What Does IT Project Management and Jello Have In Common?

The ABCs of IT Project Management over at CIO Magazine starts off with a great intro:

Managing an IT project is like juggling chunks of Jell-O: It’s neither easy nor pretty.

It’s a good article on getting your arms around what project management is, what the challenges are and some approaches to help make sure you are more successful.  Although it does prepare you for the worst before you get too deep in the article.

According to a cited study, only 29% of IT projects are completed successfully, and the reasons for those that do fail can be traced upstream.  How do you know if you’re project is among the 71% unlucky ones?  Here’s a rule-of-thumb metric for determining if a project will fail:

…use an indicator such as the “15-15 Rule.” The 15-15 Rule states that if a project is more than 15 percent over budget or 15 percent off schedule, it will likely never recoup the time or cost necessary to be considered successful.

While the tone set is definitely gloom and doom there are some constructive pieces on how to help ensure the project is positioned, and managed, to succeed.  Overall a good read if you are either new to project management, looking for paths to improving how your projects are managed or just want vindicated for what’s been keeping you up at night.