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Focal Imbalance Failures - Ailment #2 Leading to Project Failure

January 26, 2009 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Project Management Musings

Focal Imbalance Failures - Ailment #2 Leading to Project Failure (#4 in the series Decoding the DNA of Failed Technology Projects)
By Robert Goatham

You know your project was a failure when … a member of the public writes a song about the mess you made and it becomes a viral hit on YouTube. British Airways (BA) and the British Airport Authority (BAA) suffered that embarrassment in March 2008 when BA operations moved into London Heathrow’s newly constructed Terminal 5.

Despite great hype and interviews given by British Airways proudly touting how they had used the latest thinking in “lean” Project Management practice, the opening was best described as a shambles.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled; 28,000 checked bags were lost and thousands of passengers waited in line for hours. After several days of ongoing problems, BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh admitted that the transition had “not been BA’s finest hour”. The debacle ended up costing several senior managers their jobs, resulted in $32M in losses and dented BA’s reputation as a well run airline.

Although, the BA Terminal 5 transition project was afflicted by a number of illnesses, it represents a good example of a focal imbalance failure. Focal imbalance failures occur when the project management team fail to dedicate sufficient attention to one or more critical parts of the project. In the Terminal 5 case, staff training and the logistics necessary to prepare the staff for the opening were severely underestimated. While the project team focused on the technical aspects of the project (getting the building equipped, testing the building’s services and planning which flights would be migrated first), little attention was paid to preparing the front line operational staff for the transition. On the first day many staff were late for work because they were driving around trying to find the staff parking lots and even once they made it to their stations, new software prevented them signing in.

British Airways are not the only ones to have suffered a focal imbalance failure. When I recently had a problem with my phone line, the person I spoke to at the company’s call center advised me that they had just migrated to a new system. After 15 minutes of trying to locate my missing account the agent gave up and in frustration let slip that she didn’t know how to use the new system properly. Sensing a focal imbalance failure I enquired about the training she had received. She had only received a 20 minute briefing and because of a project delay, there had been a six month gap between the briefing and the actual cutover. If I could play the guitar I would have written a song.

Of course, focal imbalance failures are not limited to training issues and many other types of imbalance occur. Other common examples include focusing on development activities over comprehensive testing, focusing on the parts of the project that are well understood while ignoring elements which are less familiar and looking at projects as technology projects when they should be considered business process change projects.

Robert Goatham is the principal of Calleam Consulting. Robert founded Calleam in response to the on-going challenges organizations face in developing the leadership skills necessary to successfully deliver today’s complex technology projects. Specializing in the study of failed projects, Robert translates hindsight from yesterday’s projects into the foresight needed to ensure tomorrow’s success. Robert has more than 20 years experience in the technology sector playing roles that include developer, technical lead, architect, quality manager, coach and senior project manager. As a public speaker, writer and trainer Robert provides audiences with insights that go beyond the theory of a text book and speak directly to the challenges people face in today’s workplace. Robert is passionate about helping organizations and individuals develop their skills. Visit www.calleam.com for more information.

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