The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” – a list of failed or troubled projects from around the world.
Organization: BC Hydro - British Columbia, Canada
Project type : Hydro-electric power generator and associated dam
Project name : Site C dam
Date : Jun 2023
Cost : $16B CAD and climbing
Synopsis :
Today's large scale civil engineering projects aren't just about engineering. They typically involve a significant public relations component as well. On...
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Communications
Desperate for Done
The following entry is a part of the Pattern Library. The Pattern Library records the common patterns of events that have the potential to lead to project failure.
Name : Desperate for done
Scope : Behavioral pattern (patterns that influence the actions of an individual or group)
Outline :
Tracking the status of tasks is a key responsibility for the Project Manager. As part of that responsibility, Project Managers interact with the team to monitor the completion of each individual ac...
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Make your Meeting Worth Having – 5 Tips to Connect with Your Audience
I recently watched a video on a study centered on improving productivity in the workplace. The top cited problems for work interruptions and lack of concentrated efforts toward producing results while at work were, Managers and Meetings. Upon reflecting on what I now call the M&M factor, I realized it is indeed quite accurate. When I think of going to a place to get some serious work done, I unfortunately do not think of the office and I’m not alone. Managers are one thing, and they have a j...
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Connecting for Success
Everywhere we go we are bombarded with messages and someone vying for our attention. Every advertisement, politician, family member, or friend, has a message and something to say to us and many ways in which to say it; email, text message, Facebook posts, tweets, magazine articles, on and on. Our world is cluttered with words. So, how do you as a leader or more importantly your team choose, which to tune in and which to tune out?
As a project manager, you’re constantly tasked with getting you...
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Don’t just jump, leap
Lesson learned: Maximizing project throughput.
Category: Resource management / Portfolio management.
The following post is a "Lesson Learned" that comes from the analysis of the failed projects documented in the "Catalogue of Catastrophe" or from the experiences the editorial team have had working with clients around the world. The post is published here to spark discussion and help individuals and organizations think about what it takes to improve project success rates.
Given the rap...
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Befuddle, Bewilder and Baffle
In the Project Management world, it’s a refrain that is repeated in almost every training program offered around the world; communicate, communicate, communicate. Despite the fact that students of Project Management are told that as much as 80% of a Project Manager’s time is spent communicating, in most Project Management training courses, as little as 5% of the time is dedicated to the topic of communications. Even then, most courses simply expose students to some basics ideas (such as the send...
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Mind the Gap
The translation of an organizational need into a technical solution is a technology project’s core. That translation requires detailed knowledge of the organization’s operation environment (and their desired future state) to be married up with the technical skills from which the solution will be created. The size of the gap between those two pools of knowledge is a common source of troubled projects.
One project I recently observed had allowed a six step gap to form between the intended users...
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