"Having a methodology is no guarantee of project success." This phrase has been said so many times that it's lost its effectiveness. But it remains truer than ever.
It doesn't matter what methodology you use. Each project is a unique endeavour, so unless you set up and run your project correctly, leading it with a seasoned project manager with all the hard-won experience of numerous successful projects in your chosen field, it will fail. It's that simple.
Our project management methodology was originally developed in 1998 by Tony Randall of Symbiosys Limited. It was developed alongside the de-facto standard PRINCE 2 and derives from many of the same best practices, but whereas PRINCE 2 suffers from being too wide-ranging, our methodology is specifically designed for software projects. Back then it was called SABRE and has had many imitators but it hasn't been bettered.
It has, however, evolved into Insigniter©. This name is not an acronym, so does not stand for some artificially collected set of words. Instead, it is simply a Latin word meaning: 'distinguished; excellent; to be built on'. In other words, it provides the best possible firm foundation on which to build and it also means all-round excellence.
Our project managers are still qualified to PRINCE 2's highest 'Practitioner' standard, so we fully understand PRINCE 2's strengths and its weaknesses, including the fact that it needs extending with more detail for software projects. So where your project requires the full involvement of the 'project office', we can support or work with it. But the most important thing is that you get what you want, when you need it and Insigniter provides that.
It uses an even more paired down 'management by exception' philosophy to reduce bureaucracy to the minimum, though you are never out of touch, thanks to it's 'high-visibility' nature.
There is far too much in Insigniter to describe here and your project will probably only need a fraction of it, so why not contact us to see how it could work for you?
It is an accepted maxim in project management circles that once the people paying for a project have started to notice it's failing, then it's usually too late to save it.
Sadly this is often true.
So what can you do if you find yourself in, or suspect you're running the risk of being in, that situation?
Well, the first thing is not to panic and the second thing is not to try to force people to work harder. If it was possible to do the required work in the set time, then proper project management would have ensured that. So if it hasn't happened, then we need to find out why. Underestimation is a common factor here, as is poor quality management. But there could be a host of other reasons.
So the best thing to do is to put the project on hold for a couple of days and call in Symbiosys Systems.
Unfortunately we have often been called in far too late and so have seen many failed and failing software projects, but we have also rescued quite a few. Which do you want to have?