Introduction * Projects are planned change, but can we plan for unexpected change?.
* What is volatility and how does it affect project performance?
* What aspects of volatility are most important?
Research Methods
* We used data from two surveys of experienced project managers, one from the UK and one from the US, to examine the impact of volatility on project performance.
Findings
* Governance volatility has greatest impact
* A project manager leaving the project is associated with:
- 7% increase in schedule
- 4% increase in budget
- 3.5 % reduction in scope delivered.
* A change in sponsor is associated with a 5.6% reduction in scope delivered
* Changes to project targets are related to lower performance
* The average project has 8 changes to targets. Projects with a larger number of changes face higher risks of underperformance.
* Increased volatility leads to low levels of performance.
Recommendations
* Plan for continuity by providing incentives for project managers/ sponsors to stay with the project.
* e.g. bonuses for completion.
* Keep track of changes. Increased volatility is a signal of a risk of underperformance.
* Spend more effort in planning to reduce number of target changes.
* Ensure changes to projects targets are necessary. Formal change requests are a mechanism for linking value to proposed changes. .
