N O
N O
N O
N O
N O
N O
The CIO should look for
signals such as missed dead-
lines, increased budgets and
dissatisfaction in the ranks.
After identifying a troubled
project, the CIO should, with
the help of the project
manager, seek answers to
questions in the following
six gray boxes.
Was the project approved by
an authorized person? If the
person who approved the
project is no longer with the
organization, make sure the
current sponsor is fully
committed to the project.
Is this the only project of
this kind underway? Is there
no project that duplicates
this one?
Does the project fit with
the currently stated
business strategy?
Is the enabling technology
available and reliable? Can
it be supported by the IT
organization? Will users
adapt it properly?
Does the sponsor understand
the project’s complexity? Is
he or she committed to the
project? Does the sponsor
have the authority to shut
down the project?
Are the project’s internal
customers satisfied with the
project?
Healthy (1-5 points)
The project’s performance is on track; the variances
are within acceptable limits.
Caution (6-10 points)
The project’s performance has deteriorated beyond
the project manager’s ability to improve it. It is now at
risk of becoming a runaway project. If the steering
committee wants the project to be completed, the
project sponsor needs to take charge of the situation
and devise a plan to fix the problem(s).
Danger (11+ points)
The project has reached runaway project status; not
even the project’s sponsors can fix it or get it back on
track. At this point, the project steering committee
needs to take a serious look at the project’s viability,
and either shut down or save the project.
1 Issues are unanswered questions and differences of opinion.
2 It is seldom that a project has no outstanding issues. Therefore,
make sure when the value here is 0, that there are really no outstanding
issues. The 0 value could be a sign that issues are not being tracked.
3 In case of fixed-price contracts, change the variances to
< 5%, 5%