Forensic Project Management - Investigating the case of a dead project

When a project has come to an abrupt halt and death is in sight, the initial response is shock and disbelief. The next feeling is denial, a need to place blame, and a need to understand why it went wrong. Calling in a forensic expert will help in identifying the factors that lead up to the demise of your project. In an evaluation these experts take factors measured against dark outcomes. There is little point in measuring them against successful projects. Just as a coroner performing an autopsy, you wouldn’t compare a dead body with a living one because it would only prove that it’s dead. Comparing the dead project with other dead projects will determine factors that led to its downfall as well as what caused the initial failure.

Project failures rarely arise from a single cause or a single individual. When using a forensic approach you will establish what triggered the initiation of the failure. In this approach you will be able to define blame, but more importantly uncover the facts the company can do to prevent the same failures from happening again. A Forensic Project Manager works the same as Fraud Examiner, with responsibilities in resolving allegations of project fraud, reinforcing accountability, writing reports, implementing policy changes, as well as investigation of project failures. Policy recommendations are presented for the conduct of future actions which are backed by evidence, not gossip; in turn these actions will have an enormous impact on future performance. Often when a project is lost the company will suffer from a cycle of doubt and destructive habits. Employee confidence will become low and personal accountability will not be accepted. By using a forensic approach in project management these methods will reduce the effects of a loss on your company. Once policies are reinforced a company can build up its momentum once more and move forward.

Forensic Project Management is not only used in the case of a dead project, but also when a project is led astray. A Forensic expert can investigate the point in which a project has lost sight of its target and can get it back on track. A forensic expert should also apply changes to processes and other factors that can dramatically improve project performance. Project education will improve overall skills and project assurance will provide a focus on what is current with the project. Organizations are realizing that there is more than success and failure of a project, there is also the critical public and market perception of the company. If a company is seen in any kind of negative light, it can be a detrimental blow and cripple, or worse, extinguish it completely. It is important to take data found in an investigation or in planning of a project and turn it into knowledge. Utilize the resources found in the investigation and implement them into your planning and it will prove to create improvement in your projects. Another opportunity of improvements is in the control areas of planning and performance. The process of projects through approval and consideration should be adjusted to checking for appropriateness instead of compliance and for management instead of variance. Budgets should not be stressed, quality of the project output should. When the quality of the project is projected the budget will be properly assessed. Many times projects are beaten with the concept of budgets in planning that quality is ignored or dismissed to accommodate budgeting. People skills, commonly thought to be a prerequisite of a project manager, are often surprisingly negotiated. Knowing who you are working with is critical. You wouldn’t sell children books to a university college library. This all goes into the planning and execution of a well laid out project plan. Hiring or becoming a Certified Forensic Project Manager is the first step.