The study, which queried 100 senior IT managers and directors with project or programme responsibilities across businesses from a variety of industry sectors, showed that five key factors contribute to the project failures. This includes the lack of clear objectives at the start of the process (66%; unrealistic deadlines (58%), poor communications with the team and/or third parties (45%); lack of commitment from senior managers (33%; and lack of core skills within the team (30%).

The survey also indicated that professional development is taken seriously by this community, with 41% citing that they are currently undertaking a professional IT-service-management qualification such as ITIL, COBIT, ISO 20000; 31% citing a professional programme or project-management qualification such as PRINCE2, APM, MSP;  and leadership skills (31%). However, only one in five managers specifically said that they were being trained in “soft skills or emotional intelligence programmes” (19%). 

Challenges for 2014

Managing complex projects continues to be a challenge for all organisations irrespective of the industry sector that they operate in. The survey reveals a wide range of concerns, such as managing complex change with limited resources (56%); working with larger teams in multiple locations or teams in different countries (42%); skills shortage (35%); increasing complexity of projects (35%); measuring success (30%); and outsourcing/offshoring (20%).

Interestingly, many of the issues that are cited as the "biggest challenges" for organisations are intrinsically linked to people issues, which seems to imply that traditional training models are failing to meet the demands of modern businesses. Only one in five organisations (19%) stated that the pace of technology change was a concern for them.

Eddie Kilkelly, Managing Director at insynergi, adds, "Globalisation has meant that projects are more likely to cross geographic borders, and this creates a number of logistical, language, and cultural issues. Localised projects can also create their own set of challenges through poor communications. There are specific emotional intelligence skills that chief executives, change leaders, and project managers need in order to avoid potentially costly and disruptive failure. Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, assess, and control your emotions and those of employees. It might be called a soft skill, but it can seem hard to introduce due to stereotyping of what it actually means within the context of today’s business environment."