(This is part 5 of a series of 10 posts: Why projects fail?)

This article deals with the fifth of the OGC's eight causes of project failure: too little attention paid to breaking down the project into manageable stages. Strikingly, this was the only possible cause of failure identified by the NAO report as not a factor in the failure of the C-NOMIS project.

The PRINCE2 'manage by stages' principle requires all projects to have at least two stages: the initiation stage (when the information required to authorize and implement the project is assembled) and the stage(s) after (when the project is carried out and the project output delivered). Management by stages enables the Project Board to review the project at appropriate intervals and decide whether to commit further resources; it also means that detailed plans can be made just before the beginning of a stage, rather than all at the start of the project.

The C-NOMIS project included a pilot/trial stage, which proved to be a valuable learning experience for the project management team. The division of the project into management stages also allowed the organisation (NOMS) to re-evaluate the project when it exceeded its tolerance levels, and to prevent further resources being committed to the project until it had been re-scoped and shown to provide business justification.

More active corporate/programme management involvement in the project might have prevented C-NOMIS failing in the first place. However, the use of PRINCE2 management stages meant that the project could be halted without full resources already having been committed.
Summary and solutions

The number and length of management stages on a project depends on the length and complexity of the project. More frequent and shorter stages enable a higher degree of senior management control; less frequent and longer stages save management overheads and place more responsibility in the hands of the project manager. When deciding how to distribute management stages, project/programme managers should take the following factors into account:

* Risk appetite of the organisation and risk profile of the project;
* Length and complexity of the project;
* Experience of the project manager;
* Timing of technical stages (e.g. the end of a stage may coincide with the delivery of a specific product).

The concept of management stages is dealt with in detail in our regular PRINCE2 training courses.
Looking ahead ...

The use of management stages prevented the problems on the C-NOMIS project from spiralling out of control. In my next post I am going to examine the sixth of the OGC causes of project failure - evaluation of the Business Case driven by initial price rather than by value for money.