Stopping projects early whitepaper

By Louise Worsley

Project culling is an essential part of the portfolio management process. The challenge is to ensure it is systematically and beneficially applied. Recent work by CITI has focused on the need for a project ‘culling’ process which maintains the linkage to the normal portfolio decision-making processes while taking into account the ‘termination risks’, i.e. the risks associated with stopping the project and realising the benefits from stopping the project.

Stopping projects early poorly is a ‘double whammy’ hit on portfolio performance. Not only are the planned project benefits lost or reduced, but cost savings anticipated from the termination are not realised. In a recent analysis of a three large portfolios which had undergone a ‘torrid’ cut-back exercise, we found that over 30% of curtailed project activities were continuing under the portfolio radar. In these cases the project office was reporting the projects as finished while effort, directly trackable back to the project, was still being applied in the organisation.

In deciding which projects to cull, we must therefore also consider whether we can be successful in turning off the effort and expenditure being applied to the project. If the focus of the culling is on reduction in costs; then can CAPEX costs really be avoided? If the focus is on release of resources; then how quickly and effectively will these resources really be redeployed?

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Your thoughts?

What are your thoughts – do you agree with our approach on stopping projects early, or do the symptoms sound like the ones you are experiencing in your organisation? We would love to hear from you either by adding a comment at the bottom of the page or by emailing one of our consultants at consultants@citi.co.uk – or call +44(0)1908 283610

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Louise Worsley

Louise Worsley has been a consultant in project management for 15 years. As the design authority for CITI she provides the link between academic research in project management and its practical application. As a project consultant she is involved in providing support and advice to organisations on how to obtain best value from portfolio, programme and project management practices.

Latest posts by Louise Worsley (see all)

Stopping projects early whitepaper - July 30, 2015