IT projects.
Grieving clients call Eventoff in once they have finally accepted that the project is terminal or towards the end of the decision-making process, to ensure the reasons for the death are made explicit and information is delivered to stakeholders as intelligibly and articulately as humanly possible. Eventoff says those corporations who use his services do so for very good reasons. In his broad experience the number one issue confronting IT executives forced to kill a project is a lack of clear communication as to why it has been taken off life support.

“I have watched CIOs lose star employees and future talent due to a miscommunication or mixed message that certainly cost the company more in the long run than the program ever would,” Eventoff says. “One instance was a decision based on financial information where the owner of the project was never informed of the reason, took the termination of his project very personally, and looked for employment elsewhere. That was not the result the company was looking for.”

Palliative care is essential when a project is dying a slow and painful death, not for the project itself, but for all those watching its death throes and starting to mourn. CIOs must ensure reasons for either termination or continuation are clearly conveyed to the right audience. That means taking an inventory of every player and every person affected by the decision, and ensuring each is communicated with personally, Eventoff says. It’s a move that can accrue some real ancillary benefits. For instance the very process of communicating and developing the core message about the decision often allows a lot of information never normally discussed during the decision-making process to come to light, leading to fresh insights or even revelations that can eventually alter that decision…..

http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;855124021