{"id":1308,"date":"2008-09-29T14:53:01","date_gmt":"2008-09-29T18:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/?p=1308"},"modified":"2008-12-19T18:05:46","modified_gmt":"2008-12-19T22:05:46","slug":"misaligned-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/?p=1308","title":{"rendered":"Alignment Failures"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following entry is a part of the Pattern Library<\/a>. The Pattern Library records the common patterns of events that have the potential to lead to project failure.<\/p>\n

\n

Pattern name : Alignment Failures<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

In brief :
\n<\/strong>Different parties are focused on different goals resulting in\u00a0conflicts and poorly alinged\u00a0efforts
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Description :<\/strong>
\nAlthough\u00a0the need for a formal project goal is firmly established in the Project Management literature, in practice\u00a0other forms of goals also influence a project’s outcome.\u00a0 In addition to the formally stated project goal,\u00a0personal and organizational goals also come into play.\u00a0 Where perosnal or oganziational goals are seriously out of line with the project goal significant side effects can derail a projects progress.<\/p>\n

Common examples of misaligned goals include;<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Sales groups who are interested in securing a signed contract over ensuring the scope, budget and schedule commitments are achievable<\/li>\n
  2. Vendors who are interested in more billable hours rather than cost containment<\/li>\n
  3. Competition between different vendors working on the same project<\/li>\n
  4. Stakeholder groups who promote their own needs over those of others<\/li>\n
  5. Failure to establish a clear goal creates a vacuum, which stakeholders and team members fill with their own assumptions or preferences.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Negative effects :<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Wasted efforts as different groups work in opposing directions<\/li>\n
    2. A breakdown in collaboration<\/li>\n
    3. Actions are taken that are not in the\u00a0best interests of the project.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Common Root Causes :<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Failure to explore and articulate a formal project goal<\/li>\n
      2. Lack of buy-in from stakeholder groups<\/li>\n
      3. Poorly structured incentives (such as giving sales teams bonuses based on\u00a0signed contracts rather than\u00a0successful project completion)<\/li>\n
      4. Breakdown of effective performance appraisals breaks the linkage between project goals and personal goals, thereby encouraging personal goals to play a more significant role<\/li>\n
      5. Lack of leadership.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Suggested Actions :<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Ensure all stakeholders have a role in defining the project goal<\/li>\n
        2. Clearly document the project goal<\/li>\n
        3. Maintain a clear linkage between actions and the goal.\u00a0 Frequently remind all parties of the goal and use the project goal as the basis for decision making where appropriate.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          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. Pattern name : Alignment Failures\u00a0 In brief : Different parties are focused on different goals resulting in\u00a0conflicts and poorly alinged\u00a0efforts Description : Although\u00a0the need for a formal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,8],"tags":[135,20,136,19,18],"class_list":["post-1308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behavioral-pattern","category-pattern","tag-behavioral-pattern","tag-organizational-goals","tag-pattern","tag-personal-goals","tag-project-goal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1308"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2873,"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308\/revisions\/2873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}